The King of Desktop Dacs? The IFI Zen Dac 3

[@TheBoomerConsumer]

Please keep comment civil. Comments with Links will be removed

[@mcbowler]

Ifi was the first burr-brown op-amp I've heard, and now I have two! It's a very nice powerful sound. You can use the balanced output to xlr connectors and plug directly into powered studio monitors... woah... so good, so simple.

[@c2s271108]

Thanks for the review. Is the ifi zen dac3 good for Sennheiser HD600 with impedance of 300ohms.

[@Pashyabhau]

Awesome review! Very insightful and informative. Thanks!

[@TheBoomerConsumer]

Glad it was helpful!

[@scottbennett3119]

Good video, very informative!

[@paulwoaert]

According to you, what is the essential difference between iFi Audio Zen CAN the Atom AMP 2 of JDS Labs ?

[@frankwhite2230]

Is it much of an upgrade from the 1st Zen Dac? I also have the Zen Can, together they are awesome.

[@4epa1012]

Zen Dac 3 sounds cleaner and wider than Zen Dac 1. Zen Dac gen 1 has smoother and narrower sound comparing the gen 3 Zen Dac, so it all depends what kind of sound signature you like...

[@darumaprb8500]

hy I buy a IFI Zen Dac 3 and have a sennheiser HD 650, connected to my Mac book pro , and the dac ,has a pour volume andI have it to put the dac to the max ,and need more what would I do ,buy a amp or other dac.

[@armanddarmawan]

Buy a headphone amp

[@SHHoo-yy6lh]

Hows the sound ? U didn't explain the sound signature?

[@ricsim78]

He did, it has a warm sound signature with good dynamics. Generally warmer than ESS and AKM based DACS, but not so much where resolution is degraded. I owned the Zen DAC Signature and it should sound fairly similar to this one. HIGHLY recommend getting the Ifi upgraded power supply (Silent Power 2), it does make a noticeable difference.

[@TC-bz8sm]

How does this affect the soundstage ?

[@RadovanPalik]

It has a really poor and low-dynamic sound, suitable only for aggressive headphones. The iFi GO Blue sounds much better, even amazing. For anyone wanting the best sound under $1000, only the Sound Blaster X5 will do.

[@LyuboA]

if it Only had a power button plus output selection and comes with power supply it would be worth it but as someone that has Zen Dac v2 i can say this STAY Away it's very Overpriced it has lots of issues like usb detection btw IFI needed 2 years to fix that on v2 many are defective out the box same for v1, v2 and now same with v3 plus 3 versions and it still Lacks basic features like output selection and power button and as a bonus you get that signature iFi Dac High Noise Floor you can hear with even 80ohm DT770 Pro on low gain btw v3 is literally v2 with USB-C that been said the Zen Can is really good

[@SuperKrisNOR2]

What other devices do you recomend if this one is bad?

[@fatboyvin]

​@@SuperKrisNOR2 Rose Technics RT5000

[@MorTphyr]

Ifi zen dav v3 vs schiit magni internal dac?

[@ricsim78]

Ifi is going to sound better, I have had Modi, Modi 2 Uber, and Modi 3+ (Latest gen).

[@Maxi-sr9ez]

​@@ricsim78 Hi, sorry I know this is a two month old product, but I also own the modi, it's my first and only DAC for my KEF speakers, would you say Ifi is better mianly because of its Burr-Brown chipset?