iFi ZEN CAN Balanced Desktop Headphone Amp and Preamp with 4.4mm Outputs (UK PIN)




Dimensions: 27.5 x 15.8 x 5.7 cm; 853 Grams
Manufacture: Abbingdon Music Research
Reference: ZEN CAN

33 Responses

  1. ElliottNeustadt says:

     United Kingdom

    Works well and sounds great.
    Dropped a speaker onto it the other day and not a scratch…top marks!
    Speaker dented.

  2. Anonymous says:

     Italy

    Amplificatore eccezionale e dal prezzo contenuto, pilota benissimo le mie Beyerdinamic DT 990 PRO da 250 ohm, come DAC uso quello della scheda audio interna al mio PC(Creative AE-5), lo consiglio soprattutto per cuffie ad alta impedenza.
    P.S. provato anche sulle Sennheiser DT559 da 50 ohm e ne migliora decisamente la potenza sonora.

    iFi Zen Ca

  3. Anonymous says:

     United Kingdom

    I liked heavy metal construction. The range of input options are good. It provided a rich lift in the quality of music and I am very happy with the new listening experience I now have.

    The Bass and 3D sound options provide a subtle enhancement to my hearing but still good to have. Nice purchase if you want to add some proper audio experience to your PC audio out to a good set of headphones.

    The gain options allow you to have a confortable range of volume from your source. I like the product.

    Great desktop headphone amp for upgrading a PC

  4. Anonymous says:

     Italy

    Ottime qualit audio soprattutto in rapporto al prezzo. Sto utilizzando il mio ifi ZEN CAN sia come pre-ampli per il mio impianto con monitor attivi sia come amplificatore per le mia cuffie. La funzionalit 3D restituisce un suono molto piacevole. Non ho dato le cinque stelle perch avrei preferito che inserendo il jack delle cuffie si disattivasse l’uscita 4.4mm posteriore.

  5. KentonGardener says:

     United Kingdom

    I recently bought a pair of Byerdynamic Amiron headphones. They have a very high impedance and my amp was really struggling to drive them, especially with vinyl. Adding the Zen Can has really opened up these headphones. Not sure that the Xbass and 3D sound button has any effect as doesn’t seem to make a difference. Overall very pleased

  6. Anonymous says:

     Germany

    Habe bisher mit einem Hifiman Ananda ber den Kopfhrerausgang meines hochwertigen Vollverstrkers gehrt und hatte meine Zweifel, schon aufgrund des Preises. Aber was der Zen Can abliefert ist die Wucht.
    Ich glaube, dass knnen auch wesentlich teurere KHV’s nicht besser.
    Klare Kaufempfehlung.

  7. Robbie Daw says:

     United Kingdom

    Even though the iFi ZEN CAN is supposed to be a budget Desktop Headphone Amp and Preamp, the sound quality and its features can only be found on much more expensive gear.
    First, I bought the iFi ZEN DAC V2 and I was so pleasantly surprised and happy with its performance, that I ordered the CAN right the next day and…WOW what a pair they make

    Excellent and unbeatable at this price range

  8. Anonymous says:

     Germany

    I need to say that it increased pleasure from listening significantly, way beyond my expectation.

  9. michele says:

     United Kingdom

    Solid, well build amplifier which powers my 250 ohm headphones very well.

  10. Anonymous says:

     Italy

    Oltre all’iFi Zen Can, che lavora insieme ad un ifi Zen Dac V2 collegato al pc, ho anche un iFi Zen Blue che fa da streamer per un altro impianto stereo. Gi l’uscita cuffie del Zen Dac ottima ma siccome ho un paio di Beyerdynamic DT 880 Edition da 600 Ohm ero curioso di provarle con il Zen Can e non sono rimasto deluso. Ho anche un paio di Sony MDR-1AM2 che sono bilanciate e che, seppure facilissime da pilotare, con l’uscita bilanciata del Zen Can danno il meglio. Direi che sono prodotti dall’ottimo rapporto qualit prezzo, estetica piacevole, ottima costruzione. Per quello che riguarda il suono il mio parere ovviamente soggettivo ma in rete si trovano solo recensioni positive, non penso sia un complotto….

  11. Anonymous says:

     Spai

    Lo volvera a comprar, junto a unos buenos auriculares es rozar el cielo.

  12. Anonymous says:

     Spai

    Amplifica el sonido para auriculares de alta y baja impedancia o para altavoces. Da al sonido sensacin de espacialidad y con cables de calidad apenas genera ruido. Muy buena la opcin del botn potenciador de bajos, lo que no me gusta tanto es la opcin de sonido 3D que a mi me suena como artificial. Producto 100% recomendable.

  13. MFOMitchell says:

     Germany

    Der Zen Can ist ein unfassbar guter KH Amp fr diesen Preis.
    Super saubere Verarbeitung und in Verbindung mit dem Hifiman Sundara ein exzellent guter Klang. Natrlich abhngig von Quelle und Zuspieler.
    Fr diesen Preis unschlagbar!!!
    Kaufempfehlung!!!!

  14. KelleyBecher says:

     United Kingdom

    THIS DEVICE REEKS OF QUALITY SOUND, QUALITY COMPONENTS, AND PRICE.

  15. Anonymous says:

     United Kingdom

    This headphone amplifier is excellent, capable of driving all manner of headphones. The sound is clear and detailed whilst the 3d and bass boost options are subtle but make the listening experience even more enjoyable.

    BEWARE: I ordered the optional IfI Power supply as it was better value to buy it as a bundle. However I did not receive this, which was confirmed by speaking with Ifi. I returned the original item and re-ordered with the standard power supply. I may decide to upgrade in the future, but for now, I’m very happy with my purchase.

  16. Daniel Van Boom says:

     Germany

    Klingt sehr gut, aber bei hoher Gainverstrkung deutliches Rauschen, ist halt analog Class A.
    Ob das mit dem ifi ipower Netzteil besser wird? Das analoge Lautstrkepoti luft auch bei geringer
    Lautstrke sehr syncron. Xbass genau richtig, nicht zu viel und zu wenig fr meinen Geschmack.

  17. Adam Holloway says:

     United Kingdom

    After spending thousands over the years, this beats it all. End game for budget price. 10/10

  18. GuestPost says:

     United Kingdom

    Golden Review Award: 3 From Our UsersWas happy with my Zen but felt it struggled at higher volumes with my 250ohm 770’s and i wasn’t a fan of truebass and thought it was a bit much, went for this to improve both those things which it did, the xbass implementation sounds much better to me as opposed to the Zen and it handled higher volumes much better ( and so it should i guess)

    To really get the best out of this you’ll need to connect it via a balanced cable to your DAC , if its the ZEN then be prepared to pay 70 or more for their cable or buy a cheaper one from Amazon like i did, the included analogue connection doesn’t cut it imo and as both are balanced units although im not using balanced headphones the difference is noticeable.

    The unit also gets really hot, as stuff with Class A devices do.

    Be prepared to go on an upgrade path though once you get this, next you’ll want balanced headphones to get the best out of it, then you’ll realise that because you have balanced headphones you should upgrade the DAC and 12 months later you’ll be sat listening to music on youtube with $1000 worth of audio equipment.

  19. Lucas6553ke says:

     United Kingdom

    Bought this little gem to use with the ifi blue zen. Paired it with my hifiman devas, boy does it make them sing. The sound quality from this little set up is phenomenal. Absolutely value for money if you are on a budget.

  20. Anonymous says:

     Germany

    Der ifi Zen Can bietet zwei optionale Klangmanipulationen, den Bass und 3D. Das ist ganz untypisch fr einen Kopfhrerverstrker, der ja eigentlich nur das Ziel hat, das Signal zu verstrken” und sonst nichts. Und zum Glck hat ifi hier nicht bertrieben, der Bass bekommt einen feindosierten Schub, z.B. am Audeze LCD Classic auf Gain-Stufe 3. 3D berzeugt (mich) nicht. Auf der Suche nach einem effektiven, ausgewogenen und bezahlbaren Kopfhrerverstrker ist der ifi Zen Can genau richtig.

  21. Anonymous says:

     United Kingdom

    Golden Review Award: 3 From Our UsersI’ve been running my Sennheiser HD660s through my PC motherboard’s line-out, as well as a Behringer audio interface and I thought they sounded ok. However, I didn’t like that the bass was a little mushy and the mids were rather over-powering. I thought that a 150 ohm set of headphones would be no match for the 600ohm my motherboard said it could handle.

    Apparently I was very wrong. I recently picked up the iFi Zen CAN amp and have it sat between the computer and my headphones using an RCA cable. I have the gain set to 18dB using a regular single-ended connection from my headphones (I haven’t tried the balanced cables yet), the bass boost is on and it sounds incredible.

    The bass has tightened up, the highs are clear as daylight and the mids are wholesome. My musical tastes include everything from Dire Straits, Pink Floyd and middle-of-the-road rock, to industrial and thrash metal –Fear Factory, Pantera, Ministry etc. Everything sounds sublime.

    I’m now going through my whole music collection and hearing things in a whole new way.

  22. Anonymous says:

     Germany

    I really like this amp because it has a couple of great features I do actually use:

    1. 3 inputs (1 of them fully balanced) and easy selection of those: I can plug in my record player, PC&TV DAC and a Bluetooth module into this small device which is all I need.
    2. Great volume control with 1 small problem: The volume knob feels awesome! So buttery smooth that I sometimes catch myself just fiddling with the volume for the sake of it. However, the when turning it down about 5%, I can clearly hear a channel imbalance (music comes out a lot louder from the right channel). Thanks to the gain selector this never really is a problem but is still a bit annoying – though not unusual for amps in this class.
    3. Bass boost (and “3D sound”): I really like the bass boost. It does clearly boost the bass a tiny bit and turns down everything else slightly. This is especially great for my Beyerdynamic DT770s because without the bass boost the treble is a bit too much for me. The 3D sound is fun because it gives music I am very familiar with a new touch.

    So, I really do recommend this AMP – I paired it with the matching Zen Signature DAC which enables me to use a 4.4mm balanced cable to connect both. I also tried out the Topping D50s/A50s combo but that let me down compared to the iFi stack.

  23. Tabitha Baker says:

     Germany

    Golden Review Award: 2 From Our UsersDie iFi Zen Can hat eine herausragende Bauqualitt. Sie besteht durchweg aus einem einzigen, groen Stck Metall. Die Knpfe sind taktil und der Lautstrkeregler gleitet makellos beim Drehen. Whrend des Betriebs wird der KHV recht warm, jedoch nicht hei. Man knnte ihn durchgehend anfassen und es wrde nicht unangenehm werden.

    Rauschen oder Clipping konnte ich nicht feststellen; der KHV klingt trotz seiner Leistung sehr, sehr sauber. Lediglich bei niedrigen Lautstrkeeinstellungen, etwa gegen 7 bis 10 Uhr, ist sehr klar zu hren, dass die Kanle nicht balanciert sind. Der linke Kopfhrertreiber erhlt nahezu keinen Ton, der rechte skaliert wie gewnscht. Ab etwa 10 Uhr des Potis sind die Kanle perfekt ausbalanciert. Das ist fr solche Potis nicht ungewhnlich, kann fr sensiblere IEMs aber zu Problemen fhren. Leistungshungrigere Kopfhrer werden sowieso nicht in diesen Lautstrken betrieben, wodurch es fr diese kein Problem ist.

    Die einzelnen Gain-Stufen bringen jeweils eine gut merkbare Verstrkung. Auch fr hochohmige und sehr unsensible Kopfhrer ist mehr als gengend Leistung vorhanden, selbst ber den standardmigen 6,35mm Stecker. Fr standardmige, niedrigohmige oder schlichtweg sensiblere Kopfhrer wird vermutlich die erste Gainstufe bereits das Limit ausreizen.

    Die ,,XBass” Funktion lsst Bsse satter werden und verleiht ihnen mehr Reverb. Paukenschlge o.. in klassischer Musik, 808-Kickbass oder Syntheziser in Hip-Hop, Low-fi und desgleichen erhalten so wesentlich kraftvollere (Sub-)Bsse, was je nach Kopfhrern und eigenem Geschmack den Hrspa wesentlich heben kann. Fr schnelle, tighte Doublekick Segmente in Heavy Metal Songs ist dieses Feature jedoch nichts.
    Das “3D Holographic” Feature steigert die Rumlichkeit der Musik, vor allem vor und hinter dem Zuhrer. Support-vocals, welche etwas weiter hinter den Main-vocals platziert werden, erhalten so beispielsweise ihre eigene Ebene, wo sie sich besser entfalten knnen. Vor allem fr rumliche Kopfhrer ein interessantes Feature, wobei die hohen Mitten etwas berbetont wirken knnen.
    Die Kombination aus den beiden Features kreiert einen rumlicheren, kraftvolleren Klang, der sich im Frequenzband mehr nach einem “V” anfhlt, auch bekannt als “Spa”. Dabei werden jedoch die Mitten keinesfalls verdrngt, was gegenber einfachen EQ’s einen riesigen Vorteil bietet.
    Hier liegt auch die Faszination dieser Features: Sie sind keine digitale Anpassung von Frequenzen, denn der KHV erhlt ein analoges Signal. Das Signal wird entsprechend ebenso analog angepasst, was meines Wissens nach kein KHV dieser Preisklasse kann, geschweige denn derart ansprechend.

    Insgesamt ist die Zen Can fr den Preis sehr zu empfehlen. Lediglich Nutzer von sensibleren IEMs mssten auf die Kanal-fehlbalancierung bei enorm niedrigen Verstrkungsstufen acht geben.

  24. Anonymous says:

     United Kingdom

    a Very impressive machine
    really nice design
    A huge amount of power output which can drive almost any headphone
    The 3D and Xbass button enhance my music experience a lo

    Nice amp

  25. Anonymous says:

     United Kingdom

    I don’t use the balance outputs as I am not rewiring my headphones.
    This Amp gives a clean sound and has loads of power for any headphones.
    Love this amp .

  26. Anonymous says:

     United Kingdom

    I needed a good headphone amp for my PC and DAC as I have had other ifi products in the past I had a feeling that this headphone amp would be worth trying out and it did not disappoint sound quality is very good solid controlled bass open wide soundstage I use my pioneer HRM-5 headphones with it and they now sound amazing thanks to this ifi headphone amp build quality is very good in this case you do get what you pay for and its worth every penny!!

  27. Anonymous says:

     Germany

    Wird ein bisschen warm. Klingt gut. Hat Power und fhlt ich qualitativ an.

  28. Classic Boat says:

     Spai

    Lo que estaba buscando muy buena calidad de sonido un extra de potencia para auriculares de 250 o 600 ohm.

  29. NoblePearl says:

     Germany

    Fr den Preis einer der tollsten KH Verstrker mit einer super Ausstattung. Auch die Leistung ist fr die meisten KH mehr als ausreichend.

  30. EstelleAGGQ says:

     Germany

    Im Vergleich mit dem guten Fiio K5 pro punktet der Zen Can mit besserer Hochtonauflsung und noch mehr Power.
    Mit dem Hifiman HE400i und dem Ananda hat der Can leichtes Spiel und Kraft ohne Ende. Durch die X Bass Einstellung bekommen die Hifimnner endlich auch den gewnschten Bass.
    Meine Kaufempfehlung bekommt der Kleine jedenfalls.

  31. LeesaBaskett says:

     United Kingdom

    I was looking for a headphone amp that would handle the AKG 712 Pro as the DOUK P1 was not quite up to it. Hooked up to this unit the headphones came into their own with a decent soundstage and detail. The X-Bass just helps give a bit of extra kick on tracks that are flat sounding.
    Excellent quality for the money.

  32. GlobalData Consumer says:

     Spai

    Golden Review Award: 5 From Our UsersEl aparato en si es una maravilla pero……!En la pagina de A mazon lo advierten como que viene con el alimentador IFI iPOWER de 5 v pero en realidad viene con un alimentador generico ,asi que hay tenido que comprar aparte el ifi ipower !

  33. superficialgirl says:

     Germany

    Golden Review Award: 2 From Our UsersHabe ihn zusammen mit den Zen Dac per 4,4mm Pentacon angeschlossen. Meine Beyerdynamic DT 880 250 Ohm werden sauber angesprochen und klingen extrem kraftvoll. Fr mich eine klare Kaufempfehlung.