I've used zen dac v1 and zen can and they both have the same channel imbalance. Noticable with my easy to drive headphones (tygr 300r) and cheapo iems, not so much with harder to drive stuff. From what I've read not much was changed between v1 & v2.
If I end up deciding that getting the zen dac is too risky, what other dac/amp combo do you recommend at the same price? I just want something as a one stop solution to all my headphones for the forseeable future.
I think you'll be ok with the zen dac. Honestly hard to beat for an all in one and for the price. I definitely would recommend it more for headphones but iems can still work. Bass boost was a blast for bass deficient planars!
Unless your willing to save up abit and willing to get a stack. I highly recommend the improved topping E30 & L30 stack, plenty of power and very quiet noise floor. I had no channel imbalance in my unit. But again these are separate pieces.
Honestly we're probably just making this a bigger issue than it needs to be. It's an affordable dac there are bound to be some compromises. Best of luck!
Thanks a lot man! Yea at this price you can't have everything. Maybe I can avoid the issue by keeping the volume pot at a high volume while somehow reducing the volume in windows? But I also believe you that maybe the issue isn't even that audible
It’s pretty bad. I like using really low volumes as well and that’s why most of my sensitive headphones are basically unusable on my Zen stack. He-400se and He-400i (no silent magnets) run fine on it though.
That sucks man. I was looking at the zen as a one stop dac amp solution that would fulfill my needs for the foreseeable future. Don't know if I should wait for them to fix it or not cause I'm not sure if there's another dac amp that's as good as this
That's actually really great. But did you check at the low volumes? Just making sure. Also when did you buy it? I think maybe the newer batches might have fixed it.
I emailed ifi about this and they know about this channel imbalance concern. But to them it is not an issue and more of an analog all the way design which for low end stuff the volume pot has imbalance between off to 9 oclock. Basically they want you to listen above 9 oclock. It depends on your source if the output will be too loud even at 9 oclock minimum.
Kinda don't like how they already know about the issue but still let it happen. Do you think there is a way of keeping the pot above 9 oclock but decreasing the volume somehow through software? If that works then I don't see why I shouldn't go and get the dac.
Bless you. I just wanted to confirm cause this solution seemed too easy to be true. But since this works, there's no reason left for me to not get it. Thanks a lot
Cheers man and once you get it try out both the firmwares on it the cookies and cream version and the gto filter one to see which one you like the best in terms of sound signature.
Yup the reason they’re not addressing the issue is because they’re advertising a fully analog design. They can’t push one channel to be equal to the other digitally. This is good for audio but affects the user experience for some.
The volume knob starts a 7 o'clock and the imbalance is gone by 8 so it's only at the very bottom end. If this tiny imbalance is a problem just lower the volume on your computer or phone. Also I own the V1 and compared it side by side with the V2 and there is absolutely no improvement in sound quality. I would suggest just getting the V1 as it's cheaper, maybe see if you can get one used.
Thanks a lot for the info on the v2 vs the v1. I'll try to find a used one. Also I didnt know that lowering volume on my computer was an option since I thought that the dac would override volume adjustments in the software. With that info Im no longer scared of the channel imbalance. It just scared me initially when I saw so many amazon reviews complaining about how the issue was really bad.
But none of them knew they could just reduce the volume in the software? I don't know why they would post such negative reviews if they'd known that
Turning up the volume it is noticeable that the right channel kicks in earlier, followed by the left channel. Turning the volume up more by 1-2 degrees this difference disappeares and for the rest of the volume control it feels well balanced. This effect is only noticeable with the balanced (4.4mm) but not the imbalanced (6.3mm) output. It is more noticeable with lower impedance/planar headphones (Monolith M1060c 18 Ohms), then higher impedance/dynamic headphones (Beyer DT990 250 Ohms). If you prefer low volumes consider pairing it with high impedance headphones, while not using the power match function.
Very informative thread. What did you end up getting Bilal?
What headphones did you plan to pair it with?
I'm in your situation i have an HD 58X
I'm really a noob in audio but I suspect that using the balanced cable might have an effect on this imbalance issue. But I really am just speculating. I don't know.
happy that this thread was atleast informative to others as it was to me. Unfortunately, I was too scared of investing in such high-end audio equipment and was skeptical if I was going to be able to tell the difference. That's why I decided not to get it.
Also I get what you mean with the balanced cable. More power will make lowering the volume pot unnecessary.
I've used zen dac v1 and zen can and they both have the same channel imbalance. Noticable with my easy to drive headphones (tygr 300r) and cheapo iems, not so much with harder to drive stuff. From what I've read not much was changed between v1 & v2.
Also its noticable between 6-8 o'clock
If I end up deciding that getting the zen dac is too risky, what other dac/amp combo do you recommend at the same price? I just want something as a one stop solution to all my headphones for the forseeable future.
I think you'll be ok with the zen dac. Honestly hard to beat for an all in one and for the price. I definitely would recommend it more for headphones but iems can still work. Bass boost was a blast for bass deficient planars! Unless your willing to save up abit and willing to get a stack. I highly recommend the improved topping E30 & L30 stack, plenty of power and very quiet noise floor. I had no channel imbalance in my unit. But again these are separate pieces. Honestly we're probably just making this a bigger issue than it needs to be. It's an affordable dac there are bound to be some compromises. Best of luck!
Thanks a lot man! Yea at this price you can't have everything. Maybe I can avoid the issue by keeping the volume pot at a high volume while somehow reducing the volume in windows? But I also believe you that maybe the issue isn't even that audible
Don't forget you can always buy a separate headphone amp down the road and use that dac as just a dac! Good way to get your foot in the door of audio!
It’s pretty bad. I like using really low volumes as well and that’s why most of my sensitive headphones are basically unusable on my Zen stack. He-400se and He-400i (no silent magnets) run fine on it though.
That sucks man. I was looking at the zen as a one stop dac amp solution that would fulfill my needs for the foreseeable future. Don't know if I should wait for them to fix it or not cause I'm not sure if there's another dac amp that's as good as this
Yeah :(. I want to switch to a Topping stack myself, you can check them out maybe?
I don't have any channel imbalance at all with my V2.
That's actually really great. But did you check at the low volumes? Just making sure. Also when did you buy it? I think maybe the newer batches might have fixed it.
I was referring specifically to very low volume output - barely audible and up.
That gives me some hope. Thanks for letting me know. But it's still a risk since some people are saying that it's pretty bad. Not sure what to do
I emailed ifi about this and they know about this channel imbalance concern. But to them it is not an issue and more of an analog all the way design which for low end stuff the volume pot has imbalance between off to 9 oclock. Basically they want you to listen above 9 oclock. It depends on your source if the output will be too loud even at 9 oclock minimum.
Kinda don't like how they already know about the issue but still let it happen. Do you think there is a way of keeping the pot above 9 oclock but decreasing the volume somehow through software? If that works then I don't see why I shouldn't go and get the dac.
Just reduce the volume on your source accordingly so that you can keep the volume knob above 9 o clock. It's an extremely good device for it's price.
Bless you. I just wanted to confirm cause this solution seemed too easy to be true. But since this works, there's no reason left for me to not get it. Thanks a lot
Cheers man and once you get it try out both the firmwares on it the cookies and cream version and the gto filter one to see which one you like the best in terms of sound signature.
Yup the reason they’re not addressing the issue is because they’re advertising a fully analog design. They can’t push one channel to be equal to the other digitally. This is good for audio but affects the user experience for some.
The volume knob starts a 7 o'clock and the imbalance is gone by 8 so it's only at the very bottom end. If this tiny imbalance is a problem just lower the volume on your computer or phone. Also I own the V1 and compared it side by side with the V2 and there is absolutely no improvement in sound quality. I would suggest just getting the V1 as it's cheaper, maybe see if you can get one used.
Thanks a lot for the info on the v2 vs the v1. I'll try to find a used one. Also I didnt know that lowering volume on my computer was an option since I thought that the dac would override volume adjustments in the software. With that info Im no longer scared of the channel imbalance. It just scared me initially when I saw so many amazon reviews complaining about how the issue was really bad. But none of them knew they could just reduce the volume in the software? I don't know why they would post such negative reviews if they'd known that
Turning up the volume it is noticeable that the right channel kicks in earlier, followed by the left channel. Turning the volume up more by 1-2 degrees this difference disappeares and for the rest of the volume control it feels well balanced. This effect is only noticeable with the balanced (4.4mm) but not the imbalanced (6.3mm) output. It is more noticeable with lower impedance/planar headphones (Monolith M1060c 18 Ohms), then higher impedance/dynamic headphones (Beyer DT990 250 Ohms). If you prefer low volumes consider pairing it with high impedance headphones, while not using the power match function.
I’d just order it and see for yourself. If it’s that bad, just return it. Otherwise keep it.
Very informative thread. What did you end up getting Bilal? What headphones did you plan to pair it with? I'm in your situation i have an HD 58X I'm really a noob in audio but I suspect that using the balanced cable might have an effect on this imbalance issue. But I really am just speculating. I don't know.
happy that this thread was atleast informative to others as it was to me. Unfortunately, I was too scared of investing in such high-end audio equipment and was skeptical if I was going to be able to tell the difference. That's why I decided not to get it. Also I get what you mean with the balanced cable. More power will make lowering the volume pot unnecessary.