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

I went Zen and never looked back, the dac v2 was so good but the amp is extra special, you have more control but the xspace or 3D effect made my hifiman edition xs sound like 2000 dollar headphones... Just as good as it can get for sound.. The combo is perfect and the amp adds another 60% to fullness... Get the combo if you love bass, clean sound and wide soundstage And the amp comes with ifi power brick.. Just perfect

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

I consider myself a borderline audiophile. I appreciate a good product and like a nice sound. I don’t subscribe to buying overpriced cables that supposedly make my system sound better, instead looking for an understated, good value alternative. So I started my journey with ifi when I bought a hipdac2. I’d been a bit disappointed with my headphone experience and I was blown away by what a decent headphone amp could do. My home hifi amp doesn’t have a headphone socket (more audiophile nonsense) so I’d had to buy a headphone amp and despite it being from the manufacturer of the amp it was seriously disappointing. Having been so pleased with the hipdac2 I thought I’d try the ifi zen can. Well, it didn’t disappoint. My big headphone found a new lease of life. They’ve never sounded quite so good. The only fly in the ointment, and I’d like to think is a one off, my zen can didn’t come with a power supply, despite being listed with one. In all fairness the seller stepped up and having first got in touch with ifi then sent one out, although it did take a week to arrive which took the edge off the joy of a shiny new toy a little.

Pretty good for the price, has enough power for my headphones and has balanced input/output. I don't think the xbass is very good, but my headphones aren't super bassy, and I prefer to eq anyway.

I’ve had this for nearly 2 years now and the upgrade was worth every Penny I teamed this up with a moto m2 audio interface it had plenty of power for all my headphones, LCD X and Meze 99 Clasics and my cheapo cans K361 , all totally different headphones and all work together perfectly, the LCD X and Meze 99 Classics all run on the balance connector 4.4mm , best buy I have done in years

I'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.

Bought this amp because I was demoing the DT990's and the Sundaras and knew I needed an amp for the DT's. Ended up keeping the Sundaras and kept the amp too as I felt the bass sounded awesome with the XBass switch. Problem is I only just recently realised this amp squares off the sub bass. I was programming some 808's and I couldn't for the life of me figure out where the clipping was coming from on the sub bass until I swapped the headphones into the direct out on my audio interface. Turned out it was the amp. Even on the lowest of the four gain settings I can only get rid of the squaring / soft clipping of the bass by having the volume super low. But if I plug them straight into my USB audio device (an SSL2) I can drive them to deafeningly loud volumes and the sub sounds like a pure sine wave through and through. Not sure if that's the amp in general as I no longer have any high impedance headphones to test with but at least for the Sundaras (and I assume any others that are around that ohmage) it turned out to be a bust. But yeah like I say - you don't need it at all if you have a USB interface. Just plug straight into the headphone out and they sound great.

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.