As with many other iFi audio products, we’ve incorporated a custom OV Series operational-amplifier. This top-notch component contributes to the extremely low noise, low distortion (0.0001%) and wide bandwidth.
Amp it up
The ZEN Air CAN is an amplifier pure and simple.
It simply takes an input signal from a source such as those mentioned above and creates a larger copy of the original signal before it’s sent to your headphones.
Think about listening to sound with your hands over your ears and then removing them! Adding the ZEN Air CAN into your system is a little like that – back comes clarity of sound as well as volume.
Lots to gain…
The ZEN Air CAN comes with three gain settings so that it works well with every pair of headphones or in-ear monitors (also known as IEMs).
What is gain? Gain in audio terms refers to an amplifier’s ability to increase the amplitude (size) of the signal from the source (input) to the headphones or speakers (output). More gain equals a stronger signal.
You will need to adjust the gain depending on the sensitivity of the headphones or iEMs you are using. For example, highly sensitive headphones need lower gain.
Play around with the settings. Trust your ears.
eSpecially for you
The ZEN Air CAN has two different headphone sockets – 6.3mm single-ended and 4.4mm S-Balanced.
There are basically two types of headphone – single-ended and balanced. In a nutshell, single-ended is the most common but the balanced option is often considered the better as it offers more power and control of the headphones.
At iFi, we know not everyone has balanced headphones, so we’ve created our S-Balanced technology. This gives you all the benefits of a balanced connection – lower noise, less crosstalk – but without the need for balanced headphones.
Sonic tailoring
The ZEN Air CAN boasts a couple of sonic tweaks, unique to iFi.
XBass is analogue bass boost. In other words, it extends the bass response to suit different headphones.
XSpace is an analogue headphone spatialiser. This opens up your music to give you the spaciousness of a live-concert atmosphere.
Texas Instruments low-noise ICs offer great unity-gain bandwidth, very low noise and distortion, high output drive capability, Common-mode and Power Supply Rejection Ratios of over 100 dB, wide maximum-output-swing bandwidths and high slew rates.
TDK C0G (Class 1 ceramic) capacitors offer high stability and low losses for resonant circuit applications.
Getting ever closer to the theoretical ideal of pure, frequency-constant capacitance, these capacitors reduce capacitor-induced distortion to vanishingly low levels.
They are pricey but are a perfect addition to our products.
| Power supply requirement | DC 5V/2.5A (centre +ve) | |
| Max Output | >6.7V/75 mW(@ 600Ω) >6.5V/660 mW(@ 64Ω) >6.2V/1200 mW(@ 32Ω) | |
| THD & N | 0.005% (@ 100 mW/1.27V 16Ω) | |
| SNR | >114dBA (@ 6.7V) | |
| Max. Input | RCA 3.5mm |
3.8V RMS 1.92V RMS |
| Gain | 0dB 9dB 18dB |
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| Frequency Response | 10Hz -100kHz (-3dB) | |
| Power Consumption | No Signal ~5W Max Signal ~13W |
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| Dimensions | 158 x 117 x 35 mm 6.2" x 4.6" x 1.4" |
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| Net weight | 352g 0.78 lbs |