Customer Reviews

Nice Sound, Good Product

The iFi ZEN CAN seems to work well. I use it to primarily drive Audeze LCD 2 closed back headphones. I have a Cowon Plenue D2 DAP connected in balanced mode to the input of the iFi ZEN CAN. The Audeze phones are connected in balanced mode to the output of the iFi ZEN CAN. The X-bass feature on the iFi ZEN CAN helps get a "better" bass out of the Audeze phones. Those phones being planar are wonderfully detailed. But, the bass produced by those phones needs "some" help at least to me. Without the iFi ZEN CAN X-bass the Audeze could be good, but having the X-bass helps. I also have the 80hz frequency boosted slightly on the Cowon. The X-bass along with the 80hz boost makes the Audeze punchy. I am not a bass head. I am 78 years old. I enjoy an active lifestyle and all kinds of music. My wife hopes someday I will grow up. I was a former musician and music has been a BIG part of my life. Another comment on the iFi ZEN CAN, the "3-D spatial" button doesn't appeal to me. To me it puts the sound "out of phase" and "thinner" sounding. I just ignore that feature. So, overall, I like the iFi ZEN CAN. With the aforementioned settings, the sound from my Audeze LCD 2 closed back phones are smoothed out and more punchy. I like my final headphones sound arrangements. And of course Crutchfield was its usual good self. Greg

Have questions for
?

Crutchfield response on

Sounds Good

Happy with my purchas of th iFi ZEN CAN

Have questions for
?

Crutchfield response on

Great Investment and Well Worth the Price!

I am really enjoying the iFi ZEN CAN device for head phone listening. The sound is amazing and much better than the small low powered amp I was using. I like the features especially the 4 different sound gain settings as well as the X bass and 3D sound options. I'm still experimenting with what settings work the best for me as I play CD's or vinyl records. It's a great investment and well worth the price I paid. I highly recommend it for those who like great sound quality! I also appreciated the great customer service I got when I verified that this equipment is compatible with my pre amp.

Have questions for
?

Crutchfield response on

iFi ZEN CAN (Standard Edition)

The Zen Can is small & easy to locate near my other gear. iFi might have mentioned a few headphone brands & their typical impedances to help a user to decide which impedance to choose for his/her headphones. Sweeten to taste, I guess. Overall, a nice product at a decent price.

Have questions for
?

Crutchfield response on

Good Sounding Music Out of a CAN!

The iFi ZEN CAN (Standard Edition) sounds great! The music sounds crisp and clear. The Selector buttons are a good enhancement for certain kinds of music. But the iFi CAN makes all music enjoyable. Thanks to Tyler over at Crutchfield with his knowledge and guidance we are able to now fully enjoy this amazing piece of audio equipment. It's amazing how you can get good sounding music out of a CAN!

Have questions for
?

Crutchfield response on

Really Hear Music Again

I have severe hearing loss. The combination of a ZEN DAC V2 and the ZEN CAN have made it possible for me to enjoy great music again. With headphones connected to the ZEN CAN I can hear details in recorded music that I would miss even when using my powerful hearing aids. The ZEN CAN has really been great for me.

Have questions for
?

Crutchfield response on

Great Purchase

This really woke up my Sennheiser HD 560S headphones. Even with a high end Alienware PC they were just underpowered. Very pleased with my purchase and Red was super helpful!

Have questions for
?

Crutchfield response on

Awesome

Perfect device for the money. I can't see why anyone would need anything more from a headphone amp.

Have questions for
?

Crutchfield response on

iFi ZEN CAN (Standard Edition)

Weighty= making it sure footed, a quality component, & provides good performance. Thank you.

Have questions for
?

Crutchfield response on

Excellent Headphone Amp

this is excellent headphone amp, I am new to headphones amp, so I have nothing to compare this to, I am using this with Focal Elegia and Maze 99 classics, Focal has benefitted a lot from this amp specially BASS, build quality is top notch, I am using it with iPhone and balance cable back to headphones. I feel I never have to crank up from the 12 o clock position, i looks very cool on desk also. price has been up almost $50 in a year or so which is too much in my opinion. if one need desk amp this one is not bad at all, I debated getting DAC but after some research it feels like over kill even for high res audio, I am using Apple Music lossless which is good enough realistically other than too much hype created for these high res audio equipment. with most people hearing capability lossless audio on headphone more than enough.

Have questions for
?

Crutchfield response on

Great Headphone Amp

Excellent sounding headphone amp. Solid built, great features and looks great. Plenty of power for almost any phones. It really cleans up the high end from distortion caused by low powered built in amps. I paired it wit the ZEN DAC and have no regrets.

Have questions for
?

Crutchfield response on

very impressive

I bought this as a scratch and dent product from Crutchfield with no sign of either on this outstanding amp. My full intention is to rely on the great internal DACs from my Oppo UDP-203 and Integra CD player and this amp is all I needed to feed multiple headphones I own using both balanced and single ended output. I really like the subtle output of the 3D effect offers but find using the XBass boost excessive for my bass-heavy phones. Extremely pleased with my first iFi product!

Have questions for
?

Crutchfield response on

Handsome and Great Sounding

I paired the iFi ZEN CAN with a Musical Fidelity X-LPS phono preamp, Sennheiser HD650 headphones and Teac belt drive turntable. Indeed, a nice upgrade over my old Bravo headphone amp: better sound, comely appearance, additional connections and more controls. Even the brushed aluminum face plate matches the Musical Fidelity X-LPS. The volume knob is smooth and finely calibrated, allowing small volume adjustments. There's plenty of power for the HD650: I use the lowest gain setting (0 dB) and volume is comfortable from 10 to 12:00 o'clock. The ZEN CAN's responsive rendering of dynamics is amazing. It's not as obvious in compressed pop music, but for classical music, I hear a greater range of dynamics than my prior headphone amps. The ZEN CAN is slightly brighter than the Bravo, but not fatiguing. I like the bass boost and spatial expansion of Matrix setting. With that said, the bass without boost engaged is full and natural on most classical and jazz disks, so normally I'd only boost old recordings engineered with weak bass EQ. Build quality is excellent and attractive. Love the aluminum case. The volume knob is great but smaller buttons feel a little loose. The RCA inputs are spaced far enough apart that interconnects with fat plug cases can be used. It gets mildly warm after a session as was the cheap wall wart. All in all a wonderful little preamp: great sound, excellent build quality and handsome.

Have questions for
?

Crutchfield response on

iFi ZEN CAN (Standard Edition)

Very easy to use. Build quality very good. Sounds great. I have a vintage tube preamplifier with no headphones Jack. I connected the Zen Can to my tape output using the RCA jacks and I am able to listen to all my sources. I would recommend this to anyone who wants to listen to headphones with vintage equipment.

Have questions for
?

Crutchfield response on

WOW!

I connected the ZEN CAN to the IFi Audio ZEN DAC v2 and WOW, WOW, WOW!!! I tried it with the Sennheiser 560s headphones (unbalanced), the Sennheiser 660s headphones (balanced), and the Cleer Enduro ANC bluetooth headphones. All three gave me the best sound I've ever had with headphones. It's an amazing duo at a reasonable price. The Zen Can allows you to choose from three inputs: balanced (cable not provided), RCA (cable included) or there is a mini connection if you wanted to hook up a phone or tablet. You can select from three levels of gain and there is a button for Extra bass and for 3D. You can use either one by itself or you can use both together, but I found the sound to be so good that I didn't feel the need for either one. The web site for iFi-audio provides lots of helpful tips and tutorial videos. A truly great sound and a truly great price!

Have questions for
?

Crutchfield response on

iFi ZEN CAN (Standard Edition)

I love using it with my Seinheiser 600x

Have questions for
?

Crutchfield response on

iFi ZEN CAN (Standard Edition)

excellent build quality, the sound quality will please most people for a product in this price range.

Have questions for
?

Crutchfield response on

iFi ZEN CAN (Standard Edition)

Sounded good however, since I didn't keep the headphones that I purchased with this, I returned it as well. Figuring headphones weren't for me.

Have questions for
?

Crutchfield response on

Good sound

Nice packaging, easy hookup. Sounds good even with AKG 240s. Waiting for the dac to go with this combo.

Have questions for
?

Crutchfield response on

Great for the price

I'm just starting to get my feet wet into the audiophile world, but starting small for now. I have the Zen stack (Zen Dac v2 + Zen Can) in balanced mode and couldn't be happier. Using a pair of Focal Elegias with a 4.4mm to 3.5mm balanced headphone cable, I couldn't ask for more in this price point. To think things can only get better from here. The setup is straight forward and zero fuss. With this beginner setup, my mind is made up that I'm ready to go wallet deep into this expensive world. :)

Have questions for
?

Crutchfield response on

iFi ZEN CAN (Standard Edition)

Really enjoy with zen stream and dac, or just with phone.

Have questions for
?

Crutchfield response on

A Purchase Worth Making

For Christmas 2020, I had asked for and received a nice pair of open back headphones. I use these headphones when using my computer. The sound was very neutral (what I wanted), but the bass was lacking. So I started searching for a headphone amp, thinking that would make a positive difference. At the same time, there was a cynical voice in my head that was telling me that the things I was reading about headphone amps was just more hype than substance. The cynical voice was wrong. This headphone amp (the only one I tried) made a real difference in volume levels and REALLY brought out the bass that was lacking from my desktop amp. The feature that convinced me to buy this headphone amp is what iFi calls "XBass". That feature really pumps up the bass, just as advertised. Though I must say, the bass delivered without Xbass is still very good. I also like the ability to punch up the volume using the Gain control without any distortion. I am really happy with this headphone amp. Your experience may vary, but if you are using open backed headphones with a computer and you care about getting the full audio spectrum through your headphones, then I recommend you get a headphone amp. If you don't want to waste time reading reviews and/or buying and testing different headphone amps, then just get this headphone amp and enjoy the sound and life.

Have questions for
?

Crutchfield response on

Great for the price

Loving them paired with my HD 6xx and PC38X. Definitely recommend these for anyone starting out in the audio listening and PC gaming.

Have questions for
?

Crutchfield response on

IFI Zen Can

Love this IFI Zen Can! Nice little base extension.

Have questions for
?

Crutchfield response on

Exceptional Desktop Amp with Lots of Power!

Price to performance it'd be impossible not to rate this 5 stars. I do adore the iFi sound signature, warmer, less analytical but more musical with fuller bodied sounds and notes. The build is sleek and solid. I like the optional filters for bass and for staging but I don't apply them ubiquitously; strictly headphone dependent in my usage. The power on this thing is incredible. For 300 ohm headphones and below you may want to consider a DAC with volume control depending on the sensitivity of your devices. If you use IEMs you'll definitely want to have a way to reduce the volume otherwise you're going to struggle to power match. They drive planars exceptionally well, I was very luke warm on the Sundaras before this amp but the power of the Zen Can really brought out their technical capabilities. Would highly recommend.

Have questions for
?

Crutchfield response on