iFi Zen DAC 3 review: third time's a charm

The iFi catalogue of products is getting bigger, seemingly by the day – but the Zen DAC and its v2 replacement always stood out as representing particularly good value where the price/performance ratio is concerned. 

With this new imaginatively named Zen DAC 3, the company will be hoping to maintain its position as vendors of the best desktop headphone amp/DAC of choice.

Of course, it’s mostly iFi’s own fault that the Zen DAC 3 finds itself up against quite a few worthwhile rivals that have all taken inspiration from the original Zen DAC template. So can lighting strike a third time?

iFi Zen DAC 3: Price & Availability

The Zen DAC 3 is on sale now, and in the United Kingdom it’s priced at £229. In America it sells for $229. While in Australia it goes for AU$229 – which is a rare instance of Southern Hemisphere consumers coming out on top where pricing is concerned.

This is quite a big increase, in percentage terms, over the price of the Zen DAC v2 – so we’re all entitled to expect quite a big increase in performance terms too. Or am I being unreasonable?

iFi Zen DAC 3 review: Features & What's New?

The most obvious way in which the Zen DAC has changed over the product it replaces is in power supply. The switch to a USB-C socket is a welcome one, and there are plenty of circumstances in which it will do just fine for both powering the iFi and accepting digital audio data. 

There’s a 5V power socket for connection to a mains supply, though, of course – powered this way, the USB-C is able to get on with handling data and the result should be a cleaner signal path. There’s no mains adapter in the box, but iFi will happily sell you one for extra.

The data that comes in via the USB-C socket is first processed by a 16-core XMOS microcontroller and then passed to a Burr Brown ‘True Native’ four-channel DAC chipset. It’s dubbed ‘True Native’ because it has separate PCM and DSD pathways, meaning each file type stays in its native form until the moment it’s converted to analogue. As well as 32bit/768kHz PCM and DSD512, the Zen DAC 3 can handle double-speed DXD and is an MQA decoder too. 

Once it’s in the analogue domain, the audio information can be accessed in one of a few ways. At the rear of the chassis there are 4.4mm and stereo RCA outputs, along with a ‘variable/fixed’ switch – once the connection to an amplifier, powered speaker or what-have-you is made, the Zen DAC 3 can act as a preamplifier and control volume (‘variable’) or just as another line-level source (‘fixed’). At the front of the device there are unbalanced 6.3mm and balanced 4.4mm headphone sockets.

It’s possible to finesse (or, at least, fiddle with) the sound of the iFi before the audio information departs, thanks to a couple of processing options. There’s a fascia button marked ‘XBass+’, which (you may not be staggered to learn) intends to enhance the bass output. There's another labelled ‘Power Match’ – this processing occurs at the amplification stage, and is basically a gain boost to help with troublesome headphones.

iFi Zen DAC 3 review: Performance

Ordinarily I like to balance the positives with a negative or two when reviewing audio equipment – but I’ll level with you, in the case of the iFi Zen DAC 3, I’m struggling. The best I can come up with is that it won’t flatter inferior headphones and it can’t make a silk purse out of the sow’s arse that is Spotify’s free tier.

Other than these easily avoided shortcomings, though, the news about the iFi is all good. It’s a splendid device, well worth the price hike over the outgoing Zen DAC v2. In fact, it’s a bit of a bargain.

Tonally it’s just fractionally on the warm side of neutral, but this is an observation much more than it is a criticism. With ‘XBass+’ left well alone the frequency response is beautifully even from the top of the range to the bottom, and integration throughout is seamless. The Zen DAC 3 is balanced enough to hit hard at the bottom end when a recording demands it, but deft enough to identify and integrate all the detail and variation; all the light and shade that’s present in bass information.

In fact, it keeps detail levels high throughout the frequency range, and is just as capable of monitoring the transient occurs as it is keeping on top of the broad strokes. The top end is crisp and bright, but has plenty of substance – so treble sounds bite rather than splash. And in the midrange, the iFi is articulate and expressive enough to let the character and attitude, as well as the basic technique, of any vocalist really shine.

The Zen DAC 3 creates a large and persuasive soundstage – there's also an XSpace feature, which is designed to create a more expansive listening experience in headphones – with plenty of space in which individual elements of a recording can go about their business. Engage XSpace, however, and the big stage gets bigger still, in each direction – although you do sacrifice just a little rigour where layout is concerned.

There’s more than enough power and headroom here to give big dynamic shifts in volume and/or intensity plenty of prominence, and the iFi is able to contextualise the lower-temperature dynamic variations in the harmonics of a voice or an instrument with confidence too. Rhythmic expression is convincing, and overall there’s a nice balance struck between the analysis of a recording and the understanding that it’s a piece of music intended to entertain.

iFi Zen DAC 3 review: Design & Usability

If you’ve seen either of the previous Zen DAC models, then not much about the third incarnation is going to startle you. Design changes, such as they are, are mild.

The basic shape, for instance, fashioned from a single piece of metal, is unchanged. The fascia that’s recessed into it is now two-tone, though, divided through the middle by a strip of ‘sunlit bronze’-coloured material that also circles the five touch-points as it does so. Below this line the iFi is the same grey/silver colour of the main chassis, and above it it’s a little darker and more textured.

The relatively large volume control that’s front and centre is surrounded by a light that changes colour to reflect the file type and size it’s dealing with. This light is just about visible from above the device (which is where you’ll be if it’s on your desktop), but if you’re looking at it from dead-ahead it’s basically invisible. 

At 35 x 158 x 115mm (HxWxD) the Zen DAC 3 is a nice size for both desktop and main system use – it’s not going to get in anyone’s way, but at the same time it has a degree of presence.

As far as usability is concerned, there’s really not much to it. Decide how you’re going to power it, make a connection to get digital audio information on board, and then another to get its analogue equivalent out again. Investigate your processing options and you’re in business. 

iFi Zen DAC 3 review: Verdict

If you want to turn your desktop into a convincing item of audio equipment, or let your laptop/smartphone/whatever hold its own as part of a full-on hi-fi system, the iFi Zen DAC 3 is one of the very best solutions this sort of money can buy. It's an exponential improvement over the (still really very good) Zen DAC v2.

Also consider

In all honesty, if you want to improve on the Zen DAC 3 it’s going to cost you. The first meaningful upgrade over the iFi is probably the brilliant Chord Mojo 2 – but it’s another three figures of cash on the price of the Zen DAC 3, minimum.