iFi audio ZEN CAN Signature Premium Desk-Fi Headphone Amplifier

Audiophiles and music enthusiasts looking for clean power for their headphones will be thrilled with the iFi audio ZEN CAN Signature, a premium Desk-Fi headphone amplifier that's designed for IEMs and headphones with audiophile-grade components for superior sound.

Audiophiles and music enthusiasts looking for clean power for their headphones will be thrilled with the iFi audio ZEN CAN Signature, a premium Desk-Fi headphone amplifier that's designed for IEMs and headphones with audiophile-grade components for superior sound.

The ZEN CAN Signature utilizes premium components throughout to ensure high quality sound. The unit offers four gain settings, allowing you to drive most headphones and in-ear monitors. Input connections include a balanced 4.4mm line input, as well as unbalanced 3.5mm and stereo RCA line inputs. For outputs, the ZEN CAN Signature includes a 4.4mm balanced and a 1/4" single-ended headphone output, as well as a balanced 4.4mm line output for connecting to additional equipment such as the ZEN DAC Signature V2 (sold separately). The ZEN CAN Signature also includes XBass, an analog bass boost, and XSpace, an analog headphone spatializer.

Enhanced Circuitry, Premium Components, Signature Sound

• The ZEN CAN Signature is an all-analog headphone amplifier that excels at driving demanding headphone loads with its balanced circuit design, extremely low distortion, and exceptional sonics. It features enhanced circuitry and audiophile-grade components.
• The balanced, symmetrical dual-mono circuitry can deliver 1890mW (11.0V) into 64-ohm loads and offer over 15V to loads of 600 ohms or higher, all through its balanced output.

Ample Power

• Laptops and smartphones typically have a low power output of less than 1.0V. With a quality pair of headphones, you often find yourself running out of power, never truly experiencing their full potential.
• Connect your laptop, phone, or DAC to the ZEN CAN Signature, and plug in your headphones. Delivering 50 times more power, you'll finally hear what you've been missing.
• The ZEN CAN Signature offers more than just power it also delivers warm and exceptional sound quality. This is thanks to its Class-A balanced discrete circuitry, inherited from the flagship Pro iCAN headphone amplifier.

3 Inputs, 3 Outputs, Free to Connect

• The ZEN CAN Signature offers a range of input options, including stereo RCA, 3.5mm single-ended, and 4.4mm balanced inputs, making it versatile enough to connect with your laptops, phones, or DACs.
• For output, it provides a 4.4mm balanced option for headphones that support balanced connections. It also features a 6.3mm jack for headphones with standard single-ended connectors. If you're using earphones with a 3.5mm plug, a 3.5mm to 6.3mm adapter is included.
• The unit also includes an analog balanced output on the back panel, ideal for connecting active speakers via a 4.4mm to XLR adapter. As the ZEN CAN Signature is fully balanced and dual-mono circuit design, this is the recommended output option.

No Pain, Just Gain and Bass

• The ZEN CAN Signature offers multiple customization options to suit a wide range of headphones.
• Starting with PowerMatch, the unit provides four gain settings in six dB steps: 0, 6, 12, and 18 dB. This feature ensures compatibility from supersensitive IEMs to power-hungry headphones. We recommend starting at 0 dB and then gradually adjusting the switchable gain level to find your optimal volume for both enjoyment and comfort.
• It also features two analog processing modes, XSpace and XBass, designed to enhance the soundstage, and low-frequency response of your headphones. XBass tackles a common problem, particularly with open-back headphones: the loss of bass frequencies.

Premium Inside and Out

The ZEN CAN Signature employs a military-spec PCB to enhance signal integrity. It also incorporates audiophile-grade components, such as:

• ELNA Silmic II and OS-CON capacitors offer excellent noise reduction capabilities and frequency characteristics.
• iFi/AMR OV (Operationsverstärker) series op-amps provide low noise and distortion, delivering performance that equals or surpasses many high-end headphone amplifiers.

Unlike other headphone amplifiers that come with standard power supplies like those for notebooks, the ZEN CAN Signature includes the iFi iPower2 power supply. This features Active Noise Cancellation II to eliminate all incoming EMI and RFI noise, ensuring a clean and clear audio experience. The iPower2 is already exceptional, being more than 10 times quieter than standard power supplies. For those looking to further enhance their setup, consider the DC iPurifier2, which can further reduce system interference, as well as the iPowerX power supply.

Audiophile Components

Balanced Audio Circuit

• A fully discrete and balanced amplifier audio circuit.
• Full symmetric dual-mono headphone amplifier with gold-plated 4.4mm balanced connection.
• Premium engineering is more expensive but lowers the noise floor to a whisper-quiet levels.

OV Series Op-Amp

• iFi audio incorporated a custom OV Series operational-amplifier.
• This top-notch component contributes to the extremely low noise, low distortion (0.0001%), and wide bandwidth.

TOCOS Multitrack Potentiometer

• A Tokyo Cosmos Electric Co. (TOCOS) multitrack potentiometer is used. This has close channel-matching tolerance for optimal performance (always use above 11 o'clock).

MOSFET

• Switching between settings has been engineered to ensure sonic transparency with advanced trench technology MOSFET is used as a muting switch.
• This FET-based switching is handled by a microcontroller, which only wakes up when the user changes a setting, thus eradicating any sonically deleterious interference.

TDK Capacitors

• 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.

Panasonic OS-CON

• Panasonic OS-CON caps totaling 5410 uF give very low Equivalent Series Resistance (ESR), and excellent noise reduction capability and frequency response characteristics. In addition, OS-CONs have a long lifespan, and its ESR changes little even at low temperatures, since the electrolyte is solid.

ELNA Japan Silmic II Capacitors

• iFi Audio uses ELNA Japan Silmic II capacitors for the power supplies.
• The primary constituent of the newly developed dielectric is silk fiber.
• This material was believed to be as unfathomable as an aluminum electrolytic capacitor.
• The new material beats silk fiber and mixes it with Manila hemp fiber to provide the dielectric to an aluminum electrolytic capacitor used for high-grade music.
• The result is second-to-none superior acoustic properties and excellent linearity.