iFi ZEN One Signature DAC with Hi-Res Bluetooth 96kHz, USB, S/PDIF, DSD compatible, MQA

iFi audio has launched a new best DAC ZEN One Signature with a variety of connectivity options including USB protocol, S/PDIF port, and Bluetooth. The digital audio hub is improved from the foundation of ZEN DAC V2 (REVIEW) and ZEN Blue 2.

iFi ZEN One Signature will only act as a digital to analog audio converter (no built-in amp and volume control), so it will ensure the cleanest and most stable signal processing. ZEN One Signature USB DAC is well compatible with a wide range of devices from smartphones, tablets, PCs, Macs, CD/Blu-ray players… to make audio hubs output signals to speaker systems, or as audio servers for TVs and consoles console games like PS4 and PS5.

ZEN One Signature features

• Compatible with Hi-Res music quality DSD256, PCM384, MQA384kHz.
• Hi-Res Bluetooth 96kHz support with LDAC, HWA/LHDC, aptX Adaptive/HD/LL, AAC, SBC codecs
• USB-Audio protocol with 16-core 2000MIPS XMOS chipset ultra-low latency, support MQA decoding
• There is a balanced 4.4mm output
• As a pure DAC, there is no built-in amp and volume control to maintain the highest stability when decoding the signal
• Integrated HD Bluetooth technology for stable connection quality from all sources, comes with a high-gain Bluetooth antenna to increase reception range
• Equipped with a GMT femto-precision pulse counter (nominal efficiency >20dB) with its own customizable digital filter to combat interference or signal variation effects
• The optical/coaxial S/PDIF port supports 32-bit/192kHz PCM and MQA signal quality
• Using high-end components such as C0G capacitors, MELF resistors, Taiyo Yuden/Murata coils for excellent performance at an acceptable price
• Equipped with Qualcomm QCC5100 Bluetooth chipset with exclusive iFi Bluetooth Engine circuit design to enhance connectivity and signal processing, well compatible with aptX-Adaptive/aptX-HD codecs (up to 48kHz), LDAC and LHDC ( up to 96kHz), aptX-Classic/aptX-Low Latency, AAC (iOS devices) and SBC (for standard Bluetooth connected devices).
• iFi Bluetooth Engine supports OTA (over-the-air) updates to support new codecs in the future
• The Burr-Brown True Native®️ chipset enables bit-perfect signal processing to preserve the details in the music
• The power supply unit is equipped with high-grade ELNA Japan Silmic II capacitors for the stable load current

Price and availability

iFi ZEN One Signature DAC has been priced at $349 and is already available to buy via the Amazon.com, Bhphotovideo.com, and Adorama.com websites.

ZEN One Signature specifications

• Power: DC 5V (centre battery +ve)
• Input: USB3.0 Type B (USB2.0 compatible)
• S/PDIF ( coaxial, TOSLINK optical)
• Bluetooth 5.1 (aptX, aptX HD, aptX Adaptive) , aptX LL, LDAC, LHDC/HWA, AAC and SBC codec)
• Supported music formats: PCM: 44.1/48/88.2/96/176.4/192kHz
• DSD: 2.8/3.1/5.6/6.1/11.3/12.3MHz
• DXD: 352.8/384kHz
• MQA: support for direct decoding
• Bluetooth: 96kHz
• Chipset: Bit-Perfect Qualcomm DSD & DXD DAC Burr-Brown
• QCC 5100 Series
• Analog Output: Coaxial, Audio RCA L/R
• 4.4 Balanced Line-out
• Frequency response: 5Hz – 80kHz ±3dB
• Output: 4V / 2V max. (BAL/UnBAL) Output
• Impedance: ≤72Ω/36Ω (BAL/UnBAL)
• SNR: -105dB(A) @ 0dBFS (BAL/UnBAL)
• THD + N: <0.002% @ 0dBFS (BAL/UnBAL) Dissipated
• Energy No Signal ~0.7W/Max Signal ~1W
• Dimensions: 158 x 100 x 35 mm
• Weight: 485g