iFi AUDIO ZEN Blue Bluetooth Music Receiver

1 Year Official Warranty by iFi Malaysia
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iFi AUDIO Zen Blue

Product description 

For many audio manufacturers, Bluetooth reception represents a mere convenience, incorporated in the cheapest way possible to simply ‘tick a box’. But the manner in which Bluetooth is implemented, the quality of the audio processing and the circuitry that surrounds it, has a big impact on performance. Not all Bluetooth sounds the same, and iFi engineers its products to obtain the best sound from every source – Bluetooth reception included.

With the ZEN Blue, this starts with a chip from Qualcomm’s highly specified QCC5100 series to process the incoming data. All the latest Bluetooth audio formats are supported, including Qualcomm’s aptX and aptX HD; LDAC (available in future update) and HWA – hi-res Bluetooth codecs created by Sony and Huawei respectively; AAC, the favoured format of Apple iOS devices; and SBC, the standard Bluetooth codec. This means every possible source device is covered, at the highest resolution its Bluetooth specification allows.

The ZEN Blue remembers up to seven paired Bluetooth source devices, making it easy to switch from one device to another, with impressive range thanks to the latest Bluetooth 5 specification. The DAC stage is capable of processing hi-res PCM data up to 24-bit/192kHz – the maximum sampling resolution/frequency currently available over Bluetooth is 24-bit/96kHz (via LDAC and HWA) and 24-bit/48kHz (via aptX HD).

Product Highlights :

High-Quality Components

The ZEN Blue has separate digital and analogue stages; to feed the analogue stage, the processed digital signal is routed from the QCC5100 to a specialised DAC chip from ESS Technology’s Sabre family to convert the signal from digital to analogue.

Other high-quality circuit components include C0G capacitors from TDK and a precision low-noise power supply IC from Texas Instruments. It all adds up to a super-affordable Bluetooth DAC with a sound that punches well above its weight.

Let's connect

The ZEN Blue can be used to add high-quality Bluetooth reception to any audio system via analogue or digital cable connections. On the analogue side, RCA stereo outputs allow connection to amplifiers, active speakers and the like, while a 4.4mm output enables balanced signal transfer to amps/speakers with a balanced input – either a 4.4mm input, or XLR inputs via a 4.4mm to XLR cable.

For digital connections, optical and coaxial outputs are provided – these allow connection to anything with a built-in DAC and corresponding digital input, such as an AV amp or an external hi-fi DAC.

The design

This is the first iFi product to benefit from the input of legendary John Curl, who has teamed up with iFi’s electronics design team, led by Technical Director Thorsten Loesch, to ensure the circuit design of every product is fully optimised.

The ZEN Blue’s analogue output stage is a balanced design –highly unusual in a DAC anywhere close to its cost. It incorporates a range of high-quality circuit components, carefully selected for their performance in an audio context, including professional-grade balanced line drivers, C0G capacitors from TDK and a precision low-noise power supply IC from Texas Instruments.

Tech Specifications

Power: DC 5V

Input: Bluetooth 5.0TM with AAC, aptX, aptX HD, LDAC (available in future update), HWA Codec

Output: Optical/Coaxial, Audio RCA L/R, 4.4 Balanced Lineout

Frequency Response: 20Hz – 20kHz <+0/-0.5dB (44.1kHz)1Hz – 44khz <+0/-3.0dB (>= 88.2kHz)

Output Voltage @ 0dBFS: 2.05V (+/-0.05V)

Dynamic Range: 109dB (A)

Signal/Noise ratio: 109dB (A) @ 0dBFS

THD & N @ 0dBFS: < 0.0015% 10k Load

In the box

• iFi AUDIO ZEN Blue Bluetooth Music Receiver

• Antenna

• Power Adapter

• Limited 1-Year Warranty