Purity of design, no headphone amp, no volume control. The ultimate DAC for all your home audio sources. HD Bluetooth Furthermore, as part of iFi’s “Signature” tier of components, this DAC receives several internal upgrades over the “standard” ZEN components, like upgraded capacitors for greater linearity, and upgraded resistors for low noise, amongst other things. There were well over 45 feet in distance between the two and that is more than enough to transmit music from a phone or a tablet with LDAC while sitting on your favorite chair or couch. Wired Connectivity USB-DAC Normally, I wouldn’t even consider powering a DAC connected to my hi-fi setup with USB power, partly because my Maingear Vybe PC is the one component in my system not connected to my SurgeX power conditioner, but also because the USB power from my PC is just inherently filthy. Nearly every DAC I’ve ever tried to power via a USB connection to my computer in this setup invariably sounded a little noisy, a little grainy, a little rough. We also appreciate the company for giving the product a 12-month warranty for convenience. Hands-on with the ifi Zen One Signature DAC

The Zen series is known for its balanced circuitry, and the Zen One Signature DAC continues this legacy. It has an ideal circuit design with Signature-grade circuit components to deliver unparalleled sonic purity with minimal distortion. iFi Audio says that this is for two reasons. The first is their ‘innate musicality’ (and whatever your take on a statement of that nature, there is an argument that some of my favourite devices use this silicone). The second is that the models of DAC they use have ‘dual native’ architecture which handles PCM and DSD separately rather than either converting straight to PCM or using the same architecture for both streams. Having selected this, iFi goes about doing what it has done with all the other products we’ve seen. The DAC is not the whole story, merely part of it. The circuit that the One Signature employs is a collection of carefully chosen components that ensure, over the circuit as a whole. The ZEN One Signature covers most digital formats out there. It also does so at a hardware level since there’s so much processing power within the XMOS 16 core and Burr-Brown combo. The manufacturer iFi Audio is launching the "Zen Air" series with four new devices, all of which aim at being scaled-down and more affordable versions of the Zen series.The analogue connections are pretty straight forwards, the 4.4mm gives you a balanced output which you can connect to an external amplifier (headphone or speaker), although you will need to supply the cable, either a 4.4mm to 4.4mm or 4.4mm to dual XLR, depending on the input of the amplifier.

built-in Bluetooth 5.1supported codecs: aptX®, aptX HD, aptX Adaptive, aptX LL, LDAC, LHDC/HWA, AAC and SBC Making full use of Qualcomm’s latest four-core QCC5100 Bluetooth processing chip, every current high definition Bluetooth audio format is supported, including aptX Adaptive and aptX HD, LDAC and HWA/LHDC. Other codecs covered include regular aptX and aptX Low Latency, AAC and SBC (the ‘plain vanilla’ Bluetooth codec).At the front are buttons for powering up/down and switching between the USB, S/PDIF and Bluetooth inputs, alongside colour-changing LEDs to indicate the incoming audio format and sample rate. A further button switches the LEDs on or off, as well as activating the Bluetooth pairing mode. Three inputs are plenty enough for me. You could run your headphone amp off the balanced side while running a speaker amplifier off the RCA. Then you could connect a PC through the USB-C port, a Television using its optical out plus a Bluetooth signal from a phone or tablet. The ZEN One Signature sports the same 158x35x100mm aluminium enclosure as the rest of the ZEN range, finished in Deep Space Blue – the colour iFi uses to differentiate its Signature-level models – rather than the grey finish of the regular ZEN Series devices. This is complemented by dark grey front and rear panels (silver-coloured on the standard versions) and blue controls. The Zen One Signature is Bluetooth 5.1-compliant and up to eight paired Bluetooth source devices can be stored in memory, making it easy to switch from one device to another. How does the Zen One Signature differ from its ‘regular’ Zen device counterparts? Well, iFi's entry level Zen series introduced the benefits of balanced circuit design (lower noise, greater sonic purity) at affordable prices, but the Signature-level Zens, such as the Zen DAC Signature and Zen Can Signature, should further up the ante with their enhanced true-differential balanced topologies – and the Zen One Signature is no exception. From input to output, iFi assures us every element of its circuitry is designed for pure performance.

While I used the Quintet a lot, I also used the KPH40, the Hifiman HE1000se, the Sennheiser IE600, the Hifiman Svanar and the Hifiman Edition XS, all of which are headphones/IEMs that are easily driven and, in most cases, reflective of sources (at least in my brain). Described as a ‘universal DAC’ owing to its all-encompassing input options, the ZEN One Signature takes the DAC stage from the ZEN DAC V2, adds S/PDIF inputs (optical and coaxial) alongside the USB port, stirs in Bluetooth technology from the ZEN Blue V2 and seasons the pot with Signature-grade circuit enhancements to create a delicious audio brew. The result is a pure DAC (no built-in headphone amp or volume control) that serves as a home audio hub for all your digital devices, from smartphones and tablets to PCs and Macs, disc players and audio servers to TVs and games consoles. However obviously and once again, the volume knob was omitted so bear in mind also that both outputs are fixed and therefore volume must be controlled at the amplifier.As with all iFi products that I have had my hands on, it is well built and shows no signs of corners being cut in the construction. Despite having a laundry-list of digital smarts and seemingly complex capabilities, the ZEN One Signature DAC is extremely simple to use on a daily basis. It really is a simple plug-and-play device once you have it hooked-up to your inputs and amplifier of choice, and it doesn’t get any more complicated than pressing the input switch to change sources between USB, SPDIF and Bluetooth. Listening to the ZEN One Signature DAC On the issue of less, the Zen DAC Signature eliminates all the headphone features included in the original Zen DAC. Gone are the “True Bass” and “Power Match” buttons and the headphone connections. The reasoning behind this is that it allows iFi to devote more fiscal resources to the other parts of the circuit (and opens the door for a new separate Zen Signature headphone unit). So, if your intention is to have a unit with DAC, preamplifier, and headphone amplifier functions, the Zen DAC Signature won’t cut it.