In review: ifi Zen Air DAC 2
A $129 DAC doesn’t sound like it could do very much to your music. The iFi Zen Air DAC 2, however, is something different and, dare I say, well worth the price. Basically, this is a USB-C DAC for your desktop. It supports RCA out for speakers as well as 1/4-inch and balanced headphone outputs. When you plug in a pair of good headphones or monitors you essentially get a surprisingly good audio system with lots of headroom and plenty of detail. Housed in iFi’s familiar curved desktop chassis, the ZEN Air DAC 2 strips away some of the premium materials found in the company’s higher-end models while retaining the core audio technology that made the original ZEN series popular among headphone enthusiasts. Basically it’s a plastic box clad in rubber which doesn’t give a premium vibe but is definitely cool looking.
At the heart of the ZEN Air DAC 2 is a Burr-Brown True Native DAC chip paired with a 16-core XMOS USB processor. This combination allows the unit to handle PCM files up to 32-bit/384kHz, native DSD256, DXD, and MQA content. Unlike many entry-level DACs that convert everything to a single format internally, the Burr-Brown architecture preserves the original data stream, helping maintain the character of the source material. The ZEN Air DAC 2 functions as both a standalone DAC and a headphone amplifier. A front-mounted 1/4-inch headphone jack is paired with an analog volume control, while rear RCA outputs allow the unit to feed powered speakers or an external amplifier. PowerMatch gain adjustment helps users match the amplifier output to different headphones, whether they are using sensitive in-ear monitors or more demanding over-ear designs. One of the most useful features is XBass+, iFi’s analog bass enhancement circuit. Rather than using digital signal processing, XBass+ adds low-frequency weight through an analog circuit that can help compensate for headphones that sound thin or lack extension in the lower registers. The effect is subtle enough for daily listening and can add welcome warmth to smaller headphones without overwhelming the rest of the frequency range. In use, the ZEN Air DAC delivers the smooth, slightly warm sound signature that has become associated with iFi products. Vocals sound natural, instruments retain good separation, and the presentation avoids the harshness sometimes found in budget DACs. While it lacks the outright power and refinement of more expensive desktop amplifiers, it offers a substantial improvement over the audio outputs built into most laptops, desktop computers, and gaming systems.
I compared the Zen Air with the Fosi Audio ZH3 and there was honestly no contest. Bass was deeper, resolution was better, and, as you’d expect, the ZH3 was $100 more expensive than the Zen Air. That said, the Zen Air performed admirably in comparison to the ZH3 and an older tube DAC I use but, in the end, you get what you pay for.
The ZEN Air DAC is aimed at listeners taking their first steps into dedicated desktop audio. It combines broad format support, solid headphone performance, and useful analog features in an affordable package. For anyone looking to improve their listening experience without building a complicated audio system, it remains one of the strongest values in the entry-level DAC and headphone amplifier category. The bottom line? Plugging this into your computer and adding a nice pair of entry-level headphones will change your life when it comes to digital audio. It’s a great first step for anyone wondering what the fuss is about when it comes to dedicated audio hardware and it’s well worth the price of admission.
SpecsDAC Bit-Perfect DSD & DXD DAC by Burr Brown DIMENSIONS 158 x 117 x 35 mm DNRLine Section: 44.1/48/88.2/96/176.4/192/352.8/384kHz PCM 2.8/3.1/5.6/6.2/11.2/12.4MHz DSD INPUT USB2.0 B Socket INPUT VOLTAGE DC 5V/2.5A NET WEIGHT 315 g
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How to break free
“When you're going through hell, keep going." This podcast is about failure and how it breeds success. Every week, we talk to remarkable people who have accomplished great things but have also faced failure along the way. By exploring their experiences, we can learn how to build, succeed, and stay humble. We are actively looking for sponsors. If you’d like to reach over 200,000 readers monthly, Keep Going is the perfect opportunity. Check out our one-pager here. If you’d like to appear on either show, email john@biggs.cc.
Melissa Banks spent 17 years in an abusive marriage before she rebuilt her life from scratch. No money. No plan. Two sons depending on her. What came next became a lesson in something most people miss when they talk about success. Success is rarely a clean break. It is usually a slow crawl out of fear. On this week’s episode of Keep Going, Melissa talks about leaving abuse, learning how to speak up again, and building an event planning business after losing everything. “I believed that I was nothing,” she said. “I believed that someone else had to control my mind because that was what I was told for over 17 years.” That damage does not disappear overnight. Melissa described the strange process of learning how to trust herself again. First she decorated rooms for family and friends. Then she started charging for it. Then she had to learn something even harder, valuing her own work. “Doing it for free was the easy part,” she said. “When you was trying to charge for it, it became a bit of a challenge.” What stood out in the conversation was how practical her advice became. There was no fantasy about instant success. She talked about systems. Contracts. Pricing. Schedules. Learning skills properly instead of pretending you already know everything. When she started her decorating company, she signed up for classes because she wanted to understand the work deeply. “Don’t just wing it,” she said. “Learn the industry.” Then the pandemic arrived and destroyed the in-person event business almost overnight. Instead of treating it as the end, she pivoted into virtual events, books, speaking, and media work. That shift became another lesson. The thing that feels like collapse is sometimes just a forced change in direction. One of the strongest parts of the interview came when Melissa described being a single mother with no place to live. She talked about asking for help, finding an apartment she did not want but turning it into a home, and writing down what she wanted her future to look like even when nothing around her matched it yet. That mattered because her story is not really about motivation. It is about momentum. She believes people wait too long for confidence before they act. Her argument is almost the reverse. You move first. Confidence follows later. “Don’t wait for everything to be perfect for you to take that step,” she said. “You will stumble. Forgive yourself for stumbling. And keep going.” Melissa’s upcoming memoir, The Life I Designed, comes out in October. The title fits the conversation perfectly. Her life was not handed to her in a finished form. She had to build it piece by piece, often while exhausted, scared, and unsure of what would happen next. A lot of people think reinvention belongs to younger people. Melissa’s story argues the opposite. Reinvention belongs to anybody willing to keep moving after the world tells them to stop. You can check out all of Melissa’s work on her jam-packed website and book some time with her here. You’re currently a free subscriber to Keep Going - A Guide to Unlocking Success. For the full experience, upgrade your subscription. If you’ve been reading or listening to Keep Going for free, you’ve already seen the value of having independent work that isn’t shaped by corporate sponsors or the news cycle’s noise. But independence has a cost. If you find something useful here, if these words make you pause or think, I’m asking you to step up. A few dollars each month means I can keep doing this work without compromise. Without your support, this project stays fragile, balanced on the backs of a few.
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