Signature Sound. Tailored by iFi.
The ZEN CAN Signature is an upgraded version of the original, award-winning ZEN CAN headphone amplifier.
Design for IEMs and headphones with audiophile-grade components for superior sound.
Enhanced circuitry. Premium components. Signature Sound.
The original ZEN CAN, our all-analogue headphone amplifier, excelled at driving demanding headphone loads with its balanced circuit design, extremely low distortion, and exceptional sonics. The ZEN CAN Signature takes this design further, featuring enhanced circuitry and audiophile-grade components.
Its 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.
Why ZEN CAN Signature? Because More Power Matters.
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.
However, the ZEN CAN Signature offers more than just power; it also delivers warm and exceptional sound quality. This is thanks to its Class A discrete balanced circuitry, inherited from the flagship Pro iCAN headphone amplifier.
3 In, 3 Out. 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 available, so there’s no need to worry.
The unit also includes an analogue 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 customisation options to suit a wide range of headphones.
Starting with PowerMatch, the unit provides four gain settings in six dB steps: 0dB, 6dB, 12dB, and 18dB. This feature ensures compatibility from super-sensitive IEMs to power-hungry headphones. We recommend starting at 0dB and then gradually adjusting the switchable gain level to find your optimal volume for both enjoyment and comfort.
It also features two analogue 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.
- For more details, refer to the photo below.
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.
The Signature brothers.
If you’re looking to upgrade your Desk-Fi system to support high-resolution music files up to 32-bit/384kHz, DSD256, and MQA, the ZEN DAC Signature V2 is the ideal companion for the ZEN CAN Signature. This device can serve as a pure DAC, enhancing your audio experience.
To set it up, simply connect your laptop to the USB Digital Input on the ZEN DAC Signature V2. Then, link it to the ZEN CAN Signature using either RCA cables or an iFi 4.4 to 4.4 cable. We highly recommend using the 4.4 to 4.4 cable for optimal performance. Once connected, you can enjoy high-resolution music files seamlessly.
Most modern systems use Digital Signal Processing. DSP samples analogue sound waves into a limited set of numbers and records them. The overuse of DSP can result in an over compressed unnatural sound and the translation and reassembly of data make digital devices prone to loss of quality.
All iFi products use Analogue Signal Processing as we believe it is better suited to audio. ASP does not cause signal quality to be lost as it records waveforms as they are and produces a more natural sound.
Gain is the amount of increase in audio signal strength. Gain is often expressed in decibels (dB).
So, what is a soundstage? Imagine yourself in a small theatre, 10 rows from the front, dead centre, watching an orchestra perform on stage. Now close your eyes. This is the ‘sound stage.’
In audio speak, it is an imaginary 3D space created by the high-quality reproduction of sound in a stereo speaker system. In other words, the soundstage allows the listener to hear the placement of the orchestra vis-a-vis instruments when listening to a given piece of music.
An unbalanced headphone cable has a left + and right + wire, for each respective side. The other, the third – wire is shared by both left and right channels. As this is shared, this gives rise to undesired coupling noise which is commonly referred to as ‘crosstalk.’
A balanced cable has the same left + and right +. But it has a separate left – and right -. With totally separate wiring ‘crosstalk’ is negligible. Therefore, a balanced connection is the superior headphone wiring configuration.
