IFI Audio Zen Blue 3

IFI Audio have knocked out some pretty good DAC’s at fair price points, having won multiple awards for units under £200. With a focus on quality engineering and wired connections, their devices have a habit of ensuring your audio comes out crisp and clear, just as the artist intended. This is the first wireless DAC of theirs I’ve had the pleasure of reviewing (definitely not in the under £200 range this one!), having just dealt with the wired versions in the past and, it’s fair to say, I’m impressed, mainly due to the addition of aptX Lossless.

What’s that then? It’s a Bluetooth Codec that boasts a bitrate of 1200 kbps and is the first and only codec that can transmit CD quality audio without losing data through compression. Considering how much IFI Audio care about getting their sound quality spot on, the very fact that they are happy launching a DAC with wireless connectivity speaks volumes of what this codec can achieve. For those that don’t yet have aptX Lossless, they’ve also got backwards compatibility covered with all the major Current Bluetooth codecs able to work on this unit. So, just connect the Zen Blue 3 to your player and hook up your headphones/speakers/ear buds/whatever as you normally do with Bluetooth and away you go. No more wired connection dictating where you or your DAC sits, enjoy the freedom!

There’s more than just the Bluetooth however. You can still connect with wired devices if you wish with 96kHz/24 bit audio with a USB-C connection or 192kHz/24 bit audio with SPDIF via 4.4 balanced or RCA analogue and if you have a balanced audio set up you’ll get significantly reduced signal noise and crosstalk between channels due to the balanced circuitry. There’s not much more you could want form a DAC in all honesty and it’s really not that expensive either, sweet! RRP £299

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