Today the world is busy, fast and full of noise. We know the power of music and how it can take you out of this world to a new place. A quiet place, where melodies move you and voices bring tears to your eyes. The incomparable clarity of the ZEN CAN 3 envelops you with pure, unadulterated emotion. Listen to the crack of a voice, the crescendo of a choir, the delicate whisper of a piano: every note and nuance is expressed with breathtaking precision. The ZEN CAN 3 ignites late-night listening sessions with its ability to drive headphones effortlessly, from xMEMS-based IEMs, an innovative micro-speaker technology that pushes the limits of headphone performance, to high-end planars, delivering up to 2000 mW of output power through the same Class A circuitry found in our flagship iCAN Phantom.
The 2° flat phase response for more accurate sound reproduction +/- 1° phase matching for more accurate spatial sound, its silicone speaker diaphragm, 95 times stiffer than plastic, for reduced speaker breakage and a less cloudy midrange. By incorporating the pioneering xMEMS amplification first found in the flagship iDSD Diablo-X, the ZEN CAN 3 can deliver the voltage necessary for the optimal performance of this cutting-edge technology, bringing the power of xMEMS to a whole new audience and ensuring you are ready for the future as it happens.
have you ever experienced watching an exciting scene and then having difficulty hearing what the characters are saying? This is a frustration shared by many, as streamed content often has dialogue that gets lost amidst the background sounds and music. Enter Movie Mode, an equaliser specifically designed to address the clarity of dialogue in broadcast content, allowing you to fully immerse yourself in the narrative without straining to hear or decipher what is being said. The game mode directly meets the needs of those who are constantly looking for some advantage to be gained in competitive play. Players understand the importance of listening for even the faintest sounds that may reveal an opponent's position or signal an approaching threat. The Game Mode equaliser enhances this aspect of gameplay by sharpening subtle, low-level sound effects, ensuring that each sound becomes more distinctive and easier to identify. Whether you're navigating through intense firefights or sneaking up on enemies, this increased audio sensitivity allows you to stay one step ahead of your opponents.
With its impressive 2000 mW output power, the ZEN CAN 3 offers a significant improvement in the way you experience music through headphones, with unprecedented clarity and headroom. Its ability to handle dynamic peaks with ease means you can experience music as it was meant to be heard: vivid, immersive and deeply moving. It means more than just volume: it's about feeling the music resonate through you, stirring your soul and creating a connection that transcends mere sound. Whether it's flat magnetic headphones that require more power to operate accurately or high-impedance models that need ample current delivery, the ZEN CAN 3 is up to the challenge.
The ZEN CAN 3 features discrete Class A balanced circuitry from our flagship headphone amplifier. The circuitry is based on carefully selected premium components from Panasonic, TDK, MELF, Texas Instruments and muRata. The amplifier stage features iFi/AMR's own 'OV' (Operationsverstärker) series operational amplifiers, which outperform commercial chips using low-grade copper and inexpensive aluminium link cables. The performance of the ZEN CAN 3 can be optionally upgraded by powering it with an ultra-quiet power supply. SilentPower iPower2 delivers 10 times quieter performance than other audiophile solutions, ensuring that the clarity you crave is never compromised.
Unlike other audiophile offerings, all functions of the ZEN CAN 3 are performed with analogue circuitry, as opposed to digital signal processing (DSP), where the audio signal is manipulated before it is converted into true analogue sound. In contrast, the ZEN CAN 3 takes advantage of the natural benefits of analogue circuitry: it maintains the integrity of the sound, introduces less phase shift and distortion, and features a more natural-sounding frequency setting. IFi's signature analogue bass enhancement, XBass+, is designed to make bass sound louder without compromising midrange clarity - perfect for when listening with IEMs or open headphones that lack bass response. XSpace recreates the wide soundstage of the speakers, transforming headphone listening from confined and 'inside your head' to natural and spacious. This technology brings music to life, delivering a concert-like sound experience without losing any detail or resolution, all achieved through our innovative circuit design.
The XBass analogue bass correction system corrects the missing bass response of the headphones/speakers. As with many other iFi audio products, we have incorporated a custom OV series operational amplifier. This premium component contributes to the extremely low noise, low distortion (0.0001%) and wide bandwidth. A multi-track potentiometer from Tokyo Cosmos Electric Co (TOCOS) is used. It has a tight channel-matching tolerance for optimum performance (always use it above 11 o'clock).
TDK C0G (Class 1 ceramic) capacitors offer high stability and low losses for resonant circuit applications. Closer and closer to the theoretical ideal of pure constant-frequency capacitance, these capacitors reduce capacitor-induced distortion to extremely low levels. Texas Instruments low noise ICs offer high unity gain bandwidth, very low noise and distortion, high output unity capability, power supply and common mode rejection ratios of over 100 dB, wide maximum output swing bandwidths, and high response rates. Class A Discrete is a circuit that came directly from iFi's flagship headphone amplifier, the iCAN Phantom, which is 16 times the price of the ZEN CAN 3.
Features:
- High quality headphone amplifier.
- Analogue inputs: Stereo RCA, balanced mini-jack 4.4mm and stereo 3.5mm mini-jack.
- Analogue outputs: Balanced line mini-jack 4.4mm, balanced headphone 4.4mm and stereo 6.3mm headphone jack.
- Output power (RMS) Balanced: 2,000mW @ 64O and normal: 1,600mW @ 32O.
- Output impedance: Balanced
- Total Harmonic Distortion: Balanced
- XMEMS: >21Vpp (Balanceda 4.4mm), 22O, 11V DC Bias.
- Signal to noise ratio: Balanced >125dB and normal >122dB.
- Output level: 4Vrms (0dB 200kO load).
- Impedance output:
- Frequency response: 10Hz-200kHz (-3dB).
- Dimensions: 158 x 117 x 35mm.
- Weight: 495 grams.
