Specs
- Outputs : Optical/COAX, RCA, 4.4mm balanced
- Frequency response : 1-44kHz
- SNR : 109dB
- THD+N : 0.0015%
- Output voltage : 2.05V
Design
The ZEN Blue is one of only two products in iFi’s ZEN lineup thus far, with the other being the previously reviewed ZEN DAC. Design-wise the ZEN Blue is practically identical to the ZEN DAC apart from the actual functions and ports. It too features a brushed metal panel on the front as well as the rear, and the main outer casing also features a dark metallic-grey finish. Although, the exact shade of grey is a little bit different as the one on the ZEN Blue almost seems to have a slightly warmer undertone. This slight difference in colour is something I had also seen on some of iFi’s other products such as the iTube 2, iCAN 2, and iDAC. I hardly think such a relatively miniscule difference is done intentionally, and may in fact point perhaps to a very slight quality control issue in the manufacturing. FiiO had a very similar issue with how the modular amp sections for the X7-series had a different finish to that of the X7 and X7 Mark II. In the case of the ZEN Blue and ZEN DAC, it’s not such a big difference as to be immediately noticeable, and you really do have to concentrate on seeing it. But hey, that’s just an extremely minor cosmetic issue.
The front panel houses three elements, only one of which is a button whilst the other two are LED indicators. The large indicator in the middle which has the iFi logo is used to show which Bluetooth codec is currently being used, and these are documented in the user manual.
Speaking of the user manual, here’s something I found which was rather odd. In the user manual it incorrectly states that it’s this centre LED indicator which is used to show when the ZEN Blue is in pairing mode. In fact, it’s actually the far right indicator which is used for this.
This indicator is also used to show the sampling rate of the audio stream and will light up blue for 44.1 and 48kHz streams, or white for 88.2 and 96kHz streams.
The button towards the left is labelled with a Bluetooth logo, and this is to denote that the button is used to put the Zen Blue in pairing mode. When you switch the device on it will automatically connect to a previously paired device, but if it can’t find one, then you can also put it into pairing mode by holding in the button until the light on the far right alternates between red and blue colours.
The rear is where we find all of the ports which include both digital and analogue outputs.
Starting on the left is a balanced 4.4mm Pentaconn connector, and next to that are a pair of regular stereo RCA connectors. What’s interesting here is that very few devices have balanced analogue outputs, and having one on such an affordable device is particularly hard to come by. However, the fact that there are analogue outputs can only mean one thing, and that is that the ZEN Blue isn’t just a Bluetooth receiver, but it also has a DAC stage to convert the Bluetooth audio stream into an analogue one which you can then hook up to an external headphone pr power amplifier.
Usually, iFi tends to put a particular emphasis on their use of Burr Brown DAC chips, but in this instance they’ve opted to use an ESS Sabre DAC chipset, although the reason why they went this route and exactly which DAC chip it is that they’ve used has not been made available.
Just to the right of the RCA outputs is a switch which allows you to select between the analogue and digital outputs, and to the right of this switch are those two digital outputs, namely a COAX connection and an Optical one. So what’s nice here is that the ZEN Blue can be used as a Bluetooth receiver for basically any digital audio system which does not already have Bluetooth functionality, provided of course that the system in question is capable of accepting a COAX or Optical connection. And finally, there is the connection for the Bluetooth aerial as well as a 5V power supply connection.
So overall, just like the ZEN DAC, the ZEN Blue seems to be reasonably well-built and features that same sort of retro-charm in its design. For what it is, the ZEN Blue does pack a fair number of features into this relatively compact and affordable package, but nobody would complain if it had just one more every specific feature. Unfortunately, the Bluetooth functionality here can only be used as a receiver. Ideally it could possibly have been even more useful if it could also be used as a Bluetooth transmitter
Sound
As far as the sound signature is concerned, the ZEN Blue does seem to have a slightly more clinical type of sound signature in the sense that it lacks some warmth. Given that we are dealing with an ESS Sabre DAC, I wonder if iFi has dealt with the infamous Sabre IMD (intermodulation distortion) hump, or if that’s perhaps what’s responsible for the slightly leaner presentation. Sabre DACs tend to be renowned for having this type of signature compared to an AKM or Wolfson DAC chip, for example.
Overall, I think it sounds reasonably transparent and in a blind test I doubt I could, with any certainty, point out if the ZEN Blue was in the playback chain. Hopefully Amir over on www.audiosciencereview.com will be able to do his usual type of review which gets into the objective analysis of the device to see how faithfully it can handle both the digital and analogue signals.
I will say this, though, and that is the ZEN Blue does sound noticeably better when using an LDAC connection as opposed to a regular ol’ SBC connection. LDAC really does bring us closer to getting a true Hi-Res experience with Bluetooth audio, and this connection allowed my music to sound clearer and less constrained than what SBC does. Of course, if you’re an iOS user, then you will unfortunately not have access to using this codec, but for compatible devices it works a treat.
Value
As far as the value of the ZEN Blue is concerned, that will obviously depend on what your needs are. If you already have a good DAC and amplifier setup but require Bluetooth receiver functionality too, then the ZEN Blue could serve as a great little add-on. In similar fashion, if you have a set of powered speakers and want to give them Bluetooth functionality, then the ZEN Blue seems like a very decent middle-man in that scenario, although it does mean that you’d need to control the volume from the source device.
However, it seems that iFi have shot themselves in the foot a little bit when we consider how the ZEN lineup will interact with each other…or rather the lack thereof. You see, whilst the ZEN Blue and ZEN DAC look pretty sweet as a stack, the fact of the matter is that they cannot connect with one another. The ZEN Blue might have both COAX and Optical digital outputs along with analogue outputs, the ZEN DAC only has a USB input and no analogue inputs.
So really, the ZEN Blue could very well be an affordable solution for adding wireless connectivity to a sound system (provided it has the appropriate inputs), but it’s just not compatible with the rest of iFi’s current ZEN lineup.
That being said, I still do like the ZEN Blue for what it is and at its given price-point. It’s got a decent amount of features and gives you the versatility of using it within either the digital or analogue part of the playback chain. It would’ve been great if it could be used as a Bluetooth transmitter too, but that would indeed be a tall order at this price-point.