iFi audio ZEN Blue V2 High-Resolution Wireless Streamer

Description

PRODUCT OVERVIEW

• Improved Bluetooth® antenna
• Qualcomm 5100 chip
• Analogue and digital connections
• Jitter-eradication technologies
• ESS Sabre DAC
• TDJR (Time Domain Jitter Reduction)
• Balanced circuitry
• Custom OV Series Operational-Amplifier
• Texas Instruments
• TDK Class 1 Ceramic Capacitors

FEATURES

High-resolution Bluetooth Streamer
Our ultra-affordable hi-res Bluetooth® streamer just got even better.

Chill.Relax. Enjoy
The ZEN Blue V2 is the same hi-res streamer you know and love but better! We’ve added an improved Bluetooth® antenna that will increase range by up to 80%. Just add a smartphone, tablet, PC or Mac to the ZEN Blue V2. And chillax. Whether you’re into Spotify, Amazon, Apple Music, Qobuz or Tidal, the ZEN Blue V2 will deliver fabulously flawless music to suit your mood via breathtaking hi-res Bluetooth®.

Hi-res to the nth degree
All current and future Bluetooth® audio formats are supported. This includes Qualcomm’s aptX and aptX HD, aptX Low Latency, aptX Adaptive, LDAC and HWA/LHDC, hi-res Bluetooth® codecs created by Sony and Huawei respectively, AAC, Apple’s favoured format and SBC, the standard Bluetooth® codec. This means every possible source device is covered, at the highest resolution Bluetooth® specification. And future codecs can be added with Over the Air updates.

Not all Bluetooth is created equal
Have utter confidence in the sound quality of the ZEN Blue V2. It uses Bluetooth5.0®, the very latest version, and the newest Qualcomm 5100 chip to process all incoming Bluetooth® data. The ESS Sabre DAC chip is there to ensure an extremely smooth digital to analogue conversion. Banish standard ‘Bluetooth Blues’ with the ZEN Blue V2.

Enjoy. Your way.
Chill with the best of both worlds. Analogue – connect via RCA to amps or active speakers or via the 4.4mm output to amps/speakers with a balanced input.
Digital – use the optical and coaxial connections to connect to anything with a built-in DAC and corresponding digital input – your TV, an AV amp or an external DAC in your hi-fi set-up.

Balanced design is truly special.
The analogue output stage is balanced, not normally seen in DACs at this price point. Balanced means less noise, interference/crosstalk. It has RCA and balanced outputs at HiFi standard level; 2V SE and 4V BAL and is therefore compatible with both HiFi and Pro systems. All underpinned by high-quality circuit components such as C0G capacitors from TDK and it’s fed by a precision low-noise power supply from Texas Instruments to make this a rare entry-priced beastie. Plus we’ve improved our Global Master Timing (GMT) clock circuitry to give you an even smoother musical ride. It means >20db better performance for even more ZEN.

Global Master Timing
Extensive jitter-eradication technologies are applied to the digital stage, including our GMT (Global Master Timing) femto-precision clock and the intelligent memory buffer. The low-jitter crystal clock has been updated to provide >20dB better performance.

iFi Bluetooth®
The iFi Bluetooth® implementation does not use a standard SOC (System On a Chip) as seen elsewhere. It uses a combination of quality elements to extract the most from each stage. The Qualcomm chip routes the raw, digital Bluetooth® signal to a specialised Sabre DAC chip to convert the signal from digital to analogue – any jitter is eliminated using our GMT femto-precision clock system to deliver Bluetooth® that is a cut above.

ESS Sabre DAC
Discrete ESS Sabre Hyperstream DAC chipset with time domain jitter eliminator, discrete oscillator and 112dB dynamic range for discerning listeners.

Time Domain Jitter Reduction
A key advantage of the ESS Sabre DAC chip is its Hyperstream architecture with integrated Time Domain Jitter Eliminator, which delivers vanishingly low distortion and a high dynamic range.

Balanced circuitry
It is a superior method to the traditional single-ended circuit approach. Balanced circuits reduce noise and crosstalk. Less Interference – clearer sound. You normally find this set-up in products at the higher end of the price spectrum such as the Pro iCAN but iFi is now using this across its range to produce the best quality audio for all our customers.

Op-Amp
As with many other iFi audio products, we’ve incorporated a custom OV Series operational-amplifier. This top-notch component contributes to the extremely low noise, low distortion (0.0001%) and wide bandwidth.

Texas Instruments
Texas Instruments low-noise ICs offer great unity-gain bandwidth, very low noise and distortion, high output drive capability, Common-mode and Power Supply Rejection Ratios of over 100 dB, wide maximum-output-swing bandwidths and high slew rates.

TDK
TDK C0G (Class 1 ceramic) capacitors offer high stability and low losses for resonant circuit applications. Getting ever closer to the theoretical ideal of pure, frequency-constant capacitance, these capacitors reduce capacitor-induced distortion to vanishingly low levels. They are pricey but are a perfect addition to our products.

SPECIFICATIONS