Part of the iFi Zen Mini-Series!
Shout out to Lawrance and the folks over at iFi for their continued support in sending this demo unit!
Hey there friend, and Welcome aboard!!
Before we get into the iFi Zen Blue Review, grab a snack, sit back and relax because…
I’m Here to Help!!
Table of Contents
Specifications
Build
Features & Usage
Sound
Video Review
Photo Gallery
Final Grade
Now without further ado, let’s get rolling!!
iFi Zen Blue
Specifications
- Price: Check Amazon!
- Power: DC 5V
- Chipset: Qualcomm QCC5100
- Input: Bluetooth 5.0 with AAC, aptX, aptXHD, LDAC, HWA codec
- Output: Optical/Coaxial, Audio RCA L/R, 4.4 Balanced Line Out
- Frequency Response: 20Hz – 20kHz < +0/-0.5dB (44.1kHz) 1Hz – 44kHz <+0/-3.0 (>=88.2kHz)
- Output Voltage @ 0dBFS: 2.05V (+/-0.05V)
- Dynamic Range: 109dB (A)
- Signal to Noise Ratio: 109dB (A) @0dBFS
- THD & N @ 0dBFS: <0.0015% 10k Load
- Output Impedance: < 50 Ohm
- Power Consumption: <2.5W
- Dimensions: 158 (I) x 100 (w) x 35 (h) mm
- Weight: 476g (1.05 lbs.)
- Warranty Period: 12 months
Build
The Zen Bluetooth Receiver closely resembles the iFi Zen DAC in both looks and feel.
At 1.05 lbs., it’s just a hair lighter than its 1.08 lb. blood brother, but the difference is basically negligible when you hold them both in your hands.
Like the Zen DAC, this baby is an all-aluminum chassis and also rejects fingerprints, which is a welcome change from your typical Amp/DAC; it seems like they’re all fingerprint magnets and it just ends up looking awful.
I’m glad to see that iFi took note of the smudgy issues present in both their xDSD and xCAN.
Both of those were fantastic products in their own right, but the glossy finish kind of ruined the vibe.
You were constantly wiping them clean with a small cloth and it got kind of annoying (to the point of you just not giving a crap anymore).
With the Zen Blue and the Zen DAC, even trying really hard to make fingerprint… results in no fingerprint.
Maybe I’m beating a dead horse by now.
Anyways…
Everything here feels solid to the touch.
There aren’t too many buttons or knobs to speak of, so let’s get into the features of this thing, and find out what it actually does.
Features & Usage
The Zen Blue might seem a bit intimidating at first but don’t fret.
It has but one button on the left, with a center iFi logo that illuminates different colors, and another light on the right that also displays colors.
Cool. Colors.
On the back, there’s a balanced 4.4mm output, a pair of RCA Analog Outputs, an Analog/Digital Switch, a Coaxial Output, an Optical Output, and a DC 5V power jack.
The Zen Blue is thus a wireless DAC that outputs to various sources, but most notably functions as a Bluetooth DAC that you will pair up to your phone.
The front and center illuminated iFi logo indicates which codec you’re using.
I have an Android phone with aptX, so it lights up blue. Let’s take a look at some other formats you may encounter:
- AAC = Yellow
- aptX = Blue
- aptXHD = Magenta
- LDAC = Cyan
- HWA = White
- SBC = Green
The kHz LED on the right will illuminate one of 2 colors:
- 44/48 = Blue
- 88/96 = White
For pairing, the Zen Blue comes with a pair of RCA to RCA cables.
Just make sure you have some sort of Headphone Amplifier or speakers that have RCA inputs.
JDS’ ATOM 2, the K5 Pro/K7/K11, and Presonus Eris e3.5 are all good options.
Now you’re ready to pair it up to your phone.
Pairing
From iFi’s Card that comes with the unit:
“From switch on, the ZEN Blue will blink blue as it searches for a previously paired device. If a stored device is not found, it will automatically enter pairing mode and blink blue/red.
To enter pairing mode, press and hold the front leftmost button until the “Bluetooth mode LED’ is blinking blue/red. To pair, on your handset, look for ‘ZEN Blue’ in the list of available Bluetooth devices.
The ZEN Blue is able to store up to 7 paired Bluetooth devices.”
It’s important to note that your phone may not display it as ‘ZEN Blue.’
For instance, my phone shows it as ‘iFi Hi-Res Audio.’
When you’ve found it, pair it up, and then it will display the color of whatever codec your phone supports.
All that’s left to do is plug your headphones into the Amp and fire up Tidal/Spotify, etc.
Now you can play music wirelessly with your phone! Pretty neat.
If you leave the house, come back, and find that it’s flashing, just go back into your Bluetooth settings and pair it again.
Because I hit the gym 4 nights a week, I have some Bluetooth Earbuds paired when I’m working out.
When I come home, it either pairs up automatically or I have to do it manually. Not really a big deal.
Other uses
Analog
The RCA outputs on the back of the Zen Blue can also be used to hook up to separate speakers/monitors for some wireless action through your phone.
- Related: What are Studio Monitors?
For most single-ended connections, you’ll simply use the supplied RCA to RCA that came with the Zen Blue.
With the e3.5, you can also use RCA to 3.5mm.
Balanced
The 4.4mm balanced output on the back can also be used to connect to some sort of preamp or separate monitors/speakers.
Just use a balanced 4.4mm to dual XLR for this.
Digital
Flick the switch on the back to digital for use with the Coaxial and Optical Output.
These can basically hook up to anything that supports Coax or Optical In.
Other
The enclosed white antenna should be attached to the back for maximum reception quality.
With all the technical stuff out of the way, let’s get into the sound. How is it?
Sound
All in all, the sound is good!
My old LG-X Charge only supported aptX.
If you go to Qualcomm aptX’s website, you can filter for your specific phone and find out if it supports aptX HD.
This will net you a bit better resolution.
Some of the other codecs supported are of a higher quality as well (supposedly).
What HIFI did a great write-up on aptX HD and its ramifications:
It was released in reaction to the increasing popularity of hi-res audio and supports audio at 24-bit/48kHz. Compression remains at a ratio of 4:1, with a bit rate of 576kbps.
Whether it is a match for a wired hi-res signal is debatable, and straightforward comparisons are tricky as you can’t turn aptX HD on/off on products to discern sound quality differences, but Qualcomm seems to be happy gunning for ‘better-than-CD’ sound quality.WHAT HIFI?
If your phone is LDAC compatible, you may be even better off.
Some people claim there’s no contest between aptX HD and LDAC and that the latter is demonstrably better:
It’s important to note your mileage may vary, and you may not even have access to aptX HD anyway.
Also, keep in mind you may not even be using the Zen in conjunction with an Amp; instead with some separate monitors/speakers.
With all that said, the Zen Blue sounds excellent.
I’m listening to Talib Kweli and Mos Def’s Blackstar (1998). Could it sound better?
Perhaps, but I supposed it’s to be expected with a Bluetooth connection. The music will sound ever so slightly more congested and lack a bit of resolution that you’d get out of a wired setup proper, but it’s nothing to lose sleep over.
Speakers
I’m also really enjoying the sound with my e3.5s.
The range with the Zen Blue is quite impressive, as I can walk outside of my apartment about 30 ft. away and it’s still playing music.
I can also be anywhere inside my apartment and the music doesn’t cut out.
So for around $230, you can have a simple Bluetooth setup for your living room and not have to worry about purchasing a receiver and passive speakers.
This is a nice setup if you want to have guests over as any of them can pair up to the Zen Blue and play music from their phones as well.
Video Review
Don’t forget to leave me some love! <3
Photo Gallery
Shoot 1
This was my preliminary setup to make sure everything worked with the K5. 🙂
Shoot 2
Here I was messing around with a few different Amps & Setups.
Shoot 3
Final Grade
The Zen Blue is an excellent tool for people to listen to music wireless, whether that’s through separate speakers/monitors, into a separate amplifier, or via anything in your home theater setup, that supports coaxial in, optical in, etc.
Like the Zen DAC, its build quality is phenomenal and everything feels solid to the touch.
Add to that it doesn’t collect fingerprints and looks gorgeous, and you’ve got a winning formula.
Interested?
Learn More:
For an all-in-one solution, look to the K9. It’s capable of Bluetooth and so much more.
Learn More:
FiiO K9 Review
Ready for the next article in the series?
Well, that’s about it for today my friend! I hope you’ve gotten some valuable information out of this iFi Zen Blue Review.
Does this Bluetooth receiver sound like something that would be of use to you? Be sure to let me know!!
If you have any other questions or feel I’ve missed the mark on something, leave a comment down below or contact me!
I very much look forward to speaking with you…
All the best and God bless,
-Stu
4 comments
Hi Stu, fantastic review. I just purchased this product and had one main question: connecting to multiple devices requires me to long press the Bluetooth button and set to Discoverable which disconnects the current device and then I have to connect with the next device.
This is counter intuitive and has many manual steps that essentially mitigates all convenience of a Bluetooth connection. Is this also your experiment when wanting to switch devices or a bug in mine?
Hey man! Thank you for the kind words. Yeah, I never used it to connect with multiple, unfortunately. My experience was that if I left the apartment and came back, sometimes it would auto-connect and other times (rarely) I would have to do it manually. But for the most part it was pretty good about just connecting as soon as I walked in.
Hi,
thanks for the review.
can you please add a link to the SOUND GUYS text you mentioned?
thanks
My pleasure! What text specifically? IIRC, I removed some broken link on this page.