If Zen dac and Zen can with hd660s

[Nicemusic68]

Hi all so here goes. This is doing my head in so I apologize for being stupid.
Anyway as the title suggests I have just bought this combo and am wondering how I connect the Zen can / dac to my phone or tablet.
I have had a look on if website and can't see any clear instructions for connecting the 2 or do I only need to use thezen dac as it has an amplifier built in?
I will mainly be playing music stored on my phone which is only USB c or tablet which is micro usb .
I see there are the standard red and white connectors and I do have one of the stander phono to audio connectors red/ white.

I'll leave for now as I am at work. Any ideas welcome and thank you in advance

 

[raif71]

Congrats on your recent purchase. I too bought the Zen Can recently. Okay the Zen Can has three inputs ie rca, 3.5mm and 4.4mm balanced. I have these 3 cables that I can use...

1) The left most is the basic rca cable which you can also use to connect the zen dac with the zen can
2) Middle is a rca to 4.4mm cable which also can be used to connect the zen dac with zen can (4.4mm to the zen dac, rca to zen can)
3) The 3rd cable is the interesting one, zen dac has 4.4mm output and zen can has 4.4mm input so you can use this cable and have a balance setup

Here is my setup of Ifi Zen Can with Hiby R5

Front view

Back view

As you can see, I'm using the 4.4mm male to 4.4mm male to connect between my Hiby R5 (4.4mm jack) to Ifi Zen Can 4.4mm input.

This Ifi Zen Can has plenty of power. Between the 4 gain stages... I think 2 is enough is for me (0db and 6db)

 

[raif71]

This is a setup with Topping D10S. Hiby R5 (usb-c to usb type-b)-->D10S-->Ifi Zen Can. In this setup, connection between d10s and Ifi zen can is using rca.

 

[Jimbob54]

Hi all so here goes. This is doing my head in so I apologize for being stupid.
Anyway as the title suggests I have just bought this combo and am wondering how I connect the Zen can / dac to my phone or tablet.
I have had a look on if website and can't see any clear instructions for connecting the 2 or do I only need to use thezen dac as it has an amplifier built in?
I will mainly be playing music stored on my phone which is only USB c or tablet which is micro usb .
I see there are the standard red and white connectors and I do have one of the stander phono to audio connectors red/ white.

I'll leave for now as I am at work. Any ideas welcome and thank you in advance

You mean the digital signal from your phone, or the analog? I think you mean digital, so you need a USB c to whatever USB connection the Zen DAC has. Probsbly USB b (the square printer type one)

 

[Nicemusic68]

Hi all and thanks for your help with this.

As I don't have a portable music player I do need a dac to connect my phone too.
I did also have a quick search and came to a similar conclusion about the cable needed.
It does look like I need a USB c to usb b for my phone. I have seen an audioquest but can't believe how much they are.
I may even just try the dac from my pc and connect headphones to that. Then I guess I won't need the amplifier.
I have read about this lark being a bit of a minefield and I would agree, especially when it comes to cables.

 

[Jimbob54]

Hi all and thanks for your help with this.

As I don't have a portable music player I do need a dac to connect my phone too.
I did also have a quick search and came to a similar conclusion about the cable needed.
It does look like I need a USB c to usb b for my phone. I have seen an audioquest but can't believe how much they are.
I may even just try the dac from my pc and connect headphones to that. Then I guess I won't need the amplifier.
I have read about this lark being a bit of a minefield and I would agree, especially when it comes to cables.

You are overthinking this. Buy one of these and the version that has a micro USB end to fit your tablet https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B072V9CNTK/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_fab_f31GFbDP2MSV5

That takes care of the source end.

Now, if you have an old printer cable? I'm pretty sure the USB 3 socket at the back of the dac will take that, or just get this https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00NH144GK/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_fab_s61GFbMFN7V8Y

Plug the letter box shaped end from the second cable into the other end of the first cable. Presto.

I would strongly advise not spending AudioQuest money. It serves to good purpose.

 

[Webninja]

USB 3 b to c? Like this one :

Cable Matters USB C to USB B 3.0 Cable (USB C to USB Type B 3.0, 3.0 USB B to USB C) in Black 3.3 Feet https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00UXKTJE0/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_Ib2GFbVZA0R7A

 

[Webninja]

Looks like @Jimbob54 beat me to it.

 

[Jimbob54]

Looks like @Jimbob54 beat me to it.

*blows guns *

 

[Nicemusic68]

You are overthinking this. Buy one of these and the version that has a micro USB end to fit your tablet https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B072V9CNTK/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_fab_f31GFbDP2MSV5

That takes care of the source end.

Now, if you have an old printer cable? I'm pretty sure the USB 3 socket at the back of the dac will take that, or just get this https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00NH144GK/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_fab_s61GFbMFN7V8Y

Plug the letter box shaped end from the second cable into the other end of the first cable. Presto.

I would strongly advise not spending AudioQuest money. It serves to good purpose.

I agree overthinking things. It's something I always seem to do unfortunately

 

[raif71]

I agree overthinking things. It's something I always seem to do unfortunately

If that is the case, I'm interested on your thought process how you decided to buy the combo ifi zen dac/can. Care to share?

 

[Nicemusic68]

Hi

I have read a few posts and various reviews about this dac and the hd660s and from what I understood was that the Zen dac is enough for those headphones.
ATM I have it plugged into my pc with the supplied usb and just listening through that.
I have tried with the Zen dac but apart from a volume increase I couldn't tell the difference really.

Also I have some b&w pc from a couple of years ago and to be honest I think it is quite hard to tell the difference between the hd660s and the PX s.
I'm going to give it a bit longer before I make up my mind, but I was expecting quite a difference between the two.

 

[Nicemusic68]

If that is the case, I'm interested on your thought process how you decided to buy the combo ifi zen dac/can. Care to share?

Sorry I should have hit reply on your post rather than a different one

 

[Nicemusic68]

If that is the case, I'm interested on your thought process how you decided to buy the combo ifi zen dac/can. Care to share?

I just though that the two would compliment each other nicely, but the total cost is creeping up and after listening I am not sure the upgrade from my B&W PX is worth it really

 

[raif71]

I just though that the two would compliment each other nicely, but the total cost is creeping up and after listening I am not sure the upgrade from my B&W PX is worth it really

I have a couple of Sennheisers (including the 660s) but after listening to all of them, I came to prefer the hd600 the most. All of them by the way are using balanced pentaconn cables. Did you demoed the 660s before buying them ? All my headphones/iems purchases are demoed 1st before buying them except maybe one iem, the kz zsx but I was already familiar with the zs10 so I just bought online and also the local shop did not carry it.

 

[Nicemusic68]

I have a couple of Sennheisers (including the 660s) but after listening to all of them, I came to prefer the hd600 the most. All of them by the way are using balanced pentaconn cables. Did you demoed the 660s before buying them ? All my headphones/iems purchases are demoed 1st before buying them except maybe one iem, the kz zsx but I was already familiar with the zs10 so I just bought online and also the local shop did not carry it.

 

[Nicemusic68]

No I wasn't able to demo as no where local has them so just went with various reviews and posts