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mghazik OP t1_j9ji000 wrote

Reply to comment by 5uperman8atman in My End Game, but I'm not sure I'm happy Any questions? by mghazik

Yeah, iFi's Zen lineup has plenty of useful features. Sometimes true bass is too much for me, overall depends of music genre. Hip hop or ambient music sound right with true bass. I read Zen Can xbass is way better, less impactful.

Do you use balanced connection of Zen Stack? Some youtubers say Zen Stack provides a bit thin, not very dynamic sound, it's could be an issue with planars. I think I'm struggling with very neat sound of Zen Dac, so SH8s has more "body" on the entire range of frequency.

About EQ, I hate it, it's awkwardly for daily using alongside other headphones with risk to get dirty sound. I'd tried EQ presets for Sundara and wasn't enjoyed.

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5uperman8atman t1_j9js9x9 wrote

The Zen Can's XBass is a little more subtle than the TrueBass button on the Zen DAC. I listen to Rock music mostly and I dig the punchy drums and thicker vocals, so I like to double it up! I do not think the Zen Stack sounds thin at all, very much the opposite actually. Which reviewer said that, do you remember? I pretty much never run the Zen Stack without some measure of extra bass, but it really is about four levels you can get with that setup. 1. No extra bass. 2. XBass Zen Can 3. TrueBass Zen DAC and 4. Both TrueBass and XBass together. I have different headphones that tolerate different levels of extra bass, so I like that Stack for all kinds of different uses and genres, and it's so easy to quickly reach over and dial it in when the tracks change and you want more or less without having to fiddle with an EQ. There's are some tracks with the Ananda that rumble so cleanly and deeply that I can feel them vibrate on my head! The track "2049" from the "Blade Runner 2049" soundtrack is my favorite deep rumble demo track. Give it a try with the Sundara and TrueBass activated. It's like a subwoofer! It's a fun way to watch movies, for sure. I do run the Zen Stack balanced as well. The Ananda doesn't need a lot of power, but it really opens up when you give it a lot.

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mghazik OP t1_j9jxa46 wrote

Do you hear the difference between single end and balanced connection of that Stack? I suppose activating TrueBass and XBass together isn't a good idea because Zen Dac is designed to work in fixed mode when connected to AMP as Dac only. In that case the Zen Dac works as not the greatest pre-amp what distort the sound.

I kind of think iiWi Reviews says about laid back of midrange and relaxed sound overall. Equal opinion I heard from another guys. I am afraid the relaxed sound isn't good for the mostly neutral Sundara (and Ananda as a big brother).

I like "Blade Runner 2049" soundtrack and movie as well. Sundara does rumble too.

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