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Aesthetically, the Zen One Signature sports the same 158x35x100mm aluminium enclosure as the rest of the Zen range, finished in Deep Space Blue, the colour iFi uses to differentiate its Signature-level models, rather than the grey finish of the regular Zen Series devices. Inside, the Zen One Signature DAC is set on the left, while all accessories are on the right. There is a little box inside, which stores an RCA cable and the power adapter. You also receive a wireless antenna which you can attach to the product after. Next, I switched to the USB input and connected my Envy X360 laptop to the ZEN One Signature using the supplied USB cable. While I was dazzled by the ZEN One’s Bluetooth connection, once I played some tunes through Roon, I realized I hadn’t heard anything yet.
A fully-differential balanced architecture, with the balanced output being sent out via a unique single 4.4mm “Pentaconn” connection. For better-sounding Bluetooth reception and the broadest possible codec support, iFi has optioned a 4-core QCC5100 chip from Qualcomm. Hello aptX, aptX Adaptive, aptX HD, aptX Low Latency, LDAC, HWA/LHDC, AAC and – of course – SBC.
Superior circuits. Superb sound.
iFi Audio says that this is for two reasons. The first is their ‘innate musicality’ (and whatever your take on a statement of that nature, there is an argument that some of my favourite devices use this silicone). The second is that the models of DAC they use have ‘dual native’ architecture which handles PCM and DSD separately rather than either converting straight to PCM or using the same architecture for both streams. Having selected this, iFi goes about doing what it has done with all the other products we’ve seen. The DAC is not the whole story, merely part of it. The circuit that the One Signature employs is a collection of carefully chosen components that ensure, over the circuit as a whole.
We tested having a distance of over 40 feet between the audio source and the DAC. Its signal was stable enough to transmit music without skips, and the audio quality was good. ifi Zen One Signature DAC Review Summary The unit sounded clean, with spacious staging and good mid-treble balance. It was clean, a little bright, and mid-forward. Except for the mid-range boost, the sound generally had a linear response. On the front panel are buttons for power and switching between USB, S/PDIF and Bluetooth inputs, as well as colour-changing LEDs that denote the incoming audio format and sample rate. Another button switch can turn the LEDs on/off and activate Bluetooth pairing mode. The ZEN One Signature DAC offers you four different ways to feed it with a digital audio signal. A USB input will be the most commonly-used input for desktop listeners, who will be able to connect to their Mac/PC via the supplied USB 3.0 cable. The optical input makes for easy connection to the digital audio output on most modern TVs and gaming consoles, allowing the ZEN One Signature DAC to act as the digital “bridge” to your amplifier. The coaxial SPDIF connection on the rear of the Zen ONE Signature DAC is an interesting one given that it is a digital output as well as an input. When ‘SPDIF’ is chosen as the input on the front of the device it is able to accept an incoming signal from devices such as a CD player, whereas when the USB or Bluetooth inputs are functioning it will send the incoming signal out to downstream devices - handy if you need to convert a USB or Bluetooth signal into a coaxial one for other digital devices.I have to say; I was quite impressed by the One Signature’s wireless performance. Through this amply resolving system, I didn’t feel like I was missing a lot of detail, nor did I want for a lot of depth or separation. The RCA output is obviously an unbalanced output with which you can do the same thing, just with an unbalanced connection.
Other devices in your audio set-up might come and go, but the ZEN One Signature DAC has been designed to be a future-proof “everything” DAC that can remain in your headphone or stereo set-up long into the future. It’s ready for any conceivable flavour of digital file, and its balanced topology makes it a viable contender for partnering with any number of high-end devices in your audio chain. Add stong Bluetooth performance to the equation along with compatibility with the latest hi-res codecs and you’ll be hard-pressed to want for much more out of your standalone DAC.
How Was the ZEN One Signature Tested?
The compatible codec list is long. AptX, aptX HD, aptX Adaptive, aptX LL, LDAC, LHDC/HWA, AAC, and SBC are all compatible and playable on the ZEN One. So I highly doubt you’ll run into issues here.
Making full use of Qualcomm’s latest four-core QCC5100 Bluetooth processing chip, every current high-definition Bluetooth audio format is supported, including aptX Adaptive and aptX HD, LDAC and HWA/LHDC. Other codecs covered include regular aptX and aptX Low Latency, AAC and SBC (the ‘plain vanilla’ Bluetooth codec). This means that every possible source device is handled at the highest audio resolution its Bluetooth specification allows. Given that it is a home device, nothing will cause concern regarding long-term durability. It is solid, smooth, and comforting. This Signature device also has better buttons that feel tighter and more rigid without wobbling. In the box, you get the DAC and the previously mentioned power supply, an antenna for wireless connection, an RCA cable for analog output, and a USB cable for PC connection. Despite having a laundry-list of digital smarts and seemingly complex capabilities, the ZEN One Signature DAC is extremely simple to use on a daily basis. It really is a simple plug-and-play device once you have it hooked-up to your inputs and amplifier of choice, and it doesn’t get any more complicated than pressing the input switch to change sources between USB, SPDIF and Bluetooth. Listening to the ZEN One Signature DAC There are two LED windows on the front panel which first off and foremost indicate power-on status. The multicolor LED window on the right indicates the format of the digital input or the Bluetooth codec level.
The One Signature has been under test at the same time as the Rega Saturn MkIII; another digital source that eschews both ESS and AKM for its decoding hardware. The two devices are very different in most aspects of their design and implementation but in one they are uncannily similar. I have every confidence that the One Signature puts in extremely good measurements but it does so with a ‘fingerprint’ of iFi’s design decisions that sets it apart from number of rivals. Next to the display is another multi-color LED that indicates the audio format and sampling frequency of the file in use. Again it lights up in different colors to show different values, like Yellow for PCM with a sampling frequency of 44.1 or 48kHz. This input also shows input in use when selected, with Blue/Red meaning Bluetooth and Green meaning S/PDIF or USB. Of course, the Zen One Signature does have a major advantage over the DAC built into the Rotel—namely, its support for virtually every digital format under the sun. The fact that it supports DSD completely gave me an opportunity to compare the ALAC and DSF versions of David Chesky’s new Graffiti Jazz album (The Audiophile Society AS5), specifically the speaker mixes. (The album comes with separate headphone and speaker mixes, and is available in formats ranging from DSD to PCM from 24/48 up to 24/192.) I compared the Signatures’ BT output to the output of the 6000A Play’s internal BT receiver, and I found the iFi connection to be superior in every way, providing a more nuanced and transparent presentation. The new LAN iSilencer from iFi is supposed to clean and optimize the signal of an Ethernet cable via galvanic isolation when music is transmitted over it.
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