5uperman8atman t1_j9j7j4t wrote on February 22, 2023 at 10:34 AM

End Game doesn't exist as long as you still have curiosity about what other gear potentially will sound like. My curiosity tends to be toward the <$200 outliers. Stuff that "punches above its price tag." I have a Zen Stack and an Ananda and I am very happy with it! But I still get curious about how good the cheaper stuff sounds. I also have curiousity about the more high end stuff too, but I know that the higher prices do not equal a comparable jump in quality over the gear I have, so I tend to leave those alone. I know that I will not be receiving a good enough value for my investment if I go in that direction. The Law of Diminishing Returns keeps me from going too far overboard. "Better" doesn't really exist in this hobby after a certain point. "Different" and "Highly Specialized in Certain Characteristics" is where the very expensive stuff generally goes.

mghazik OP t1_j9j976u wrote on February 22, 2023 at 10:56 AM

Personal end game does really exist. Maybe I was just finding a good combination for Sundara to emphasize all advantages of planars. Apparently I mostly agree with you.

5uperman8atman t1_j9je1oj wrote on February 22, 2023 at 11:54 AM

I think the Zen DAC is great for my Ananda! That TrueBass button gives it some tight, punchy and rumbly bass because it is a planar driver. I would think that it's the same for the Sundara. A straight DAC without a feature like that is probably not going to make huge difference, at least, not for the amount of extra money spent. It's just a digital decoder. For me, that bass button is my favorite feature and it is particular to the Ifi Zen DAC. I even double the effect with the Zen Can bass boost sometimes. That's way too much bass for certain headphones, but not for the Ananda. The Ananda is not tuned for a lot of bass but it is plenty capable of playing some of the most satisfying bass I've ever heard, if you have the right setup. It's different from using EQ, too. The bass button only adds low end without sacrificing the higher frequencies. When you mess with EQ it effects the other frequencies. It's also very easy to push the button and shut it off, if you want to. Some tracks I only use the bass on the Zen DAC. Others I like to double it up with the Zen Can. I'm not sure what particular area you feel is lacking with the setup you have, but if you think it's lacking bass maybe you should try out a Zen Can amp with the Zen DAC. I really love that combo for the specific bass effect that I cannot replicate on any other setup that I have tried, on the particular headphone I have. I'd like to know if there are other systems that do the same thing, actually. Since the Sundara is a planar brother of the Ananda I would be surprised if it didn't perform similarly on the Zen Stack.

mghazik OP t1_j9ji000 wrote on February 22, 2023 at 12:35 PM

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.

5uperman8atman t1_j9js9x9 wrote on February 22, 2023 at 2:01 PM

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.

mghazik OP t1_j9jxa46 wrote on February 22, 2023 at 2:38 PM

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.