ifi ZEN CAN, User Manual

Technologies 

MCU optimisations 

To  keep  noise  contamination  to  an  absolute  minimum,  the  ZEN  CAN’s  MCU  (a  microcontroller  unit  to  manage  key  functions  of  the 

product) and LEDs are in ‘wake mode’ only when actioned. Otherwise they’re put into ‘sleep mode’, even during listening to music. All 

switches inside the product are FET-based for full sonic transparency, ability to handle enormously high peak signals, and distortion/

noise levels below Audio Precision 2’s measurements.  

Premium components inside 

The iFi audio ZEN CAN features the following boutique parts: 

Panasonic ECPU  

Each ECPU capacitor consists of ~3,500 >0.5

μ

m thick dielectric  layers, and boasts class-leading Equivalent Series 

 Resistance (ESR), low impedance, frequency stability and vanishingly low distortion. A total of 6 pieces are used. 

Class 1 ceramic TDK C0G  

These highly stable low-loss capacitors are used in our LC circuit application to further reduce capacitor-induced 

 distortion. 

iFi/AMR ‘OV’ ICs 

 Four independent OV2637A J-FET op-amps are used in the ZEN CAN’s internal ‘folded cascode’ design. Each IC is 

 based on HCOFC copper lead-frames, 4N gold bond-wire, and features wide bandwidth, extremely low noise 

 and distortion (0.0001%). 

7