Headphone Zone delivered the product super fast and I appreciate that
I never used Zen Dac V1 or V2 so can't compare this Zen air Dac to those but this Zen Air Dac just doesn't sound as good as my $10 Dongle DACs I have like Odyssey HD, Abigail, Avani and CX Pro
Zen air Dac lacks clarity in the sound and also the vocals and highs sound harsh. Vocals are also pushed back a bit. My Dongle DACs mentioned above sound clean and more natural in comparison. Zen air dac has more power though than my Dongle Dacs
Xbass+ just adds a bit of sub bass but mid bass is nowhere to be seen. It feels like it reduces the mid bass when Xbass+ is activated
Tested all this with both Data and power USB cables connected to USB 3.0 ports on my Desktop and used multiple IEMs and Headphones
Also, this ZEN air Dac doesn't come with USB Type B 3.0 socket but it is a 2.0 port. IFI has incorrectly put it up as USB Type B 3.0 socket on their website. Type B 3.0 and 2.0 sockets are different so 3.0 cable can't be connected to a 2.0 socket
Overall, not satisfied with this product

I didn't expect fantastic output from that small box, even it is working perfectly with my Book shelf speaker aswell. I am totally satisfied ☺️

Coming in from a Fiio E18 which has served me for about 8-9 years or so I was looking for a desktop DAC. Zeroed in on Zen DAC V2 but alas good things are seldom instock, Hence settled for the Air DAC. Given the innards are basically the similar to Zen V2 bar the metal build and balance output I suspected it should rather sound the same and surprise-surprise It does sound pretty good.

I have used my Vmoda M100 as my drivers for the last month and I have a preference for slightly punchier bit accentuated bass without any muddiness, no loss in mids and just clean Highs(complete flat singatures kinda sounds shrill to my ears) and DAC delivered the experience I wanted. Though I cant vouch for Xbass button, kinda makes my headphone sound like something from Beats.

The build is plastic but doesnt feel cheap, the Vol. knob is metal and smooth af. Overall I would be hard pressed to think of any other alternatives of the same calibre in this price range. Also thanks to headphonezone for timely delivery!

Let me tell you one thing, it's a budget offering from ifi and for the price the multibit burr brown dsd1793 chip sounds like analogue. Volume control is very smooth, one RCA out is enough for your powered speakers and external amplifiers. The universal USB input is enough for connecting to various devices like PC, laptops, dap and mobile phones. Remember to get an OTG cable for your mobile. Rest the body is plastic, don't worry it is not that light in the weight and the plastic quality is quite satisfactory. Comes with a blue short USB A to USB B cable and a power cable for 5v dc. The DAC can also be powered using the 5v dc , however the best part is ...it can also be powered using the same USB cable through which it pulls the audio signal in case you have no power outlet near you.
So at 8k it's a very good purchase for budding and beginner audiophiles. It doesn't have any balanced headphones out but under 10k dac I hv no regrets. Although they should provide a 6.3mm to 3.5mm adaptor with it for its headphone jack .
280mw at 32ohms and 36mw at 300ohms is its headphone output power.
Supports 44.1 to 384khz sample rates and I tried all, gives you different color LED notification for each sample rate, it's not an MQA decoder but a renderer.
Supports dsd64/128 and 256. All works well.
Refer to my channel: techReviewPool for video review and unbox video :)

First off, shout out to Danesh from HZ team who assured me that this little unit is sufficient for my Hifiman HE400SE, and he was right!
Great service from HZ on the delivery as well, received it on the next day.

Build, accessories:
Coming to the Zen Air, it's a cute little dac amp with the unique iFi Zen design, made out of hard plastic.
Build quality is quite good and the volume knob is buttery smooth (it's an analogue volume knob).
The biggest con for me is the USB 2.0 Type B cable that ships with it - it's so short I don't understand how anyone at iFi thought it's ok for a desktop setup...
It also comes with a power cable with USB Type A for external 5V 2.5A DC power, which didn't make any noticeable difference to the sound.

Sound:
I was specifically looking at a budget amplifier good enough to drive my HE400SE, as these are my first planars and most difficult to drive headphones in my collection. The dongle dacs I have just don't do them justice.

Safe to say, the Zen Air is perfect for it. I don't care about balanced audio much, and this thing actually outputs more power from the SE output than the SE on the original Zen Dac!
Just hit powermatch, and you don't need to turn the volume over 1 o'clock (unless you want to damage your ears). And the bass boost feature - XBass - is quite tastefully done, adds a little rumble below 100 Hz, quite fun to try out on some tracks from time to time.
Overall you get a very musical sonic signature out of the Zen Air.
I won't call it colored, but it's hard to explain unless you have some ESS Sabre or Cirrus Logic dacs to compare... there's a hint of warmth here that's lacking in Chi-fi dacs, really loving it.

So if you're on a budget like me and want the best out of your harder to drive cans, these should be your first option.

Nice built quality and has good features for a beginner and support most os the entry level headphones and items . Power match is only good for headphones not for items and if you are a bass head the it also cover you with xbass+ feature and is ok

Few months ago I just wondered how different my experience could be while listening to music using better equipments. In came the Sennheiser's HD 560s and ifi Zen Air DAC since I always thought my laptop's soundcard delivers subpar output and this thing proved it, hell it even made my cheap active F&D speakers sound soo much better through the RCA output. I don't know or understand many of these "audiophile" buzzwords since I'm just a beginner but I felt the difference in quality between the sound this DAC produces compared to the one my laptop and phone does especially with Xbass+ switched on, this alone makes my purchase worth it. Wonder how much of a difference it would make when I'll hook it up with a hybrid tube amplifier which I'm looking forward to purchase from here in the future!

Few things everyone should know about, while doing my research on this DAC I came across numerous complaints about the sound delay issue, some Reddit members suggested that it got fixed with the 7.4c firmware upgrade. Before even testing it I installed the drivers and upgraded the firmware as per the instructions and I can say that I haven't faced any such issues. Next big issue was that the usb cable they provided gets stuck and never comes out which ifi fixed in the newer batches, the cable I got doesn't fully goes in the usb port of the DAC, maybe this is their "fix".. At last I'd say that the headphone socket beside the volume knob is indeed oddly placed.

My first purchase from Headphone Zone, always heard good things about them and they didn't disappoint, the DAC came in a very well packed box and was delivered before the expected date, brand new and sealed I had no complaints. Currently I'm listening to the songs mentioned in the music catalog of different genres that HPzone sent me!