_{Prices listed in US$.}

I’m back with another bunch of ultra-budget components that don’t perform like budget components. Usually, gear with ultra-low price tags only sound good when compared to cheap Bluetooth speakers or freebee earbuds. Not here. Every component that makes it into this column is worthy of being compared to the kind of serious and expensive gear any advanced audiophile would be happy to have in their system. So, without more literary foreplay, let’s begin…

Fosi ZD3

$189

The Fosi ZD3 is a DAC with a list price of $189, but usually street-priced around $175 and sometimes as low as $150. It handles all modern digital formats, excluding MQA, and has both single-ended and balanced analogue outputs. The ZD3 can also serve as a platform to swap out two socketed OP amplifiers with multiple options, including Sparkos and Burson designs. Fosi even sells replacement op amps on their website.

I bought my sample directly from Fosi during the Kickstarter campaign. I paid $138. I had planned to install it into a bedroom system but first I placed it in my main system. I attached the ZD3 via balanced cables to a Schiit Kara F preamp, which was configured to run in passive mode. The ZD3 has sufficient output in balanced operation, so I didn’t need to use any gain from the Kara preamplifier. My three reference power amplifiers are the Fosi V3 mono, Orchard Starkrimson Ultra, and Pass 150.8.

Over the course of a month, I compared the ZD3 in blind matched-level tests with several more expensive DACs, including the Gustard A26 with Gustard external clock and newest Schiit Gungnir 2 DAC. The ZD3 had gone through some upgrades before the test. First, I replaced the original op amps with Muse2 op amps. Then I replaced the stock power supply with the LHY/Fosi 12V linear supply, Finally, I inserted a DC capacitor bank between the power supply and the ZD3. The cost of all these upgrades was slightly under $250, bringing my total ZD3 investment up to almost $400.

Why did I decide to do the upgrades? Testing the AC noise with several devices I have at my disposal revealed that the stock power supply dumped a substantial amount of noise back into the AC line. Using the 12-volt linear supply vastly reduced that noise. The capacitor bank I use handles any power supply between 5 and 24 volts and acts as a buffer. Many premium-priced audio components employ capacitor banks in their designs for a similar purpose. Here’s MSB’s:

In my blind, matched-level comparisons I could not reliably tell the ZD3 from either of the reference DACS I compared it to. Image placement, harmonic balance, dynamics, and resolution between all three DACs were perceptively no different. I used my own recordings of the Boulder Philharmonic as well as field recordings I made at the Rockygrass Academy, as well as standard commercial fare.

Since most DAC reviews do not bother to critically match levels or run blind tests, it’s no wonder that sometimes “differences” are heard. That’s an unfortunate byproduct of sloppy testing. Even for lazy reviewers, DACs are the easiest components to test using matched-level blind methodology, so I consider it the bare minimum a subjective reviewer should do, so I do it.

If you have a DAC that’s more than ten years old and have been contemplating a change, you could spend a lot more money than the ZD3, which costs less than many of the cables it could be attached to and not achieve better sound. Don’t believe me? For $150 to $400 (depending on how tweaky you want to be), you can find out for yourself…

iFi Zen Phono 3

$249

A stand-alone phono stage needs to do two things—perfectly decode the RIAA EQ curve and amplify the signal without adding noise. How hard can that be? Judging by the complexity of some apex predator phono preamplifiers, it’s very hard indeed. But then you have the iFi Zen Phono 3. It is small, irregularly shaped, and, for $249, handles both MM and MC phono cartridges. Among its features is a balanced line-level output. Most phono preamplifiers, at even triple this price, lack this exceedingly useful feature.

The iFi Zen Phono 3 also lends itself to some tweaking. Since it employs an external 5-volt power supply, I added the iFi iPowerX 5-volt supply and the same type of capacitor bank I used with the Fosi ZD3 DAC. This arrangement, with its cabling options between the capacitor bank and the Zen Phono 3 itself, allowed me to move the power supply well away from the Zen Phono 3, which is always best practice when setting up a phono signal chain, since the high-gain circuits used in many phono stages are sensitive to power supply hum.

I connected the iFi Zen Phono 3 to a Van den Hul stylus-equipped MC Denon DL-103 cartridge mounted on the Souther linear tracking tonearm of a VPI HW19. Current reference phono preamplifiers include the Michael Yee PF1 and Vincent PHO-500.

Doing a matched-level A/B with a phono preamplifier isn’t nearly as easy, or the results as likely to be robust, as a DAC comparison. First, swapping cabling takes time, as does matching the levels, so since it can’t be done well, it’s back to “slow listening”, as some subjective reviewers have coined the phrase to describe listening in a deliberate and attentive manner.

One thing that I can compare with different phono preamplifiers: noise and hum. In my system, the Michael Yee PF1 has proven to be as quiet as the John Curl designed Vendetta preamplifier I used as a reference for many years. The IFI Zen Phono is almost as quiet in terms of hiss and its equal to the PF1 in hum level. That’s good. In terms of harmonic balance, the iFi Zen was warmer, with more lower midrange and upper bass weight than that of the Schitt Skoll I reviewed several months back.

While adding a high-performance phono system still isn’t as inexpensive as buying a high-performance digital system, with components like the iFi Zen Phono 3, getting into a good analogue system is within reach of even young and retired music lovers.

FX Audio Model R07Plus Headphone amplifier

$199

Imported by the same folks who brought you the Caldera 10 and 12-inch subwoofers, Vera- Fi Audio. The FX Audio R07Plus headphone amplifier offers a plethora of features and performance capabilities that should satisfy even critical listeners.

The R07Plus’s features include single ended RCA and balanced XLR inputs, as well as XLR and 4.4 balanced and 1/4” single-ended headphone outputs. Along with the master volume control on the front panel, the rear panel has switches for choosing balanced or unbalanced, high or low impedance, and high or low output levels.

The R07Plus comes in the form of a small rectangular black metal box. The front panel, in addition to the master volume control, has three LEDs which are either red or blue, depending on the operating mode being used.

A good headphone amplifier needs to perform two critical functions well to be considered a high-performance device. First, it must be capable of driving your most difficult-to-drive headphones to more than adequate volume levels. Second, it must be able to power high-sensitivity earbuds without adding hiss or hum.

My two hardest-to-drive headphones are the Dan Clark Stealth and Beyer Dynamic DT-990 600-ohm version. Not only could the R07Plus drive either pair to more than adequate levels with no distortion, it was able to drive BOTH headphones simultaneously with no signs of distress from the R07Plus or either pair of cans.

To check the R07Plus’s performance with high-sensitivity ear buds, I pulled out my pair of Empire Ears Zeus custom in-ears, which have a sensitivity of 119dB. Even in its low output and low impendence setting, the R07Plus had so much gain that I couldn’t turn up the volume more than a small turn without it becoming too loud. Hiss and noise were non-existent, even when the gain was maxed out with no signal. Given the Empire Zeus’s high sensitivity, if I didn’t hear any issues, you certainly won’t hear any noise through less sensitive earphones. Sonically the R07Plus was a straight wire with gain. By that, I mean I couldn’t hear the amplifier doing anything to lower or change the sonic character or fidelity of the source. And while there are headphone amplifiers, such as the Manley Headphone amplifier, which are purposely designed to alter the incoming sound’s character, the R07Plus has one sonic character, which is clean, neutral, and able to handle a wide range of headphones successfully. If that is what you want from a headphone amplifier, the FX Audio R07Plus will deliver it to you.