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IFI Zen phono stage?

I will receive an IFI Zen phono stage today, which I will evaluate for my archiving project. Anyone else auditioned an IFI Zen phono?

I am impressed with the circuit design (balanced, and my recorder has balanced mic inputs), they tout the use of high quality components, they have a decent reputation (it is a U.K. company so I think the "voicing" should be to my liking), it is powered by 5v DC so I can use battery power which in my experience eliminates hum, it has good reviews, they also market a $1000 preamp so they should know something about phono preamps, the published specs are good, etc.

We'll see if my rationale' holds, and how it sounds compares to Musical Fidelity and DH-101 phono preamps.

After at least 15 different tests of different combinations of encodings, mic vs. line inputs, preamp RIAA vs. digital domain, listening over and over ad nauseum to the same LP, I am leaning now towards using a hardware phono preamp.

Maybe because the direct cartridge output to mic inputs does not have correct impedance matching, or maybe because there are headroom problems with the mic inputs, I dunno.

But I hear more grain, especially on the loudest vocal passages, when recording direct signal from cartridge into digitial recorder's mic inputs. Even with the recording levels showing no clipping.






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Topic - IFI Zen phono stage? - LtMandella 08:32:01 03/7/21 (24)

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