CONCLUSION

    When the ZEN Blue 3 was first announced by iFi audio it brought back memories of the ES9023 DAC by Sabre and well, ESS was always among my favorite audio DAC brands. Now I don’t really know if the ES9023 used in the ZEN Blue 3 is the exact same one as the one released well over a decade ago (was a bit surprised to see iFi audio chose this DAC) but during my tests with numerous music players like the M15, M23 and R9 by FiiO and headphones like the 109 PRO and 105 AER (review soon) by Meze, Aventho 300 by beyerdynamic and the FT5 by FiiO the ZEN Blue 3 produced near excellent detail and balance with warn highs and a good amount of bass (some would call it punchy, depends a lot on the headphones used). Soundstage is sufficiently wide with good instrument separation and vocals are emphasized just enough to not overshadow lows. Audio performance aside I really liked the build quality of the ZEN Blue 3 even though at times the buttons didn’t feel responsive enough. What did make me roll my eyes a bit was the white Antenna (not round as seen on marketing material) which may work well but it just doesn't fell right, not when the body of the ZEN Blue 3 is made of aluminum painted gray (light/dark). Yes, I am probably nitpicking, but I do think that everything counts when you spend your money on something (how hard would it had been for iFi audio to paint it black? Anything but white).

    The ZEN Blue 3 by iFi audio currently retails for USD299 inside the USA (Amazon.com) and for 311.56Euros inside the EU (Amazon.de) a price tag which is quite balanced for this product. Bottom line people who are out in the market looking for a feature-rich Hi-Res Bluetooth transmitter/receiver the ZEN Blue 3 is a great choice and for that it gets the Golden Award.

PROS

- Build Quality
- Very Good Audio Performance
- Bluetooth v5.4(Lossless / Low Latency)
- Supported Bluetooth Codecs (aptX Lossless, aptX Adaptive, aptX, LDAC, LHDC/HWA, AAC and SBC)
- Available Inputs / Outputs (4.4mm Balanced/2x3.5mm Optical/2xRCA/USB C)
- Price (For Some)

CONS

- White Antenna (For Some)
- ESS Sabre ES9023 (Good But Old)