How to properly set up IFI ZEN DAC V2 [Solved]

[monamtb]

Hello to all,

I just got an IFI ZEN V2 DAC.
I read I have to check the firmware first to achieve its musical ability and capability.

Unfortunately this seems to need a Windows environment to do so.

Is there a way to somehow achieve this firmware update under MX Linux?

[j2mcgreg]

Does it work if you plug it in to your system?

[monamtb]

Hello j2mcgreg,

That is exactly what I can't say.

Since I can't figure out the firmware version of the device.

Apparently the device only performs top notch once the firmware is set to the proper new one.

It plays music, but not as good as everybody says - and I would have expected from a DAC of that price range.

According to Sbjorlub Stovanovic (IIWI reviews) the new firmware enables the GTO (Gibbs Transient Optimised) digital filter with it.

https://iiwireviews.com/ifi-zen-dac-rev ... and-enjoy/

But I have no option to check the firmware on my device - at least I don't know how to do that - they only have instructions for a firmware update under MAC or WIN.
So, I can't say if this GTO filter is available on my device

[j2mcgreg]

You need to post the output from the QSI utility. The Quick System Info (QSI) utility is located in MX Tools and its output is automatically formatted for use here in the forum. Run the QSI utility, click “Copy for Forum” at the bottom and then just paste it here in your thread.
Forum Rules

[monamtb]

Code: Select all

Snapshot created on: 20241014_1517
System:
  Kernel: 6.1.0-34-amd64 [6.1.135-1] arch: x86_64 bits: 64 compiler: gcc v: 12.2.0
    parameters: BOOT_IMAGE=/boot/vmlinuz-6.1.0-34-amd64 root=UUID=<filter> ro quiet splash
  Desktop: KDE Plasma v: 5.27.5 info: plank wm: kwin_x11 vt: 7 dm: SDDM Distro: MX-23.6_KDE_x64
    Libretto September 15 2024 base: Debian GNU/Linux 12 (bookworm)
Machine:
  Type: Laptop System: Dell product: Latitude 7480 v: N/A serial: <superuser required> Chassis:
    type: 10 serial: <superuser required>
  Mobo: Dell model: 00F6D3 v: A00 serial: <superuser required> UEFI: Dell v: 1.20.1
    date: 01/25/2021
Battery:
  ID-1: BAT0 charge: 50.9 Wh (100.0%) condition: 50.9/60.0 Wh (84.9%) volts: 8.5 min: 7.6
    model: LGC-LGC7.780 DELL MYJ9685 type: Li-ion serial: <filter> status: full
CPU:
  Info: model: Intel Core i5-6300U bits: 64 type: MT MCP arch: Skylake gen: core 6 level: v3
    note: check built: 2015 process: Intel 14nm family: 6 model-id: 0x4E (78) stepping: 3
    microcode: 0xF0
  Topology: cpus: 1x cores: 2 tpc: 2 threads: 4 smt: enabled cache: L1: 128 KiB
    desc: d-2x32 KiB; i-2x32 KiB L2: 512 KiB desc: 2x256 KiB L3: 3 MiB desc: 1x3 MiB
  Speed (MHz): avg: 800 min/max: 400/3000 scaling: driver: intel_pstate governor: powersave
    cores: 1: 800 2: 800 3: 800 4: 800 bogomips: 19999
  Flags: avx avx2 ht lm nx pae sse sse2 sse3 sse4_1 sse4_2 ssse3 vmx
  Vulnerabilities:
  Type: gather_data_sampling status: Vulnerable: No microcode
  Type: itlb_multihit status: KVM: VMX disabled
  Type: l1tf mitigation: PTE Inversion; VMX: conditional cache flushes, SMT vulnerable
  Type: mds mitigation: Clear CPU buffers; SMT vulnerable
  Type: meltdown mitigation: PTI
  Type: mmio_stale_data mitigation: Clear CPU buffers; SMT vulnerable
  Type: reg_file_data_sampling status: Not affected
  Type: retbleed mitigation: IBRS
  Type: spec_rstack_overflow status: Not affected
  Type: spec_store_bypass mitigation: Speculative Store Bypass disabled via prctl
  Type: spectre_v1 mitigation: usercopy/swapgs barriers and __user pointer sanitization
  Type: spectre_v2 mitigation: IBRS; IBPB: conditional; STIBP: conditional; RSB filling;
    PBRSB-eIBRS: Not affected; BHI: Not affected
  Type: srbds mitigation: Microcode
  Type: tsx_async_abort mitigation: TSX disabled
Graphics:
  Device-1: Intel Skylake GT2 [HD Graphics 520] vendor: Dell driver: i915 v: kernel arch: Gen-9
    process: Intel 14n built: 2015-16 ports: active: eDP-1 empty: DP-1,HDMI-A-1,HDMI-A-2
    bus-ID: 00:02.0 chip-ID: 8086:1916 class-ID: 0300
  Device-2: Sunplus Innovation Integrated_Webcam_HD type: USB driver: uvcvideo bus-ID: 1-5:2
    chip-ID: 1bcf:2b96 class-ID: 0e02
  Display: x11 server: X.Org v: 1.21.1.7 with: Xwayland v: 22.1.9 compositor: kwin_x11 driver: X:
    loaded: modesetting unloaded: fbdev,vesa dri: iris gpu: i915 display-ID: :0 screens: 1
  Screen-1: 0 s-res: 1920x1080 s-dpi: 96 s-size: 508x285mm (20.00x11.22") s-diag: 582mm (22.93")
  Monitor-1: eDP-1 model: AU Optronics 0x333d built: 2016 res: 1920x1080 hz: 60 dpi: 158
    gamma: 1.2 size: 309x174mm (12.17x6.85") diag: 355mm (14") ratio: 16:9 modes: 1920x1080
  API: OpenGL v: 4.6 Mesa 24.2.8-1mx23ahs renderer: Mesa Intel HD Graphics 520 (SKL GT2)
    direct-render: Yes
Audio:
  Device-1: Intel Sunrise Point-LP HD Audio vendor: Dell driver: snd_hda_intel v: kernel
    alternate: snd_soc_skl,snd_sof_pci_intel_skl bus-ID: 00:1f.3 chip-ID: 8086:9d70 class-ID: 0403
  API: ALSA v: k6.1.0-34-amd64 status: kernel-api tools: alsamixer,amixer
  Server-1: PipeWire v: 1.0.0 status: active with: 1: pipewire-pulse status: active
    2: wireplumber status: active 3: pipewire-alsa type: plugin 4: pw-jack type: plugin
    tools: pactl,pw-cat,pw-cli,wpctl
Network:
  Device-1: Intel Ethernet I219-LM vendor: Dell driver: e1000e v: kernel port: N/A bus-ID: 00:1f.6
    chip-ID: 8086:15d7 class-ID: 0200
  IF: eth0 state: down mac: <filter>
  Device-2: Intel Wireless 8265 / 8275 driver: iwlwifi v: kernel modules: wl pcie: gen: 1
    speed: 2.5 GT/s lanes: 1 bus-ID: 02:00.0 chip-ID: 8086:24fd class-ID: 0280
  IF: wlan0 state: up mac: <filter>
  IF-ID-1: surfshark_ipv6 state: unknown speed: N/A duplex: N/A mac: <filter>
  IF-ID-2: surfshark_wg state: unknown speed: N/A duplex: N/A mac: N/A
Bluetooth:
  Device-1: Intel Bluetooth wireless interface type: USB driver: btusb v: 0.8 bus-ID: 1-7:3
    chip-ID: 8087:0a2b class-ID: e001
  Report: hciconfig ID: hci0 rfk-id: 3 state: down bt-service: N/A rfk-block: hardware: no
    software: no address: <filter>
  Info: acl-mtu: 1021:4 sco-mtu: 96:6 link-policy: rswitch hold sniff
    link-mode: peripheral accept
Drives:
  Local Storage: total: 961.42 GiB used: 512.25 GiB (53.3%)
  SMART Message: Unable to run smartctl. Root privileges required.
  ID-1: /dev/nvme0n1 maj-min: 259:0 vendor: Lexar model: SSD NM620 1TB size: 953.87 GiB
    block-size: physical: 512 B logical: 512 B speed: 31.6 Gb/s lanes: 4 type: SSD serial: <filter>
    rev: V1.23 temp: 37.9 C scheme: GPT
  ID-2: /dev/sda maj-min: 8:0 type: USB model: General UDisk size: 96 MiB block-size:
    physical: 512 B logical: 512 B type: N/A serial: <filter> rev: 5.00
  SMART Message: Unknown USB bridge. Flash drive/Unsupported enclosure?
  ID-3: /dev/sdb maj-min: 8:16 type: USB model: General UDisk size: 7.45 GiB block-size:
    physical: 512 B logical: 512 B type: N/A serial: <filter> rev: 5.00 scheme: MBR
  SMART Message: Unknown USB bridge. Flash drive/Unsupported enclosure?
Partition:
  ID-1: / raw-size: 66.75 GiB size: 65.15 GiB (97.60%) used: 28.37 GiB (43.5%) fs: ext4
    dev: /dev/nvme0n1p2 maj-min: 259:2
  ID-2: /boot/efi raw-size: 256 MiB size: 252 MiB (98.46%) used: 274 KiB (0.1%) fs: vfat
    dev: /dev/nvme0n1p1 maj-min: 259:1
  ID-3: /home raw-size: 886.86 GiB size: 871.87 GiB (98.31%) used: 479.71 GiB (55.0%) fs: ext4
    dev: /dev/nvme0n1p3 maj-min: 259:3
Swap:
  Kernel: swappiness: 15 (default 60) cache-pressure: 100 (default)
  ID-1: swap-1 type: file size: 5 GiB used: 0 KiB (0.0%) priority: -2 file: /swap/swap
Sensors:
  System Temperatures: cpu: 57.0 C pch: 53.0 C mobo: 50.0 C
  Fan Speeds (RPM): cpu: 0
Repos:
  Packages: pm: dpkg pkgs: 2639 libs: 1414 tools: apt,apt-get,aptitude,nala pm: rpm pkgs: 0
    pm: flatpak pkgs: 0
  No active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list
  Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/brave-browser-release.list
    1: deb [arch=amd64 signed-by=/usr/share/keyrings/brave-browser-archive-keyring.gpg] https://brave-browser-apt-release.s3.brave.com/ stable main
  Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/debian-stable-updates.list
    1: deb http://deb.debian.org/debian bookworm-updates main contrib non-free non-free-firmware
  Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/debian.list
    1: deb http://deb.debian.org/debian bookworm main contrib non-free non-free-firmware
    2: deb http://security.debian.org/debian-security bookworm-security main contrib non-free non-free-firmware
  Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/mx.list
    1: deb http://nl.mxrepo.com/mx/repo/ bookworm main non-free
    2: deb http://nl.mxrepo.com/mx/repo/ bookworm ahs
  Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/softmaker.list
    1: deb [signed-by=/etc/apt/keyrings/softmaker.gpg] https://shop.softmaker.com/repo/apt stable non-free
  Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/surfshark.list
    1: deb https://ocean.surfshark.com/debian stretch main
Info:
  Processes: 239 Uptime: 3h 43m wakeups: 40033 Memory: 23.35 GiB used: 4.46 GiB (19.1%)
  Init: SysVinit v: 3.06 runlevel: 5 default: graphical tool: systemctl Compilers: gcc: 12.2.0
  alt: 12 Client: shell wrapper v: 5.2.15-release inxi: 3.3.26
Boot Mode: UEFI

[monamtb]

I solved the issue my way.

I decided to not support a company like FIIO who doesn't care about Linux firmware support.
I returned the Zen DAC 2.
I bought a Shanling EH1 DAC - where the company doesn't hide the full potential of a DAC behind some Windows dependent firmware support.
I connected the USB cable to the Shanling Eh1 unit - I have bass and treble fine control at the DAC unit - and it works like a charm.

[PeterO]

Well ...
this is most likely about USB Audio Class(es), abbreviated as UAC . Thus, it is about the capacity of the PC OS and not about the DAC.

In about the same timeframe as USB 2.0 was launched UAC 1 was introduced. It has about the same performance as CD-quality, ie 16 bits (~ 96 dB) dynamic range and up to 48 kHz (CD has 44.1 kHz sampling rate). This is considered maximum what a normal (young) person can hear.

Later on, UAC 2 was introduced. It should be able to handle the so called hi-res audio, 24 bits / 192 kHz sampling rate.

Modern Windows have UAC 2 implemented, but in order to cover for those with older (but not too old) PC, some DAC (and similar) manufacturers also supply drivers for Windows and IOS. Myself, I regard this as a bit of hocus pocus, as those who are willing to pay some n X $100 for a DAC most likely also have a reasonably modern PC - the specific driver is not needed.

When it comes to Linux it is of course more complicated (that's why we are here, isn't it?). Firstly, DAC manufacturers note the marked penetration of Linux (1-2-3 %) and the diversity of distributions. Then also keep in mind the hocus pocus factor ... so, there is not much to gain in developing specific UAC 2 drivers for Linux.

Actually, it seems (but this is far from clear) that most Linux distributions does have UAC 2 included. Unfortunately, there is not just a nice command to use to see if it is UAC 1 or 2. For me, it is unclear if UAC resides in the kernel (claimed by some, seems most likely to me) or in ALSA/ Pipewire.

Then we arrive to the more philosophical issue: is UAC 2 necessary or not? Well, the amount of truly high-res music is very limited. Some hi-res is clearly just up-scaled "CD-quality" which may be better but also does change the content. Up-scaling is some kind of interpolation, done right it may improve sound but always introduces some new artificial info. There is also a variant of exceptional hi-res, called DSD - some DAC:s can handle this, multiples of 2.4 MHz if I remember right.

In summary:
The drivers are for upgrading USB:s in old PC:s.
Without upgrade one gets CD quality, which is about what one can hear.
The upgrade gives access to a very limited amount of hi-res audio files using UAC 2 (which most Windows and Linux already seems to have).

I do agree that it is most annoying with programs (apps) just made for Win and IOS - I have a minidsp (includes DAC:s) where the control program is just for Win/IOS, every time I want to change I have to re-boot into Win. Such control programs one does not want to risk anything, so WINE is not really an alternative.

Link: https://www.xmos.com/download/sw_usb_au ... _0_0).pdf/