High-quality gaming audio cannot be overlooked. Whether playing an immersive single-player game or even hopping into a lobby of your favorite competitive game like Marvel Rivals, a solid pair of headphones will improve your gaming experience. If you already have an excellent pair of headphones but want to get some more oomph out of them, pick up a DAC, or digital-to-analog converter. As their name implies, DACs convert the digital signal that digital audio uses into an analog signal, so your headphones can produce sound. Now, every computer has a DAC built into it, but when you start getting into Hi-res audio, those built-in options tend not to provide all the power you need.
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A high-refresh-rate monitor displaying stunning colors is a great way to immerse yourself in a game, but great audio takes gaming to the next level.
Luckily, if you are looking for a new pair of headphones, a DAC, or even both, we have you covered. Over the last couple of weeks, I was able to test the Sennheiser HD620S and iFi Zen Can 3 to see if they are up to snuff for more than just music listening and whether they make sense to add to your gaming setup.
Design and First Impressions
Sennheiser HD620S
Box Contents:
- Sennheiser HD620S
- 1.8m cable with 3.5mm plug
- 3.5 to 6.3mm adapter
The HD620S is Sennheiser’s newest premium closed-back headphones, and the second you get it out of the box, that premium quality is apparent. The sleek black design with the small Sennheiser badges on both earcups is very on-brand compared to the rest of Sennheiser’s lineup. The included cable feels very robust and doesn’t kink up on itself even straight out of the box, which cannot go unnoticed; having a lousy cable with an excellent pair of headphones can easily ruin the overall experience.
For our testing purposes, I also received a 4.4mm cable for a balanced connection, which is not entirely necessary to pick up, but if you plan to get the iFi Zen Can 3 as well, the balanced output is worth it for the better performance.
iFi Zen Can 3
Box Contents:
- iFi Zen Can 3
- 3.5mm to 6.33mm adapter
- AC Adapter
- 20″ RCA patch cable
Like the HD620S, the iFi Zen Can 3 immediately screams premium product after being taken out of the box. It is sleek and slim, but still has a good amount of weight, which doesn’t matter for a desktop accessory, but sometimes it is nice to feel a product with a decent heft to it. Thanks to its slim build, most people can easily find a place for the Zen Can 3 in their setup. You can easily fit this amp under your monitor, even if you have a reasonably low monitor like mine.
What’s It Like To Use?
Sennheiser HD620S
Sennheiser’s design style is not for everyone; however, I am staunch supporter of the brand. Years ago, I picked up the Sennheiser HD600, and they are easily one of the most comfortable headphones I have ever used, but the HD620S is now a close second. Even though I tend to lean towards open-back headphones for my daily drivers at my desk, the closed-back design on the HD620S did not bother me with heat build-up, even during long gaming sessions.
Speaking about the closed-back design, even though the HD620S does not feature any ANC, the combination of the excellent clamping force and closed-back design provides excellent passive isolation. They are not quite to the tune-out-the-world level that I got with the Final VR 3000 earbuds I tested out in December, but even with people talking at full volume in the same room while I was gaming and working, I was able to tune them out and focus in on what I was doing quite easily.
The only thing is that these headphones require a fair amount of power to sound their best. Technically, you can get them to produce sound with just a headphone port on your computer, but you will leave a ton of performance on the table without proper power. That is where the Zen Can 3 comes into play.
iFi Zen Can 3
From set up to everyday use, the Zen Can 3 is straightforward, which cannot be said for many other DACs and Amps on the market. However, because the Zen Can 3 only comes with an RCA patch cable to connect to your devices, you will need to pick up a 3.5mm to 3.5mm, male-to-male cable. These can easily be found at pretty much any electronic store for a couple of bucks and even easier on Amazon, so it’s not too big of a deal, but it is a little annoying for people using it with their PC.
That said, after you get it plugged in, there are no drivers or invasive software to install. Just turn it on, and your computer will recognize the Zen Can 3 as a standard audio output. Everything else is taken care of through the front interface. While it’s not really a fancy feature for the Zen Can 3, the analog volume knob is definitely worth mentioning. Having such fine-tuned control over your volume is so nice.
The other big selling point on the front interface, which we will cover more in the audio performance section, is the mode switch. This is where you can switch between four modes that change the EQ, one of which is tuned specifically for gamers.
Audio Performance
Now for this review’s proverbial meat and potatoes: how do the HD620S and the Zen Can 3 sound? As we said earlier, you don’t necessarily need to get these two together, but after two weeks of testing them in tandem, it is hard to go wrong with this combo. Whether you want to listen to music with incredible quality or gain an edge while gaming, the HD620S, and Zen Can 3 sound absolutely fantastic.
Music Performance
When it comes to music performance, it is no surprise that this combo knocks it out of the park. While listening to music, I highly recommend using the EQ mode with both XBass and XSpace turned on for the most immersive sound and widest sound stage.
Listening to the Droid Invasion from Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace is one of my favorite ways to test the sound stage of headphones. At the beginning of the song, there is a distant drum and cymbal crash in the right ear, which should sound like it’s coming behind you. Then, when the whole orchestra comes in, this combo makes you feel like you are in the middle of the orchestra pit. While it’s not quite the full-body feeling you would get with a set of speakers, these headphones deliver an incredible sound stage with a ton of detail, making it easy to pick up specific instruments.
Gaming Performance
When it comes to gaming, this combo’s performance continues to knock my socks off. While gaming, I switched between the XBass and XSpace modes I mentioned earlier, all while using the gaming-specific EQ mode. Both options sound incredible in-game, but unless you are playing a competitive game and want the edge of hearing lower-volume sounds, I enjoyed the XBass and XSpace modes for a more immersive listening experience.
Specifically, in games like Dredge, this combo makes the scary creatures of the depths and navigating at night genuinely more terrifying than other audio solutions I have used in the past. Take that for what you will, but it was hard to return to other headphones after playing this game with the HD620S and Zen Can 3.
Are The Sennheiser HD620S and iFi Zen Can 3 Right For You?
While neither of these products is necessarily in the budget category for most gamers, they are actually quite the steal in the world of Hi-Res audio. If you already own a pair of solid headphones, the Zen Can 3 itself is a pretty reasonable purchase that will still upgrade your audio experience. For example, I used the Austrian Audio Hi-X20 with the Zen Can 3 as well, and there was a noticeable jump in the bass and sound stage performance.
However, if you want to go all out on an audio setup that will easily last you for years and years to come, the iFi Zen Can 3 paired with the Sennheiser HD620S is truly hard to go wrong with.
Buy it Now! Sennheiser HD620S
Buy it Now!Zen Can 3
Of course, this combo is not going to be a perfect fit for everyone; luckily, with a ton of headphones to choose from out there, the HD620S is not the only option for high-quality audio, and the same goes for the iFi Zen Can 3.