Review on Enhance Your Vinyl Experience with the iFi Audio Zen Phono Preamp by Rob Bishop

First off I'm blown away by the features and sound quality of this little bug. A good alternative to Schiit Mani - it certainly can't compete with my Musical Fidelity MX-VYnL, but I'm glad it doesn't. :-) Featuring a redesigned Denon DP-45f with a NOS DL-160 HOMC cartridge, it does exactly what I need it to do on the system it's installed on. The only thing that doesn't suit me is that one of the main selling points is the presence of a separate balanced output. . For better or worse, this article (and a few other iFi products from what I've read) does so with a little-known 4-ring 1/8" mini connector. Finding one of any quality is either a several week wait from China or luckily found one sold here that doesn't show up in searches. A friend who found it sent me a link and when I bought it it did listed as listed I certainly don't expect iFi to offer it at this price point, but partnering with AudioQuest or SOME other outlets in the US and providing a link to get one in time is an over the top site they definitely could and If you run it unbalanced they include a boring looking RCA cable. Don't let a negative balance cable issue put you off buying one - it's worth it.