iFi audio ZEN Air Blue 2

The ZEN Air Blue 2 adds Bluetooth to an amplifier, active speakers or a car audio system with an RCA input. With Bluetooth 5.4 and a Qualcomm QCC3095 chip it receives aptX Lossless, which carries CD-quality sound (44.1 kHz/16-bit) without data loss from phones that support it, and LDAC at up to 96 kHz for other Android phones, as well as aptX Adaptive, aptX HD, aptX, AAC and SBC. iFi uses a separate stage for each task: the Qualcomm chip only handles Bluetooth, an ESS Sabre DAC converts the signal, and iFi's own OV op-amps drive the RCA output at 2.1 V, with iFi's GMT clock to keep jitter low. It runs on anything from 5 to 12 V DC, so besides a USB power source it can be wired into a car, a boat or a leisure battery, and in a car it switches on and off with the engine. A power button lets you control it yourself, and a short and a long antenna are in the box. It is the newer version of the ZEN Air Blue.

• aptX Lossless and LDAC over Bluetooth 5.4
• ESS Sabre DAC, RCA out 2.1 V
• Runs on 5–12 V: at home or in the car