This Hi-Res headphone amp promises audiophile performance for an impressively low price

A product shot of the Fosi Audio ZH3 against a black and slightly orange background

(Image credit: Fosi Audio)

published 29 September 2025

Quick Summary

Fosi Audio has launched a new audiophile-grade headphone amp and DAC that's capable of driving demanding headphones without costing too much.

The ZH3 is priced at £179 / $199, which seems comparatively low for its spec.

If you're looking for an amp to drive the best headphones or IEMs, Fosi Audio may have just the thing. Its new ZH3 headphone amp and DAC is a powerful Hi-Res Audio device that's ideal for driving headphones from 16 to 300 ohms.

It's also small enough to be part of a desktop setup or for gaming without taking up too much space.

According to the CEO of Fosi Audio, Ryan Huang, the company set out to make a device with high-end talents, but for a wider audience: "Our goal with the ZH3 was to take the kind of sound quality usually reserved for high-end systems and make it available in a product anyone can enjoy."

And that looks to be the case – the ZH3 has impressive specs but at an impressively low price. It's set you back £179 / $199 (about €205 / AU$365).

It's a pretty good-looking thing too, with its orange detailing brightening up an otherwise sober colour scheme. And as we know from the iPhone 17 Pro, orange definitely seems to be the new black this year.

Rear view of the Fosi Audio ZH3 on a white background

Fosi Audio ZH3: key features

The Fosi Audio ZH3 features an AKM 4493SEQ DAC supporting Hi-Res Audio at up to 32-bit PCM / 768kHz DSD512 over USB, and 24-bit / 192kHz PCM over optical and coaxial inputs. That DAC is teamed with an XMOS XU316 processor and four OPA1612 op-amps.

The ZH3 outputs up to 650mW at 32 ohms in single-ended mode and 2,750mW balanced, and there are three gain settings to cover the gamut of wired headphones. There are six digital filters or you can bypass the EQ completely.

It's also nice and simple to use. The front of the very compact unit features a bright LCD, 6.35mm and 4.4mm headphone jacks, and a single rotary multi-function control. Round the back there are XLR and RCA outs, RCA, optical, coaxial and USB inputs and 12V trigger input and output.

The ZH3 is available now from multiple retailers, including Amazon.

Writer, musician and broadcaster Carrie Marshall has been covering technology since 1998 and is particularly interested in how tech can help us live our best lives. Her CV is a who’s who of magazines, newspapers, websites and radio programmes ranging from T3, Techradar and MacFormat to the BBC, Sunday Post and People’s Friend. Carrie has written more than a dozen books, ghost-wrote two more and co-wrote seven more books and a Radio 2 documentary series; her memoir, Carrie Kills A Man, was shortlisted for the British Book Awards. When she’s not scribbling, Carrie is the singer in Glaswegian rock band Unquiet Mind (unquietmindmusic).

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