How does it fare against Chord Mojo?

I have a Light My Fire Titanium Spork. It's amazeballs for scooping awesomesauce.

@tomscy2000 I have one too, it is amazeballs for scooping rehydrated mac 'n' cheese, but the knife edge isn't really something you'd try to slice a steak with and it wouldn't be an effective weapon for stabbing.
 
@Reignfire Strangely enough, I haven't joined the Mojo owner's club, so haven't made that comparison. I do know that @Takeanidea, who is later on the tour, will be making that comparison. He also has an HE-6 and an AKG-K1000, so you'll really want to tune in for his review.

Great review which confirmes how good the geek out V2A inf is but I don't know what you mean by : the GO2A (1000 mW) setting is exactly the same 4w into 16 Ohm output as the Micro iDSD BL.

Whoops, typo, I'll fix it.
 
If you convert 4Vrms into 16 Ohm into mW using this convertor: http://owenduffy.net/calc/voltcnv.htm; you'll find that 4Vrms into 16 Ohm is exactly the same as 1000 mW. 1000 mW is the output level of the GO2A (Infinity or Standard) at it's highest gain setting, so essentially Normal on the iDSD and high gain on the GO2A are the same output power.
 
Some real scientist can pop in and correct me here if I've mucked anything up.

Hi, I'm totally new to iFi products and very tempted to get an iFi desktop/transportable setup (particularly this micro iDSD black label) due to loads of compliments I have been reading on Head-fi. However, I am very confused with their product lines and feeling clueless about what to buy for a proper/best value setup; my budget is limited and reading English is quite hard in some technical topics (English is not my native)
 
So would you mind explaining briefly what roles the iPurifier, iUSB 3.0 etc from iFi beside the Micro iDSD as an dac/amp unit? Do I really need/have to buy them for my setup?
 
Thanks so much,
Linh Vu

@Ling Vu My advice is to get the iDSD Black Label and not worry about the rest. I have found the iUSB3.0 and the iPurifier to give improvement in sound, but it is marginal and I would say you would do more by investing that money in headphones.
 
I love my iUSB3.0, but if you are just starting out, you can get bigger gains for a smaller price. Upgrade over time. No need to rush.

You mention that you had a brief listen to the standard micro iDSD so do you have any thoughts on what the improvements are with the BL version please?

Great review.  I can't wait to get mine.

Thanks a bunch, guess I will try to get that one.

How would this go if I were to compare with the Marantz PM7005 (which has a built-in DAC)  ??
(apart from the portability factor)

@Dadracer I listened to the original a long time ago. It was my friend @Turrican2's iDSD and it was a brief listen. I can't really make any comparisons there. I know that @nmatheis and @Hawaiibadboy will be able to do comparisons.
 
@akshaysalkar The general consensus is that integrated 2 channel amplifiers with a headphone out don't really make ideal headphone listening rigs because the headphone out is not the focus of the design. This isn't necessarily true, as some integrated amps will have a good headphone out. I haven't personally listened to the headphone out of the Marantz 7005, so I'll not pass any judgement. You'll need to listen for yourself. I think the chances are good that the iDSD BL will sound better for headphones and I know it will play more formats.

Excellent review, as always. Hope you don't mind if I quote you on acouple of items (nothing bad) in my review. Cheers!

Thanks, @ngoshawk! I've got no problems with being quoted, just link back to this review if you do. Cheers! 

I am sorry, but I got nothing from you review. I have no clue how the iDSD sounds as a DAC. You should get some gear that's more standard/popular so folks would have some sense of the sound. Comparison against any of Chord, EMM, MSB, Linn, Playback, Esoteric or Naim would have given me some clue as to the sound. I do not expect iDSD to compete with those brands, but at leas a comparison would be helpful. As written, this review is pretty useless IMO.

@chesebert Most good DACs don't impart much of their own sound. If you read the section of my review, "Audio Quality" I describe the DAC as neutral, clear, describe the effect of the switches, and compare it to other equipment.

Everyone is entitled to their opinion, but telling a reviewer to go buy thousands to 100s of thousands of dollars in equipment they don't have in order to make their review more useful to you is more akin to trolling than a useful comment. If you expect people to compare a $549 DAC/Amp to an MSB, I don't think you'll find any of my reviews satisfactory. I suggest you read Stereophile instead of HeadFi, the average article has a lot more money behind it over there.

I'm sorry that I'm not an Armani clad billionairre, I really am. Feel free to send me donations and I'll make sure to go buy that MSB Select when I get enough of them. I'll happily update the review then.