Agreed. Looking forward to their release. Plan to grab one from Music Direct.

.

Just Pre-ordered one, availability January. Really looking forward to getting it. Anyone managed to get a hold of one yet?

Turrican2, 
 
Which retailer did you pre-order from? I've been trying to ascertain from iFi which online retailers have stock without success.
 
Thanks. 
 
Quote:

turrican2 said:

Just Pre-ordered one, availability January. Really looking forward to getting it. Anyone managed to get a hold of one yet?

Click to expand...

I bought it from David at http://www.mains-cables-r-us.co.uk/

Just search for ifi using his search box. I also bought my itube from David, he is a great guy.

Many thanks!  
 
Quote:

turrican2 said:

I bought it from David at http://www.mains-cables-r-us.co.uk/

Just search for ifi using his search box. I also bought my itube from David, he is a great guy.

Click to expand...

Sorry if I am missing something but I can't see mention of the cables required from idevices. I haven't seen a 30pin (old idevices) to that digital input.
 
Really interested since melting my iCan

Think you wil want something like these: 
 
1) the cheap version: http://www.amazon.com/Card-Adapter-Apple-Camera-Connection/dp/B008LYU2K0/ref=sr_1_3?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1388682871&sr=1-3&keywords=iphone+4+camera+connection+kit
 
2) more expensive, but from Apple themselves: http://www.amazon.com/Apple-iPad-Camera-Connection-MC531ZM/dp/B003K1EYM6

Too bad this DAC can't work over Bluetooth..

roscoeiii said:

Think you wil want something like these: 

1) the cheap version: http://www.amazon.com/Card-Adapter-Apple-Camera-Connection/dp/B008LYU2K0/ref=sr_1_3?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1388682871&sr=1-3&keywords=iphone+4+camera+connection+kit

2) more expensive, but from Apple themselves: http://www.amazon.com/Apple-iPad-Camera-Connection-MC531ZM/dp/B003K1EYM6

Click to expand...

Cheers for this. Was hoping there was a short cable for connecting ipod classic and touch. I have an ipad set up at home with squeezebox and ipeng + tube amp so just thinking about portability more so.....

Anyone?

murphythecat said:

so this can only read DSD files, no mp3?

Click to expand...

DACs don't decode MP3.

Players decode MP3 and output PCM.

Ditto for WMA, FLAC, ALAC, etc.

turrican2 said:

Just Pre-ordered one, availability January. Really looking forward to getting it. Anyone managed to get a hold of one yet?

Click to expand...

I got mine today.  I ordered it through MusicDirect.com
 
Even though I got it to be my portable DAC to play high resolution files from my iPad, I am currently in the burn-in phase, connecting it this way:
Mac Mini -> iFi iUSBPower -> iFi iDSD -> RCA output to Yamaha amplifier and connected to my office speakers.    I'm using Audirvana to play high rez files up to 24/192 and DSD files through Audirvana.  It sounds terrific even out of the box!
 
For the portable configuration, I performed some tests this afternoon and got pleasantly great results:
1.  Works perfectly just connecting the iDSD to the iPad using CCK
2.  No need for Powered Hub at all
3.  The iDSD has a led light with colors that show the specific frequency, similar to the Dragonfly.  It has different lights for 1X (44.1, 48), 2X (88.2, 96) and 4X (176.4, 192), as well as different colors for DSD content at different frequencies:  DXD 353/384Mhz, DSD 2.8/3.1Mhz and DSD 5.6/6.2 MHz
4.  I played content in all different formats and frequencies above in my iPad and got the right results - bit perfect every time.  Used the FLAC app for PCM content and the Onkyo HF Player for DSD content.  I selected the option to play DSD directly without any PCM conversion, I'm very impressed thus far!
So far this little technology marvel will be my travel companion as it does not require the USB Powered Hub as it has its own internal battery, supposed to last 10 hours.
 
Simply amazing for its price!  We are indeed living in the golden age of music technology, with the availability of just awesome DACs, IEMs and cans.  We just need the music labels to produce better musical content, including high quality high resolution recordings/files!

ticos442 said:

 
 
Simply amazing for its price!  We are indeed living in the golden age of music technology, with the availability of just awesome DACs, IEMs and cans.  We just need the music labels to produce better musical content, including high quality high resolution recordings/files!

Click to expand...

 
How does the headphone out sound on it? Running on battery power it should be pretty quiet and good for IEMs. I have been using the iDAC and iCAN in my desktop system for 2 months and have been really pleased with the results. If I had it to do again I would have just waited for the iDSD instead of iDAC for taking on the road.   For portable use, you'd be set with an iDSD, a set of IEMs, and a smartphone.

kmanchu said:

   
How does the headphone out sound on it? Running on battery power it should be pretty quiet and good for IEMs. I have been using the iDAC and iCAN in my desktop system for 2 months and have been really pleased with the results. If I had it to do again I would have just waited for the iDSD instead of iDAC for taking on the road.   For portable use, you'd be set with an iDSD, a set of IEMs, and a smartphone.

Click to expand...

I agree with your comments.  Even though I've had the iDSD for only one day, I'm very impressed with all the tests I've performed.  I will also be running a test to see how long it takes for the battery to drain out using different IEMs.
 
I'll repeat here my recent entry on a similar separate thread:
 
I have tested it with all my IEMs and cans using the iPad+CCK as the source.  The most sensitive IEMs I have are the Monster Turbine Pro Copper and the Monster Miles Davis.  Sound quality is superb and background is ultra quiet.  When you pause the music you can't hear anything at all (no hissing or other electronic noise artifacts), and when playing soft music or quiet passages in a song, there is no noise present whatsoever.  The only hissing I hear is the one coming from older recordings (the tape hiss from the masters when the music was recorded), which is normal.
 
The iDSD also performs admirable with my full size Ultrasone8 headphones.  It works with my very hard to drive Grado PS1000s, but I need to crank up the volume pretty high, and the performance is not the same as using more powerful headphone amplifiers.  Again, this is normal and I was not expecting to use the iDSD with its internal battery source with my Grado headphones.
 
In summary - I am extremely impressed!

ticos442 said:

  I agree with your comments.  Even though I've had the iDSD for only one day, I'm very impressed with all the tests I've performed.  I will also be running a test to see how long it takes for the battery to drain out using different IEMs.
 
I'll repeat here my recent entry on a similar separate thread:
 
I have tested it with all my IEMs and cans using the iPad+CCK as the source.  The most sensitive IEMs I have are the Monster Turbine Pro Copper and the Monster Miles Davis.  Sound quality is superb and background is ultra quiet.  When you pause the music you can't hear anything at all (no hissing or other electronic noise artifacts), and when playing soft music or quiet passages in a song, there is no noise present whatsoever.  The only hissing I hear is the one coming from older recordings (the tape hiss from the masters when the music was recorded), which is normal.
 
The iDSD also performs admirable with my full size Ultrasone8 headphones.  It works with my very hard to drive Grado PS1000s, but I need to crank up the volume pretty high, and the performance is not the same as using more powerful headphone amplifiers.  Again, this is normal and I was not expecting to use the iDSD with its internal battery source with my Grado headphones.
 
In summary - I am extremely impressed!

Click to expand...

 
Can you point us to the other thread with your iDSD comments? This is the only thread on the iDSD that I had come across.