[john57]

The retro has a very strong headphone amp being driven by the EL84 tubes. It is a more richer fuller sound than the iDSD micro headphone output. There is two power levels for the headphones the 1/8 is normal for sensitive headphones and the 1/4 is turbo power all tube driven. I did find that the 1/4 headphone jack is a bit too strong for some of my headphones but it is good as a option for planner headphones as well. The speakers outputs are disconnected when headphones are plugged in. The speaker relay is right between the speaker terminals in the case.

 

[charliecj]

  You are going to have fun opening the box!

I have seen pictures of the "big opening of the box"  and it does look like fun..........How do you like your Retro s far?

 

[PMath]

Hello,
i have my Retro since 2 Weeks. First of all many thanks to Ifi and WOD for the very good service (first Retro was broken by the carrier)
My usual stuff is Klimax DSM with Manger speakers. They have nothing to do since 2 weeks...
Now with the Retro i have music in its best. DAC with Apple Express, Phono with LP12 MC. Have so much fun !
Even the Kudos X3 as speakers are fine to drive with the Retro and my old Hifiman HE-4 has the first time a good partner.
Anybody knows how to adjust the bias of the tubes after some time ?
 
Peter

 

[technobear]

Anybody knows how to adjust the bias of the tubes after some time ?

Not needed.

 

[iFi audio]

  Hello,
i have my Retro since 2 Weeks. First of all many thanks to Ifi and WOD for the very good service (first Retro was broken by the carrier)
My usual stuff is Klimax DSM with Manger speakers. They have nothing to do since 2 weeks...
Now with the Retro i have music in its best. DAC with Apple Express, Phono with LP12 MC. Have so much fun !
Even the Kudos X3 as speakers are fine to drive with the Retro and my old Hifiman HE-4 has the first time a good partner.
Anybody knows how to adjust the bias of the tubes after some time ?
 
Peter

 
The Circuit of the Retro is auto adjusting the bias, no manual adjustment needed. 
 
Just replace the tubes (not even matched pairs are needed, though it measures better if they are used and we match output tubes quite closely as quads) if they tire out. 
 
They should last between 5,000 and 10,000 Hours, at six hours per day this is around 3 Years (based on 7,000 Hours lifespan), at 12 Hours halve that and so on.

 

[yzhengyu]

Just wondering if there are any iFi Retro buyers who also have a HD800, how does the highs (i.e. treble) sound like through the headphone output?

 

[rickyleelee]

Mine is in running in 24/7 and the sound is opening up. My wife, daughter and I like it very much

its sound so sweet (thx the tubes) and powerful given its tiny size! My daughter loves it's incredible performance when she listens to Korean pop and Canton pop! I will provide my feedback as soon as I take the retro back from these ladies

 

As promised, I have spent couple days with my Retro and finally have my private moment to play around with my new toy 

 

First, I like the design and the size as they perfectly fit to put the Retro on my desk next to my iMac and DSD, 

 

 

in particular the speakers can put on the shelf (no compliant from my wife as I don’t need to move her stuff to other place). 
 

 

The tiny main body is elegant and I really like the material (bamboo) they use to make its case and speaker boxes. 

 

The color is easy to match with most our furniture (this is another reason I don’t get compliant from my wife). Good choice and brilliant idea. 

 

 

 

Second, it‘s high mobility that allows us to place it anywhere we want, such as living room, bedroom etc. this is really up to us (mainly my wife again). Our (her) original choice was bedroom then moved to living room.

 

 

Last, its sound very nice and smooth, the vocal is sweet. This machine really sings and my wife and daughter like its performance so much.

 

I definitely will spend more time with my Retro going forward, I have plenty of different type of songs to play with it.

 

 

[john57]

   
This. I would like to see a review of the Retro, especially how it performs as a headphone amp. 

It is very good. I checked with a few of my headphones and the Retro shines as compared to my Schiit Lyr which I have decided to sell. 

 

[galacticsoap]

Can't wait for this unit to be available in Australia. Well it already is as a package, but I've already got a pair of mini-monitors so don't quite need the LS3.5's. What I do need is a DAC/AMP/Headphone amp and the Stereo 50 looks to tick all the boxes!

 

[pbutros]

Hi all,
New to the forum with a great interest in the Retro 50.

had a listening session at the 'local dealer' yesterday and was well impressed.

I was just about to say to wrap it and take it home until he mentioned that for streaming hi-res audio I would require a Wifi receiver to be hooked up via the optical input.

This would add yet another device and another 400 Euro to the invoice so a total of about 2750 Euro.

I was probably mistaken that thru BT all formats could be played back including FLAC to which I converted all of my CD's.

so to me it was a big letdown and decided to hold off the purchase until I had some more clarity on this..

so I am asking if there is any other way to playback hires audio controlled via Android device without buying additional equipment

would it be possible to hook it up via a wifi wall wart using a network to usb adapter cable?

Any suggestions will be highly welcomed..

Kind regards

Petrus

 

[Maelob]

CDs are not hi res format- so you are fine with BT streaming from phone. i believe you can connect usb from android to usb in retro. and off coourse if you have files in computer you can connect via Usb.

 

[pbutros]

Mealob
Thank you for that.

So I can assume that everyone playing hi res audio has a computer hooked up directly to the USB port?

So no hookup to a router and NAS controlled via Android device?

About CD quality via BT, what I have learnt it is hard to determine what resolution is being ultimately played as BT decides itself based on signal quality / stability wat it converts the signal to.

So according to the dealer I need a high quality wifi interface connected to either the optical / coaxial if I want to use the Retro's own DAC or to the Line in to use the interface DAC.

Apparently all hi quality interfaces that allow hi quality formats have a built in DAC....

That,in my opinion defeats in what my goal, more with less
, is plus a big bundle of money for something I don't need.

Despite of how much I like it, maybe it is not for me unless I am missing the clue.

Maybe there will be a 2.0 version some day with proper wifi functionality.

Kind regards
Petrus

 

[Maelob]

wow your dealer is not properly informed- if you have your own collection of music in the computer you dont need a nas or wifi. however if you want to by hi resolution music you will need an internet connection. the Usb on the ifi is really good. so for a phone streaming with bt will sound good. and you can connect a computer usb- check the ifi website and download the owners manual

 

[cjs001]

Just wondering if anyone has tried hooking the Retro 50 to a 2.1 setup?

 

[JuleZ3C]

Thought about this today, but there's no line out.
Better find high sensitivity / full range speakers then I guess... (or maybe listen to the LS3.5 first )