Very informative and thanks a lot once more! Enjoy!

What is the "high gain" issue you put as a con?

Hi Alex, great review.
Enjoy your music!

Nice review. Does it come in Black

High gain....well depending on the headphone impedance of your cans really efficient cans will not require much vol pot rotation to get moderate listening levels....
I tested a Chi-Fi Soundaware P1...tons of power and could not get the vol up over 9 oclock and my ears were bleeding.

This iFi is much better in this regard. Not a deal breaker.

WIth some dacs you can set the level control down a tad and voila instant "betterment". (Soekris 2541 etc).

One of the reasons this could be an issue is with cheaper vol pots the low level tracking can be an issue...in balance between left and right...in the case of the iFi's I have here the low level tracking is very, very good and the volume is easily set even at the lower areas of the control...

You dont see this as an issue at all with the iFi Pro DSD and its internal linestage. Just the amp.

Again...this amp is designed (IMO) to drive anything...Susvaras, HE-6's etc...so it has "balls" for sure.

Alex

Black? Only if you buy a can of black spray paint!!

Good review. I love my Pro iDSD & Pro iCAN duo together. My go-to set up for dekstop.

I use it most everyday. The Pro DSD dac and its multibit Burr Brown implementation is indeed very well done to my ears. The versatility having three inputs via RCA and one balanced set makes comparing dacs easy here....One thing I forgot to mention in my "experience" is the way the unit sits on a desk. The flat greyish "rubberized/plastic" pad on the bottom IMO has a "technical" purpose, but the units small size makes it susceptible to movement when plugging and unplugging headphones. The mounting racks iFi sells is the solution from them, but IMO aesthetically its quite the site....and its not inexpensive either. I will add some sorbethane feet to mine to get it up 3/4" off the desk for ventilation and cooling. I have mine side by side but do move them around depending on what testing I am doing.

I made a Lego rack from my kids sets…

@ngoshawk Pictures please!!

You state as a negative issue “a High Gain Issue”. Are you referring to when in high gain mode there is an audible anomaly or do you mean it is just too much for most headphones? Also did you try the amp with any high quality in Ear monitors?

Thanks.

@drroman66 Hello...

The high gain issue is with most all headphones, I used D8000 Pro's, HD 650 and ADX 5000's in the recent testing...With the lowest gain setting the vol know doesnt get much over 10 oclock....not in that "sweet Spot"..we like to be in....but if u use a dac input that has a variable level setting, like the iFI iDSD or a Soekris 2541 then you can get around this...

This tells me the amp has MORE than enough power for most any headphone....excellent.

No I have not used any IEMS...I an only a headphone user....

Alex