[Raga Patron]

Hi Earbones, you mentioned that the mids on the i-dSp are excellent. How are the mids on the microStreamer?  Are they as good as the i-dSp, or better? Thanks.

 

[Lohb]

Yes, interested in how well this compares to MS as well....pretty natural sounding entry-level DACs.

 

[tafens]

Has anyone tried the iDSP/DSP with the Sennheiser HD600/HD650? Is the little thing able to drive them proper?

What about other headphones?

I'm kind of wondering where it's limit is, mainly as it's specified as drawing only 50mA from the connected device..

 

[dpmalito]

I use my iDSP with Westone 4 earbuds and he sound is truly impressive for a passive DAC costing just 69.99.  With the AMP no where in sight, this is going to be my high end portable solution for now, along with TuneShell to play my 96/24 FLACS.

 

[Earbones]

  Hi Earbones, you mentioned that the mids on the i-dSp are excellent. How are the mids on the microStreamer?  Are they as good as the i-dSp, or better? Thanks.

Hi Raga, I prefer the i-dSp mids to the microStreamer's. To quote my review:
 
"The i-dSp captures perhaps 95% of the microStreamer's signature warmth and grunt, but there is slightly more space and air in the i-dSp. This airier quality is what I believe really untethers the (i-dSp's) mids and makes them so fantastically effortless and special. The potential is there in the microStreamer, but that extra grunt adds just a little murkiness."
 

 

[CharlesC]

Got my idsp this week. It sounds very nice. Truthfully, Apple products sound good anyway but I think this offers a bit of an improvement with my HD598s. Volume is not much louder than straight out of the idevice so I wouldn't recommend this for highly resistive headphones.

Anyway, when I plugged it in the first time a little green light came on but I haven't seen it on in a long time. Don't know if it died or what. Not a big deal. Anyone know what the light is for?

 

[shotgunshane]

According to HRT, on kickstarter comments, i-dsp "doesn't have a light". But I see it briefly blink shortly after plugging it in. I'm thinking this is just notification of i-dSp making a connection with iOS.

According to specs it puts out approximately 0.75 more vRms than the stock iphone. To me, it seems about 2 clicks louder overall (with iems).

I bought one off Amazon, as I'm planning an iOS dac roundup for CYMBACAVUM. I had emailed HRT but got no response, so I fiigured for $69 I had nothing to lose.

What a nice surprise. It's a great sounding little unit, especially in the midrange. Having very sensitive iems, I immediatley notice a difference in the output impedances of the HRT (less than 1) and iPhone 5S (~2.3). It's subtle but the i-dSP has a bit better bass grip and texture and mids sound a touch fuller. Definitley something to recommend for ultra low ohm iems like the e-q8 or se846.

 

[tafens]

Anyway, when I plugged it in the first time a little green light came on but I haven't seen it on in a long time. Don't know if it died or what. Not a big deal. Anyone know what the light is for?

I thought I saw an orange light flash briefly from the little hole on the side once when I plugged it in to my iPhone. The headphones were already plugged in to the iDSP. Maybe an overload indicator? I haven't seen it since though so maybe it was just my imagination.

I guess one would have to dismantle the thing to find out for sure..

 

[shotgunshane]

I see it blink orange every time I plug it into the iPhone. I'm pretty sure that's the indication of a connection with iOS.

 

[CharlesC]

You're right. It's orange, brief, and not very bright. Seems to work though.

 

[zolom]

Same blinking light upon connectivity, with dSP on Android

 

[Earbones]

Worth noting that while my orange light used to glow steadily, now it just flashes upon connection. I noticed this a few days ago, although I couldn't tell you when the change occurred. Additionally, while the steady glow was very dim, the flash is somewhat brighter. Not super bright, but visible in daylight.
 
Based on what others are reporting, I'd assume the orange light is indeed a feature, whether it's described in the product information or not. An LED power indicator, designed to flash upon connection to a source.
 
Assuming an overenthusiastic bit of soldering somewhere in my unit had the LED working overtime... It's figured itself out now, and is working (I'm assuming) as designed.

 

[WoodyLuvr]

Has anyone tried a 16 ohm rated iem with the iDSP yet?  The low-profile and form factor, as well as the iPhone pairing performance has peeked my interest.

 

[kostaszag]

  Has anyone tried a 16 ohm rated iem with the iDSP yet?  The low-profile and form factor, as well as the iPhone pairing performance has peeked my interest.

The Sony MH1 I use come pretty close with 15 ohm nominal impedance. The dsp drives them very well, cant  be as loud as the Geek Out 450, but loud enough.

 

[WoodyLuvr]

  The Sony MH1 I use come pretty close with 15 ohm nominal impedance. The dsp drives them very well, cant  be as loud as the Geek Out 450, but loud enough.

Cool; thanks for the reply.