[Faber65]

   
Sorry,
 
Another colleague from AMR is lindal....
 
lindac@ifi-audio.com
 
Time zones and all that!

 
Let us know how you get on.

 
I got in touch with your local colleague who managed to deliver an iDAC2 launch bundle for me though the local dealer.
Now it's time to burn in the "beast" and compare it with the predecessor.
Thank you very much IFI.

 

[gixxerwimp]

  What's the output impedance on the headphone jack, can i use it as a line out to my amplifier/speakers?  

 
It has line out via RCA jacks. Take a look at the specs on the iFi website.
http://ifi-audio.com/portfolio-view/micro-idac2/
 

Line Section:
Output:	2.1V (+/-0.05V) fixed
Zout:	< 39 Ohm
SNR:	> 114dB(A) @ 0dBFS
THD+N:	< 0.0025% @ 0dBFS (100k Load)
	< 0.025% @ 0dBFS (600R Load)
Headphone Section:
Output:	> 350mW (2.40V) into 16R (<10% THD+N)
	> 34mW (3.20V) into 300R (< 0.1% THD+N)
Zout:	< 2 Ohm
THD+N:	< 0.0025% (1V into 16 Ohm, 0dBFS)
SNR:	> 114dBA (3.2V into 16 Ohm, 0dBFS)

 

[bocosb]

   
It has line out via RCA jacks. Take a look at the specs on the iFi website.
http://ifi-audio.com/portfolio-view/micro-idac2/
 

Line Section:
Output:	2.1V (+/-0.05V) fixed
Zout:	< 39 Ohm
SNR:	> 114dB(A) @ 0dBFS
THD+N:	< 0.0025% @ 0dBFS (100k Load)
	< 0.025% @ 0dBFS (600R Load)
Headphone Section:
Output:	> 350mW (2.40V) into 16R (<10% THD+N)
	> 34mW (3.20V) into 300R (< 0.1% THD+N)
Zout:	< 2 Ohm
THD+N:	< 0.0025% (1V into 16 Ohm, 0dBFS)
SNR:	> 114dBA (3.2V into 16 Ohm, 0dBFS)

 
Yeah, but i wanna use the RCA to connect the dac to my Bottlehead Crack amp + HD650, so i need another output to feed my speakers.. atm im using a Xonar Essence in the same way, RCA to Bottlehead and the headphone output to the amp/speakers - i can select the out i'm using from software 

 

[gixxerwimp]

  Yeah, but i wanna use the RCA to connect the dac to my Bottlehead Crack amp + HD650, so i need another output to feed my speakers.. atm im using a Xonar Essence in the same way, RCA to Bottlehead and the headphone output to the amp/speakers - i can select the out i'm using from software 

 
Gotcha. You also need to confirm whether both line out and headphone out work at the same time. Unless somebody else can chime in, I'll take my micro iDSD to work tomorrow (where my iDAC2 is) and check that out for you.
 
Wasn't sure what you were hoping for WRT output impedance of a preamp (which is essentially how you'd be using it), but I guess lower is better. At least that's what I found here:
http://www.audiokarma.org/forums/showpost.php?p=23262&postcount=5

 

[U2nite]

  Currently I'm using Volumio, which is a version of Debian (IIRC) pre-configured to load mpd (Music Player Daemon) and to support I2S and USB DACs. It also has a web-based mpd client installed so that I can control it from any web-browser, or I can use any mpd client. I use mpod on my iphone, or Chrome on my Mac.
 
Anyone interested in Volumio can find it here: https://volumio.org/
 
I'm going to try Rune (http://www.runeaudio.com/) and Moode (http://moodeaudio.org/) at some point, but I haven't yet tried either of them.

 
Interesting to see what you are doing.
 
I'm also using the following:
 
Raspberry Pi2 (Volumio) > usb to iFi iDSD Micro > Hifiman HE560. Control by mpod on iPhone or chrome on Mac. Play cd quality files, HDTracks files and DSD files.
 
Sounds wonderful to me. 

 

[gixxerwimp]

 

  Yeah, but i wanna use the RCA to connect the dac to my Bottlehead Crack amp + HD650, so i need another output to feed my speakers.. atm im using a Xonar Essence in the same way, RCA to Bottlehead and the headphone output to the amp/speakers - i can select the out i'm using from software 

 
Gotcha. You also need to confirm whether both line out and headphone out work at the same time. Unless somebody else can chime in, I'll take my micro iDSD to work tomorrow (where my iDAC2 is) and check that out for you.
 
Wasn't sure what you were hoping for WRT output impedance of a preamp (which is essentially how you'd be using it), but I guess lower is better. At least that's what I found here:
http://www.audiokarma.org/forums/showpost.php?p=23262&postcount=5

 
Sorry, couldn't verify for you that the iDAC2 can output to headphone and RCA line out simultaneously. I thought my micro iDSD had RCA inputs, but they're only for output and it only has a 3.5mm input. I know that the iDSD can output to both RCA and headphone at the same time. It also has a Direct/Preamplifier switch to control the type of output to the RCA jacks. Since you don't seem to want to use the amp section, why not get a dedicated DAC unit with dual outputs?

 

[iFi audio]

   
Sorry, couldn't verify for you that the iDAC2 can output to headphone and RCA line out simultaneously. I thought my micro iDSD had RCA inputs, but they're only for output and it only has a 3.5mm input. I know that the iDSD can output to both RCA and headphone at the same time. It also has a Direct/Preamplifier switch to control the type of output to the RCA jacks. Since you don't seem to want to use the amp section, why not get a dedicated DAC unit with dual outputs?

 
Hi,
 
The iDAC2 micro outputs signal simultaniously to line out AND headphone out. However, unless the volume control of the Headphone amplifier is required, it would probably be better to simply use a 'Y-Splitter' to feed the Headphone Amplifier and the Speaker setup.
 
Here an example of a high-quality splitter:
 
http://www.thatcable.com/product/1-RCA-Male-to-2-RCA-phono-Female-Y-Adapter-Splitter
 
Ths solution is probaby the most eloquent while at the same time solves what you need for your setup.
 
Cheers.

 

[bocosb]

   
Sorry, couldn't verify for you that the iDAC2 can output to headphone and RCA line out simultaneously. I thought my micro iDSD had RCA inputs, but they're only for output and it only has a 3.5mm input. I know that the iDSD can output to both RCA and headphone at the same time. It also has a Direct/Preamplifier switch to control the type of output to the RCA jacks. Since you don't seem to want to use the amp section, why not get a dedicated DAC unit with dual outputs?

You would be surprised what a low number of DACs with dual outputs are out there.. i mean there are a lot with RCA and Balanced outputs but very few with dual RCA and selectable output even if my specific situation cant be that rare: PC - one dac - amplifier/headphone - amplifier/speakers.
 
Thx iFi for the clarification, isn't the signal gonna suffer if it gets splited? 

 

[iFi audio]

  You would be surprised what a low number of DACs with dual outputs are out there.. i mean there are a lot with RCA and Balanced outputs but very few with dual RCA and selectable output even if my specific situation cant be that rare: PC - one dac - amplifier/headphone - amplifier/speakers.
 
Thx iFi for the clarification, isn't the signal gonna suffer if it gets splited? 

 
Hi,
 
Not ideal but the customer wants it a certain way and we are making the best solution to his situation.
 
That is all!  

 

[iFi audio]

  You would be surprised what a low number of DACs with dual outputs are out there.. i mean there are a lot with RCA and Balanced outputs but very few with dual RCA and selectable output even if my specific situation cant be that rare: PC - one dac - amplifier/headphone - amplifier/speakers.
 
Thx iFi for the clarification, isn't the signal gonna suffer if it gets splited? 

 
 
Hi,
 
"Thx iFi for the clarification, isn't the signal gonna suffer if it gets splited?"
 
To answer your question- besides this being less than ideal but the customer wants!

 
More seriously though, the extra adapter will of course introduce some small sonic penalty (hence the need for a good quality one). But the brand-new analogue stage in the iDAC2 micro has a rather high current Class A buffer at the output.
 
This means it is ableto drive for example, 600 Ohm loads (historically found in pro audio gear) with minimal performance degradation. By comparison, with the original iDAC micro, one would start loosing performance rapidly if the load was made much lower than 5kOhm.
 
So even two long interconnects and two (pre)amplifier line inputs will not cause any problem of performance degradation. In fact, the iDAC2 micro output will in essence still be idling along.
 
And in case anyne asks, the output impedance of the RCA Outputs in the iDAC2 micro is under 39 Ohm.

 

[iFi audio]

Just for a bit of Friday fun...guess where this is...

 

 

[gixxerwimp]

Just for a bit of Friday fun...guess where this is...

Well, it's somewhere where Chinese is the official language. Doesn't look like simplified characters. So my guess is Hong Kong.

 

[iFi audio]

Well, it's somewhere where Chinese is the official language. Doesn't look like simplified characters. So my guess is Hong Kong.

 
Darn it - some people are waaay too quick.
 
We do get the coolest toys to test out.
 
If you are in Hong Kong - you are welcome to visit the iFi stand.
 
And have a listen to the D-1000 with the iDAC2 stack:
 

 
https://www.facebook.com/iFiAudio/photos/pcb.898651243503952/898650676837342/?type=1&theater

 

[gixxerwimp]

Sorry to spoil the fun! I'm in Taipei, but the typhoon is full on so I couldn't fly over until probably later on Saturday. Did I win a plane ticket?

 

[iFi audio]

Sorry to spoil the fun! I'm in Taipei, but the typhoon is full on so I couldn't fly over until probably later on Saturday. Did I win a plane ticket?

 
Sorry, no plane ticket in the planned competition prize list for the next quarter!