[iFi audio]

As promised, a little surprise.......

 
For 5 lucky guys:
 
 
 

x RELIC x

 

spookygonk

 

Q Mass

 

ojy89

 

miceblue

 
 

 
 
Please PM us.
 
We have a nice surprise for you guys.

 

[rickyleelee]

Congrats!

 

[Vartan]

Congrats!

 

[miceblue]

Oh wow. Thank you for selecting me to be a winner, and congratulations to the other winners as well! This is pretty exciting, so thank you iFi audio for offering the sweepstakes opportunity!

x RELIC x
spookygonk
Q Mass
[@]ojy89[/@]

 

[Tobias89]

Oh wow. Thank you for selecting me to be a winner, and congratulations to the other winners as well! This is pretty exciting, so thank you @iFi audio for offering the sweepstakes opportunity!

@x RELIC x
@spookygonk
@Q Mass
@ojy89

Glad to be selected too. 

 

[Q Mass]

Wait....what....who!?

Wow, 'surprise' is right!
[great big stupid grin spreads slowly across face].

Thanks guys...... just......WOW!

 

[PinoNL]

Congrats!

 

[DanoRoo]

Can one of you technically inclined Head-fi gurus answer this question?  The specs for this DAC state that the number of chips is 1, the number of channels is 2, and the number of signals is 4.  What are they referring to when they specify "signals"?  I need to know because I took delivery of this DAC last Friday and some of the functions of JRiver MC will not work with it.  Specifically, the ability to utilize the JRiver bass management features. It seems that there are not enough channels to accommodate the addition of a 2.1 option in two channel music sources.  After a little research,  it seems that the limited number of output channels is the reason.  I'm trying to ascertain as to whether the ifi iDSD will be a better option.  By the way, this DAC is superb in every respect.  Build quality, packaging and SQ, all top notch.  Ifi has it's act together.  I realize this is a headphone oriented site ( I bought my T1 Tesla headphone based on threads I read here).  But please indulge me this time because you guys seem like the knowledgeable audio aficionados who would know.   Thanks.

 

[miceblue]

Differential signaling, I believe.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Differential_signaling

1 DAC chip
2 channels of audio (left and right)
2 signals per channel of audio (normal and inverted) for 4 total

Basically 2 signals per channel of audio helps reduce interference, provided the wires are of equal impedance (balanced audio).

 

[technobear]

Can one of you technically inclined Head-fi gurus answer this question?  The specs for this DAC state that the number of chips is 1, the number of channels is 2, and the number of signals is 4.  What are they referring to when they specify "signals"?  I need to know because I took delivery of this DAC last Friday and some of the functions of JRiver MC will not work with it.  Specifically, the ability to utilize the JRiver bass management features. It seems that there are not enough channels to accommodate the addition of a 2.1 option in two channel music sources.  After a little research,  it seems that the limited number of output channels is the reason.  I'm trying to ascertain as to whether the ifi iDSD will be a better option.  By the way, this DAC is superb in every respect.  Build quality, packaging and SQ, all top notch.  Ifi has it's act together.  I realize this is a headphone oriented site ( I bought my T1 Tesla headphone based on threads I read here).  But please indulge me this time because you guys seem like the knowledgeable audio aficionados who would know.   Thanks.

The iDAC and the iDSD are both stereo DACs. That means 2 channels: Left and Right.

2.1 requires 3 channels: Left, Right and Subwoofer.

 

[DanoRoo]

So, what kind of stand alone dac do I need?  I didn't realize there were multi-channel external dacs.  I thought all audiophiles were stereo buffs.

 

[glassmonkey]

  So, what kind of stand alone dac do I need?  I didn't realize there were multi-channel external dacs.  I thought all audiophiles were stereo buffs.

Your problem isn't your DAC. In 2.1, subwoofers aren't really like a separate channel, they just have really low frequencies cross over to them. If you have a powered subwoofer that also acts as an amp, or an integrated home theater amplifier with a subwoofer channel, you don't need to do anything in JRiver Media Center. Those options you are trying to use in JRiver aren't designed for a stereo DAC, so skip it. They are probably designed for a built in surround sound card. You can pick up a home theater amplifier for pretty cheap, you should be able to set what frequency your subwoofer cross-over is.
 
I hope I've got this right, and I hope it helps.

 

[gixxerwimp]

 

 

On my unit, the filter settings playing DSD files seem to be "upside down" from the labels. "Standard" is smoothest (highs rolled off) and "Bit-Perfect" is brightest. It should be the other way around, and is on my iDSD. The filter settings playing PCM files make almost no difference to the sound, whereas on my iDSD I can hear a subtle roll-off going from Standard to Min-Phase to Bit-Perfect.

 
After an initial "our product is working fine, we can't comment on what you hear" response from iFi, they eventually offered to send me a replacement iDAC2. The filters on the replacement unit work as they should when playing DSD files (I still can't hear much difference with PCM content, but that's probably my ears). Faulty unit sent back to iFi and also got to keep the USB 2.0 cable that came with the replacement unit to replace the non-functioning one that came with my original unit. Now I'm a happy iFi camper!

 
The word on my original unit is:
@iFi audio

 Our team had re-flashed the iDAC 2 with our 'in-house firmware', then back to v4.10 and all is fine now.

 
I had already tried updating the FW v4.08 to v4.10 with no change in behaviour. So it seems going to their magic in-house FW first was required.

 

[iFi audio]

 

As promised, a little surprise.......

 
For 5 lucky guys:
 
 
 

x RELIC x

 

spookygonk

 

Q Mass

 

ojy89

 

miceblue

 
 
 
 
 
Please PM us.
 
We have a nice surprise for you guys.

 
 
 
Dear xRELICx and Spookygonk.
 
We need you to contact us!
 
Or someone else gets your surprise.
 
Hurry up please.

 

[Q Mass]

My surprise arrived yesterday!
Thanks to all at iFi, I am truly delighted.

@xRELICx
And
@Spookygonk

Get in touch with them guys!, I'm certain you'll be as delighted as me , really cool prize (not going to spoil the surprise here.....yet)