[iFi audio]

iFi USA

Official distribution handover
 

 
 
Southport, UK – 18^th April 2016
 
iFi has taken over distribution from Avatar Acoustics.
 
AMR/iFi would like to thank Avatar Acoustics for their immense contribution since 2007. The new launches, product awards and national dealer network is second-to-none. Avatar Acoustics will always remain much respected.
 
iFi USA; a wholly-owned subsidiary of AMR/iFi will handle the expanding retail network and all the demands hitherto required of such a major operation. It is fully committed to serving our customers as we enter the next growth phase.
 
For further details, please email admin@ifi-audio.com

 

[iFi audio]

For immediate distribution:

Unified Firmware 5.2

Limoncello

 
 

 
 
Southport, UK – 13^th May 2016
 
Latest Unified Firmware v5.2 ‘Limoncello’
The very latest in-house firmware¹ version 5.2 for ALL iFi products² is available. It is very similar to Gelato v5.1 but there some nice, minor improvements:

• Minor code optimisation.
• Fixed issues surrounding DoP standard; including ‘clicks’ when changing tracks and sonic differences to native DSD.

 
 
 
As before, for customers with particular requirements, there are two firmware sub-versions:
2) For nano iDSD and micro iDAC2 v5.2A - Enables DOP256 operation

1. This enables DSD256(DoP) operation, which requires 768kHz PCM at the USB interface level.  
2. Nano iDSD and micro iDAC2 CANNOT decode 768kHz at the DAC level, but they can all be programmed to receive 768kHz PCM at the USB interface level hence enable DSD256(DoP). 
3. With 5.2A, the user MUST make sure to manually alter the PCM audio settings correctly (especially Mac), otherwise there will be no audio output at all.
4. In other words, when playing PCM files, the sample rate must NOT set to be higher than 384kHz.  Only set the sampling rate to 768kHz when one wants to play DSD256(DoP).
5. There is no need to use this firmware if one uses ‘native mode’ (not DoP) to play DSD or if DSD files are not played at all.
6. Do NOT use 5.2A on any other products other than nano iDSD and micro iDAC2.

3) For iDSD micro Firmware v5.2B - Disable Sleep Mode (Smartphone users ONLY)

1. This is strictly for Smartphone users ONLY, there is no other reason to use 5.2B on the micro iDSD.
2. The micro iDSD micro will try to recharge while in Sleep Mode (e.g. when connected to a PC).  If connected to a Smartphone which is ‘seen’ as a computer, it will recharge via the Smartphone.
3. 5.2B disables the Sleep Mode within the micro iDSD; hence it will no longer try to recharge during Sleep Mode and flatten the Smartphone’s battery.
4. Do NOT use 5.2B on any other products other than micro iDSD.

 
 
For detailed instructions and the download files, please follow this link:
http://ifi-audio.com/downloads/
 
¹Background. The DSD DoP Evolution
DoP DSD is known for inherently creating noise when switching between PCM and DSD-DoP tracks and back. This problem has been addressed at the source by some but not all playback software - hence, much available software when playing DSD, struggles.
 
So we at iFi have taken it upon ourselves to think ‘outside of the (PC) box’ to resolve this upstream issue at the downstream firmware level for all our DSD capable devices. In a process that took over a year, we have resolved the many areas where the differences between DSD-DoP and PCM make switching an annoyance.
 
Additionally, DoP is often cited as offering a lower sound quality. By adjusting core code and the clocking system in the firmware, this point is now moot – as we eliminated the hit on processor utilisation by DoP vs. native DSD playback.
 
So choose native DSD or DoP-DSD with the confidence that either will deliver the same great DSD sound quality and user experience. Just like DSD and PCM, we like one as much as the other.

 

---

[¹] WARNING: Do NOT flash non-iFi products on the XMOS platform with iFi firmware!

[²] iFi Native DSD-capable DACs so original iDAC excluded so do NOT update using v5.2.

 

[JoeyGS]

Wow nice!
 
Can I update straight to v5.2 without having v5.1?

 

[iFi audio]

  Wow nice!
 
Can I update straight to v5.2 without having v5.1?

 
Hi,
 
Yes you may!
 
And drop back down to v5.10 if you so wish.
 
All the fun of the fair.

 

[JoeyGS]

Great! Thanks.

 

[Engell]

Wrote this to the IFI support in regards to firmware 5.20
 

  Just writing to let you know that with firmware 5.20 for the Micro IDSD my USB power state problem has become even worse..
I am running win10 home on my laptop and yes i disabled all the power management for the USB subsystem.
with firmware prior to 5.20 it would take it around 1-2 seconds to wake up and actually play something after being idle for 8-10 seconds, this was annoying, but I could live with this.
 
Now it is still doing the same... but now if you have no audio for around 16 seconds, it will now take 5 seconds to wake up
So it is obvious that you have the ability to control the power stages in firmware, now can we please get a firmware that disables this??
It still has to go into real standby after 15 minutes, i don't want to disable all standby functions, just the stupid power states.
 
and yes i know i can flash back to the old firmware that only has the 1-2 sec of no audio.
also i have no intention of running a program in the background that constantly outputs audio to make it not change power state

 

[technobear]

Wrote this to your support in regards to firmware 5.20

 
Just writing to let you know that with firmware 5.20 for the Micro IDSD my USB power state problem has become even worse..

I am running win10 home on my laptop and yes i disabled all the power management for the USB subsystem.
with firmware prior to 5.20 it would take it around 1-2 seconds to wake up and actually play something after being idle for 8-10 seconds, this was annoying, but I could live with this.

Now it is still doing the same... but now if you have no audio for around 16 seconds, it will now take 5 seconds to wake up

So it is obvious that you have the ability to control the power stages in firmware, now can we please get a firmware that disables this??
It still has to go into real standby after 15 minutes, i don't want to disable all standby functions, just the stupid power states.

and yes i know i can flash back to the old firmware that only has the 1-2 sec of no audio.
also i have no intention of running a program in the background that constantly outputs audio to make it not change power state

This is Head-Fi, an internet forum with hundreds of thousands of users so I'm not sure who the words 'your support' can be referring to as you don't seem to have quoted anyone specific in your post.

However...nobody else has reported this particular problem. I suggest that it is probably unique to your setup. The best solution would be to open a support ticket with iFi Audio and address your concerns to them directly. They are very helpful and very good at diagnosing these problems.

Go to: http://support.ifi-audio.com/

 

[Engell]

 Originally Posted by technobear /img/forum/go_quote.gif

Go to: http://support.ifi-audio.com/

i did that .. that is why it is a quote
but should be easier to understand now
 
will bring it to work on monday and see if pulls the same crap on my win7 workstation

 

[rickyleelee]

For me, v5.2 doesn't take any longer than v5.1 from standby. What else have you changed? Not for anything but 'kinda crap' is quite not respectful when you ask other people for help. Doesn't hurt to say please and thank you.

 

[iFi audio]

iFi Quad DSD Sampler Album – Native DSD Music

 
We would like to thank our very kind friends at NativeDSDMusic.
 
To celebrate the launch of the Pro iCAN, they have offered this very special ‘sampler’ recorded in dsd256 (natively) for all our readers.
 
http://blog.nativedsd.com/nativedsd-presents-ifi-quad-dsd-sampler-album/
 
https://nativedsdpresents.nativedsd.com/albums/NDSD002-ifi-quad-dsd-sampler-album
 
The coupon code QuadDSD
 
The code is valid for three weeks only. The code gives a 100% discount. 
 
The music is as follows:
 
Track 1: Groovy and hypnotising percussion music..
Album & Artist:
• Yarlung Records: YAR 15195DSD – Smoke & Mirrors Percussion Ensemble
DSD Track:
• Vanish – track 1 - Udacrep Akubrad (Dorman) 8:41
 
Track 2: Jazz vocals and guitar, to dream away..
Album & Artist:
• Just Listen: JL002 – Thomas & Eva
DSD Track:
• 8 Ensembles in 1 Bit - track 5 - Early Autumn (Herman) 2:47
 
Track3 : Bach's famous Cello Suite, what a genius..
Album & Artist:
• Navis Classics: NC15003 - Joachim Eijlander
DSD Track:
• Bach: Cello Suites - track 1 - Prelude (Bach) 2:33
 
Track 4: 1,2,3 - 1,2,3 - Waltz with Chopin's wonderful piano music..
Album & Artist
• Eudora Records: EUDDR 1402 - Josep Colom
DSD Track:
• Dialogue: Mozart & Chopin – track 10 - Waltz in A Minor, Op. 34, No. 2
(Chopin) 5:58
 
 
Enjoy the tunes natively on your Stereo50, micro iDSD, micro iDAC2, nano iDSD!
 
Thank you very much NativeDSDMusic!
NativeDSD.com

 

[HiFi FOR METAL]

Just downloaded it, I will give it a listen on my iDSD, I have an purifier 2 coming in the mail soon that has the type A connector, so I hope I will enjoy the 256 Album, I only have one 256 album which isn't recorded very well so I look forward to this one. Thank you So much iFi. 

 

[Engell]

For me, v5.2 doesn't take any longer than v5.1 from standby. What else have you changed? Not for anything but 'kinda crap' is quite not respectful when you ask other people for help. Doesn't hurt to say please and thank you.

 
it's not from standby, its USB power state change, sorry if it sounds disrespectful, but i have no other USB device that acts like that on my computer... i don't see my mouse or keyboard taking a 5-6 second break if i don't touch them for 16 seconds, pretty sure people would return their hardware if this was happening to anything else.  It might be my laptop ignoring specific power settings on the USB, but again the power states should be controlled by the hardware that is connected, the 5.2 firmware confirms that the ifi micro is capable of controlling power states, and would be awesome if it was possible to configure how this was happening in the driver instead of people having to disable almost all power saving on the USB ports in windows. (because that shouldn't be necessary, and yes i did this)
 
I am totally fine with the ifi micro going into standby after an extended period of time(10-15min), but not after 16 seconds. To clarify the delay after the 16 seconds acts like if you had turned the unit totally off or if it goes into the 15 minute standby mode, it takes approx just as long for the audio to start playing, only difference is there is no click/pop from the amp turning on.
looking forward to testing it on Monday at work, from what everyone is saying i guess everything should be fine there(i have 16 different machines i can test it out on), and if that is the case i will nuke my laptop windows installation and start over.
 
 
i will also gladly assist ifi in finding what is causing this, like giving a full hardware system dump file of their choosing or remote access to play around with it.

 

[technobear]

it's not from standby, its USB power state change...

I don't know if you tried this already but...

Open the 'Power options' control panel. This is Windows 7 but 10 must have something similar:



Click 'Change plan settings' for the plan you are using:



Click 'Change advanced power settings':



Scroll down to 'USB Settings', open it up and disable it.

 

[Engell]

I don't know if you tried this already but...


Scroll down to 'USB Settings', open it up and disable it.

 
Already did that, but thnx
also disabled USB sleep in the the device manager, on everything relating to audio and USB.
 
the only other thing i can do is disable power states completely for everything in the bios.. but that will make everything  including my i7 cpu and my nvidia graphics chip run at 100% all the time always.. something that will properly kill my laptop pretty fast

 

[Engell]

looking forward to testing it on Monday at work, from what everyone is saying i guess everything should be fine there(i have 16 different machines i can test it out on), and if that is the case i will nuke my laptop windows installation and start over.
 

 
So tested it at work... the 5 seconds delay is happening on all machines i tested on after just being idle for 15-20 seconds (Laptops/desktops/win10/win8.1/win7)
reported this to ifi ofc.