Thanks, so how about the battery when I use the Diablo as an external amp? I think it would be better since I bypassed the DACs?
iFi audio iDSD Diablo - A portable reference done our way!
- Thread starter iFi audio
- Start date
btw, I can't find the information that the 4.4mm line-out can be used as a line-in on the product description, is it a feature or a bug?
It works, I have used it regularly.
IfI acknowledged it works a number of pages back and posted a video about it on Instagram.
However you do need to use the ifI 4.4mm to 4.4mm cable or a custom cable with all 5 of the terminals connected. Most 4.4mm to 4.4mm cables use only 4 of the 5 terminals without a ground, these don’t work correctly with the Diablo. They will make sound but will hum and will lack bass.
I posted a few comments about the desktop mode on the bottom of the previous page that might be on interest.
thanks for your information, how about the battery when using it as amp?
Same as usual except that the battery lasts longer because it isn’t running the DAC as well as the Amp.
A few photos for reference, my ifi cable and my custom cable from Forza Audioworks.
If you scroll back to page 149 and the few pages after that there is more information, with the right cables you can use 3.5mm or RCA into the 4.4mm on the rear of the Diablo.
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Hello everyone,
I make this post to ask you some helps or feedbacks :
I made a firmware upgrade from 7.3c to 7.40, and now, I don't have any sound coming out from my Diablo.
I already made some firmware upgrades before without any issues, and I made the upgrade the same way as before.
I tried reverting to the previous Firmware, but that didn’t fix the problem.
I tried balanced / unbalanced outputs : no sound.
I tried to plug it on my Android device, or my PC / Windows : same problem.
The front led seems to work correctly by changing color correctly depending of the source (MQA, not MQA, etc…), but I never have any sound.
Do you have any idea on what's going on with my Diablo ?
I already made a ticket to the ifi support, and I'm waiting for their answer.
Thanks guys !
I make this post to ask you some helps or feedbacks :
I made a firmware upgrade from 7.3c to 7.40, and now, I don't have any sound coming out from my Diablo.
I already made some firmware upgrades before without any issues, and I made the upgrade the same way as before.
I tried reverting to the previous Firmware, but that didn’t fix the problem.
I tried balanced / unbalanced outputs : no sound.
I tried to plug it on my Android device, or my PC / Windows : same problem.
The front led seems to work correctly by changing color correctly depending of the source (MQA, not MQA, etc…), but I never have any sound.
Do you have any idea on what's going on with my Diablo ?
I already made a ticket to the ifi support, and I'm waiting for their answer.
Thanks guys !
I installed firmware 7.04 and had no problems with sound.
Hello once again.
I will answer to my issue, because my Diablo works again, and maybe my feedback could help someone.
I red in this thread that some of you used another AC adapter than the original iFi one to fix the issue of the sound that goes out when you move the volume knob in Turbo mode. That's why my Diablo was connected to a Samsung 25W DC adapter, adapter that solves perfectly the issue with the volume knob in turbo mode.
So after 10 tries to upgrade my Diablo to 7.40, 7.4b, 7.4c, 7.30, etc... I tried to upgrade the firmware with my Diablo connected to the original iFi AC adapter: and it works!
The sound came back!
I don't really understand why it solves anything to change the AC adapter, but whatever, it works
Perhaps it depends on the current of the charger? At the IFI charger - 5V / 2.5AHello once again.
I will answer to my issue, because my Diablo works again, and maybe my feedback could help someone.
I red in this thread that some of you used another AC adapter than the original iFi one to fix the issue of the sound that goes out when you move the volume knob in Turbo mode. That's why my Diablo was connected to a Samsung 25W DC adapter, adapter that solves perfectly the issue with the volume knob in turbo mode.
So after 10 tries to upgrade my Diablo to 7.40, 7.4b, 7.4c, 7.30, etc... I tried to upgrade the firmware with my Diablo connected to the original iFi AC adapter: and it works!
The sound came back!
I don't really understand why it solves anything to change the AC adapter, but whatever, it works
Hello once again.
I will answer to my issue, because my Diablo works again, and maybe my feedback could help someone.
I red in this thread that some of you used another AC adapter than the original iFi one to fix the issue of the sound that goes out when you move the volume knob in Turbo mode. That's why my Diablo was connected to a Samsung 25W DC adapter, adapter that solves perfectly the issue with the volume knob in turbo mode.
So after 10 tries to upgrade my Diablo to 7.40, 7.4b, 7.4c, 7.30, etc... I tried to upgrade the firmware with my Diablo connected to the original iFi AC adapter: and it works!
The sound came back!
I don't really understand why it solves anything to change the AC adapter, but whatever, it works
I am not sure I understand exactly what your situation was but if your Diablo went into current protection shut down when on battery power it will shut down completely and cannot be turned on and off, it will not respond at all, no lights, no nothing.
To reset it you need to plug it into a charger.
That may be what happened for you.
I thought I should post this here as it's something which is likely to be a factor in one's purchasing decisions.
The iDSD Diablo is specced as having 4.98W @ 32 Ohm. There is no further info given on the product page other than a voltage value of 12.6V which at 32 Ohms is indeed 4.98W.
The industry standard for measuring power is to find the maximum value an amplifier can continuously output without going above 1% THD. This is how almost all power specs for amps you see are obtained.
Sometimes manufacturers might use 10% instead, though this isn't ideal and if this is the value given it should be clearly stated so as not to mislead consumers.
As well as continuous or RMS power, some manufacturers will provide a peak power value. Which is the amount of power an amp can supply for short durations, but not continuously. This is specified by the CEA 2006 standard as 20 'on' cycles of a 1khz sine followed by 480 'rest' cycles (signal 20dB lower than the 'on' cycle).
A peak power measurement is useful to have, ideally in addition to the continuous power value, but again, it needs to be specified that it is a peak measurement, as it's going to be a higher number than the RMS value in most cases and cannot be compared to the continuous/RMS power spec of other amps.
The iDSD diablo has a spec of 4.98W, however when I tested it I was only able to get up to about 0.8W.
5.2V @ 32 Ohm is 0.845W and the Diablo distorts heavily at this level (regardless of being plugged in or not, fully charged, turbo mode etc):
I contacted iFi about this, and they told me that the power spec is a peak power spec, not an RMS spec. This is not made clear anywhere on the product page.
They also said that they did the test using a SINGLE sine cycle, not the 20 that the CEA 2006 spec requires.
I repeated their test, and yeah, it will do it for a single cycle, but trying the actual CEA 2006 test, by the third cycle it's already distorting massively. So even as a peak value 4.98W is inflated and incorrect according to industry standard testing.
I've asked iFi if they are specifying power on other products this way and if they're going to update the specs to make clear that this is a 'max instantaneous' value, and NOT an accurate peak or RMS value. At the moment they've said they will add this info to their FAQ page but have not said anything about updating the product page itself.
I'm not particularly happy about this as this methodology significantly inflates the power spec of the Diablo in a way that is misleading to consumers and not even updating the product page to at LEAST say 'peak' or something (even though as explained above the figure is still arguably incorrect even as a peak measurement) is in my opinion quite irresponsible ESPECIALLY given as power is one of the main selling points of the Diablo.
The actual power output of the Diablo that can be compared to other products is about 0.8W, NOT 4.98W.
The iDSD Diablo is specced as having 4.98W @ 32 Ohm. There is no further info given on the product page other than a voltage value of 12.6V which at 32 Ohms is indeed 4.98W.
The industry standard for measuring power is to find the maximum value an amplifier can continuously output without going above 1% THD. This is how almost all power specs for amps you see are obtained.
Sometimes manufacturers might use 10% instead, though this isn't ideal and if this is the value given it should be clearly stated so as not to mislead consumers.
As well as continuous or RMS power, some manufacturers will provide a peak power value. Which is the amount of power an amp can supply for short durations, but not continuously. This is specified by the CEA 2006 standard as 20 'on' cycles of a 1khz sine followed by 480 'rest' cycles (signal 20dB lower than the 'on' cycle).
A peak power measurement is useful to have, ideally in addition to the continuous power value, but again, it needs to be specified that it is a peak measurement, as it's going to be a higher number than the RMS value in most cases and cannot be compared to the continuous/RMS power spec of other amps.
The iDSD diablo has a spec of 4.98W, however when I tested it I was only able to get up to about 0.8W.
5.2V @ 32 Ohm is 0.845W and the Diablo distorts heavily at this level (regardless of being plugged in or not, fully charged, turbo mode etc):
I contacted iFi about this, and they told me that the power spec is a peak power spec, not an RMS spec. This is not made clear anywhere on the product page.
They also said that they did the test using a SINGLE sine cycle, not the 20 that the CEA 2006 spec requires.
I repeated their test, and yeah, it will do it for a single cycle, but trying the actual CEA 2006 test, by the third cycle it's already distorting massively. So even as a peak value 4.98W is inflated and incorrect according to industry standard testing.
I've asked iFi if they are specifying power on other products this way and if they're going to update the specs to make clear that this is a 'max instantaneous' value, and NOT an accurate peak or RMS value. At the moment they've said they will add this info to their FAQ page but have not said anything about updating the product page itself.
I'm not particularly happy about this as this methodology significantly inflates the power spec of the Diablo in a way that is misleading to consumers and not even updating the product page to at LEAST say 'peak' or something (even though as explained above the figure is still arguably incorrect even as a peak measurement) is in my opinion quite irresponsible ESPECIALLY given as power is one of the main selling points of the Diablo.
The actual power output of the Diablo that can be compared to other products is about 0.8W, NOT 4.98W.
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On the face if it you seem to be comparing measured Diablo numbers against claimed Mojo 2 number’s and regardless that they are at different impedance loads.
At 33 ohms ASR tested the Mojo 2 at a whisker under 0.4 watts and only 70 mw at 300 ohms.
If these numbers are correct the Diablo still has twice the power at 32/33 ohms as the Mojo not nearly the same as you indicated. Did you test the Diablo at 300 ohms ?
I am not debating the point of your post, that is entirely valid.
However, if using test results to criticise one company and using another companies device (a device we know you love) as a point of comparison you really are obliged to provide a direct test comparison over different loads so readers have a proper frame of comparison.
I would like to see you test results for maximum power at acceptable distortion for:
Diablo - 16, 32, 64, 300 and 600 ohms.
Mojo 2 - 16, 32, 64, 300 and 600 ohms
That should offer a fair comparison and highlight any specific strengths or weaknesses.
Thank you in advance.
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The numbers for the diablo above are all at 32 Ohm.
My Mojo 2 measures 0.5W @32 ohm hence the mention. A 0.3w difference between the mojo 2 and diablo vs a 4.1W difference between the diablo spec and actual figure.
Though the mojo isn't the point.
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