[fsi22]

I use the BC3 connected via toslink/spdf to diablo. ldac about 11 hours battery life. Works perfect. No dropout issues.

 

[Sebastien Chiu]

I use the BC3 connected via toslink/spdf to diablo. ldac about 11 hours battery life. Works perfect. No dropout issues.

Awesome. Super excited to try it out myself.

 

[newworld666]

I use the BC3 connected via toslink/spdf to diablo. ldac about 11 hours battery life. Works perfect. No dropout issues.

It's what I was looking for BT functionalities .. though it looks somewhere too "bulky" to be comfortable enough to carry it in planes or trains.

I will think a little more in such a way.
It's pity iFi didn't include a BT LDAC Receiver directly in the Diablo.

 

[531412]

It's pity iFi didn't include a BT LDAC Receiver directly in the Diablo.

+ Xbass
+ Balanced IEmatch
Please

And just saying ... please stick to the color of the BL or Signature ^^

 

[newworld666]

Maybe the much more compact 38g SHANLING M0 for a 100$ can be a good way with full LDAC input and USB-C output to Diablo's DAC with 15h battery life .. ?

USB-C to USB-C cable can also be shorter and less bulky than any of Toslink Cable or spdif cable.
Again, it's pity the Diablo doesn't accept USB-C connection from external transport to be able to use ultra short 2x usb-c 90° cables.

Then .. the Hiby R2 is less compact but accept wifi 5G connection though I am not sure if it can use an external DAC.

 

[whitedragem]

Thank you for your clear answer which is interesting as a desktop solution for my home.

But, for my office or for long travels, I am actually looking for a "portable" device with bluetooth LDAC input and a USB-C output to the Diablo or a spdif/toslink (if the diablo accept to be feed with such input)

yep- it wasn’t for you so much- I had just wanted to write up about the BTA30 as a ‘headphone mode’ output from the Playstation 5, and a way to use the Diablo with a Playstation 5 (and nintendo Switch), but due to button error, had you quoted, and couldn’t move it ‘down the post’...

FIIO do have some smaller and way more portable solutions that would hit your portability front.
The BTA30 is just awesome to use WITH the Diablo AND make use of the iPower.. in that regard it meets many of MY needs, and no doubt MANY other gamers needs’, in regards to using the Diablo with gaming consoles (definately NOT portable).

Cheers for not being caustic about my lack of focus regarding your question.
I did try to edit my post and, based on experience, don’t trust trying to have a mod clean up my post- so left the original mishap in place.

Returnals’ Audio in 3D headphone mode is SOOOO accurate.
Most people do not understand what the Playstation (5) is actually doing with regards to its’ 3D audio- it is something truly unique/special, and hasn’t really existed in gaming at a mass market/non specialist level. (A3d 2.0 did it, twenty years ago, but the tech was bought by a competitor and BURIED/the PS Vita had a rudimentary version of it, but didn’t sell well enough to have many games use the tech).

In games hearing clearly the environments that audio originates in, and having the soundwaves ‘traced’ refracted/reflected off surfaces, makes pin point clarity of enemies a ‘very easy’ task.
In Returnal, which has aspects of horror mixed in with arcade ‘bullet hell’, it is so helpful. I don’t have interest to use the $10k surround setup because a couple of hundred dollars of ‘head-fi’ is ‘just as useful’ (and more practical for late night gameplay).

Until iFi release a firmware granting UAC1 USB mode to some of their DACs (not a given, although SOME audio companies HAVE DONE THIS), and until Sony grant headphone sound mode via HDMI (which might be on the cards), the best way to get high quality headphone support from the Nintendo Switch and Sony Playstation (5) is using USB output (UAC1)- I bought the BTA30 to be a converter USB=>TOSLINK (either coax or fibre optic) AND do bluetooth IN/OUT duties.

Two birds with one stone (actually much more than that).

In responce to other users demanding bluetooth modules in iFis’ ’best’ audio parts; I wouldn’t have any interest for this.
All my reference (flagship) processors/receivers are ‘pre’ built in wireless, and my best disc spinners have the wireless MODULE removable.
My DAP was bought because it didn’t have WIFI/BT inside (And was built to be reference sound, to which the manufacturers knew they COULDN’T include wireless radios NEXT TO complex audio circuits).
I only bought the Diablo because it was WITHOUT wireless inside.
I suppose we all seek different things.....
Good thing iFi have a range of products..

(and perhaps SOME OF THE DIABLOS EXPERTISE(fidelity) comes from lack of radios NEXT TO SENSITIVE electronics)

(edit: ‘caps’ not to indicate screaming)

 

[whitedragem]

Yesss ... can be the device I imagine to use with the Diablo .. Assuming the Diablo has a Toslink or line input ? or does only signature have those ?
Thank you !!!

Diablo has SPDIF input; both fibre optic & coax. (Adaptors required for, into the 3.5mm jack around the back of the Diablo)

edit;
annnnd USB C input; here using the iFi cable of short stature that sometimes runs from my phone (etc) into the Diablos’ USB input

childs school stuff for size reference - ‘5mm grid’

 

[qsk78]

With UAPP update the decoder issue is fixed now on Diablo as they (eXtream) promised

 

[newworld666]

annnnd USB C input; here using the iFi cable of short stature that sometimes runs from my phone (etc) into the Diablos’ USB input


childs school stuff for size reference - ‘5mm grid’

Cool, it's more compact than what I imagined.

Actually, as I am still using a Centrance M8V2, which has a very good form factor (With BT included) but, sometimes, it is falling short in power to drive some demanding headphones like the Heddphone by HEDD and has also a very limited Bluetooth connection with APTX only, which can be annoying from time to time with some DSD or Hires files (loosing some details or getting some hisses and background noise that doesn't exist with the USB-C connection) => I really wanted to go to my last option on the market which is the ifi Diablo.
But, I am still wondering if I it is the right time go for the ifi Diablo+ Shangling M0 solution or I should wait a bit more for the next ifi Diablo version with BT LDAC included.. It should be heavier and bigger than the Centrance M8V2, but more powerful with a better BT connection and maybe a better DAC too.

 

[whitedragem]

Cool, it's more compact than what I imagined.

Actually, as I am still using a Centrance M8V2, which has a very good form factor (With BT included) but, sometimes, it is falling short in power to drive some demanding headphones like the Heddphone by HEDD and has also a very limited Bluetooth connection with APTX only, which can be annoying from time to time with some DSD or Hires files (loosing some details or getting some hisses and background noise that doesn't exist with the USB-C connection) => I really wanted to go to my last option on the market which is the ifi Diablo.
But, I am still wondering if I it is the right time go for the ifi Diablo+ Shangling M0 solution or I should wait a bit more for the next ifi Diablo version with BT LDAC included.. It should be heavier and bigger than the Centrance M8V2, but more powerful with a better BT connection and maybe a better DAC too.

Just to widen your search ‘a little’; APT X HD is basically equal to LDAC
I prefer APT X HD over LDAC (as many do), and will take it every time as my preference when given the choice.
In this instance it isn’t about bitrates, but effective sound quality.

In some ways we can just consider the APT X HD the better compression technology - where, whilst the numbers *MIGHT* suggest that the Sony LDAC is superior, in the ‘real world’ they are about equal, and actually the odds of LDAC actually working at the full rate 990 is greatly compromised in any busy areas (such as public transport/ walking around in malls/cities etc) where the LDAC will either drop out a lot or simply fall back to a lower bit rate, where APT X HD will truly flog it due to having much better human audio frequency (ie clever compression - that is ‘better than the numbers suggest’).

APT X HD is a great consumer product, and APT X LL highly useful. When they folded both technologies’ into the newest chipsets (not quite the same ‘low latency’ but vastly more compatible in practical ways) it really has proven one of the best consumer techs to chase/support.
I’d also ensure that AAC is supported if any members of your family use APPLE devices as keeping things native and removing another decode/encode cycle is probably ‘a good idea’.

The reality with wireless is ‘what is good enough’. Generally we don’t need critical listening everywhere and so many wireless technologies make sense.
Just remember that a couple of hundred doctors approached the W.H.O (World Health Organisation) to try and raise awareness about this stuff, and that having TWO points of bluetooth in each of our ears is a really bad idea especially for children, whose BBB (Blood brain barrier) is less developed.
Any wireless dongles I use generally sit around my neck and cable up into my ears, or have ONE radio point for my stereo headphones (ideally as far away from my head as possible)
Pushing for LDAC bandwidth isn’t necessarily ‘a good thing’ especially when we can get better/equal sound by using good ‘old’ APT X HD.

I give this rant as sometimes ‘yesteryears‘ tech at todays prices can prove a real bargain, and I’d encourage everyone to consider some top tier stuff pre’LDAC /HWA’ that will actually prove better in use /sound quality and actually cost less/might be ‘more reliable’ due to being from a higher price bracket (now on mark down/in the throw out bin).

I wish I had some easy links to show the clever compression advantages of APT X HD and how it achieves parity with LDAC essentially, and is only 2/3rds the bandwidth- a number which it also finds a lot easier to sustain in ‘human/real world’ scenarios.

 

[newworld666]

Basically, I agree with your points, but my Centrance M8 V2 is a APT X (non HD version) which is limited at 384Kbps .. It's not bad most of the time and even quite good like AAC for apple, but it is sometimes behind from what I get with the Qudelix 5G with LDAC at 990kps or a WM1A as BT receiver with my less demanding IEMs (Beyerdynamic Xelento or IER-Z1R in my case).
I know and see that LDAC can be downed to 330Kbps quite easily too (as I am using it already for a few years now with the ES100MK2, Qudelix 5G, WM1A ) .. but it's not the case in my office or at home I am always over 660Kbps and mainly at 990Kbps.

I don't mind in trains or planes as ambient noise is far more important to cover any distinguishable hisses or loses of details due to BT transmission.

With apple's phone or tablets .. till now I was limited to AAC .. though it is rather good, but it can be better and it will be probably better soon with some improvements from Apple in BT codec (as far such announcement seems to come soon with their latest IEM and Headphone).

 

[Convolver]

"With UAPP update the decoder issue is fixed now on Diablo as they (eXtream) promised"

-Now we need an update from the home team to fix MQA decoding through the SPDIF input on Diablo as they promised...

 

[Soundizer]

Awesome. Super excited to try it out myself.

Hello Sebastien,

perhaps this has already been mentioned, but I couldn’t find it after looking on this thread.

if you compare SUB BASE quantity to iDSL Signature with Xbase On. How does it compare to Diablo? Assuming both are connected via 4.4 Pentacon to Headphones.

 

[Soundizer]

Please may i ask to those that have experienced both Diablo and Signature/or Black Label:

Q1. if you only use full sized headphones with 4.4 balanced cable. Which would you choose Diablo or Signature assuming both are same price?
Q2. If you are sensitive to treble which is a safer option. Diablo or Signature?

 

[fsi22]

Please may i ask to those that have experienced both Diablo and Signature/or Black Label:

Q1. if you only use full sized headphones with 4.4 balanced cable. Which would you choose Diablo or Signature assuming both are same price?
Q2. If you are sensitive to treble which is a safer option. Diablo or Signature?

If they're efficient headphones I'd go Black Label or Signature ( Black Label offers analog input which the Signature doesn't )

If it's less efficient or if you plan on using a balanced amplifier, Diablo.