iFi audio iDSD Diablo - A portable reference done our way!

[gazzington]

Bought an open box one for a really good price. Don't really need it but equally really want to try it. Love the blue idsd signature so I naturally wanted to try and diablo

 

[BS5711]

Hi friend. Quiet as can be. There is a button on the side that activates the power bank On/Off so no unplugging is necessary. In any case. It is an easy A/B test.
The power bank actually improves the sound. Bass and vocal detail goes up, especially when using the USB DAC off the Diablo.

Cool.

Do you have a link to the USB cable going into the Diablo ?

 

[nephilim32]

Cool.

Do you have a link to the USB cable going into the Diablo ?

Sure. It is simple and on the cheap, but it does the job.

https://a.co/d/hzOLc4q

https://a.co/d/9ShwRg1

 

[BS5711]

Sure. It is simple and on the cheap, but it does the job.

https://a.co/d/hzOLc4q

https://a.co/d/9ShwRg1

Thank you.

Is the female A one to the Diablo quite flexible ?

I have something similar but it is rather rigid which I am not a fan of.

 

[nephilim32]

Thank you.

Is the female A one to the Diablo quite flexible ?

I have something similar but it is rather rigid which I am not a fan of.

It is reasonable because of the length. Both the Cleefun and Fasgear cable are a touch on the stiff side, but manageable.

 

[BS5711]

It is reasonable because of the length. Both the Cleefun and Fasgear cable are a touch on the stiff side, but manageable.

Thank you, I do like a supple cable so it sounds they would not be any better for me than the ones I have, thanks for taking the time though, much appreciated.

 

[Mr BubbaHyde]

Just wanted to say thanks for the conversation you guys just had, love reading things like this!

Knowledge is invaluable!

Cheers!!

 

[mekap]

Thank you.

Is the female A one to the Diablo quite flexible ?

I have something similar but it is rather rigid which I am not a fan of.

https://www.ddhifi.com/en/product/tc07f-mfi07f/

 

[BS5711]

https://www.ddhifi.com/en/product/tc07f-mfi07f/

Got one of those thanks, unfortunately it is not long enough for the application I have in mind.

 

[gazzington]

My diablo arrived today. Started using it with hd650 with zmf pads. Really good sound. The diablo seems very transparent and energetic which works well with the hd650. I'm going to try it with my stellias later. Tested it with fiio fd7 iems and it worked great. Both channels on my unit kick in at 9 o clock. Very pleased with it

 

[nephilim32]

My diablo arrived today. Started using it with hd650 with zmf pads. Really good sound. The diablo seems very transparent and energetic which works well with the hd650. I'm going to try it with my stellias later. Tested it with fiio fd7 iems and it worked great. Both channels on my unit kick in at 9 o clock. Very pleased with it

I really like the USB DAC (Burr Brown 1793) inside the unit. I prefer it over my Astell & Kern Kann Max DAP DAC.
The Diablo as a whole is a really decent package. I’ve been listening to my Fiio FT5 and D-8000 from Final Audio religiously on it.
Your Stellia from Focal should sound super bass punchy on the Diablo 1. Let me know if you like the pairing. Cheers.

 

[Soundizer]

Bought an open box one for a really good price. Don't really need it but equally really want to try it. Love the blue idsd signature so I naturally wanted to try and diablo

how much did you pay for it?

 

[Soundizer]

I just ordered the Diablo and hopefully it is good with my Focal Clear MG.
I just need to buy a Balanced Cable for my focal Clear MG as I understand that is best with Diablo.

I might even try it with my lower end HD 620s just for fun. I have the HD 620S as I need isolation sometimes and do not like bluetooth ANC headphones. Returned even Bath's and ML 5909.

 

[Soundizer]

Welcome!

Thank you for your support, Enjoy The Music!

Cheers!!

hello iFi audio,

May I ask a few questions:
1. How long is the UK Power Cable? my concern is that it might not be long enough. ideally I would like 3 meters.
2. I will be using as a desktop DAC/AMP do it will always be plugged in. Any issues with doing that - risk of battery explosion? Battery Life, etc.

thank you

 

[Soundizer]

The way it works, the IC managing the battery is in effect a Battery Bank controller for single cell batteries.

In external mode, the system passes the external power to the internal switching converter that takes in ~ 5V and outputs +/- 8...16V (under CPU control).

The battery bank IC in this case just charges the battery. So it's pretty much a USB-C powered DAC/AMP with build in battery bank. In fact, early versions in the iDSD micro could be used as battery bank. This got old quick, so it got cancelled.

Non of the battery powered units these days run directly off batteries, a 3.7V LiPo battery will be at 3V when discharged, only a few mW will then be possible. So there are always switcher system's involved. At that point it becomes complex.

The battery is current limited, as is the battery management IC. With hard to drive headphones, the external power supply may supply more power than the battery.

IIRC right, once the external power supply drops below the battery voltage as it is overloaded, the battery will kick in and add extra current.

The Switcher to +/-9...16V has > 90% efficiency and can pull in ~16W on external power with a full battery. It may not be able to go so far on a partially discharged battery.

With hard to drive headphones and especially using the balanced out this may cause audible differences.

It is better to stick to SE out unless the headphones are high impedance AND low sensitivity, otherwise, SE will have less noise and less distortion than balanced at the same listening level.

This incidentally is true for all balanced HP amplifiers, for a given SPL from the headphone, the same circuit in SE has less noise and distortion than the same circuit doubled up and run balanced.

All that balanced offers is more maximum output voltage, but not current at the cost of more noise and distortion.

Thor

excellent explanation and very helpful.

Also you just saved me some cash as I don't feel I need to buy a balanced cable now for my Focal Clear MG Pro to run with Diablo.