iFi audio iDSD Signature - The saga continues!

[iFi audio]

Hi
So compared with black label, only the blue color , pentacom 4.4mm output and extra 100 mw change?
On the web it says that it also changes
"
Finely tuned
Based around two Burr-Brown DAC chips in a custom ‘interleaved’ configuration, the digital engine has four pairs of differential signals – two pairs per channel. This means

• a lower noise floor
• improved channel separation
• finer musical detail and micro-dynamics

.... "
Greetings

The DAC setion got improved, so we listed it. But having on mind how good micro iDSD BL is already and how maxed out this platform is in general, we focus on functionality improvements and highlight them instead of performance boost. Some of current BL owners will surely let us know what they think after comparing it to micro iDSD Signature. At our HQ we have buckets of popcorn ready

 

[Kike6685]

I have bought it in the Spanish store "Supersonido"
Do you know when they will start shipping?
Greetings

 

[42300]

... Some of current BL owners will surely let us know what they think after comparing it to micro iDSD Signature. At our HQ we have buckets of popcorn ready

I have high-res music and headphones ready and wait for the shipment of the micro iDSD Signature

 

[iFi audio]

I have high-res music and headphones ready and wait for the shipment of the micro iDSD Signature

Do you know when they will start shipping?

Mid November or so is the goal.

 

[someyoungguy]

Got to hear this today in an audio expo in Shanghai. I've previously had the original (silver) micro iDSD, as well as the xDSD and xCAN, but not the Black Label micro. Certainly a grunty and punchy wee unit. I felt the silver micro iDSD had a fairly mid-centric sound, where even though you could hear the full frequency spectrum with it, the focus of energy so to speak was more oriented around the mids to lower treble. This one felt more even across the spectrum, perhaps even more about the bass (even with the bass boost off). I was using it with B&W P7s (which I find great in a show environment for blocking out noise). They already have quite a bass kick but I even wondered if I might find the combo too much with the signature over long term listening. Seems like it would be a good source for the Sennheiser series of headphones, which I find a bit lacking in bass (and given iFi's recent experiences with the Drop products that seems a common impression). The space blue color is really nice in person actually, has little speckles through it. All in all it's an impressive sound, I may go back for seconds once it's available in store somewhere around here.

What got me particularly interested though was another product they had on display boxed up in a glass cabinet, with a brief description: the neo iDSD. I can't find anything about it on head-fi and there weren't any units to listen to at the show either, but the release date was expected before the end of the year. It's a desktop (no battery), all-in-one unit with Bluetooth inputs as well as USB/coaxial, DAC and headphone amplifier, but less power with *only* 1W versus 4W on the micro. Personally, if I buy the micro it would probably just sit next to my computer the whole time, and since I don't need that much power I wonder how they compare sound-wise, particularly as the expected retail price for the neo was listed as just above the micro iDSD signature.

 

[mblain]

Looks like there are some additional sweet Ifi products in the works.

https://post.smzdm.com/p/ar0npxl7/

04 NEO Desktop Series



A trailer for "The Matrix 4" was suddenly inserted at the press conference. Just as everyone was at a loss, the host changed the conversation. It turned out that iFi will launch a brand new desktop series " NEO ". Its first product is Ji High-definition Bluetooth, high-definition MQA and fully-balanced desktop decoding amp NEO iDSD all in one. Instead of using the CSR8675 released five years ago for most similar products, it uses Qualcomm's latest QCC51 series Bluetooth chip. What's even more impressive is that before Sony, it independently developed and added support for LDAC HD encoding to the QCC51 series.

Another feature of iFi products is that basically all systems support high-definition MQA, while NEO uses a 16-core chip, which has stronger computing power and can completely solve the highest-resolution third-layer MQA. DSD decoding has also been upgraded to support DSD512. The capabilities are further in line with the flagship models.

NEO iDSD's product shape is very recognizable. It is completely different from the previous iFi desktop series. It can lie horizontally and stand upright (with a base). Listen after live Bluetooth connectionSennheiserThe HD800 has good thrust, full sound, good string details, and it is too old to listen to the Sony mobile phone that appeared in the demo. Several veterans were surprised: I didn't expect Bluetooth to have such a sound.

It is expected to be listed in November, priced at 4880 yuan.

 

[makatech]

Looks like there are some additional sweet Ifi products in the works.

https://post.smzdm.com/p/ar0npxl7/

04 NEO Desktop Series



A trailer for "The Matrix 4" was suddenly inserted at the press conference. Just as everyone was at a loss, the host changed the conversation. It turned out that iFi will launch a brand new desktop series " NEO ". Its first product is Ji High-definition Bluetooth, high-definition MQA and fully-balanced desktop decoding amp NEO iDSD all in one. Instead of using the CSR8675 released five years ago for most similar products, it uses Qualcomm's latest QCC51 series Bluetooth chip. What's even more impressive is that before Sony, it independently developed and added support for LDAC HD encoding to the QCC51 series.

Another feature of iFi products is that basically all systems support high-definition MQA, while NEO uses a 16-core chip, which has stronger computing power and can completely solve the highest-resolution third-layer MQA. DSD decoding has also been upgraded to support DSD512. The capabilities are further in line with the flagship models.

NEO iDSD's product shape is very recognizable. It is completely different from the previous iFi desktop series. It can lie horizontally and stand upright (with a base). Listen after live Bluetooth connectionSennheiserThe HD800 has good thrust, full sound, good string details, and it is too old to listen to the Sony mobile phone that appeared in the demo. Several veterans were surprised: I didn't expect Bluetooth to have such a sound.

It is expected to be listed in November, priced at 4880 yuan.

"all systems support high-definition MQA, while NEO uses a 16-core chip, which has stronger computing power and can completely solve the highest-resolution third-layer MQA"

Cool, waiting for the MQA haters to comment. Starting counting, now.

 

[CANiSLAYu]

Mid November or so is the goal.

Will the iDSD Signature be Roon tested like the BL? Thank you.

 

[casimirobukayo]

The DAC setion got improved, so we listed it. But having on mind how good micro iDSD BL is already and how maxed out this platform is in general, we focus on functionality improvements and highlight them instead of performance boost. Some of current BL owners will surely let us know what they think after comparing it to micro iDSD Signature. At our HQ we have buckets of popcorn ready

Shipping starts end of Oct or Mid Nov?

 

[jplatypus]

I just bought the Zen Dac Signature and Zen Can Signature combo over at drop.com and am still waiting for them to ship. I’m trying to get a solid dac/amp combo to drive my new KEF LS50 Wireless II speakers and HD6xx headphones. Would the iDSD micro Signature be better by itself for desktop use than the supposedly “less premium” Zen combo?

 

[utdeep]

Can this be powered by USB-C alone without degrading the battery? I wasn't sure if I could use this as a desktop dac/amp without any ill effects (like the Chord Mojo or the iFi Hip Dac).

 

[jerick70]

Talking about reducing noise from your PCs USB, I found an excellent way to do this if you use Roon. I have a ground loop on my motherboard and have a lot of noise from USB so I've gotten creative....

Basically what I've done is used a Raspberry Pi and the Ropieee RPi OS to build a Roon bridge to isolate my DAC via Ethernet. You can use the USB out on the RPi or buy a HAT board that has coaxial and optic SPDIF or even I2S to output to your DAC. Cost is minimal. You can even add a touch screen to your RPi and have a remote Roon audio player... I used a linear power supply to reduce noise even more. Here are some pics of my setup.... I used a Allo Boss DAC HAT with the setup too. You can attach as many DACs as you have outputs. The iFi iDSD BL work a treat with the setup. I'm 99.9% sure the Signature will work too.

https://ropieee.org
https://community.roonlabs.com/t/in...bridge-to-go-image-for-the-raspberry-pi/24868

 

[iFi audio]

What got me particularly interested though was another product they had on display boxed up in a glass cabinet, with a brief description: the neo iDSD. I can't find anything about it on head-fi and there weren't any units to listen to at the show either, but the release date was expected before the end of the year. It's a desktop (no battery), all-in-one unit with Bluetooth inputs as well as USB/coaxial, DAC and headphone amplifier, but less power with *only* 1W versus 4W on the micro. Personally, if I buy the micro it would probably just sit next to my computer the whole time, and since I don't need that much power I wonder how they compare sound-wise, particularly as the expected retail price for the neo was listed as just above the micro iDSD signature.

We'll get there soon

Would the iDSD micro Signature be better by itself for desktop use than the supposedly “less premium” Zen combo?

I wouldn't label the ZEN combo as less premium for desktop use, nope

Shipping starts end of Oct or Mid Nov?

Shipping starts when products are in stock at our distributors, which is mid November, but I'll double-check this.

Will the iDSD Signature be Roon tested like the BL? Thank you.

As far as I can tell, only Pro iDSD works with Roon via our iBridge app for Win OS.

Cool, waiting for the MQA haters to comment. Starting counting, now.

I think that most folks against MQA got over it already

Got to hear this today in an audio expo in Shanghai. I've previously had the original (silver) micro iDSD, as well as the xDSD and xCAN, but not the Black Label micro. Certainly a grunty and punchy wee unit. I felt the silver micro iDSD had a fairly mid-centric sound, where even though you could hear the full frequency spectrum with it, the focus of energy so to speak was more oriented around the mids to lower treble. This one felt more even across the spectrum, perhaps even more about the bass (even with the bass boost off). I was using it with B&W P7s (which I find great in a show environment for blocking out noise). They already have quite a bass kick but I even wondered if I might find the combo too much with the signature over long term listening. Seems like it would be a good source for the Sennheiser series of headphones, which I find a bit lacking in bass (and given iFi's recent experiences with the Drop products that seems a common impression). The space blue color is really nice in person actually, has little speckles through it. All in all it's an impressive sound, I may go back for seconds once it's available in store somewhere around here.

What got me particularly interested though was another product they had on display boxed up in a glass cabinet, with a brief description: the neo iDSD. I can't find anything about it on head-fi and there weren't any units to listen to at the show either, but the release date was expected before the end of the year. It's a desktop (no battery), all-in-one unit with Bluetooth inputs as well as USB/coaxial, DAC and headphone amplifier, but less power with *only* 1W versus 4W on the micro. Personally, if I buy the micro it would probably just sit next to my computer the whole time, and since I don't need that much power I wonder how they compare sound-wise, particularly as the expected retail price for the neo was listed as just above the micro iDSD signature.

Thanks for your feedback!

 

[jerick70]

@iFi audio and @CANiSLAYu I've used the BL with Roon with no problems. I'm guessing the Sign will work too. If it doesn't we can talk to Room and get it working.

 

[iFi audio]

@iFi audio and @CANiSLAYu I've used the BL with Roon with no problems. I'm guessing the Sign will work too. If it doesn't we can talk to Room and get it working.

I understand, but not through a network as Pro iDSD is our only product with a network component in-built. USB is a totally different subject