[mundixx]

So about an hour after you guys let me know the Signature would work with Arya, I drove to my local retailer and picked it up yesterday. Got lucky they had one in stock + they gave me a great deal.

Unboxed the sucker and noticed it's the V2. Plugged it into Signature for a quick test. Definitely enough juice to run Arya on Turbo. Normal was no problem either. This is an awesome little amp/dac for sure but you've already heard me gush about the Signature. My favorite piece of audio kit for so many reasons. Now I know it works well with Arya, it's +1
Later I plugged into my THX789 with RME ADI 2 Dac and it sounded good too! These definitely take more to drive than my HD800s and Stellia but both setups handle it flawlessly. I just prefer to use the Signature away from my desk while not working.


Have never listened to planar magnetics before yesterday and bought these blind based on collected internet opinions. Pretty risky!
So far I feel rewarded though. A very different experience compared to everything I have listened to so far. Everything feels bigger and extra. Like I took 2 book shelf speakers, then DSP'd, + attached a comfy headband. Comfort is an other positive thing. Cups are large like my HD800s but thicker and more plush with a bit more clamping force. Just enough where I can move my head around quick and they wont move around like the 800s's would. Everyhting from QC standpoint is great so far. No scratches or creaking and The headband fits perfect while looking hella weird / nerdy.

Listened to various tracks and noticed base and resolution is fantastic. Somewhere in my research, someone mentioned that Arya isn't so great for rock. I figured if that were the case, I have other cans that most certainly are, so I could live with that. Sooo "Sweet Emotion" by Aerosmith Randomly came on through Tidal. Haven't listened to that song in years. The beginning put me in an almost inebriated trance with eyes closed. Or perhaps it was the spicy Popey's chicken sandwich I just ate? Regardless, best part of the song imo, and I don't think I've ever experienced it so perfectly in my life. Arya is in fact great for rock!



Those are my first impressions. According to Hifiman, these need to be burned in so their somehow going to sound better eventually?? Would just like to add that If the Signature’s XBass button ever breaks, I hope it stays locked in the "On" position.

Chibs

Damn i envy that Arya

Hey can i ask a favor.. can you play a gapless album in tidal masters if there’s any audio cut outs?

 

[corgifall]

Would just like to add that If the Signature’s XBass button ever breaks, I hope it stays locked in the "On" position.

I really like the xBass on the Singature. It’s more refined and less intense like their hip dac. I think the little iDSD Signature is pretty neat.

 

[Chibs]

Damn i envy that Arya

Hey can i ask a favor.. can you play a gapless album in tidal masters if there’s any audio cut outs?

Can confirm, no cutouts in gapless albums, in between tracks and so on.

 

[yiauta]

Call me stupid, but v3.2 is not the firmware, it is the driver version for Windows. Or did I miss something?

It is the software/driver used to update/change the firmware.

 

[397324]

Hi. Does anyone know where I can get a good quality 4.4mm to 2.5mm converter in the EU?

 

[yiauta]

This is the reply from ifi regarding the issue of the firmware showing v1.5 and not having the ability to change/upgrade it. Even though the software shows a successful upgrade, it has not changed and I have tried v5.3c and v5.2 in addition to v5.3 to no avail. robopanda is correct that the current firmware behaves like v5.3.

Hello,

Thanks for reaching out. The 1.5 is referring to the USB driver version. You have updated properly

Thanks.

Daniel
Technical Support

This is the USB driver version:

So far, my first experience with ifi technical support has been very disappointing.

 

[aspirina750]

Hi. Does anyone know where I can get a good quality 4.4mm to 2.5mm converter in the EU?

I bought a FIIO one on Amazon Spain, does the job pretty well.

 

[robopanda]

So far, my first experience with ifi technical support has been very disappointing.

That's the exact reply I got from them as well. They are deliberately skirting the issue. What makes it even more frustrating is that, they advertise the signature as capable of pcm 768, dsd 512 and MQA on the box and on their website. You only find out after you buy it (from the included manual) that you only get PCM 384, DSD 256 and MQA OR PCM 768 and dad 512 without MQA if you play around with the firmware. Ok, so that's annoying, but I guess just marketing word play. But then you find out a firmware change is not even possible, and adding salt to the wound the support team is intentionally misleading and even gaslighting the situation. You are right yiauta, this is not a great company.

edit: grammar

 

[yiauta]

That's the exact reply I got from them as well. They are deliberately skirting the issue. What makes it even more frustrating is that, they advertise the signature as capable of pcm 768, dsd 512 and MQA on the box and on their website. You only find out after you buy it (from the included manual) that you only get PCM 384, DSD 256 and MQA OR PCM 768 and dad 512 without MQA if you play around with the firmware. Ok, so that's annoying, but I guess just marketing word play. But then you find out a firmware change is not even possible, and adding salt to the wound the support team is intentionally misleading and even gaslighting the situation. You are right yiauta, this is not a great company.

edit: grammar

@robopanda , I did not say it is not a great company. I said I am very disappointed with tech support so far. I would hazard to guess that there has been an internal component change and that the firmware listed on the iFi website no longer works with the current unit. I would have no way of knowing this for sure since I have nothing to compare the current micro idsd signature to. Tech support at ifi should know their product and any changes made to hardware or software and that's why I'm disappointed. Something has definitely changed and the response I received is a canned answer that says to me they may not be current on what's up with their product. Maybe @Sebastien Chiu or @iFi audio can find something out. I have not heard back from my retailer on this yet.

 

[robopanda]

@robopanda , I did not say it is not a great company. I said I am very disappointed with tech support so far.

You are right @yiauta, you didn't say they are not a great company. I thought you implied it, and I apologize for that. The reason why it's so disappointing is that I thought they were a great company and I held them to the standards of one. I would be equally upset at Apple if I bought an iPhone only to find out that I can either only text or apple message depending on which version of iOS I have to install. Then when you can't change the version with their instructions they gaslight you assuming that you won't notice. This is not just misleading marketing anymore. This is tech support, the very people who should know the tech behind their product, blowing customers off.

They gave me the same reply as they did you within 24 hours of my initial tech support ticket. This was early last week, and then they ghosted me.

I would hazard to guess that there has been an internal component change and that the firmware listed on the iFi website no longer works with the current unit.

It's clear that there's miscommunication within their company. I would have been happy if support had just acknowledged that there are discrepancies with their instructions and that they are sorting it out. It's the fact they are adamant that there's nothing wrong. That's how you lose confidence in a company, and great companies just don't do that.

edit: grammar/autocorrect corrections/user syntax

 

[talan7]

I’ve been using my signature with my Fiio M15. Today I tried it with my iPhone and still got MQA designation on the signature with purple light, so it’s receiving MQA from iPhone usb. I compared back and forth to the M15 and swear the M15 sounds a little better. Shouldn’t they both sound the same on usb digital? The digital signal should be the same.

 

[Baten]

I’ve been using my signature with my Fiio M15. Today I tried it with my iPhone and still got MQA designation on the signature with purple light, so it’s receiving MQA from iPhone usb. I compared back and forth to the M15 and swear the M15 sounds a little better. Shouldn’t they both sound the same on usb digital? The digital signal should be the same.

Should be basically identical yeah

 

[talan7]

Should be basically identical yeah

It’s me then. M15 maybe sounded a little louder.

 

[CANiSLAYu]

One possibility, I believe the M15 is also a MQA decoder while Signature is only a renderer. So if M15 is doing the core unfold in hardware and Signature is relying on the software core unfold from the Tidal app, that could be your difference. Not sure if there's a way to tell though with the Tidal app.

 

[arftech]

Currawong, just saw your review of the Signature on YouTub. Good stuff but I’m curious why are all the comments for your reviews turned off?