[Baten]

The 4.4mm should have a separate ground (4 poles) and 6.3mm should not (3 poles). So they should not be the same.

Right, sorry; I meant that as the output power specification over these ports

 

[Scubadevils]

So is it correct to say, the Signature does have a balanced connector but no balanced circuitry? I'm confused

 

[Baten]

So is it correct to say, the Signature does have a balanced connector but no balanced circuitry? I'm confused

As far as I can tell, it is "S-Balanced" Diablo is "Balanced"

 

[squadgazzz]

As far as I can tell, it is "S-Balanced" Diablo is "Balanced"

Whatever that means

 

[Scubadevils]

As far as I can tell, it is "S-Balanced" Diablo is "Balanced"

Hmm, thank you. I feel a bit cheated then with uncertainty! Mine is arriving today, I guess it'll be going back!

 

[qsk78]

As far as I can tell, it is "S-Balanced"

then it does not align with the following statement in this thread at all:

iFi audio said:
Our 4.4mm headphone out is balanced and not subjected to our S-Balanced tech as it doesn't need to. S-balanced is for sin
Our S-balanced tech is for headphone outs that can accommodate balanced and SE plugs, so not a 6.3mm headphone out.

So the 4.4 mm out cannot be s-balanced


P.S. It does not really matter how they call it - 4.4 mm output sounds better with my cans than the 6.3 mm out.

 

[Baten]

then it does not align with the following statement in this thread at all

Yeah well I don't know why they call the Signature truly balanced then. There is only 1 power spec for (all) its outputs.

Hmm, thank you. I feel a bit cheated then with uncertainty! Mine is arriving today, I guess it'll be going back!

Do audition/listen to it first. Does it really matter to you?

 

[hamachan]

Hmm, thank you. I feel a bit cheated then with uncertainty! Mine is arriving today, I guess it'll be going back!

Here is the tech note what is s-balanced and full balanced;
https://ifi-audio.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/iFi-audio-xCAN-S_BAL-Tech-Note.pdf

 

[casimirobukayo]

Finally return my Signature. Was considering the diablo but.. i heard it suffers from the same channel imbalance on low volumes.. i might try to consider centrance m8 v2 instead..

 

[Hiltonk]

My mini review from another forum.

The iFi Micro iDSD Signature can do DSD256 DoP with firmware 5.2. I have one and it sounds better than my RME ADI-2 DAC.

On Firmware 5.3, DSD is reduced to DSD128 DoP because they shuffled around some code in the XMOS USB chip to enable MQA rendering.
Unfortunately the way MQA and the code works it puts an overhead on the USB chip that limits it to DSD256 Native or DSD128 DoP when using this firmware (whether decoding MQA or not). But you still have the option of the 5.2 firmware that does DSD512 native (Windows/Linux) and DSD256 DoP. (PC and MAC/Linux)

The ifi Micro iDSD Signature DAC AMP works perfectly on Windows 10 JRiver MC with either firmware above and all sample rates upto DSD512 native with ASIO driver and PCM @ 768kHz on firmware 5.2. (DSD256 native and PCM 384kHz + MQA renderer on firmware 5.3 and 5.3c)

On a MAC you would get DSD128 DoP on firmware 5.3 & 5.3c and DSD256 DoP on firmware 5.2 (DSD512 only available with Native DSD playback on Windows and Linux)

On Firmware 5.2 and 5.3 it has a choice of 3 x PCM digital filters - Minimum phase, Standard and No Oversampling (NOS) and 3 x analogue DSD filters
- Extreme, Extended and Standard.

On Firmware 5.3c it only has a Gibbs Transient Optimised (GTO) filter for PCM (plus MQA and limited to DSD128 DoP or DSD256 Native.)

This DAC/AMP even works on an iPhone with Roon for bit perfect playback DSD128DoP or DSD256DoP on firmware 5.2.
Also on Android USB Audio Player Pro the same is true though it can also do Native DSD.

How does it sound? Really really good.
I can't believe how much more I like this over my RME ADI-2 DAC.
It's way more powerful (upto 4000mW on turbo gain).
It's detailed but slightly smoother and very slightly warmer.
It also has ie match built in for high sensitivity IEMs like my Campfire Audio Andromeda's - that sound fantastic on the iFi.
Optical SPDIF in that I've used with Chromecast audio to stream upto 96k 24bit files no problem.
2 channel RCA out.
6.3mm headphone out.
4.4mm balanced headphone out.
3 headphone gain settings (Eco, Normal, Turbo)
3 ie match settings (off, high sens, ultra high sens)
xbass switch - I dont use this (about +6db @ 20hz +4db @ 30hz +2db 60hz +1db 100hz +.05db 150hz and flat @ 500hz)
3D+ - dont use this unless it's a recording with hard panned intruments or vocals (headphone crossfeed type thing and it has a different effect on line out)
2 x dual core 1793 Burr-Brown DACS (dual mono with effectively 2 DAC per channel for better SNR and THD) (yes I found a photo and could read the DAC #'s)
Native DSD decode DAC - doesnt do any internal resampling like a lot of the non-Native DSD DACS that do internal resampling on DSD
Native PCM decode to 768kHz 32bit

Hybrid Multibit / Delta-sigma architecture DAC - why is this important you ask?

Unlike most delta-sigma architectures that convert everything to a 1-bit stream first before filtering, the iDSD preserves the high order 6-bits of a PCM data stream and only converts the rest of the low order bits via its internal 256fs (DSD256) modulator. iFi claims that this allows the iDSD to keep some of that Burr-Brown signature warmth while still retaining all the smoothness delta-sigma modulators are so famous for. Obviously for pure DSD input, those Burr-Brown's handle it natively using that same DSD256 modulator to convert to analog.

The different digital filters have more of an effect than the filters on the RME. Standard sounds a little congested to me, minimum phase opens the sound up a bit and NOS also opens things up but can sound a bit bright on some tracks. The differences are very very small and I would be happy with any of them except for maybe NOS. The GTO filter similarly opens the sound up a bit and is very smooth and full sounding, it's probably my favourite.

I've listened extensively now with my Fostex TH610's and they sound way better on the iFi than on the RME. They need the power and the filters and musical warmth of the ifi compared to the clinical sounding RME.

My HD600s sound really really good, the best I've ever heard from them. Some older Sony MDR1A's sound pretty good too though they are a bit muddy and boomy compared to the HD600 and TH610s.

Oh and when playing on my main system in 2 channel or 2.1 it sounds great! Better than the DAC in my STRDA5200ES receiver for sure (also older burr-brown from circa year 2000) and slightly better than the RME. SMooooother.

I should also say I prefer the sound out of this by a long long way over my iBasso DX220 AMP8 (2 x ES9028PRO DAC Chips) and my FiiO Q5 AM5 (AK4490EN x 2 DAC).
It's way smoother sounding than both of these and a lot more powerful.

It's a dam versatile, powerful and great sounding DAC/AMP or stand along DAC when used in 2 channel systems.

20210310_212152 by Hilton, on Flickr

iFi iDSD Signature - iPhone SE - Perfect! by Hilton, on Flickr

JRiver MC DSD256 Native via USB
DSD256 by Hilton, on Flickr

JRiver MC DXD 352.8kHz in FLAC via USB
384khz by Hilton, on Flickr

Connected to my DX220 DAP using USB Audio Player Pro via USB - DSD128 Native!
iFi iDSD DX220 MQA DSD256 by Hilton, on Flickr


JRiver MC playing MQA file over DLNA to USB Audio Player pro (UAPP) doing first unfold and DAC doing final full MQA render (MQA renderer is just a MQA filter). (ifi iDSD Signature DAC connected to Samsung Galaxy note 20ultra)
Source file looks like it was originally a DXD 352.8k recording but run through an MQA encoder and then decoded in UAPP and rendered in the DAC from the 88.2k MQA encoding back to 352.8k but with the MQA filtering
JRiver UAPP DSD MQA by Hilton, on Flickr

JRiver MC playing DSD128 over DLNA to USB Audio Player pro (ifi iDSD Signature DAC connected to Samsung Galaxy note 20ultra)
JRiver UAPP DSD MQA by Hilton, on Flickr

JRiver MC playing DSD256 over DLNA to USB Audio Player Pro (ifi iDSD Signature DAC connected to Samsung Galaxy note 20ultra)
JRiver UAPP DSD MQA by Hilton, on Flickr

JRiver MC playing 352.8kHz DXD over DLNA to USB Audio Player Pro (ifi iDSD Signature DAC connected to Samsung Galaxy note 20ultra)
JRiver UAPP DSD MQA by Hilton, on Flickr

 

[Sebastien Chiu]

Here is the tech note what is s-balanced and full balanced;
https://ifi-audio.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/iFi-audio-xCAN-S_BAL-Tech-Note.pdf

Thanks for posting this up, beat me to it!

Finally return my Signature. Was considering the diablo but.. i heard it suffers from the same channel imbalance on low volumes.. i might try to consider centrance m8 v2 instead..

We understand and thank you for trying the Signature out!

My mini review from another forum.

The iFi Micro iDSD Signature can do DSD256 DoP with firmware 5.2. I have one and it sounds better than my RME ADI-2 DAC.

On Firmware 5.3, DSD is reduced to DSD128 DoP because they shuffled around some code in the XMOS USB chip to enable MQA rendering.
Unfortunately the way MQA and the code works it puts an overhead on the USB chip that limits it to DSD256 Native or DSD128 DoP when using this firmware (whether decoding MQA or not). But you still have the option of the 5.2 firmware that does DSD512 native (Windows/Linux) and DSD256 DoP. (PC and MAC/Linux)

The ifi Micro iDSD Signature DAC AMP works perfectly on Windows 10 JRiver MC with either firmware above and all sample rates upto DSD512 native with ASIO driver and PCM @ 768kHz on firmware 5.2. (DSD256 native and PCM 384kHz + MQA renderer on firmware 5.3 and 5.3c)

On a MAC you would get DSD128 DoP on firmware 5.3 & 5.3c and DSD256 DoP on firmware 5.2 (DSD512 only available with Native DSD playback on Windows and Linux)

On Firmware 5.2 and 5.3 it has a choice of 3 x PCM digital filters - Minimum phase, Standard and No Oversampling (NOS) and 3 x analogue DSD filters
- Extreme, Extended and Standard.

On Firmware 5.3c it only has a Gibbs Transient Optimised (GTO) filter for PCM (plus MQA and limited to DSD128 DoP or DSD256 Native.)

This DAC/AMP even works on an iPhone with Roon for bit perfect playback DSD128DoP or DSD256DoP on firmware 5.2.
Also on Android USB Audio Player Pro the same is true though it can also do Native DSD.

How does it sound? Really really good.
I can't believe how much more I like this over my RME ADI-2 DAC.
It's way more powerful (upto 4000mW on turbo gain).
It's detailed but slightly smoother and very slightly warmer.
It also has ie match built in for high sensitivity IEMs like my Campfire Audio Andromeda's - that sound fantastic on the iFi.
Optical SPDIF in that I've used with Chromecast audio to stream upto 96k 24bit files no problem.
2 channel RCA out.
6.3mm headphone out.
4.4mm balanced headphone out.
3 headphone gain settings (Eco, Normal, Turbo)
3 ie match settings (off, high sens, ultra high sens)
xbass switch - I dont use this (about +6db @ 20hz +4db @ 30hz +2db 60hz +1db 100hz +.05db 150hz and flat @ 500hz)
3D+ - dont use this unless it's a recording with hard panned intruments or vocals (headphone crossfeed type thing and it has a different effect on line out)
2 x dual core 1793 Burr-Brown DACS (dual mono with effectively 2 DAC per channel for better SNR and THD) (yes I found a photo and could read the DAC #'s)
Native DSD decode DAC - doesnt do any internal resampling like a lot of the non-Native DSD DACS that do internal resampling on DSD
Native PCM decode to 768kHz 32bit

Hybrid Multibit / Delta-sigma architecture DAC - why is this important you ask?

Unlike most delta-sigma architectures that convert everything to a 1-bit stream first before filtering, the iDSD preserves the high order 6-bits of a PCM data stream and only converts the rest of the low order bits via its internal 256fs (DSD256) modulator. iFi claims that this allows the iDSD to keep some of that Burr-Brown signature warmth while still retaining all the smoothness delta-sigma modulators are so famous for. Obviously for pure DSD input, those Burr-Brown's handle it natively using that same DSD256 modulator to convert to analog.

The different digital filters have more of an effect than the filters on the RME. Standard sounds a little congested to me, minimum phase opens the sound up a bit and NOS also opens things up but can sound a bit bright on some tracks. The differences are very very small and I would be happy with any of them except for maybe NOS. The GTO filter similarly opens the sound up a bit and is very smooth and full sounding, it's probably my favourite.

I've listened extensively now with my Fostex TH610's and they sound way better on the iFi than on the RME. They need the power and the filters and musical warmth of the ifi compared to the clinical sounding RME.

My HD600s sound really really good, the best I've ever heard from them. Some older Sony MDR1A's sound pretty good too though they are a bit muddy and boomy compared to the HD600 and TH610s.

Oh and when playing on my main system in 2 channel or 2.1 it sounds great! Better than the DAC in my STRDA5200ES receiver for sure (also older burr-brown from circa year 2000) and slightly better than the RME. SMooooother.

I should also say I prefer the sound out of this by a long long way over my iBasso DX220 AMP8 (2 x ES9028PRO DAC Chips) and my FiiO Q5 AM5 (AK4490EN x 2 DAC).
It's way smoother sounding than both of these and a lot more powerful.

It's a dam versatile, powerful and great sounding DAC/AMP or stand along DAC when used in 2 channel systems.

20210310_212152 by Hilton, on Flickr

iFi iDSD Signature - iPhone SE - Perfect! by Hilton, on Flickr

JRiver MC DSD256 Native via USB
DSD256 by Hilton, on Flickr

JRiver MC DXD 352.8kHz in FLAC via USB
384khz by Hilton, on Flickr

Connected to my DX220 DAP using USB Audio Player Pro via USB - DSD128 Native!
iFi iDSD DX220 MQA DSD256 by Hilton, on Flickr


JRiver MC playing MQA file over DLNA to USB Audio Player pro (UAPP) doing first unfold and DAC doing final full MQA render (MQA renderer is just a MQA filter). (ifi iDSD Signature DAC connected to Samsung Galaxy note 20ultra)
Source file looks like it was originally a DXD 352.8k recording but run through an MQA encoder and then decoded in UAPP and rendered in the DAC from the 88.2k MQA encoding back to 352.8k but with the MQA filtering
JRiver UAPP DSD MQA by Hilton, on Flickr

JRiver MC playing DSD128 over DLNA to USB Audio Player pro (ifi iDSD Signature DAC connected to Samsung Galaxy note 20ultra)
JRiver UAPP DSD MQA by Hilton, on Flickr

JRiver MC playing DSD256 over DLNA to USB Audio Player Pro (ifi iDSD Signature DAC connected to Samsung Galaxy note 20ultra)
JRiver UAPP DSD MQA by Hilton, on Flickr

JRiver MC playing 352.8kHz DXD over DLNA to USB Audio Player Pro (ifi iDSD Signature DAC connected to Samsung Galaxy note 20ultra)
JRiver UAPP DSD MQA by Hilton, on Flickr

Appreciate the time you put into this! Glad you are enjoying your Siggy so much!

 

[gto88]

Received my iDSD Sig today, tested DSD512, it didn't work on foobar2000, same setup it works for Hugo 2, but
not iDSD Sig? I updated firmware 7.0, USB driver 3.20.
And play MQA from foobar2000, led doesn't show magenta, it is green which is PCM.
I remember playing MQA from foobar2000 works for Project pre box S2 digital DAC I had.
Something is not set right??

 

[Sebastien Chiu]

Received my iDSD Sig today, tested DSD512, it didn't work on foobar2000, same setup it works for Hugo 2, but
not iDSD Sig? I updated firmware 7.0, USB driver 3.20.
And play MQA from foobar2000, led doesn't show magenta, it is green which is PCM.
I remember playing MQA from foobar2000 works for Project pre box S2 digital DAC I had.
Something is not set right??

For MQA, is there a way to set exclusive on Foobar2000? I'm not too familiar with Foobar.

Any chance you can test MQA on Tidal and let me know if you have the same issue or if it's Foobar specific?

 

[gto88]

I do not use Tidal, just Spotify, and it doesn’t have MQA, I think.

 

[qsk78]

I still consider Aeon C Flow (1st version only) as one of the best pairing planars (among closed back) for both iDSD micro BL and Signature.
For those who prefer detailed and very neutral sound signature. Aeon 2 they made more mass consumer oriented...

Current pair



two years ago