[Roscoeiii]

   
I haven't received my iDSD yet (still waiting patiently), but I agree that this is a design flaw and a feature the iDSD should have had.
 
My FiiO E17 DAC / headphone amp has this feature and it is very useful. I'm able to use the volume control on the FiiO E17 to change the volume for my headphones without changing the volume for my speaker rig. The iDSD should have been designed with an option to output a fixed volume through the RCA outputs.

Eh, just set it at the level you want and rip the volume knob off. Probem solved. 

 

[kugino]

i don't have music encoded in every format that the iDSD supports...like i don't have any DXD files. but some tv programs put out audio in pretty high bitrates. watching the super bowl pregame and the audio is 448kbps...i'm pumping the audio through the iDSD and sure enough, the white LED is lit up. i've never heard such awesome sounding commercials! 

 

[earwaxxer]

From my experience, I have not noticied a 'significant' difference with a volume pot at full position and taking the pot out of the circuit. I do a lot of DIY stuff, and built and modded my tube preamp and experimented with such. I have, though, noticed a difference between different brands (ex. Alps vs. TKD). I wouldnt get hung up on that. When I get mine I will experiment between using the 64bit digital attenuation via JRiver vs. using the pot for volume control. It should be interesting. BTW - any idea what kind of pot is in there?

 

[earwaxxer]

Cool - thanks! - sounds like a keeper! - I'm curious as to how it will compare to my Gungnir playing 24/192. I have some expectations. Will have to wait and see...

 

[iFi audio]

  From my experience, I have not noticied a 'significant' difference with a volume pot at full position and taking the pot out of the circuit. I do a lot of DIY stuff, and built and modded my tube preamp and experimented with such. I have, though, noticed a difference between different brands (ex. Alps vs. TKD). I wouldnt get hung up on that. When I get mine I will experiment between using the 64bit digital attenuation via JRiver vs. using the pot for volume control. It should be interesting. BTW - any idea what kind of pot is in there?

 
Hi,
 
We use a chip that combines differential input, volume control and an Amplifier all on one Chip. This volume control is similar to that in the Abbingdon Music Research AM-777.
 
The iDSD, at FULL volume, has NO resistors remaining in series with the volume control.
 
The volume works for both RCAs and Headphones. So it is a type of small pre-amp. Or turn to full volume and there will be no more resistors in the chain. Eat and cake!

 

[soulkeeper]

What`s the recommended specs for the charger?Is 5volt / 0.5A ok?
I`ve been charging it about 15 hours with a usb wall charger(5v/0.5A) and the led light is still blue (unit switched off)
Is this normal?

 

[kugino]

What`s the recommended specs for the charger?Is 5volt / 0.5A ok?
I`ve been charging it about 15 hours with a usb wall charger(5v/0.5A) and the led light is still blue (unit switched off)
Is this normal?

I've had mine plugged in for over a day and the light's been on the whole time. I'm wondering if it doesn't tell you when it's fully charged, but maybe it's trickle charging even when fully charged, so the blue light will always be on.

 

[iFi audio]

I've had mine plugged in for over a day and the light's been on the whole time. I'm wondering if it doesn't tell you when it's fully charged, but maybe it's trickle charging even when fully charged, so the blue light will always be on.

Hi
 
Once the battery is full, it switches over to top-up charge to prolong the life of battery (it doesn't trickle-charge as it is a LiPo battery).
 
You can check if it is full by switching on/off or unplug replug. If full, the light will no longer be on.
 
This circuit means the life of the battery is maximised. With regular use, should give 3-4 years of service.

 

[kugino]

  Hi
 
Once the battery is full, it switches over to top-up charge to prolong the life of battery (it doesn't trickle-charge as it is a LiPo battery).
 
You can check if it is full by switching on/off or unplug replug. If full, the light will no longer be on.
 
This circuit means the life of the battery is maximised. With regular use, should give 3-4 years of service.

thanks for the info. indeed, i turned it on and off and the light went out. 
 
question: is the battery replaceable? so if/when the battery goes out, can we send it in for a replacement? 

 

[Watcherq]

Had gotten the item last week, and finally managed to install and configure it to work on a Win 7 x64 machine with Foobar2000.
 
So far, the sound is more energetic and airy/spacious with better instrument separation when compared with my old Meridian Explorer.  DSD sounds great and more details came out vs SDM->PCM via foobar.  Timing is very engaging and 
 
However, there are a few minor cons and possible mis-configuration on my part.  Firstly, as I turn up and down the dial, I can hear "clicks" even though the dial is turns smoothly; this is when no music is playing.  Secondly, when starting a (new) track or jumping inside a track, there are clicks heard as well.  Starting is the most obvious but I can still hear the clicks when I jump within a track.  Thirdly, I had to configure the ASIO plugin to use DoP under the DSD Player Method.  I was thrown off when I tried ASIO native, I got an error popup saying "Sample rate of 44100 Hz not supported by this device" even when playing RBCD FLAC files.  The volume dial is also very sensitive.
 
My equipment chain:
Lenovo x201t -> iUSB -> Gemini cable -> iDSD -> Shure SE846

 

[iFi audio]

  thanks for the info. indeed, i turned it on and off and the light went out. 
 
question: is the battery replaceable? so if/when the battery goes out, can we send it in for a replacement? 

 
Yes, we supply the battery. Contact us in 4 years' time!

 

[iFi audio]

  Had gotten the item last week, and finally managed to install and configure it to work on a Win 7 x64 machine with Foobar2000.
 
So far, the sound is more energetic and airy/spacious with better instrument separation when compared with my old Meridian Explorer.  DSD sounds great and more details came out vs SDM->PCM via foobar.  Timing is very engaging and 
 
However, there are a few minor cons and possible mis-configuration on my part.  Firstly, as I turn up and down the dial, I can hear "clicks" even though the dial is turns smoothly; this is when no music is playing.  Secondly, when starting a (new) track or jumping inside a track, there are clicks heard as well.  Starting is the most obvious but I can still hear the clicks when I jump within a track.  Thirdly, I had to configure the ASIO plugin to use DoP under the DSD Player Method.  I was thrown off when I tried ASIO native, I got an error popup saying "Sample rate of 44100 Hz not supported by this device" even when playing RBCD FLAC files.  The volume dial is also very sensitive.
 
My equipment chain:
Lenovo x201t -> iUSB -> Gemini cable -> iDSD -> Shure SE846

Hi,
 
If you like, drop us an email at tech@ifi-audio.com  - we'll forward it onto tech support and run through the computer software settings with you.
 
thank you

 

[Watcherq]

  Hi,
 
If you like, drop us an email at tech@ifi-audio.com  - we'll forward it onto tech support and run through the computer software settings with you.
 
thank you

Hi, I've sent an email with screen shots of my configuration.  Minor correction; it seems that RBCD works fine with "ASIO Native" but not with DSD files.

 

[technobear]

Firstly, as I turn up and down the dial, I can hear "clicks" even though the dial is turns smoothly; this is when no music is playing.  Secondly, when starting a (new) track or jumping inside a track, there are clicks heard as well.  Starting is the most obvious but I can still hear the clicks when I jump within a track.
.
.
.
Shure SE846

The Shure SE846 has a sensitivity of 114dB/mW. That is very high and explains why you can hear these faint clicks which most users will never notice. It also explains why your volume control seems sensitive.

 

[Watcherq]

The Shure SE846 has a sensitivity of 114dB/mW. That is very high and explains why you can hear these faint clicks which most users will never notice. It also explains why your volume control seems sensitive.

Yep, I understand that and honestly they are not really noticeable unless you pay attention.  However, I think it may be possible to reduce or eliminate the 3-4 clicks when starting up/jumping in the track via software/firmware since it seems that the system is the one that seem to be resetting the internals.  As for the clicks when you turn the dial, that is unfortunate but not a major issue.
 
As for the sensitivity, I hope that in the v2 of iDSD, there is a gain switch.  Right now on the Shure, between nice to uncomfortable loud to painfully loud is about 15-20 degrees turn of the knob to reach the next level.  On my Fiio X3, I would need to go, on low gain, from 15-17 to 23-25 to over 30.  On such a small knob, it is quite tricky.  Furthermore, the iDSD is using the 3.5mm plug which is meant for portable use thus IEMs with the sensitivity like Shure is expected to be used together with the iDSD.
 
Don't get me wrong, I'm quite happy with the iDSD, but these issues should be looked into and refined in the next version of the device.