[corgifall]

Oh hey, fellow Coloradan! Nice to see there will be at least two Neo's at a time in Colorado while you have it. Looking forward to seeing your review

Oh heck yeah! Team Colorado! Everything sounds better all the way up here in the land of the Rocky Mountains haha

 

[Paperinoil]

Sweeeeet! Excited to hear this thing and share some of my thoughts with the community. I’ll also be using it with both headphones and active studio monitors.

I’m tempted to get a balanced cable for my HE-400i’s to give that a try since I know from past experience they would likely benefit from the increased output power. The LCD-1’s should be just peachy off the SE output.

 

[Sunstealer]

Thanks @iFi audio for giving me the chance to review the NEO. I am vacillating between this and the Signature so it would be useful to find out which is better for my needs. I have a pair of Takstar Pro 82 on the way so looking forward to seeing what the NEO can do. Hopefully the Takstars will arrive before the NEO does....

 

[Cuthbert 80]

I’m tempted to get a balanced cable for my HE-400i’s to give that a try since I know from past experience they would likely benefit from the increased output power. The LCD-1’s should be just peachy off the SE output.

Don't be "tempted"....just buy a damn balanced cable!

It makes a substantial difference going balanced and I say this from personal experience with the iFi NEO.

As you probably know already, most planars are current hungry, despite some having a low impedance

 

[BattousaiX26]

The included rca cable quality sucks, left channel started not working. I thought it was the neo but when I swap rca cable, everything is fine again. I hope Ifi can include more quality rca.

 

[BattousaiX26]

Don't be "tempted"....just buy a damn balanced cable!

It makes a substantial difference going balanced and I say this from personal experience with the iFi NEO.

As you probably know already, most planars are current hungry, despite some having a low impedance

Totally agree

 

[Wiljen]

Thanks for including me, I'm stoked to see this one.

W

 

[Paperinoil]

Don't be "tempted"....just buy a damn balanced cable!

It makes a substantial difference going balanced and I say this from personal experience with the iFi NEO.

As you probably know already, most planars are current hungry, despite some having a low impedance

Yes, "tempted". Mostly because the 400i is not a headphone I really want to dump money in to at this point. I prefer LCD-1 over it, regardless of amping or EQ'ing.

And yes, I'm aware....

 

[JWahl]

Thanks for the opportunity to review the Neo. I actually may be in the market since I may be selling my RME ADI-2 DAC to cover a budget shortfall I'm expecting in January. I recently purchased a Burson Soloist 3XP amplifier, so I'll be able to fully evaluate it's performance as a dedicated DAC as well. Not to mention, I'm hoping to see how improved it is over the Micro iDSD (non-black label) to judge maybe whether I can eventually stretch to a Pro iDSD. I'm not sure how the order of review is determined, but if I can get in earlier in the cycle, I'll be able to compare the Neo directly with the ADI-2 before I sell it. I just finished with my college semester early, so I'll have between now and about January 19th free to focus on listening and writing a review. Looking forward to it and thanks again!

 

[JWahl]

Yes, "tempted". Mostly because the 400i is not a headphone I really want to dump money in to at this point. I prefer LCD-1 over it, regardless of amping or EQ'ing.

And yes, I'm aware....

Fair point. If it's anything like the HE-4xx, I've really grown to dislike it, and I have a balanced cable and have driven it from many capable amplifiers. Can't get over the steely/tinny treble. I think you get what you pay for with Hifiman, as I do quite like some of their higher end offerings that I've tried. I really want to try the Arya one day since I really liked the HE-1000 V1 when I reviewed it, but would never, ever spend that much on a headphone. Even the Arya is kind of pushing it.

 

[Paperinoil]

Fair point. If it's anything like the HE-4xx, I've really grown to dislike it, and I have a balanced cable and have driven it from many capable amplifiers. Can't get over the steely/tinny treble. I think you get what you pay for with Hifiman, as I do quite like some of their higher end offerings that I've tried. I really want to try the Arya one day since I really liked the HE-1000 V1 when I reviewed it, but would never, ever spend that much on a headphone. Even the Arya is kind of pushing it.

That's essentially how I feel about the 400i. I've owned my pair for about 5 years, and though I haven't had a single issue with them, there is a thinness or wispiness to the upper mids and treble that is not something EQ'ing or amping will fix. at least not in my experience. I have kept them for sentimental reasons as they were my first pair of decent cans and they simply aren't worth much on the used market now.

Having said that, they are a good baseline as many are familiar with them. I'm still exploring options to try to get a balanced cable on the cheap, and will definitely report on my findings if I do.

 

[hamachan]

Tour participant announcement!

Folks, here are the groups:

UK:
@Sunstealer
@betula
@Layman1

EU:
@qsk78
@kmmbd
@SenyorC
@Beh0lder
@Ichos

USA West:
@corgifall
@elira
@jcslone
@wormsdriver
@Paperinoil

USA East:
@JWahl
@Alphecca
@Brubacca
@Wiljen
@Evshrug

Also, there may be 1 or 2 more EU people added, we'll see how it goes.

I am expecting someone of the above to review the NEO as a pure DAC and combined with analogue amp such as pro-iCAN. I'm simply interested in how superior to the micro-series "DAC" (not DAC/amp combo) or equal level. I am not sure if the fully-balanced circuit really improves SQ as "DAC" only.

 

[Paperinoil]

I am expecting someone of the above to review the NEO as a pure DAC and combined with analogue amp such as pro-iCAN. I'm simply interested in how superior to the micro-series "DAC" (not DAC/amp combo) or equal level. I am not sure if the fully-balanced circuit really improves SQ as "DAC" only.

Unfortunately, I can’t do that but I agree it would be a nice perspective to have. From my understanding most of that will come down to how the balanced output is implemented. I’ve read reports of the Schiit Modius(and a few others)balanced outs sounding quite different than their SE counterparts so I think there’s some merit to a balanced DAC design, but again probably a matter of implementation more than anything.

 

[Sebastien Chiu]

I am expecting someone of the above to review the NEO as a pure DAC and combined with analogue amp such as pro-iCAN. I'm simply interested in how superior to the micro-series "DAC" (not DAC/amp combo) or equal level. I am not sure if the fully-balanced circuit really improves SQ as "DAC" only.

I'm sure someone out there can do it! A perspective I'd love to read about, personally, for sure!

 

[kmmbd]

Thanks a lot for including me in the tour. I already have the Zen Can with me on loan (shall post the review within a few weeks, need to make a few more A/B comparisons) and it's a fantastic amp for the price. Really excited to hear the Neo as even the entry-level Zen Can has impressed immensely. I will pit it against the YULONG Canary II and Questyle CMA-400i primarily, and will also try to arrange a demo with the Schiit stack.

I am expecting someone of the above to review the NEO as a pure DAC and combined with analogue amp such as pro-iCAN. I'm simply interested in how superior to the micro-series "DAC" (not DAC/amp combo) or equal level. I am not sure if the fully-balanced circuit really improves SQ as "DAC" only.

I don't have the pro-iCAN but I can pair it with the Cayin iHA-6 which is a pretty great amp (fully discrete class-A etc.). Would be a nice point of discussion as well.