[corgifall]

Yes I discovered this as well. The manual states that It can run off usb power so I guess it isn't that surprising.

Re the above - I don't have my unit near any radio router stuff. Good thoughts though... Turning the screen off didn't help either for me.

Also, I too, have seen that if I run at 768 or dsd512 I don't hear any noise... Any other sample rate / type I hear it. Seems to be a common with @corgifall . Thanks for that tip - least I can upsample to that in the interim until ifi can chime in a remediation path.

Ahhh I should of read the manual haha.

Note: Now that I read the included manual, I don’t see anything about the Neo being able to run off only the usb connection for power.

 

[SoLame]

Ifi's included rca is not really good in quality. Mine didn't even last a week and all sorts of channel imbalance before one channel started not working. Bought a new rca cable and all issues gone.

Noted and thank you. However, I haven't even use the included ifi RCA cable, so I am not sure if my Blue Jeans RCA cable is the cause of the issue.

 

[Currawong]

Putting the Neo iDSD up for a test today with the Final D8000 Pro. It's got a bit of a challenge ahead, as I'm listening to the same music I normally listen to on a very dialled-in system (Chord Hugo 2 + Moon Audio Silver Dragon + ALO Audio Studio Six or Schiit Yggdrasil + Van Den Hul The Mountain + Audio-gd Master 9). Much like my memory of the Pro iDSD the set-up has a more "lively" sound, though I find the treble to be a touch edgy on, say, Madman Across the Water. Switching to a (albeit quite expensive) Soundaware D300REF streamer as the transport smooths things out a tad, just like it did in the Pro iDSD.

Likewise, moving from the built-in headphone amp, which does a very admirable job considering that the Neo iDSD is USB-powered (or 5V powered) up to an Audio-gd Master 9 brings out more spaciousness in the sound. It doesn't have the holographic magic of the Schiit Yggdrasil (against which I could conveniently A/B it) but still, I feel, does a very admirable job.

Oh boy.. I used to play drums and the sonics of drums is one of the main things I evaluate in a dac when doing analytical listening. There is a drum part in pearl Jam Go that gets blurred together on many dacs. The best I ever heard it was on a $7,500 Naim CDX2 CD player and it was able to articulate the individual drum strikes. Can't wait for my evaluation. (That CD player used a Burr Brown Dac if I remember correctly).

One of my favourite tracks. I might have to add it in rotation again for gear evaluation, though I have some Roy Hargrove for that mostly (Habana).

Ifi's included rca is not really good in quality. Mine didn't even last a week and all sorts of channel imbalance before one channel started not working. Bought a new rca cable and all issues gone.

It puzzles me a bit why they include those cables, even with the current TOTL Pro iDSD.

 

[Reyess]

Putting the Neo iDSD up for a test today with the Final D8000 Pro. It's got a bit of a challenge ahead, as I'm listening to the same music I normally listen to on a very dialled-in system (Chord Hugo 2 + Moon Audio Silver Dragon + ALO Audio Studio Six or Schiit Yggdrasil + Van Den Hul The Mountain + Audio-gd Master 9). Much like my memory of the Pro iDSD the set-up has a more "lively" sound, though I find the treble to be a touch edgy on, say, Madman Across the Water. Switching to a (albeit quite expensive) Soundaware D300REF streamer as the transport smooths things out a tad, just like it did in the Pro iDSD.

Likewise, moving from the built-in headphone amp, which does a very admirable job considering that the Neo iDSD is USB-powered (or 5V powered) up to an Audio-gd Master 9 brings out more spaciousness in the sound. It doesn't have the holographic magic of the Schiit Yggdrasil (against which I could conveniently A/B it) but still, I feel, does a very admirable job.



One of my favourite tracks. I might have to add it in rotation again for gear evaluation, though I have some Roy Hargrove for that mostly (Habana).



It puzzles me a bit why they include those cables, even with the current TOTL Pro iDSD.

Thanks for your impressions.

What mode were you operating at for your testing ? Upscaling all or?

Did you see any of the issues me and @corgifall are RE hum / tones that varry with sample rate?

 

[iFi audio]

The NEO is ready to rock and roll!

Just don't connect it to that WC setup you have in your PC. NEO iDSD doesn't need it

Ifi's included rca is not really good in quality.

We included the basic ones for customers to use right away. Anything fancier they need to cover themselves, which is nothing out of ordinary. Even very costly audio products don't feature cables beyond basic stuff

Likewise, moving from the built-in headphone amp, which does a very admirable job considering that the Neo iDSD is USB-powered (or 5V powered) up to an Audio-gd Master 9 brings out more spaciousness in the sound. It doesn't have the holographic magic of the Schiit Yggdrasil (against which I could conveniently A/B it) but still, I feel, does a very admirable job.

Thanks for your feedback Amos. I trust that you like the product all in all ?

@iFi audio - what say you? I raised a ticket with your support team and you told me i had a defective unit originally so i went that route with my vendor and seeked a new one.

comments?

If you were in touch with our support line, best I'll leave it to them. However, any significant hum (as in: audible and frustrating) shouldn't be there, that's for sure.

 

[Reyess]

Just don't connect it to that WC setup you have in your PC. NEO iDSD doesn't need it



We included the basic ones for customers to use right away. Anything fancier they need to cover themselves, which is nothing out of ordinary. Even very costly audio products don't feature cables beyond basic stuff



Thanks for your feedback Amos. I trust that you like the product all in all ?



If you were in touch with our support line, best I'll leave it to them. However, any significant hum (as in: audible and frustrating) shouldn't be there, that's for sure.

@iFi audio - thank you for the response!

I have replied to my original ticket where I first reported the issue (and your support team asked me to get a new unit from my vendor... which I did, and it is also defective... Ticket #757563) - and updated it to mention to them that even the new\replacement unit from my vendor still shows the issue.

Can you please help usher this along?

Appreciate your response!

@corgifall - best the owner of your unit get a ticket in too... if this is the path it'll need to go.

 

[corgifall]

Just don't connect it to that WC setup you have in your PC. NEO iDSD doesn't need it

If I did that, does that mean I'm plugging the NEO into the matrix?

- best the owner of your unit get a ticket in too... if this is the path it'll need to go.

It's a demo from iFi so ill bug them later about what they wanna do with it.

 

[iFi audio]

If I did that, does that mean I'm plugging the NEO into the matrix?

I have replied to my original ticket where I first reported the issue (and your support team asked me to get a new unit from my vendor... which I did, and it is also defective... Ticket #757563) - and updated it to mention to them that even the new\replacement unit from my vendor still shows the issue.

Can you please help usher this along?

I'll ask our support staff to proceed with this ticket.

 

[Reyess]

I'll ask our support staff to proceed with this ticket.

Thanks! @iFi audio

@corgifall -
I've been listening at dsd512, and you know... I think there IS just the slightest hint of noise, even at DSD512\768...

it's just so high pitched you can't hear but the very edge of it - and this would line up with the increasing frequency \ increasing pitch the noise takes as you go up in frequency (44.1, 48, 88, 96... each one gets higher pitched). When I mute\unmute... there's just the slightest ring that's absent when muted on DSD512 (pushing in the big ring to mute\unmute)

 

[corgifall]

Thanks! @iFi audio

@corgifall -
I've been listening at dsd512, and you know... I think there IS just the slightest hint of noise, even at DSD512\768...

it's just so high pitched you can't hear but the very edge of it - and this would line up with the increasing frequency \ increasing pitch the noise takes as you go up in frequency (44.1, 48, 88, 96... each one gets higher pitched). When I mute\unmute... there's just the slightest ring that's absent when muted on DSD512 (pushing in the big ring to mute\unmute)

Strange indeed. Hopefully your next unit works fine. I’ve not had problems in the past with iFi products so I’m fairly confident it may have been a production batch issue. Hopefully haha

 

[Joaqu2n]

Impressive.

 

[JWahl]

All this talk of noise got me thinking. I have a question for the iFi reps that might be able to answer. I've owned each of the versions of the iUSB at various points of time and found them to yield improvements in the setups I've used them in. I vaguely remember at least one of them (or maybe all) coming with a short cable that adapts a USB-A into a round DC Power connector. Is this adapter cable directly compatible with the DC power input of the Neo? I have a sneaking suspicion that perhaps part of the reason the Neo is priced at $700 instead of closer to $1000, is to allow "expansion" by way of using the Micro iUSB 3.0 as a power-supply and USB-cleaner. I used the Nano in this fashion with the Chord Qutest and the results were very positive. I also think this is why a 5V input was chosen for the Neo.

With this talk of noise (I haven't noticed it myself with the 300 ohm Sennheisers), I wonder if the power-supply design of the Neo was perhaps scaled back a bit to both meet the price-point and allow the aforementioned expansion with the Micro iUSB 3.0.

 

[Reyess]

All this talk of noise got me thinking. I have a question for the iFi reps that might be able to answer. I've owned each of the versions of the iUSB at various points of time and found them to yield improvements in the setups I've used them in. I vaguely remember at least one of them (or maybe all) coming with a short cable that adapts a USB-A into a round DC Power connector. Is this adapter cable directly compatible with the DC power input of the Neo? I have a sneaking suspicion that perhaps part of the reason the Neo is priced at $700 instead of closer to $1000, is to allow "expansion" by way of using the Micro iUSB 3.0 as a power-supply and USB-cleaner. I used the Nano in this fashion with the Chord Qutest and the results were very positive. I also think this is why a 5V input was chosen for the Neo.

With this talk of noise (I haven't noticed it myself with the 300 ohm Sennheisers), I wonder if the power-supply design of the Neo was perhaps scaled back a bit to both meet the price-point and allow the aforementioned expansion with the Micro iUSB 3.0.

Maybe so - but still, noise exists on the Neo (my two units ive had so far, at least) whether it is Mains powered or Battery backup powered with the included iPower, as well as soley USB powered. So I dont think any external cleaner would correct what appears to be an internal EMI issue maybe.

Agree, i dont hear it with 300ohm senn's. Likely due to the large impedance.

 

[Paperinoil]

I may have missed it, but has anyone noticed this noise occurring when using the balanced outs on the DAC to feed a different amp or powered speakers? I see one person had issues with the RCA outs but didn’t see anyone mention using the XLR’s.

 

[corgifall]

I may have missed it, but has anyone noticed this noise occurring when using the balanced outs on the DAC to feed a different amp or powered speakers? I see one person had issues with the RCA outs but didn’t see anyone mention using the XLR’s.

Running XLR or RCA to any of my quiet headphone amps results in no noise issues at any sample rate. This would seem to be a specific problem to something happening with the amp layout inside the NEO units we received. I've yet to hear of anyone else with the same problems as of yet.