[alreadyused]

Review on Bloom https://bloomaudio.com/blogs/articles/ifi-neo-idsd-review

 

[Baten]

Thanks for your comment/input.

Based on what you said, i got curious and googled for an internal picture of the Neo iDSD. well, here it is. i don't know what i'm looking at, but i can see that there is one XMOS as it's well marked, but i don't see any DACs that has FOUR pieces! i don't know what i'm looking at, but if anyone would care to add please, where are the FOUR Burr Brown DACs please? you'd think it's going to be very close to the XMOS for a short signal path in processing signals, right?

You can have 2-channel, 4-channel, 8-channel single piece DAC chips and sum the outputs for better signal to noise ratio. No one expected four DAC chips in there...

 

[iFi audio]

while what you wrote is true, i'm just befuddled as to why one would choose to use a 2003 DAC chip? what is it that i'm missing in my head in trying to understand this please?

Please visit www.ifi-audio.com, then scroll down to the "support" section of each our DAC's page. There under the "manuals" tab you'll find technical documents, where we extensively explain why we do what we do.

i'm asking for educational purposes in my effort to understand this prior to making my purchase. i'm very tempted, as iFi's reputation for excellent products, especially in this DAC area, is well known, but this new revelation of a 2003 chip confuses me and is taking me for a spin!

I understand, but it seems that you put a wee bit too much attention to DAC chips. Any DAC purchase really shouldn't be based on these specific parts.

wouldn't one think that by using a 2019 or 2020 DAC chip, instead of a 17-year DAC chip, you'd think that the combination of a 2019 or 2020 DAC chip PLUS the 16-core XMOS would be superior than a 2003 chip plus the XMOS, right?

Nope, that's not how it works. In audio latest doesn't always mean the greatest

furthermore, this is all just talk about sound quality, but then, let's not lose sight of the whole issue of MQA decoding/unfolding! this is rather new and recent! how would we reconcile old chips/technology with this advent of new algorithms of MQA decoding? well, apparently they worked it out

Let me encourage you to first read and understand how MQA works, what it needs to be fully unfolded and where this process actually happens

but still, is it ALL worked out with this 2003 chip???

Yes, it is because this chip from 2003 has nothing (or very little) to do with it

 

[Baten]

A 2019/2020 DAC chip and an XMOS receiver would make it just like any other recent DAC currently on the market...

 

[iFi audio]

A 2019/2020 DAC chip and an XMOS receiver would make it just like any other recent DAC currently on the market...

Suffice to say, we like taking stuff beyond its datasheet and making it as modern as it can be

 

[jsmiller58]

@jsmiller58: just wanted to be sure i understand what you're saying.

are you saying that by having the 16-core XMOS chip, that MQA is properly and well handled and FULLY unfolded via hardware, and not merely partially unfolded, despite the 17-year old DAC chip?

thank you in advance for your clarification.

Awesome question! The DACs that I am aware of do whatever MQA unfold they do in the XMOS chip. However, I am certain that I do not know of all DACs that support MQA.

I was reading elsewhere this morning about the Gustard X16 and there was a lot of fuss being made about the MQA decoding actually being done in the new (?) ES9068AS DAC chip instead of the XMOS, so take that for what it might be worth.

 

[someyoungguy]

@iFi audio:

thanks for your comment.

while what you wrote is true, i'm just befuddled as to why one would choose to use a 2003 DAC chip? what is it that i'm missing in my head in trying to understand this please? i'm asking for educational purposes in my effort to understand this prior to making my purchase. i'm very tempted, as iFi's reputation for excellent products, especially in this DAC area, is well known, but this new revelation of a 2003 chip confuses me and is taking me for a spin!

granted, i fully realize that there is a XMOS 16-Core chip that works hand in hand with the Burr Brown DAC chip from 2003, true. still...wouldn't one think that by using a 2019 or 2020 DAC chip, instead of a 17-year DAC chip, you'd think that the combination of a 2019 or 2020 DAC chip PLUS the 16-core XMOS would be superior than a 2003 chip plus the XMOS, right?

Put it this way: I currently have in front of me a FiiO M11 Pro (dual AK4497 chips, first released 2016), a Chord Mojo (custom FPGA, released 2015), and a Plenue S (PCM1972A chip, released 2003). To my ears they all sound great - hard to pick a favorite or which is “best” since they each offer a slightly different take on the music. The Plenue S, with its older chip, still gets plenty of play time.

Likewise I heard the micro iDSD Signature a few weeks ago at Shanghai SIAV expo, which has the same chip as the Neo, and it was no slouch! Plenty of detail and resolution.

My advice would be forget about how old the chip is, just have a listen and trust what you hear.

 

[Cat Music]

Put it this way: I currently have in front of me a FiiO M11 Pro (dual AK4497 chips, first released 2016), a Chord Mojo (custom FPGA, released 2015), and a Plenue S (PCM1972A chip, released 2003). To my ears they all sound great - hard to pick a favorite or which is “best” since they each offer a slightly different take on the music. The Plenue S, with its older chip, still gets plenty of play time.

Likewise I heard the micro iDSD Signature a few weeks ago at Shanghai SIAV expo, which has the same chip as the Neo, and it was no slouch! Plenty of detail and resolution.

My advice would be forget about how old the chip is, just have a listen and trust what you hear.

very wise reflection, I will still wait patiently for more reviews, otherwise I will take the risks, (I feel that I will have a happy ending)

 

[BattousaiX26]

Still no review aside from bloom?

 

[iFi audio]

Hey, hey, hey , it's time for an iFi tour. New releases give us great excuses to get units out to you good people!

The guideline for the NEO iDSD tour is fairly similar to previous tours, but there are a few changes to some we have done before so be sure to check out the entire post!

Am I eligible for the tour?

We love to share the iFi love around as much as we can, so we’ll be trying our best to accommodate as many people as we can. So, we encourage you to sign up if you have an interest in the new NEO iDSD regardless of where you are in your HiFi journey.

We’ll eventually be dividing up the tour groups into geographical regions as we see fit. Unfortunately, if a particular region has a low interest in touring the unit, we may not be able to accommodate those that are interested there. So, be sure to tell your friends to sign up too!

How do I sign up?

Simply fill out the sign-up sheet below and you'll be golden.

THE TOUR SHEET

Please note that the deadline for the sign-up process is 20/11/2020, and the individuals selected will be announced and contacted thereafter.

The rules:

1) Each Head-Fier will be given seven days to spend with the unit.

2) After the given amount of time has passed, each Head-Fier is responsible for safely packing the unit, shipping the unit to the next Head-Fier, and covering the shipping costs.

3) Each Head-Fier will be required to post a review of the NEO iDSD within 1 week of shipping the unit off to the next Head-Fier on the NEO iDSD product page HERE

4) Otherwise, the most important thing is to kick back, have fun, and enjoy some of your favorite tunes through the hip-dac and try out all the features we’ve packed into it! We hope you love it as much as we do!


We’ll be giving away the tour NEO iDSD unit to one lucky winner!

Your ticket to win is simply a link to your review and proof that you’ve put effort and real thought into it. We’re not expecting an essay (you’ve done enough of that in high school I’m sure), but a few simple sentences that that doesn’t express your thoughts on the product doesn’t exactly fly either.

To keep things fair for everyone, the drawing for the winners are completely random. That means we’re not playing favorites here in order to prevent reviewers from being biased in hopes of winning! Honest reviews are what we like the most. Again though, a poor review (in terms of quality) will disqualify the individual from winning the prize.

Good luck!

TOUR PARTICIPANTS LIST:

TO BE RELEASED on the 21/11/2020

 

[BubbaJay]

Review on Bloom https://bloomaudio.com/blogs/articles/ifi-neo-idsd-review

Reading that makes me feel a little better about spending $699 on the Neo. I did expect the amp section to not have the power to push headphones like the HE1000 V2 or my Arya for that matter but that's fine I'll just hook up my A50s or SP200 and use it as a dac only. I'm looking forward to hearing how my Sony Z1R sounds with it because it being a warm headphone and the Neo being on the warmer side I hope it has the same synergy as with the Hip Dac.

 

[mahesh]

Any reviews yet? VS Topping 7pro perhaps...............

 

[corgifall]

Signed up! Fingers crossed a bunch of US peeps sign up too haha

 

[Nettlesomeness]

Should I be pissed that I bought the RME recently?

 

[Hinomotocho]

Reading that makes me feel a little better about spending $699 on the Neo. I did expect the amp section to not have the power to push headphones like the HE1000 V2 or my Arya for that matter but that's fine I'll just hook up my A50s or SP200 and use it as a dac only. I'm looking forward to hearing how my Sony Z1R sounds with it because it being a warm headphone and the Neo being on the warmer side I hope it has the same synergy as with the Hip Dac.

I've been on the quest to find an amp/dac for my Z1R and have pretty much hit a brick wall as it seems everyone owns the TA-ZH1ES. The price is a lot more than I can spend at the moment and the only recommendations I've had is for more expensive ones. Most of the options like Topping etc seem to be described as being on the clean analytical side and as I owned both the FiiO Q5s with the THX amp module and the xDSD, I found the xDSD with the Burr Brown chip to be more musical and overall enjoyable (before I owned the Z1R). I am wondering if that quality of the Burr Brown chips may make it closer to the experience people describe with the TA-ZH1ES?