iFi Audio Pro iDSD discussion thread

[Boris Bollokov]

The price point is €1500 plus tax, in UK that will be around £1700 - no thanks iFi.

 

[mlundy57]

That's a bit rich for my blood also. Guess the micro iDSD is as high as I will be going in this line. I will have to look else ware for a main home system unit.

 

[Jimi Zine]

€1500 plus tax (assuming tax rate of 23%) is around 1850 euros, which is less than £1500 at todays exchange rates. The improvement will be worth it imv, will be significant step up in quality judging by specs we have already seen.

 

[diamondears]

I think it would be worth it. Remember that this would be a DAC and amplifier-in-one. An integrated DAC and amp. So that price is actually on the very reasonable side. And it would be a true balanced design, with both single-ended and balanced HP Jack outs. Can't wait for this.

 

[Jimi Zine]

Hi diamondears, when you say the Ifi idsd Mini will be an integrated amplifier, you mean headphone amplifier right? alongside D/A converter? I am actually planning to use this unit with active speakers.

Regards

 

[diamondears]

Hi diamondears, when you say the Ifi idsd Mini will be an integrated amplifier, you mean headphone amplifier right? alongside D/A converter? I am actually planning to use this unit with active speakers.


Regards

Yes, I meant integrated DAC and HP amp.

 

[Boris Bollokov]

I got micro for £400. If mini is £1500. What additional specs does £1100 warrant?

 

[Jimi Zine]

Two bitperfect modes for PCM playback, 
improved and more powerful head amp,
lower jitter for improved sound quality,
Minimal analogue DSD playback mode,
Improved preamp with remote control,
Quad Core Dual Mono DAC (4-DAC Chip; 8-Channel; 16-Signals),
Fully balanced fully discrete Class A design,
Improved resistors & capacitors,

AES-EBU & BNC SPDIF digital inputs XLR balanced audio outputs, and more to come, not yet announced...

 

[Boris Bollokov]

  Two bitperfect modes for PCM playback, 
improved and more powerful head amp,
lower jitter for improved sound quality,
Minimal analogue DSD playback mode,
Improved preamp with remote control,
Quad Core Dual Mono DAC (4-DAC Chip; 8-Channel; 16-Signals),
Fully balanced fully discrete Class A design,
Improved resistors & capacitors,

AES-EBU & BNC SPDIF digital inputs XLR balanced audio outputs, and more to come, not yet announced...

I mean fair enough, I guess that's £1100 right there. When iFi mini comes out, would it standout from its potential competition in the same price range?
 
From what I hear, apparently this price range is fairly competitive.
 
Personally, I am only interested in one thing - improvement to the sound quality. Certain features not so much.
 
In this world everything comes down to "GAINS" whether it is physical, financial, popularity... But in this case per £ sound quality gains. 
 
I doubt the investment of £1100 is going to deliver 240% improvement in sound quality over iDSD. I might be wrong though, in that case money well spent, sonic boom.

 

[Jimi Zine]

We hope so, on paper it seems to but at this price level you have things like Chord Hugo, B.M.C. PureDAC, Benchmark Media DAC2. Law of diminishing returns suggests it won't be 240% better, if this is even possible to quantify but we'll have to wait & see.

 

[diamondears]

We hope so, on paper it seems to but at this price level you have things like Chord Hugo, B.M.C. PureDAC, Benchmark Media DAC2. Law of diminishing returns suggests it won't be 240% better, if this is even possible to quantify but we'll have to wait & see.

The iFi mini iDSD is $1,000 cheaper than Chord Hugo, right? That is 1 brand new Audeze LCD-2...lol

 

[Jimi Zine]

Nope, Chord Hugo is £1'400 new, similar price

 

[mlundy57]

The way I thought the product line laid out was that the nano and micro were the portable DACs and the mini was going to be for a home system. That's how I was looking at the mini, as a main system DAC which would be connected to a preamp and/or integrated amp. My preamps and integrated amps (Jolida, ODDWATT, NAD, and Marantz) all have headphone amplifiers and remote control (as does my OPPO 105D) so those features are not needed in the DAC.
 
I would prefer to see a version of the mini optimized for use as part of an integrated system (i.e. no duplication of features found in other components) and with an appropriately lower price point, preferably around $1,000. 
 
Mike

 

[diamondears]

The way I thought the product line laid out was that the nano and micro were the portable DACs and the mini was going to be for a home system. That's how I was looking at the mini, as a main system DAC which would be connected to a preamp and/or integrated amp. My preamps and integrated amps (Jolida, ODDWATT, NAD, and Marantz) all have headphone amplifiers and remote control (as does my OPPO 105D) so those features are not needed in the DAC.

I would prefer to see a version of the mini optimized for use as part of an integrated system (i.e. no duplication of features found in other components) and with an appropriately lower price point, preferably around $1,000. 

Mike

Tthe integrateds you mentioned that has HP amps/jack outs have high impedances, which will cause distortion (insufficient electrical damping). So you'll benefit very much from the HP amp of the mini iDSD. Moreover, you'll also benefit from the HP amp being truly balanced, with shorter signal path from the DAC to amp and class A. This would be a competition killer.

 

[EraserXIV]

At this price point I hope they have a robust linear power supply, but I have a feeling it will be some sort of wall wart.