[Fastnbulbous]

Hilarious. So helpful. It wasn't a dumb question, many DACs don't have that, especially two sets of balanced outs -- there's only so much room. While dealing with iFi support I asked that and they said it would likely have both fixed and preamp outs, but did not confirm with balanced.

 

[Fastnbulbous]

In the new Music Direct catalog I picked up at Axpona, page 70, there it is, the iFi Pro iDSD DAC, $1,999. Looks pretty official. So are pre-orders being taken? Is there a release date?

 

[Trogdor]

In the new Music Direct catalog I picked up at Axpona, page 70, there it is, the iFi Pro iDSD DAC, $1,999. Looks pretty official. So are pre-orders being taken? Is there a release date?

Funny enough, I see the February issue of Stereophile also has an ad with pricing! The plot thickens!

In all seriousness, I think iFi will update us relatively soon (not saying it's coming out, just giving a status etc.).

 

[Tom Blake]

It would be great to see an update from iFi on the iDSD Pro as well as the Energizer unit for electrostatic headphones.

 

[apaar123]

how are they for gaming? can anyone share their experience?

 

[iFi audio]

It would be great to see an update from iFi on the iDSD Pro as well as the Energizer unit for electrostatic headphones.

iESL is out at the end of June and Pro iDSD follows that date. That's what we aim for.

 

[Franatic]

Is the Pro idsd dead? Over 2 years of delays, resets and empty promises and this thread is lifeless.

 

[Fastnbulbous]

Well it's another month until the end of June...

 

[Khragon]

I jumped on the holo audio v3 nos dac band wagon. Still interested in this though just I won't be buying one anytime soon.

 

[sdolezalek]

If I had to guess, it must have been a bigger than expected challenge to produce a product in this price range that can noticeably outperform the iDSD Micro in terms of sound quality and you certainly can't come out with a "Pro" version that sounds just like your Micro version. That is even more true if you are optimizing the sound of the Micro through using it with upsampling to DSD512 through software like HQPlayer. On the other hand, while iFi have worked to figure out what would be needed to get to that quantum of improvement, it seems they have discovered other improvements that can themselves be released as Nano or Micro products (like the iUSB 3.0, iSilencer 3.0, iDefender 3.0 and the iGalvanic 3.0). To the extent the iPro represents the combination of all of those in a single box, I think it will be a worthwhile product. But it will also point out that we may be approaching the asymptote of affordable improvements to DAC technology (sort of where the Pentium chip took us in computing power -- better is still possible, but the improvements curve is no longer as steep).

 

[Tom Blake]

I am certainly highly interested in the iDSD Pro if it ever comes to fruition to pair with my iCAN Pro. I am also very interested in the iESL Pro and would get that first anyway to use with my Stax earphones, so iFi can take as long as they need in my book. My dealer said they are trying to add MQA so maybe that is the source of the delay? In the interim I am perfectly happy with my Gumby. If the iDSD Pro never pans out I will definitely consider the Holo Audio Spring DAC as an alternative. Though it would sure be nice to have that matching set of 3 iFi Pro boxes on my desk at some point.

 

[Slim1970]

I've seen the Pro iESL on a website for sale here: https://en.zococity.es/ifi-pro-iesl

So I guess ifi is getting pretty close to releasing it. I can't find mention of the Pro iDSD anywhere for sale but on blogs and in the 2017 Music Direct catalog like someone else mentioned in an earlier post.

 

[Tom Blake]

Interesting - thanks for that link! I heard end of June for the iESL Pro from iFi in the iCAN Pro thread. Looks like a really interesting product!

 

[iFi audio]

Is the Pro idsd dead? Over 2 years of delays, resets and empty promises and this thread is lifeless.

Nope, it's not dead. We simply take our time to make it as good as we possibly can.

 

[Esprit]

We simply take our time

We aren't immortal...