[TPSRA]

Hi @iFi audio
I'm planning on getting one this baby soon,
where can I find a dealer that have the latest/updated firmware and have the 4.4mm balance output option?
Online or physical store(Bay area). Thanks

 

[Baten]

My review unit has been swapped out with one that has updated firmware and is better behaved. The proper 16k tap Transient Aligned filter is now present (I mistook it for another one in my pre-review) and now the Pro iDSD sounds the least like a chip-based DAC of any I can remember that isn't much more expensive.

It was not present before? Good to hear it is fixed.

 

[iFi audio]

Hi @iFi audio
I'm planning on getting one this baby soon,
where can I find a dealer that have the latest/updated firmware and have the 4.4mm balance output option?
Online or physical store(Bay area). Thanks

Please feel free to reach to iFi audio in USA directly: https://ifi-audio.com/sales/#usa

 

[Baten]

Please feel free to reach to iFi audio in USA directly: https://ifi-audio.com/sales/#usa

Hello iFi, could you tell me if the balanced pentagon connection is possible for EU too?

If it will be possible, I will prefer to wait with purchasing

 

[iFi audio]

Hello iFi, could you tell me if the balanced pentagon connection is possible for EU too?

If it will be possible, I will prefer to wait with purchasing

Yes, it is. Although delivery time is extended.

 

[alphanumerix1]

Yes, it is. Although delivery time is extended.

Same for Australia?

 

[iFi audio]

Same for Australia?

This applies globally.

 

[Currawong]

Copying and pasting impressions from last night's listening session which was unpleasant for my electricity bill, given the half-a-dozen hot-running components on at the same time.

I tried A/B-ing three DACs through both the Master 9 (brutally revealing) and the Studio Six (choice GE, Sylvania and Mullard tubes for neutrality).

The Analog 2 seems to have a very slightly "thicker" or "meatier" sound to it, which is only really apparent doing an A/B with other DACs, which I've been doing with the Hugo 2 (optimised) and Pro iDSD (using the Transient Aligned filter in SS mode). The tuning has obviously been influenced by particular fans of Eddie Current amps. I think that makes the mids, and thus vocals, a smidgen drier. The Pro iDSD, on the other hand, almost completely avoids sounding like a chip DAC, especially as you can work your way around things by choosing a combination of available filters to suit your taste, plus the tube modes, if sacrificing a bit of precision, soundstage or detail sometimes, depending on choices made. It can be great with vocals, but unpleasant with music that has any sibilance or other harshness, at least with the technically best filter engaged, and sometimes can sound a tiny bit wooden.

I feel that the soundstage with the Yggy isn't as precise as it could be, but with the right set-up it can be euphoric. One of the nicest matches has been the Soundaware P1 amp, which has a smooth-but-detailed Accuphase-like tuning.

I've heard the Bricasti M1 a number of times, and now I can't stand it. To me, it sounds artificial.

 

[tonyo442]

Copying and pasting impressions from last night's listening session which was unpleasant for my electricity bill, given the half-a-dozen hot-running components on at the same time.

hello, I do not understand too much your choice of dac, you prefer, a dac like the Hugo 2, the electronic card is only a small cm2, all dac Chord sound high even Dave, there is nothing in the low medium, or in the details of the bass, sorry but the translation does that the definition of certain words do not go in the right direction

 

[Currawong]

hello, I do not understand too much your choice of dac, you prefer, a dac like the Hugo 2, the electronic card is only a small cm2, all dac Chord sound high even Dave, there is nothing in the low medium, or in the details of the bass, sorry but the translation does that the definition of certain words do not go in the right direction

I wouldn't use a translator on my impressions.

 

[Fastnbulbous]

I've been using a Grace m9xx with the iCAN Pro. The plan was to get the iDSD then use the Grace at work, but man, the cost is much higher than I anticipated. I would not sell yr amp for the DSD, especially if you have an HE-6.

 

[Baten]

It has been brought to my attention that the burr brown multibit chips as used in the iFi DACs are specced "up to" 200Khz:

Sampling Frequency: 10 kHz to 200 kHz

My question is then, how does the iFi iDSD Pro take advantage of DSD256 and DSD512 format, let alone DSD1024? I would understand it is part of your trade secret into making these devices, but there *is* a benefit to sampling to DSD1024 on this device? Perhaps the custom interleaved quad-dac somehow being a piece to making this work ?

 

[Baten]

Never mind I found my answer in one of the few reviews out of the iDSD Pro.

"Four (stereo) DACs are placed in an interleaved parallel circuit that send eight signals out (four per channel). The idea behind this, is that by using parallel-connected DACs, the workload to convert high-resolution audio is divided so that each DAC can work at a lower sampling rate. Each DAC therefore delivers ¼ of the audio signal. Of course, those pieces of audio from each DAC chip must perfectly follow each other, which also explains why so much attention was paid to the clock part of the Pro iDSD. It is possible to work with external clock generators, but the internal clock already has good credentials. After all, it is the clock generator from the highly regarded DP-777 DAC of AMR."

 

[iFi audio]

Never mind I found my answer in one of the few reviews out of the iDSD Pro.

"Four (stereo) DACs are placed in an interleaved parallel circuit that send eight signals out (four per channel). The idea behind this, is that by using parallel-connected DACs, the workload to convert high-resolution audio is divided so that each DAC can work at a lower sampling rate. Each DAC therefore delivers ¼ of the audio signal. Of course, those pieces of audio from each DAC chip must perfectly follow each other, which also explains why so much attention was paid to the clock part of the Pro iDSD. It is possible to work with external clock generators, but the internal clock already has good credentials. After all, it is the clock generator from the highly regarded DP-777 DAC of AMR."

Yup!

 

[iFi audio]

Folks, below you'll find the review of our Pro iDSD written by Andrej Turok, a musician. This publication originally appeared in Finnish High and Style mag. Enjoy!

High and Style - Pro iDSD Review
by Andrej Turok

In a compact package, we have an audiophiliac bomb that explodes with dazzling quality, versatility and technology. From the other Prague exhibition (see the report in this issue) we have taken away, apart from impressions and hearing experiences, a small box with something surprisingly different. EXaudio has borrowed a premium amplifier with high-end transducers for the test, proud of the Professional Tube / Solid-State DAC / Headphone-amp prediction. Well, then.



It is not a shame to claim that iFi once again shuddered the digital world. Setting up the revolutionary QUAD core Burr Brown chip introduces an entirely new quality to the upcoming generation of their products. The unfamiliar compact displays benefits such as, complete galvanic isolation of all inputs, four DAC sections, a variety of digital- including Bit-Perfect Direct-to-Print mode, USB 3.0 Type B and USB 3.1 Type C self-powered,the newly developed SDIF AMR, including the implementation of the new HD-VDi (HD Electronic Digital Input) solid state, cache, and the Global Master Timing® timer. The entire X-Core 200 processor is the X-Core 200. The all-new XMOS XU216 X-Core generation with a maximum of 2000 MIPS (two billion instructions per second) can work in dual mode as a USB interface and can decode all signals until sampling 768 kHz / 32 bits and DSD512 as well as streaming resources from the wi-fi network.

Construction

The sympathetic silver brick has asymmetrically placed rotary vents with the eye of the lamp in the epicenter at the top of the carriage. The front panel has two dimensional potentiometers on the edges - the left-hand selector, the volume selector on the right. In addition, the first is a smaller "sweep" to set the selected digital filter. At the very center of the Nautilus submarine is a circular OLED display. Here is a large jack on the headphone jack, a small three-position "

"sensitivity (gain) bounded by SE and BAL inputs. The rectangle of the angular "lady" provides rich connectivity. From left to right symmetrical as well as asymmetrical (XLR and RCA) outputs plus aluminum adjusting screws with Pro (Var), Pro (Fixed), HiFi (HFI) and Hifi (Fixed) positions. Upstream to the center is the LAN connector, then Host and Device inputs, coaxial and optic, XLR, SDC shaft above, BNC Sync in and Sync out down, sync mode screw, and finally power up from external power and DC loop out. Inside the intestines, the sections are separated by two massive compartments, the red printed circuit boards are precisely embedded in the top components. The main "volume" potentiometer (Balanced Analogue Volume) is from ALPS.



Practice + Listening First, I took the machine into the studio and attached it to my "brand new" rack with 64-bit architecture. I caught up with something from my current work, but also from the archive of record varieties of all sorts of genres and origins in resolution 96/24 and 192/24. Sennheiser HD 650 classics are used as headphones. The machine works with the top Burr-Brown DSD and DXD DAC in a special configuration that lets you use and mix up to eight different signals, which in practice means four pairs of signals per channel. Wow! The FPGA (Integrated Circuit for Post-Production Configuration) provides excellent digital remastering. Four-element 64-element transducers feature 256 element per channel. I was hoping for the noble sculpture of the sound sculpture. The outstanding performance relied on an unprecedented frequency range with heavier heights than the toad of a toddler, a medium filled with informative aliquots and basses tighter than the Cumbulka Doñana. I have also tried to connect with my active Dynaudio DBM50 studio monitors. Their sound I have in my ear deeper than punker piercing. My EMU 1820m sounds are also 192/24, but here I thought fine texture even more precise - it's just a machine of a new generation and you will not make progress. Then I picked up some high-definition DVD-A discs and compared the work of the modified converter on the Panasonic RA 71 to the way the things the test machine is. The difference is obvious. Again stems from the finer miniature, smoother heights, more opulent space and vibrant dynamics. I used the ability to listen to music from an external HD (through the optics) through the headphones and Stark Jane speakers. Christmas came in early May.

iFi PRO iDSD

I'm a pacifist, but I would kill for this connection (mosquitoes). Wi-Fi network streaming of the most essential services is also cool. MQA decoding (Master Quality Authenti- cated) approximates the sound of the air to the contact with the cable or optical fiber. Supporting many relevant protocols, including Airplay, along with the already mentioned fixed memory and SD card, gives you so many options that you can be put to death while not having one and the same title for years. If there is a flicker (for any reason) frosted or unstable, there are digital filters, sampling or jitter reduction thanks to accurate clocks, so you can adjust any starter in a desirable form. Voila!

Conclusion - For two-and-a-half thousand euros, there's an incredibly burgeoning knot of technology with which you're in the sound jungle better than Rambo. Nothing will surprise you, the possibilities are practically unrestricted and open to the future. Above all, however, the sound quality will get you (just like me). This apparatus is immensely musical, accurate, does not stain, does not disappoint the body, and if some body painting is needed, then it is ready to allow your hearing the acoustic adaptation you want. The soundtrack makes the iFi Pro iDSD champion almost without competition!


Pros

+ universal, timeless component
+ great sound
+ does not have a major competitor

Cons

- I just guess the price, which despite all of them the benefits are not for everyone.