[iFi audio]

@iFi audio mine is using adhesive on the emblem. Are new batch of signatures have their emblems permanently attached or is it still glued? Because for me I don't have the emblem when I received the signature. I was able to request one but it is attached by the adhesive.

Honestly I don't know, but AFAIK this doesn't impact a product's performance or look. Thanks!

 

[srkbear]

thank u for your info. Pro iDSD signature however excellent is too expensive, thus I am considering SMSL d1se for about USD 600 to feed my Pro iCAN.

I use the Topping D90se with my Pro iCAN Signature, and it is extraordinary. The new Gustard x18 is equally fine, and has an NOS mode. The measurements Amir performed on ASR of the SMSL VMV series were seriously poor—ridiculously inferior to the two above DACs I mentioned, which sit at #1 and 2 of the top SINAD, linearity and multi tone scores on the site to date.

I would seriously consider the Gustard x18. It is just about the same cost as the D1se and is just vastly better in terms of the SNR, noise floor and detail retrieval. It also outputs 5V to the Pro iCAN, which will afford much higher clean headroom to the amp.

 

[srkbear]

Thank you for the DAC recommendation to feed my Pro iCAN Sig ---> LCD-5
I checked this out and the neo iDSD is indeed praised as an analog-sounding DAC that competes well with and is even preferred over the Chord Qutest (USD 1600) -- WoW!

What's like stacking them --- of course, iCAN on the top because we don't want to hide its beautiful tube lightening Do we?


If I find one with a nice price 特得 (still a bit pricey as a DAC only) I may seriously consider it -- others on my list are SMSL D300, SMSL d1SE, and Loxije D50 -- all less analytical than usual ESS DACz as good matches with my LCD-5 which is more on the analytical side.

Just curious where you’re getting those measurements? I go to audiosciencereview for my gold standard measurement data, and among the countless DACs they’ve measured, the Topping D90se, Okto DAC 8 and Gustard x18 sit comfortably on the top in terms of SINAD, linearity and multi tone—and those are the bottom line when it comes to DAC performance. The Chord doesn’t even come close to the performance of those three, nor does the Neo, the SMSL VMV series or any of the ridiculously priced R2R ladder DACs.

All of the latest Chinese ES9038pro delta sigma DACs released in the last year are outputting results that surpass the limits of human hearing—we’ve arguably reached the final endpoint of what DACs can do to the sound signature of audiophile setups, and anyone who pays more than $799 these days is paying for snake oil (the Chord DAVE is just an insulting joke).

The mantra I’ve been told countless times by those in the know on this stuff is to spend your money in the following order of decreasing importance: headphones—>amp—>DAC—>cables. “Sound signatures” and “warmth” and other aphorisms PSAudio and their ilk like to invoke come from your amp and drivers (speakers), not from your DAC. What you want from a DAC is detail retrieval, minimal distortion, precision, and low noise. The measurements tell 100% of the story when it comes to DACs, and I wouldn’t suggest giving credence to anything else you might hear—I learned this the hard way, through the punishment of my wallet…

 

[MalinYamato]

I use the Topping D90se with my Pro iCAN Signature, and it is extraordinary. The new Gustard x18 is equally fine, and has an NOS mode. The measurements Amir performed on ASR of the SMSL VMV series were seriously poor—ridiculously inferior to the two above DACs I mentioned, which sit at #1 and 2 of the top SINAD, linearity and multi tone scores on the site to date.

I would seriously consider the Gustard x18. It is just about the same cost as the D1se and is just vastly better in terms of the SNR, noise floor and detail retrieval. It also outputs 5V to the Pro iCAN, which will afford much higher clean headroom to the amp.

I have not read the measurements but only listened to subjective reviews by some 5 reviewers including golden sound. D1SE is cheaper and will I notice a diff if I upgrade to a X18?

 

[srkbear]

I have not read the measurements but only listened to subjective reviews by some 5 reviewers including golden sound. D1SE is cheaper and will I notice a diff if I upgrade to a X18?

According to the measurements and depending on the headphones you’re pairing it with (of course), unquestionably. Without a doubt. If you’ve already gone for broke with the Pro iCAN? We’re talking a SINAD difference of 124-125 for either the Topping or the Gustard compared with around 113-114 for the D1SE. SINAD refers to signal to noise ratio and distortion—it doesn’t matter what subjective reports others may claim; when it comes to the quality of the audio going to your amp, measurements are what count. Both the Gustard and the Topping employ all eight channels on that ES9038pro, and it shows.

Here’s a graph of ASR’s top measuring DACs thus far (the D1SE doesn’t make this list; it’s about 10 to the right of the lowest shown here). Note that the Gustard x18 leaves the $3500 Matrix Element X in the dust!

The Gustard costs about fifty bucks more, is a full MQA decoder, has a non-oversampling option, and fully balanced XLR connectors at 5V to send to your Pro iCAN. I don’t think it’s worth spending the extra $150 on the Topping, but for sure the $50 bucks for the Gustard. I would not steer anyone wrong when it comes to this kind of investment—I’ve done the due diligence.

 

[Ermak]

According to the measurements and depending on the headphones you’re pairing it with (of course), unquestionably. Without a doubt. If you’ve already gone for broke with the Pro iCAN? We’re talking a SINAD difference of 124-125 for either the Topping or the Gustard compared with around 113-114 for the D1SE. SINAD refers to signal to noise ratio and distortion—it doesn’t matter what subjective reports others may claim; when it comes to the quality of the audio going to your amp, measurements are what count. Both the Gustard and the Topping employ all eight channels on that ES9038pro, and it shows.

Here’s a graph of ASR’s top measuring DACs thus far (the D1SE doesn’t make this list; it’s about 10 to the right of the lowest shown here). Note that the Gustard x18 leaves the $3500 Matrix Element X in the dust!

The Gustard costs about fifty bucks more, is a full MQA decoder, has a non-oversampling option, and fully balanced XLR connectors at 5V to send to your Pro iCAN. I don’t think it’s worth spending the extra $150 on the Topping, but for sure the $50 bucks for the Gustard. I would not steer anyone wrong when it comes to this kind of investment—I’ve done the due diligence.

All those soulless chi-fi, I recommend to watch this before taking decision:

 

[srkbear]

All those soulless chi-fi, I recommend to watch this before taking decision:

Sorry, I just don’t agree. I used to. But after much trial and error and unnecessary expense, I learned that “soul” doesn’t come from a DAC, it comes from amps and drivers. With DACs, it’s measurements—noise, accuracy, linearity, precision—that tell the entire story, full stop. It’s up to the amp, the use of valves, and the frequency response of headphones to produce that warmth I assume you’re referring to—that’s why it’s headphones we turn to to replicate the Harmon Curve, not DACs.

There are also those who are staunch devotees of the all-analogue sound, and they reach for vinyl, not digital sources. Ultimately that warmth is the result of the distortion produced by analogue circuits that some folks, myself included, find pleasing. It’s why I bought the Pro iCAN Signature, with its tube stage, to begin with—and went for broke on a set of Focal Utopias. But in this era of “modern” DACs, only the uninitiated or uninformed pay high dollar (more than $800-$900) for the DAC in their setup, because over the last year and a half, DACs have been perfected to the point where differences are beyond the range of human hearing.

It didn’t use to be the case. Prior to the release of AK4499 and ES9038pro multichannel chips, there was something to be said for novel implementations of the digital to analog conversion process—many “boutique” manufacturers such as Matrix, Schitt, Denafrips and RME devised complex architectures—such as rows and rows of resistors—to optimize detail and combat quantization noise inherent to the process. At the time those innovations were considered “superior” to the delta sigma conversions performed by lower quality DAC chips, and folks shelled out ungodly amounts of cash for the Element X, Chord’s offerings, and the Yggdrasil.

But then AKM produced the AK4499, with its four channels, and revolutionized the industry in terms of delta sigma performance. That innovation fell due to the tragic AKM fire, yet Sabre came along and outdid them with the eight channel ES9038pro. And suddenly we were seeing SINAD numbers that were literally off the charts—soaring to the 123-125 range—and at that degree of detail variances are insignificant, because we can’t hear them.

I know it’s tempting to disdain the glut of Chinese brands that have cropped up in the last year—Topping, Gustard, SMSL, Loxjie, Sabaj, Yulong—who have all capitalized on the brilliance of the ES9038pro. Folks felt similarly about Sony when they conquered the industry back in the 80’s. But in this case, they’re doing the audiophile consumer base a favor—because they’ve proven that they can produce flagship products at reasonable price points, and of course the industry and all the corporate-funded “connoisseurs” like Goldensound, The Master Switch and PSAudio don’t like it. It affects their bottom line.

I still put my trust in the hands of the truthsayers at audiosciencereview, who have debunked countless snake oil audiophile myths to the benefit of pocketbooks everywhere, for those who will listen. And their hard, exacting data demonstrates unequivocally that the best of the “Chi-Fi” manufacturers (I repeat that racist term only for illustrative purposes)—Topping and Gustard—are producing the finest DACs one can buy at this time, and both of their flagships, the D90se and x18, cost less than $850.

If you have legitimate data that suggests otherwise, by all means feel free to present it here. Just be wary of others’ “listening tests”, because that proves nothing. Peace.

 

[Ross Kyle]

Sorry, I just don’t agree. I used to. But after much trial and error and unnecessary expense, I learned that “soul” doesn’t come from a DAC, it comes from amps and drivers. With DACs, it’s measurements—noise, accuracy, linearity, precision—that tell the entire story, full stop. It’s up to the amp, the use of valves, and the frequency response of headphones to produce that warmth I assume you’re referring to—that’s why it’s headphones we turn to to replicate the Harmon Curve, not DACs.

Or there are those who are staunch devotees of the all-analogue sound, and they reach for vinyl, not digital sources. Ultimately that warmth is the result of the distortion produced by analogue circuits that some folks, myself included, find pleasing. It’s why I bought the Pro iCAN Signature, with its tube stage, to begin with—and went for broke on a set of Focal Utopias. But in this era of “modern” DACs, only the uninitiated or uninformed pay high dollar (more than $800-$900) for the DAC in their setup, because over the last year and a half, DACs have been perfected to the point where differences are beyond the range of human hearing.

It didn’t use to be the case. Prior to the release of AK4499 and ES9038pro multichannel chips, there was something to be said for novel implementations of the digital to analog conversion process—many “boutique” manufacturers such as Matrix, Schitt, Denafrips and RME devised complex architectures—such as rows and rows of resistors—to optimize detail and combat quantization noise inherent to the process. At the time those innovations were considered “superior” to the delta sigma conversions performed by lower quality DAC chips, and folks shelled out ungodly amounts of cash for the Element X, Chord’s offerings, and the Yggdrasil.

But then AKM produced the AK4499, with its four channels, and revolutionized the industry in terms of delta sigma performance. That innovation fell due to the tragic AKM fire, yet Sabre came along and outdid them with the eight channel ES9038pro. And suddenly we were seeing SINAD numbers that were literally off the charts—soaring to the 123-125 range—and at that degree of detail variances are insignificant, because we can’t hear them.

I know it’s tempting to disdain the glut of Chinese brands that have cropped up in the last year—Topping, Gustard, SMSL, Loxjie, Sabaj, Yulong—who have all capitalized on the brilliance of the ES9038pro. Folks felt similarly about Sony when they conquered the industry back in the 80’s. But in this case, they’re doing the audiophile consumer base a favor—because they’ve proven that they can produce flagship products at reasonable price points, and of course the industry and all the corporate-funded “connoisseurs” like Goldensound, The Master Switch and PSAudio don’t like it. It affects their bottom line.

I still put my trust in the hands of the truthsayers at audiosciencereview, who have debunked countless snake oil audiophile myths to the benefit of pocketbooks everywhere, for those who will listen. And their hard, exacting data demonstrates unequivocally that the best of the “Chi-Fi” manufacturers (I repeat that racist term only for illustrative purposes)—Topping and Gustard—are producing the finest DACs one can buy at this time, and both of their flagships, the D90se and x18, cost less than $850.

If you have legitimate data that suggests otherwise, by all means feel free to present it here. Just be wary of others’ “listening tests”, because that proves nothing. Peace.

eh golden sound isn’t corporate funded i’d know lol if anything one of the most removed , ironically going off ASR blindly is just as bad , not even going to talk about Amirs record of being an asshole and hypocrite

 

[srkbear]

eh golden sound isn’t corporate funded i’d know lol if anything one of the most removed , ironically going off ASR blindly is just as bad , not even going to talk about Amirs record of being an asshole and hypocrite

Do what you like, mine is only an opinion, and I respect your right to yours. But if you want to engage me in a reasonable debate about this topic, I ask for a minimum of grammatical standards and more than ad hominem attacks. There is nothing “ironic” about turning to ASR’s measurements for data; you haven’t explained why it’s “just as bad” (as what?); and I’m afraid I’d need several clarifications to further unpack the rest of your statement.

Also, I do encourage you to read the fine print at the bottom of Golden Sound’s “About” page, where he mentions “Sponsorships”. Nobody works for free sir. Nevertheless his opinions are wholly subjective, no matter how earnest he may sound or even believe—and measurements, if well-controlled, are simply not. And the science behind the digital to analogue conversion process does not support the belief that a DAC has a “sound signature”.

If you have data to the contrary, I’m all ears.

 

[Ross Kyle]

Do what you like, mine is only an opinion, and I respect your right to yours. But if you want to engage me in a reasonable debate about this topic, I ask for a minimum of grammatical standards and more than ad hominem attacks. There is nothing “ironic” about turning to ASR’s measurements for data; you haven’t explained why it’s “just as bad” (as what?); and I’m afraid I’d need several clarifications to further unpack the rest of your statement.

Also, I do encourage you to read the fine print at the bottom of Golden Sound’s “About” page, where he mentions “Sponsorships”. Nobody works for free sir. Nevertheless his opinions are wholly subjective, no matter how earnest he may sound or even believe—and measurements, if well-controlled, are simply not. And the science behind the digital to analogue conversion process does not support the belief that a DAC has a “sound signature”.

If you have data to the contrary, I’m all ears.

Advertisements are one thing not sponsorships and speaking of ad hominem , attacking my grammar is one in itself and largely irrelevant .

My point is following ASR solely is just as bad I wasn’t a attacking you but the fact that Amir is known to double standards / messing up measurements and just generally banning people from his forums for proving him incorrect and other reasons,

You are talking about stuff on an IDSD section that has nothing to do with the product so i’m not really up for debating if im honest , again I wasn’t attacking you so calm down

A DAC sounding different is subjective as you said so how can data disprove a subjective opinion ?

 

[srkbear]

Advertisements are one thing not sponsorships and speaking of ad hominem , attacking my grammar is one in itself and largely irrelevant .

My point is following ASR solely is just as bad I wasn’t a attacking you but the fact that Amir is known to double standards / messing up measurements and just generally banning people from his forums for proving him incorrect and other reasons,

You are talking about stuff on an IDSD section that has nothing to do with the product so i’m not really up for debating if im honest , again I wasn’t attacking you so calm down

A DAC sounding different is subjective as you said so how can data disprove a subjective opinion ?

I had no bad intentions at all throughout this, including with you—I was merely offering my thoughts to another person who asked me to, and that was with the best possible intentions on my part as well. This conversation began with a question about which DACs might pair well with the Pro iCAN, which is indeed relevant to this thread. I own that my grammar comment was gratuitous and unkind, and I apologize for that—no matter how dismissive and crude your response to me might have come across.

Nevertheless, my motivations in general are solely driven by a desire to help others not get swindled by a highly predatory industry with tons of bad actors, prone to making bold claims to justify soaring prices with a minimum of evidence supporting them. Despite how much I adore my Pro iCAN Signature, promoting it as a pair with the Pro iDSD Signature is a prime example of this, since the second tube stage in the iDSD is completely redundant and the entire preamp/amp stage of the iDSD is bypassed when paired with the iCAN. This mere fact lends credence to my position that the “sound signature” and “tone” is a matter of the amp (and ultimately the headphones)—not the DAC.

I don’t care a bit about Amir’s shenanigans or the politics on either that site or this one. I just follow the science and the evidence, and ASR just happens to be where I go for much of that (and the site is hardly just Amir’s show). I’m fundamentally here to engage in collegial, spirited discussions about all things audio with others who share my passion. Which was why your comment left me feeling a bit unsatisfied. I still have an interest in learning more from you about why you disagree with me apart from your dislike for ASR, if you’re game. Peace.

 

[Ross Kyle]

I had no bad intentions at all throughout this, including with you—I was merely offering my thoughts to another person who asked me to, and that was with the best possible intentions on my part as well. This conversation began with a question about which DACs might pair well with the Pro iCAN, which is indeed relevant to this thread. I own that my grammar comment was gratuitous and unkind, and I apologize for that—no matter how dismissive and crude your response to me might have come across.

Nevertheless, my motivations in general are solely driven by a desire to help others not get swindled by a highly predatory industry with tons of bad actors, prone to making bold claims to justify soaring prices with a minimum of evidence supporting them. Despite how much I adore my Pro iCAN Signature, promoting it as a pair with the Pro iDSD Signature is a prime example of this, since the second tube stage in the iDSD is completely redundant and the entire preamp/amp stage of the iDSD is bypassed when paired with the iCAN. This mere fact lends credence to my position that the “sound signature” and “tone” is a matter of the amp (and ultimately the headphones)—not the DAC.

I don’t care a bit about Amir’s shenanigans or the politics on either that site or this one. I just follow the science and the evidence, and ASR just happens to be where I go for much of that (and the site is hardly just Amir’s show). I’m fundamentally here to engage in collegial, spirited discussions about all things audio with others who share my passion. Which was why your comment left me feeling a bit unsatisfied. I still have an interest in learning more from you about why you disagree with me apart from your dislike for ASR, if you’re game. Peace.

The thing is the tubes affect the whole output stage but not just the line out that is effectively the headphone stage for the IDSD , It can affect output even if ican has its activated , as I do on occasion .

Yeah i just have a large distaste for the site can be like anwhere I guess , don’t get me wrong i’m into the science partially too there is a lot of snake oil but chasing SINAD isn’t everything as there is DACs that will objectively perform better despite not having stellar ratings on places like ASR , some is subjective as we all hear what we hear and also on same note we are all susceptible to bias whether that confirmation bias or whatever bias it is haha .

As for DAC sounding different is more in the minor parts that you can’t really measure tbh it’s subtle things like actual perceived soundstage / how the DAC places instruments whether it layers them or doesn’t correctly . Transducers aka speakers / headphones or whatever you use certainly play largest part but it’s with the higher end ones you do pick up subtle differences then again at this point you are always chasing the less than 10% eh .

I’m not one for quoting data points and this is all then I guess hearsay and opinion haha , wasn’t trying to attack either myself .

 

[srkbear]

The thing is the tubes affect the whole output stage but not just the line out that is effectively the headphone stage for the IDSD , It can affect output even if ican has its activated , as I do on occasion .

Yeah i just have a large distaste for the site can be like anwhere I guess , don’t get me wrong i’m into the science partially too there is a lot of snake oil but chasing SINAD isn’t everything as there is DACs that will objectively perform better despite not having stellar ratings on places like ASR , some is subjective as we all hear what we hear and also on same note we are all susceptible to bias whether that confirmation bias or whatever bias it is haha .

As for DAC sounding different is more in the minor parts that you can’t really measure tbh it’s subtle things like actual perceived soundstage / how the DAC places instruments whether it layers them or doesn’t correctly . Transducers aka speakers / headphones or whatever you use certainly play largest part but it’s with the higher end ones you do pick up subtle differences then again at this point you are always chasing the less than 10% eh .

I’m not one for quoting data points and this is all then I guess hearsay and opinion haha , wasn’t trying to attack either myself .

I’m relieved that we’ve gotten past the nastiness, first of all. Thank you!

I can’t argue with your point that measurements don’t tell the whole story because there’s no way to measure that. However I do think that there is a very real psychological component at work when listening to gear, particularly when not keeping all other factors equal—because even I admit that some days I think my setup sounds better than others. And it’s very hard to assess one DAC next to another because so few are only DACs—most come with pre-amps, or have different output voltages, or contain other unaccountable elements in their circuits.

As an example, when I was auditioning DACs last year, at one point I had my Topping D90se, that cost $899 with a single ES9038pro and a linear transformer, next to a Gustard x26 pro—which cost twice as much, had dual ES9038pro chips in dual mono, and dual monster toroidal transformers—side by side for comparison.

By every imaginable criterion, the Gustard should have sounded “better” than the Topping. But after dozens of listens over a week with a stack of different albums I went through, I kept preferring the Topping, even though I wanted to like the Gustard better—it had so much more sophisticated architecture and innovation brought to the build, it looked so much cooler, and of course it had much more cache. But my experience with the Topping was too satisfying, and I sent the Gustard back, disappointed for some reason.

It turned out that the Topping was putting out 5.4V to my Pro iCAN, while the Gustard barely hit 5. Objectively, I had to turn up the volume on my iCAN by about 30 degrees with the Gustard to achieve the same volume as the Topping, and it makes perfect sense that I had become accustomed to that level of gain from my amp after listening to the Topping for two weeks longer—when I had to kick in more power from the amp to accommodate the Gustard, I was in a totally different sound curve from my amp—the sound was more compressed, less dynamic, and missing the power in the bass slam that I achieved with the Topping, because the amp wasn’t working as hard.

That little lesson saved me $700, once I got past the “disappointment” of “settling” on a “cheaper” DAC. The Topping D90se paired with the Pro iCAN Signature totally rocks—even their form factors line up perfectly in a stack. And that extra cash went right into the Zen Stream network streamer I added on top, and the Focal Stellia pads I rolled onto my Utopias. I’m sure there are other setups out there that might put mine to shame, and make me wonder why I ever liked it—but I can’t imagine what “better” would sound like, and I’m positive that it wouldn’t be a more expensive DAC that made the difference…

 

[Ross Kyle]

I’m relieved that we’ve gotten past the nastiness, first of all. Thank you!

I can’t argue with your point that measurements don’t tell the whole story because there’s no way to measure that. However I do think that there is a very real psychological component at work when listening to gear, particularly when not keeping all other factors equal—because even I admit that some days I think my setup sounds better than others. And it’s very hard to assess one DAC next to another because so few are only DACs—most come with pre-amps, or have different output voltages, or contain other unaccountable elements in their circuits.

As an example, when I was auditioning DACs last year, at one point I had my Topping D90se, that cost $899 with a single ES9038pro and a linear transformer, next to a Gustard x26 pro—which cost twice as much, had dual ES9038pro chips in dual mono, and dual monster toroidal transformers—side by side for comparison.

By every imaginable criterion, the Gustard should have sounded “better” than the Topping. But after dozens of listens over a week with a stack of different albums I went through, I kept preferring the Topping, even though I wanted to like the Gustard better—it had so much more sophisticated architecture and innovation brought to the build, it looked so much cooler, and of course it had much more cache. But my experience with the Topping was too satisfying, and I sent the Gustard back, disappointed for some reason.

It turned out that the Topping was putting out 5.4V to my Pro iCAN, while the Gustard barely hit 5. Objectively, I had to turn up the volume on my iCAN by about 30 degrees with the Gustard to achieve the same volume as the Topping, and it makes perfect sense that I had become accustomed to that level of gain from my amp after listening to the Topping for two weeks longer—when I had to kick in more power from the amp to accommodate the Gustard, I was in a totally different sound curve from my amp—the sound was more compressed, less dynamic, and missing the power in the bass slam that I achieved with the Topping, because the amp wasn’t working as hard.

That little lesson saved me $700, once I got past the “disappointment” of “settling” on a “cheaper” DAC. The Topping D90se paired with the Pro iCAN Signature totally rocks—even their form factors line up perfectly in a stack. And that extra cash went right into the Zen Stream network streamer I added on top, and the Focal Stellia pads I rolled onto my Utopias. I’m sure there are other setups out there that might put mine to shame, and make me wonder why I ever liked it—but I can’t imagine what “better” would sound like, and I’m positive that it wouldn’t be a more expensive DAC that made the difference…

I agree with your outcome haha , price doesn’t alway mean better that’s very true thing is with DACs i think it really does need you to directly AB to see if there is a difference , psychological factors yes like i said we are very prone to the varying types of bias and they can be so strong to the point you imagine differences which is why you need to look at the specs then A B and decide is it worth it really haha , investing in pads though that’s a strong point haha can make headphones better or wonkier hehe , i’ve had my IDSD for nearly 3 years and varying other DACs just not really done it for me , closest was Aries as it’s “budget” R2R and that was intresting since it’s a differing topology but something about the burr brown in the pro just dunno love it haha

 

[srkbear]

I agree with your outcome haha , price doesn’t alway mean better that’s very true thing is with DACs i think it really does need you to directly AB to see if there is a difference , psychological factors yes like i said we are very prone to the varying types of bias and they can be so strong to the point you imagine differences which is why you need to look at the specs then A B and decide is it worth it really haha , investing in pads though that’s a strong point haha can make headphones better or wonkier hehe , i’ve had my IDSD for nearly 3 years and varying other DACs just not really done it for me , closest was Aries as it’s “budget” R2R and that was intresting since it’s a differing topology but something about the burr brown in the pro just dunno love it haha

Ah, iFi-Audio. I have the Burr Browns in my xDSD Gryphon, which is my portable (er, transportable) option, and I love it. As I previously mentioned I have had the Zen Stream since it launched. Plus a Power Station, an iPower Elite for my Pro iCAN Signature, an AC purifier, several iPower X’s (a 15v going to my ZS), and an S/PDIF iPurifier for my SACD transport going to my DAC via coax.

In my closet somewhere I have my iFi Graveyard—an old school micro iDSD BL, the original xDSD, both generation Hip DACs, and up until my final serious upgrade to the Topping/Pro iCAN, I used a Zen DAC v2 paired with a Signature Zen CAN 6xx for my desktop setup.

But I just couldn’t justify getting a Pro iDSD Signature once I had the Pro iCAN Signature. For me the Pro iCAN is largely about the analogue xBass enhancement—I despise putting DSP EQs into my signal chain, and I have not found any other amp or DAC/amp option at the quality level of the Pro iCAN Signature that offers this. I suppose the RME adi-2 is a contender in some ways, but they’re too snooty to include an MQA XMOS (I use Roon), and its amp is nowhere near as powerful as the Pro iCAN.

The Pro iDSD Signature has some enviable features for which I covet yours, such as the DSD 1024 upscaling, the array of filter options, the FPGA chip, all the galvanic isolation maintained throughout, the integrated streamer and its insane selection of inputs and outputs that bejewel both the front and back panels. But since I already had all of its tube circuitry in the iCAN, and I found the ZS to be all I could ask for in a streamer with its integrated Roon Bridge, I felt that much of the $3,249 would be going towards features I already had or would never use. All I was missing was a plain old DAC, so I searched for one that I thought did the absolute best job at that single task. And I couldn’t argue with the Topping’s measurements and build quality, not to mention all the glowing reviews (subjective, of course!).

Doesn’t mean I don’t squirm with FOMO sometimes when I see the Pro iDSD Signature nestled neatly atop the Pro iCAN Signature in those fancy (and unbelievably expensive) iFi stackable Pro iRacks…