[jsmiller58]

My money's on the cable - specifically the connection at the xDSD end. Some people have had issues with that connection before now (on the iDSD), me included. You could try contact cleaner. I ended up wrapping tape around the plug to get a tighter fit.

I am thinking that this could be the case... the connector at the xDSD definitely has a lot of play!

I have a bunch of tape around here somewhere...!

 

[Rustodian]

Hey guys. I have connected my xDSD to my PC, via the blue USB cable supplied, purely to hear what the MQA files sound like through the Tidal desktop app, but for some reason, there is very heavy static and pops.
I have a Hugo2, which I use for my desktop listening, and there is no problem when it is connected up to the same USB port.

I'm not particularly worried about it, because I bought the xDSD purely for the bluetooth connection, connected to my S8+ for commuting, but I'm curious as to what the problem might be.
Any ideas?

Thanks,
Lee

 

[melons]

On the back of KaiserTK's posted question, I'm using an AK70 Mkii (no coax nor optical out) playing flac with a pair of IE80S iem's (with FiiO RC-IE8B balanced cable) when out and about and it's (to my ears) a wonderful combination, but for home listening I prefer listening with OE's and have a pair of Sennheiser HD660S with CustomCans litz copper cable on a 3.5mm jack. The AK70 doesn't power the HD660S very well, so I've added a FiiO A5 which works as a short term fix but I'm not convinced that it's the perfect marriage, would the headphones perform better with a better headamp or is their performance limited by the AK70 itself.

So I was wondering if replacing the A5 (purely an amp) with a DAC/Amp such as the xDSD improve their performance or should I wait for the headphone amp version launch. Having said that I'm not concerned about bluetooth as I'm a luddite who prefers getting tangled up in wires, also size/dimensions aren't critical as I only listen to the HD660S at home so it just has to be battery powered and portable within that environment (I mention this as I'm still considering a ifi Black Label option)

Screw it, I've opted for safe and just ordered the Micro iDSD BL instead (from Futureshop UK), will just have to get some bigger pockets

Well that was a waste of time, my interest in ifi has come to an abrupt & premature end. Was suckered in to pay for an iDSD BL from an ifi authorised UK dealer (one who pops up at the top of any Google search) who presents their products as 'Available' on their webshop (implying they are amply stocked), take payment and accept additional 'next day' carriage payment, but then after accepting your payment define 'available' to the n'th degree of it's lawful definition, as they don't hold stock. Been let down on delivery dates twice now (once automated response, second verbal promise), their customer service has been appalling and certainly a proactive failure. I'm asking for a full refund tomorrow and find myself even considering purchasing a Hugo, please God I don't want to buy a Hugo!

 

[Rustodian]

Well that was a waste of time, my interest in ifi has come to an abrupt & premature end. Was suckered in to pay for an iDSD BL from an ifi authorised UK dealer (one who pops up at the top of any Google search) who presents their products as 'Available' on their webshop (implying they are amply stocked), take payment and accept additional 'next day' carriage payment, but then after accepting your payment define 'available' to the n'th degree of it's lawful definition, as they don't hold stock. Been let down on delivery dates twice now (once automated response, second verbal promise), their customer service has been appalling and certainly a proactive failure. I'm asking for a full refund tomorrow and find myself even considering purchasing a Hugo, please God I don't want to buy a Hugo!

FutureShop did the same thing to me when I bought a pair of Astell & Kern Roxanne II IEMs. I had to chase them up, because the next day delivery didn't arrive, and found out they didn't have them in stock.
I did buy my XDSD from them last week ... Hope it wasn't my purchase that messed yours up!

Ps... I have a Hugo2... And it's better than the xDSD (which is a brilliant itself!)

 

[erich6]

2. When I do get things to work, MQA does not show us as MQA (understand that is not supported by Tidal yet). These tracks show up as 48KHz / 24 bit rather than 96KHz / 24 bit which I get with another set up that also does not support MQA (win 10 laptop playing Tidal windows app through Topping D50 DAC).

I know that the xDSD is playing bit perfect as can be seen by this photo of what happens when I try to use the phone’s volume control (you can also see what is being reported by UAPP)

The reason why you get 96 kHz / 24 bit on our laptop is because the Tidal desktop app DOES support MQA and performs the first unfold in software so you don’t need an MQA decoder (you still need a renderer if you want higher than 96 kHz). I’m not as familiar with your mobile setup but I don’t think the mobile Tidal app actually serves up the MQA stream nor do I think UAPP supports it so all you’re getting is the encoded bitstream. You may still get “bit perfect” just not decoded—hence the 48 kHz output.

 

[jsmiller58]

The reason why you get 96 kHz / 24 bit on our laptop is because the Tidal desktop app DOES support MQA and performs the first unfold in software so you don’t need an MQA decoder (you still need a renderer if you want higher than 96 kHz). I’m not as familiar with your mobile setup but I don’t think the mobile Tidal app actually serves up the MQA stream nor do I think UAPP supports it so all you’re getting is the encoded bitstream. You may still get “bit perfect” just not decoded—hence the 48 kHz output.

Awesome, I even understood a little bit of that! . OK, what is this renderer you speak of, how do I set it up, and what will be the difference? (OK, maybe I understood less than a little bit...)

 

[gugman]

Hi all

Penon Audio advised this adapter in order to connect my iems using 2.5 balanced to xDSD

"... your iFi xDSD is compatible for both of 3.5mm single-end output and 3.5mm balanced output. And it is most benefit to 3.5mm balanced. So you should use 2.5mm balanced female to 3.5mm balanced male adapter. We suggest you buy Fidue 2.5mm balanced female to 3.5mm balanced male adapter"

So I just wanted to double check here if this is a correct one?

cheers

 

[Rustodian]

Hi all

Penon Audio advised this adapter in order to connect my iems using 2.5 balanced to xDSD

"... your iFi xDSD is compatible for both of 3.5mm single-end output and 3.5mm balanced output. And it is most benefit to 3.5mm balanced. So you should use 2.5mm balanced female to 3.5mm balanced male adapter. We suggest you buy Fidue 2.5mm balanced female to 3.5mm balanced male adapter"

So I just wanted to double check here if this is a correct one?

cheers

I'm looking at the same thing.... what kind of benefit is there to a balanced connection on such a short cable? Is it purely for less noise / interference, or is there a rise in sound quality too?
My unbalanced connection is sounding brilliant, so any extra money down would have to be worth it.

 

[gugman]

I'm looking at the same thing.... what kind of benefit is there to a balanced connection on such a short cable? Is it purely for less noise / interference, or is there a rise in sound quality too?
My unbalanced connection is sounding brilliant, so any extra money down would have to be worth it.

will let you know as soon as I choose a correct adapter and will receive it ; - )

 

[Oscar-HiFi]

Well that was a waste of time, my interest in ifi has come to an abrupt & premature end. Was suckered in to pay for an iDSD BL from an ifi authorised UK dealer (one who pops up at the top of any Google search) who presents their products as 'Available' on their webshop (implying they are amply stocked), take payment and accept additional 'next day' carriage payment, but then after accepting your payment define 'available' to the n'th degree of it's lawful definition, as they don't hold stock. Been let down on delivery dates twice now (once automated response, second verbal promise), their customer service has been appalling and certainly a proactive failure. I'm asking for a full refund tomorrow and find myself even considering purchasing a Hugo, please God I don't want to buy a Hugo!

Don't worry there will be a new place to get iFi in the UK soon

Hopefully stock is arriving towards the end of this week.

 

[Dobrescu George]

Well that was a waste of time, my interest in ifi has come to an abrupt & premature end. Was suckered in to pay for an iDSD BL from an ifi authorised UK dealer (one who pops up at the top of any Google search) who presents their products as 'Available' on their webshop (implying they are amply stocked), take payment and accept additional 'next day' carriage payment, but then after accepting your payment define 'available' to the n'th degree of it's lawful definition, as they don't hold stock. Been let down on delivery dates twice now (once automated response, second verbal promise), their customer service has been appalling and certainly a proactive failure. I'm asking for a full refund tomorrow and find myself even considering purchasing a Hugo, please God I don't want to buy a Hugo!

We are in an iFi thread. isn't iFi from UK? I am not from UK, so never knew who the resellers there are, but I know hifiheadphones.co.uk does a good job for the entire europe on both speed of deliver and availability of their products

 

[Oscar-HiFi]

We are in an iFi thread. isn't iFi from UK? I am not from UK, so never knew who the resellers there are, but I know hifiheadphones.co.uk does a good job for the entire europe on both speed of deliver and availability of their products

Unfortunately iFi do not sell directly, so you have to go through one of their retailers. We are getting stock soon though, so I am excited always been a big fan of iFi stuff!

 

[Hanesu]

I'm looking at the same thing.... what kind of benefit is there to a balanced connection on such a short cable? Is it purely for less noise / interference, or is there a rise in sound quality too?
My unbalanced connection is sounding brilliant, so any extra money down would have to be worth it.

I am using this adapter since I am an owner of the Fidue Sirius. It works fine, but to be honest, I don‘t think there is a huge difference in sound quality compared to single ended.

 

[erich6]

Awesome, I even understood a little bit of that! . OK, what is this renderer you speak of, how do I set it up, and what will be the difference? (OK, maybe I understood less than a little bit...)

Two popular renderers are AudioQuest Dragonfly Red and the Meridian Explorer 2 (the Meridian also decodes MQA). The main difference is Tidal will only decode MQA to a max of 88 kHz/96 kHz but with a renderer you can get up to the original mastering sample rate (like 192 kHz). How important is that to sound quality is a matter of much debate.

Of course you can also use the xDSD....

 

[Terco]

xDSD has one colour - the xDSD colour.

Matte black with orange writings is reserved for Black Label devices, namely hot-rodded standard machines. No BL plans for xDSD at this stage, it was just released and it will take us a good while to make it any better

Yes, 48 shades less kinky

Really? I was waiting for the Black version I thought it was out of stock haha.. the finger print magnet shell is a deal breaker for me it just look bad... Why not matte Silver? Why iFi WHY?!
Do you guys are gonna do the same shell for the xCAN?