July 26th, 2014 paradoxically seems like both an eternity and a mere fortnight ago. I started this review thread, and almost 6 years later, it is still going strong. This posting of mine should be the 8,905th of the thread. Wow!!
I haven't dropped in over here in awhile..quite literally it was years ago. Life, work, family, dealing with a mental illness (and no, I am not referring to my audiophilia, haha) etc. and then the fact I was such a newbie in this what I would call a real phenomenon of an audio community, the requisite learning I still needed, (which I would like to think I mostly have down pat by now, and have gone far, far beyond just the basics as I try to expand my knowledge to the limits of what my particular genetically gifted grey matter can handle, which isn't much, but I am doing my best). Oh, and the Private Messages that pulled no punches when they told me I was ignorant, deaf, and 'full of $hit'... that didn't help either.
And as I am back over here now posting the subtext running underneath my stream of thought says "wow, this is still way to big for me and I probably still am full of $hit haha:". But I did re-read my review. I was curious because I am now a proud owner of the iDSD PRO DAC. It is pleasing to read in my review of the iDSD Micro from 2014 that much if not all my original impressions have held through time. The iDSD Micro was and still is in its 'Black Label' form a quite special piece of kit. I was lucky enough to hear the Black Label when it first was released via one of those lovely product tours you get on here every once in awhile. I probably should just go ahead and buy myself the Micro Black Label, but I think I am about to pull the trigger instead on an xDSD for my portable listening.
So what happened to my original iDSD Micro "Octa-Adopter' version? Well, it is still here in the closet. It gave me a good 4 years of service before the battery went belly up; and unbeknownst to me at the time, you have to have a workable battery for the bugger to work even if you are running solely off of the USB power. I am sure its an easy and inexpensive fix. Perhaps someday I will get it fixed. Along with the rest of the stuff in my 'fix-it' drawer.... the Heathkit SA-2 integrated tube amp that has been completely recapped and retubed but still isn't quite right on the sound so all new resistors come next, the Icon Audio HP8 MKII headhone amp that has a broken input tube socket.. I finally got off to a start on that, but geez, its about the most difficult socket placement I believe that has ever been devised in the devious minds of audio engineers, and oh.. there is a JVC D-ILA RS20 projector in there that puts up a brilliant picture until the day it seems the HDMI board failed on me. One day, one day going to fix that thing.
So it seems my posting here really had no point at all, did it?
Well, it does. It is just to say iFi keeps doing great things. Everything they started with was at least a good product; every new one since has been better and better. As I said in the iDSD Pro thread, I believe there will be a lucky day when the iFi toys in this price class get some trickle down tech from the PRO series. That will be a GREAT day. Because the iDSD PRO is a legit Class A/A+ product through and through.
Forget all the petty paper arguments and pissing contests about third party measured specs, theoretical mumbo jumbo, and worst of all, the PCM - DSD format 'war' that I am ashamed to admit once being part of. If you buy a product and it sounds great to your ears? Guess what?? It sounds great to your ears!! And maybe the rest of us who SHOULD know better need to just keep our mouths shut and realize this is all for a common purpose. Enjoying music and how it so strangely and inexplicably influences who we are.**
Keep on enjoying the music!!
Andrew
** ahem, I still in the end can't leave well enough alone and have to remind 'the rest of us who know better' that indeed the product on which I have landed, the iDSD PRO, performs very well on the test bench. Jitter is a non-factor regardless of input, the FPGA programmed filters look great on paper, and yada yada and all that stuff
and here she is... pulled out of storage my venerable 'Octa-adopter' iFi Micro iDSD, number 215 out of 512 (i think). Lots of great music was made by this little device.