Introducing NEO iDSD2! The world's first lossless Bluetooth DAC/Amp...

[dpeterfy32]

ifi ipower elite 15v switching or linear power supply transformer?

What does standard filter correspond to in the name? linear phase or minimum phase, fast roll off or slow roll off?


@Mr BubbaHyde @iFi audio

 

[OM hawk]

I managed to snag an open box unit for 700 bucks. Luckily I noticed it the day before payday!

I have an idsd micro Finale, which has great synergy with my Neumann NDH20, and I'm excited to hear the Big Boy Desktop Version! I'm also excited to finally be able to invade the Master Clock Talk thread once I hook up an external clock.

Apparently one of the benefits of an external clock is bigger soundstaging, so it'll be fun to hear how Xspace factors in to that. After hearing my NDH20 with iFi amps that have Xspace, I can't plug this headphone into anything else, because the expansion of the soundstage is so significant with closed backs like this.

 

[OM hawk]

Beautiful machine! Impressively compact when you see it in person. It's bigger than my Chord Hugo 2, but not that much bigger. Impressions coming soon after it's burned in

 

[iFi audio]

Beautiful machine! Impressively compact when you see it in person. It's bigger than my Chord Hugo 2, but not that much bigger. Impressions coming soon after it's burned in

Looking forward to your thoughts and impressions!

Cheers!!

 

[dpeterfy32]

Looking forward to your thoughts and impressions!

Cheers!!

ifi ipower elite 15v switching or linear power supply transformer?

What does standard filter correspond to in the name? linear phase or minimum phase, fast roll off or slow roll off?

 

[Mr BubbaHyde]

ifi ipower elite 15v switching or linear power supply transformer?

What does standard filter correspond to in the name? linear phase or minimum phase, fast roll off or slow roll off?

I'm sorry I do not have this information available to me.

I will ask and post back any response I get from our Tech folks.

Cheers!!

 

[Mr BubbaHyde]

ifi ipower elite 15v switching or linear power supply transformer?

What does standard filter correspond to in the name? linear phase or minimum phase, fast roll off or slow roll off?

Sorry neglected to answer the first question...

The iFi Elite is a switching power supply However, it is designed to offer performance that rivals traditional linear power supplies. iFi has implemented advanced technologies to minimize noise and deliver clean power, which is crucial for high-fidelity audio equipment.

Hope that helps..

Cheers!

 

[Mr BubbaHyde]

ifi ipower elite 15v switching or linear power supply transformer?

What does standard filter correspond to in the name? linear phase or minimum phase, fast roll off or slow roll off?

Got a quick answer for your filter question...

the "standard filter" (STD) typically corresponds to a linear phase filter with a fast roll-off.

This type of filter is designed to provide a balance between data metrics and listening experience, offering a precise and accurate sound reproduction with minimal pre-ringing and controlled post-ringing. The fast roll-off characteristic helps in reducing high-frequency noise, resulting in a tighter sound with controlled highs.

Hope that's what you were looking for!

Cheers!!

 

[OM hawk]

Ok, first impressions after extensive burn in:

This is a somewhat smooth, warm, bassy sound, definitely not analytical. It's a bit on the relaxed end of the spectrum, so my Sendy Peacock, a very relaxed sounding headphone (and I'm using it with a smooth copper cable too), was not a good match up with the Neo 2. But my Neumann NDH20, which is dead neutral, sounds really great, similar to how it is on the Micro iDSD Finale. From memory, the Finale I think is closer to neutral, whereas the Neo 2 is warmer and smoother, and the Neo 2 has slightly better soundstaging although both stage pretty big when Xspace is on (which it always should be!).

The Neo 2 is less detailed than my Chord Hugo 2 (a more expensive 2), but the bass is more fun on the Neo 2 because it is slightly emphasized even with Xbass turned off, and this emphasis seems to include the deep rumbly sub bass. What I love is that the Neo 2/NDH20 rig, with Xspace on, is able to equal the soundstage size of my Hugo 2/Sennheiser HD490 Pro rig, despite the fact that the HD490 Pro is an open back and the NDH20 is closed. It will be great to have a closed back headphone rig I can swap over to without sacrificing soundstage size. This is something I've always kind of wished I had: a totally separate closed back headphone rig so that I don't have to keep yoinking a out one headphone and plugging in another every time I want to switch from open to closed.

The Neo 2 is not inserting nonsense into the "no nonsense" sound of the NDH20, it's just shifting the whole sound a little in the direction of fun and musicality, in a reasonably subtle wholistic way. Just like anything you plug an NDH20 into, nothing sounds off, no sonic aspect will suddenly distract you, despite the fact that this Amp/dac is sprinking some flavoring onto the headphone's default character.

Overall, I enjoy both of these rigs equally, but I'm excited to try upgrading the power supply, because that could actually tip the scales in favor of the Neo 2 rig. As of now though, I'm already quite pleased to have a closed back rig that can compete with my prized Hugo 2 open back setup. Synergy is king of course, and the 490 Pro is comparatively messy and limp sounding on iFi gear, and the NDH20 is kind of cold and boring and no fun on the Hugo 2. Interestingly, the NDH20, although really not hard to drive, feels right at home on the Neo 2's highest gain setting, which I did not expect.

But yeah, if cleaner power can make this bass even better, I will surely ascend unto Bass Heaven, that would be somethin man!

 

[OM hawk]

2 other things:

One: I am continually surprised at Xspace's tendency to make closed backs, in my case the Neumann NDH20 and Hifiman R9, "catch up" to large staging open backs, the ones I've tested here being the Sendy Peacock, Beyerdynamic T1 3rd Gen, and Kennerton Vali, in terms of the size, magnitude, and enjoyment of the soundstage. It's interesting that open backs benefit less from Xspace (in terms of how big the stage gets) compared to closed backs. I have observed that some particularly wide staging closed backs (the R9) still sound wider than average staging closed backs (the NDH20) with Xspace turned on. Based on this, maybe I should try the Neo 2 with one of the famously freaky-big staging high end closed backs, like the Verite Closed, Dan Clark Stealth, etc. It seems the result might be extremely satisfying.

2: I should also say that one of the reasons the Neo 2 sounds less detailed than the Hugo 2 is that the Neo 2 isn't trying to be neutral: the Neo 2 resolves a pretty healthy amount of detail, it's just not worried about necessarily retrieving all that detail, so part of the difference between my 2 rigs here is one of subjective taste, there is merit to the idea of a sound that doesn't "try too hard". From what I know about Chord tech, a lot of the benefits are about timing, I actually think that adding a high tech external clock would take the Neo 2 up above the Hugo 2's objective fidelity level, especially if it makes the optical input sound better by correcting jitter (all my listening with the Neo 2 is through optical).

 

[iFi audio]

Ok, first impressions after extensive burn in:

This is a somewhat smooth, warm, bassy sound, definitely not analytical. It's a bit on the relaxed end of the spectrum, so my Sendy Peacock, a very relaxed sounding headphone (and I'm using it with a smooth copper cable too), was not a good match up with the Neo 2. But my Neumann NDH20, which is dead neutral, sounds really great, similar to how it is on the Micro iDSD Finale. From memory, the Finale I think is closer to neutral, whereas the Neo 2 is warmer and smoother, and the Neo 2 has slightly better soundstaging although both stage pretty big when Xspace is on (which it always should be!).

The Neo 2 is less detailed than my Chord Hugo 2 (a more expensive 2), but the bass is more fun on the Neo 2 because it is slightly emphasized even with Xbass turned off, and this emphasis seems to include the deep rumbly sub bass. What I love is that the Neo 2/NDH20 rig, with Xspace on, is able to equal the soundstage size of my Hugo 2/Sennheiser HD490 Pro rig, despite the fact that the HD490 Pro is an open back and the NDH20 is closed. It will be great to have a closed back headphone rig I can swap over to without sacrificing soundstage size. This is something I've always kind of wished I had: a totally separate closed back headphone rig so that I don't have to keep yoinking a out one headphone and plugging in another every time I want to switch from open to closed.

The Neo 2 is not inserting nonsense into the "no nonsense" sound of the NDH20, it's just shifting the whole sound a little in the direction of fun and musicality, in a reasonably subtle wholistic way. Just like anything you plug an NDH20 into, nothing sounds off, no sonic aspect will suddenly distract you, despite the fact that this Amp/dac is sprinking some flavoring onto the headphone's default character.

Overall, I enjoy both of these rigs equally, but I'm excited to try upgrading the power supply, because that could actually tip the scales in favor of the Neo 2 rig. As of now though, I'm already quite pleased to have a closed back rig that can compete with my prized Hugo 2 open back setup. Synergy is king of course, and the 490 Pro is comparatively messy and limp sounding on iFi gear, and the NDH20 is kind of cold and boring and no fun on the Hugo 2. Interestingly, the NDH20, although really not hard to drive, feels right at home on the Neo 2's highest gain setting, which I did not expect.

But yeah, if cleaner power can make this bass even better, I will surely ascend unto Bass Heaven, that would be somethin man!

2 other things:

One: I am continually surprised at Xspace's tendency to make closed backs, in my case the Neumann NDH20 and Hifiman R9, "catch up" to large staging open backs, the ones I've tested here being the Sendy Peacock, Beyerdynamic T1 3rd Gen, and Kennerton Vali, in terms of the size, magnitude, and enjoyment of the soundstage. It's interesting that open backs benefit less from Xspace (in terms of how big the stage gets) compared to closed backs. I have observed that some particularly wide staging closed backs (the R9) still sound wider than average staging closed backs (the NDH20) with Xspace turned on. Based on this, maybe I should try the Neo 2 with one of the famously freaky-big staging high end closed backs, like the Verite Closed, Dan Clark Stealth, etc. It seems the result might be extremely satisfying.

2: I should also say that one of the reasons the Neo 2 sounds less detailed than the Hugo 2 is that the Neo 2 isn't trying to be neutral: the Neo 2 resolves a pretty healthy amount of detail, it's just not worried about necessarily retrieving all that detail, so part of the difference between my 2 rigs here is one of subjective taste, there is merit to the idea of a sound that doesn't "try too hard". From what I know about Chord tech, a lot of the benefits are about timing, I actually think that adding a high tech external clock would take the Neo 2 up above the Hugo 2's objective fidelity level, especially if it makes the optical input sound better by correcting jitter (all my listening with the Neo 2 is through optical).

Thanks so much for posting these thoughts and impressions! We appreciate it, and the community overall will benefit from your details!

Cheers!!

 

[OM hawk]

So: I was remembering that the R9 with Xspace sounded crazy wide, and I saw that it's big brother (or technically the middle bro) the R10d, only costs 300 bucks brand new! I got one and tried it out on the Neo 2 with Xspace, and it is FREAKY big for a closed back headphone's soundstage. So this is going to be the official headphone for my Neo 2 rig, since I feel it's truly maximizing the potential of Xspace.

It's weird, when I try my large staging open backs on the Neo 2 with Xspace, they sound big, but not really audibly bigger than the R10d. It's legitimately grand and vast sounding, I've never heard that from a closed back until now. I'm sure it would be almost as big on my Gold Bar, but I feel the NDH20 is better suited to that portable rig because it isolates better.

 

[rsandrade90]

Opinions from anyone who has compared the Neo iDSD 2 with the RME ADI-2 DAC FS?

Considering strictly the amplification section of both, which one would have a more neutral sound? And which one would have better audio quality, in an objective sense?

 

[vdim]

I compared the NEO iDSD 2 with Micro iDSD Signature using HiFiMan Arya Organic, both DACs was connected via USB.
In contrast, the NEO iDSD 2 sounds more restrained, the sound isn't sharp and energetic even in Ultra GAIN mode as on Micro iDSD Signature, but in spite of that NEO iDSD 2 sounds very pleasant.
Also can't hear much difference between BitPerfect, Standard and Minimal Phase filters on NEO iDSD 2, but on the Micro iDSD Signature the difference is more noticeable.
I liked how the upgraded XBass and Xspace DSP changed the sound signature.
Also, compared NEO iDSD 2 with Fiio K19, if we disable all possible DSP in both DACs, they sound almost the same via USB.

 

[dpeterfy32]

Is 1.18 still the main version?