[vintinfinity]

Audio Advisor told me I should return it via Amazon. They mentioned Sumiko IIRC as the manufacturer and that if it goes out I’d have to have it repaired by them. Thanks Left Channel for driving that home.

It’s too bad, because I like the character of the sound on this thing. Bass guitar and drum kits in particular just have that certain something and sound great on my tube amp with this DAC and even the built in headphone amp.

I recently got an iFi Micro Black Label that also sounds very good, just a tad different and no MQA or display screen.

If Qobuz has tons of high res streaming that could be a good substitute if I can manage the subscription fee. I’m not tied to MQA since I use it simply because Tidal offers it, but I do like having the feature. The Liberty lacks a screen and uses and older chip so the $1000 price point is kind of tough. If I had the cash I’d get a Mytek Brooklyn + but it’s just so much more money that it doesn’t make sense.

 

[Left Channel]

@vintinfinity Sumiko is just a distributor, and it would be easier for them to replace the unit than get it repaired. I suggest you return the unit to Audio Advisor ASAP and either replace/buy another S2D or look at other ESS-based DACs.

If you don't care about MQA you've got a wider range to choose from, and your iFi micro iDSD Black Label ought to be enough especially if your player software can show enough information to replace the S2D display. But for the record, the iFi nano iDSD Back Label supports MQA, and I suspect we'll see that in more of their models in the future.

iFi has found a great way to hit the sweet spot in price, features, and quality. But based on what you've told us so far, I agree with @exdmd that you'd probably like the sound of the Mytek Liberty, though I haven't heard it myself. In fact, I prefer an entirely different sound from any of the DACs we're discussing here. The S2D has been fun for exploring MQA and DSD, but I'm pretty much done with that.

 

[exdmd]

The Mytek Liberty is getting good reviews compared favorably to the DAC+. Using an older chip but sound engineering and proper quality control. I have a DAC+ but might have gone for the Liberty if it is was available at the time. I don't consider the lack of a screen a deal breaker; I usually set the screen on my DAC+ set to shut off after 10 seconds. If you prefer R2R to ESS chips you would not consider either an S2 or Mytek in the first place.

 

[vintinfinity]

All packed up and ready to go with a postage paid shipping label from amazon, but no more in stock on there.

The Liberty looks good, but is a bit out of reach at the moment... ended up skipping the iFi nano BL since I wanted more power for LCD-2 and already had MQA with a functioning S2; how things change sometimes. At least I got a like new iFi for $200 off.

As far as DAC sound profiles, already have a Bifrost MB gen2, the iFi, an older Wolfson Chipped DAC, and an iPhone lightning dongle. So far ESS has been enjoyable too.

 

[frogmeat69]

Make sure your download speed is at least 30 MB/s; 50 or 100 would be better. If you are throttled to 20 MB/s Tidal can be iffy. The only DAC with features comparable to S2 with MQA I am aware of ATM is Mytek Liberty but at > @2X price. Also take a look at Nano iDSD BL @ $600. I would go with Mytek has been building pro gear since 1992 I am not hearing of any issues with the Liberty. Really hope Pro-Ject gets their quality up to par.

The iFi Nano iDSD BL is actually $200.

 

[Mark Dirac]

How are the soundquality of the pro-ject pre box s2 digital compared to more expensive dacs like marantz hd dac1, audiolab mdac+, nad m51. etc.?

With regards to the old classic Audiolab MDAC, I have posted my opinion here.

 

[Left Channel]

How are the soundquality of the pro-ject pre box s2 digital compared to more expensive dacs like marantz hd dac1, audiolab mdac+, nad m51. etc.?

With regards to the old classic Audiolab MDAC, I have posted my opinion here.

It may be useful for @Verbena to know that the same person, John Westlake, designed both products. He is currently working on a DIY DAC and streamer project called MDAC2.

 

[Mark Dirac]

It may be useful for @Verbena to know that the same person, John Westlake, designed both products. He is currently working on ...

Thanks left channel. I have updated an elaboration of John's projects at the end of the Google Doc summary document.

 

[Arnandsway]

Many thanks for all the info guys.
My introduction of this device was today after the review by the Dutch audio evangelist Hans Beekhuysen. Review is spoken in english, see video below.

I want to upgrade from my now 4 year old Fiio E17 and want to dig in on the MQA capabilities, so this product seems a good candidate.
Only wondering if this one would be able to sufficiently give my AKG K7XX enough juice.

But... next month iFi should release their xDSD https://www.head-fi.org/threads/ifi-audio-xdsd-the-official-thread.873787/ . Which would be aimed at portable use and would be priced for around $400 (not definitive yet, though).
This one should have comparable components as the Micro iDSD BL but it would be MQA enabled!

It would be nice to compare those two in a desk-orientaded setup and using Tidal . (Which would be my setup )


(tl;dr he likes it)

 

[Left Channel]

@Arnandsway you can now update any iFi model made since 2013 with MQA firmware: https://ifi-audio.com/audio_blog/mqa-firmware/

The Pre Box S2 Digital is in many ways a more ambitious project, and I hope they'll get the bugs out soon. Interesting that he likes it despite receiving one of the units with pink capacitors that should have been recalled, and despite discovering a bug in the Optimal Transient filter. I will take the liberty of sharing this video to other forums. Thanks for posting.

Either product ought to drive your 62 ohm headphones just fine, but we have at least one metalhead here who would find these amps too weak. Personally when I use the S2D it's as a DAC only, running the RCA outs to a much more powerful amp that also adds a bit of warmth.

 

[Arnandsway]

@Arnandsway you can now update any iFi model made since 2013 with MQA firmware: https://ifi-audio.com/audio_blog/mqa-firmware/

Hmm. So it seems! But would you then be able to fully benefit from the 24/192 files? Because it seems to me the PC with Tidal would firstly decode the MQA files whereafter the decoded stream will be rendered by the iFi DAC.
This seems to me that it would be very much harder to make a setup bit-perfect.
Whereas with the PBS2 it is easier because the complete datastream is send to the DAC and so be less deceptable for errors.

Maybe my concerns are not well substantiated... But it just seems a bit to easy to me.

 

[Left Channel]

Hmm. So it seems! But would you then be able to fully benefit from the 24/192 files? Because it seems to me the PC with Tidal would firstly decode the MQA files whereafter the decoded stream will be rendered by the iFi DAC.
This seems to me that it would be very much harder to make a setup bit-perfect.
Whereas with the PBS2 it is easier because the complete datastream is send to the DAC and so be less deceptable for errors.

Maybe my concerns are not well substantiated... But it just seems a bit to easy to me.

As with headphones, this is another area where only your ears can decide for you. As I mentioned, the S2D is a more ambitious project, and the fact that it is a full MQA decoder designed to compete with desktop DACs is a good example.

Renderers like those iFi products are generally portable devices, and as you know depend on Tidal or other software ahead of them in the chain to do the first unfold. The renderer then handles the next unfold, if there is one in that file, up to 192 kHz (if it is not an older model that tops out at a lower level).

As to whether you'll actually hear a difference between that and direct decoding of a bit perfect stream, well, that is best left to your ears and choice of music ...and to one of those endless threads where people argue about MQA. Personally I could live without the whole thing.

 

[Arnandsway]

As with headphones, this is another area where only your ears can decide for you. As I mentioned, the S2D is a more ambitious project, and the fact that it is a full MQA decoder designed to compete with desktop DACs is a good example.

Renderers like those iFi products are generally portable devices, and as you know depend on Tidal or other software ahead of them in the chain to do the first unfold. The renderer then handles the next unfold, if there is one in that file, up to 192 kHz (if it is not an older model that tops out at a lower level).

As to whether you'll actually hear a difference between that and direct decoding of a bit perfect stream, well, that is best left to your ears and choice of music ...and to one of those endless threads where people argue about MQA. Personally I could live without the whole thing.

You are probably right...
The one thing is, I don't own ANY hi-res files and are not willing to do so. So than MQA comes in perfect, offering streaming hi-res files.

The question if MQA will get more mainstream by the day... Who knows. Listening to non MQA- vs MQA-albums on a Bluesound Node 2 has an audible difference to my ears.
But there my experience stops for now.

I would love to listen to it with headphones.. Haven't had the chance yet.

 

[vintinfinity]

@Arnandsway you can now update any iFi model made since 2013 with MQA firmware: https://ifi-audio.com/audio_blog/mqa-firmware/

Edit: ifi informed me that if the light shows yellow on some of the other models instead of green it is working with MQA. The nano will be show magenta for MQA.

It took a little finessing but I got it work with Tidal doing the software rendering first pass.

Scratch this:I tried the firmware update on an iFi Micro Black Label and it wont light up the MQA light with Tidal set to software decode the first pass. Have a ticket open with ifi but nothing they suggested worked.:scratch this

Oh well, but would be cool to have since I just sent back my S2.

edit: just tried using the iphone to the black label, the new mqa 5.3 firmware that doesnt work for mqa on my unit also disables high res output from onkyo hf player on my iphone with camera kit to the idsd.

That's worth pointing out if anyone uses that app and high res files. 5.2A works for high res from iphone though.

 

[gto88]

iFi MQA new firmware issue has a dedicated thread: https://www.head-fi.org/threads/ifi-idsd-nano-bl-firmware-mqa-issues.872791