[JoshG1217]

Received. My impressions.

The good:
- Da powa! This thing move the Aryas, better that I expected (4.4mm)
- Intimate, closed stage.
- Interface is easy to use.

The bad:
- Build quality is worst that the idsd. Buttons and connector feels cheap. Already having problems to get a nice connection on the 4.4

Do you have the idsd signature the if so, how does it compare in sound ? If it's basically a Bluetooth signature, that would be great.

 

[Johnfg465vd]

@sakt1moko by iDSD do you mean the OG Silver unit? Please take your time and share more impressions.

 

[MarkParity]

Apologies iFi but I don't currently own your streaming product.

 

[PROblemdetected]

@sakt1moko by iDSD do you mean the OG Silver unit? Please take your time and share more impressions.

Yeah, any idsd feels so much more robust ln the hand. This feel "cheap" and "lighter" maybe for the "portable" use. The screen is nice, the buttons in the other hand dont give u so much confindence about them, specially the 2 front (setting and bluetooth)

 

[PROblemdetected]

Do you have the idsd signature the if so, how does it compare in sound ? If it's basically a Bluetooth signature, that would be great.

Ive never tried the signature, I sold the OG micro IDSD and this seems to be the same neutral (a littel bit warmth) signature.
But the xbass is a nice addon that transform the product.

Its the same DAC than signature, so it could be similar.

 

[iFi audio]

Apologies iFi but I don't currently own your streaming product.

It's OK, variety is the spice of life

Ive never tried the signature, I sold the OG micro IDSD and this seems to be the same neutral (a littel bit warmth) signature.
But the xbass is a nice addon that transform the product.

Its the same DAC than signature, so it could be similar.

All our products share the same house sound, but xDSD Gryphon and micro iDSD Diablo lean more towards openness and dynamics than our other DAC/amp devices

 

[Sebastien Chiu]

I received an 'enigmatic' email from iFi audio today titled "Don't Miss Our Black Friday Deals!", which contained no information on Black Friday deals whatsoever. Is anyone here any the wiser?

There is a 'Buy Now' button for the xDSD Gryphon, but it just links the Gryphon page of iFi's website, where there is no mention of any deal.

It's our refurbished store! No new products, so I'm not sure why the Gryphon is on there.

https://refurbished.ifi-audio.com/

 

[Voxata]

Just tried this. My customs remain plugged to the 4.4mm balanced output, but toggled the ieMatch switch to 3.5. With the latter, hiss is gone AND volume is louder (volume at - 36db, instead of - 30db if ieMatch is set to 4.4).It seems dynamic range is NOT affected / reduced! But these are just some quick impressions afte listening for few minutes.

This is interesting but at the same time also baffling (since I'm using 4.4 balanced output, i should set iMatch to 4.4?). So yea, have to defer to iFi if there is any explanation for this.

3.5ie felt to me like the less aggressive IEmatch option on the iDSD BL. It impacted the sound but MUCH less than the 4.4/Ultra.

 

[Sphere 57]

The battery in my xDSD lasted two years. In theory it can be replaced, but dealing with iFi support is a nightmare. My request for a new battery has been in limbo for weeks, they just stopped talking to me with no explanation.

My new battery arrived in the post today. I've been using my xDSD for over three hours and the indicator still has not turned red, so it seems to be a successful transplant.

Thanks very much to Rob @iFi audio for chasing up iFi support on this.

 

[iFi audio]

My new battery arrived in the post today. I've been using my xDSD for over three hours and the indicator still has not turned red, so it seems to be a successful transplant.

Thanks very much to Rob @iFi audio for chasing up iFi support on this.

Sure, my pleasure!

Also folks:

iFi does Black Friday. Grab a bargain or an old favourite.

Check out our new 'refurbished store' at https://refurbished.ifi-audio.com/
(UK, EU and USA only)

Grab a 'as good as new' ZEN DAC or Blue V1 for £99, an original hip-dac for £139, or a iSilencer3.0 for £39 plus lots more.

Check out some old favourites in our legacy bundles - iLink & SPDIF iPurifier, micro iUSB +Gemini USB cable plus other 'oldies but goodies'.

All with an extra 10% off from Friday to Monday to join in with the Black Friday fun.

https://refurbished.ifi-audio.com/

 

[berzerk428]

So I recently decided to buy my first pair of full sized headphones, having so far only owned IEM's. I auditioned around 15 different closed back headphones a while back and decided to go with the MDR-Z1R because I just loved their sound signature and everything else about them, plus I found some really good deals for them here in Switzerland.

Since I only own an ES100 MK2 and the Qudelix 5K and wanted something with more Power to drive the Z1R I searched head-fi for portable DAC/AMP's that feature Bluetooth and came across this thread, and the Grpyhon turned out to be exactly what I had imagined, at least in theory.

So when I came home this afternoon, just having picked up the Z1R and the Gryphon from the local post office, I decided to check out my new toys before going back to work. My plan was to just listen quickly for 1 or 2 songs, give them a quick test drive. I ended up listening for about 20 minutes, finding myself not wanting to take off the Z1R because it just sounded so fantastic paired with the Gryphon, over Bluetooth as well as over USB C to USB C. I am probably not audiophile or experienced enough to hear much of a difference, they both just sound abolutely amazing to me.

I found myself more than once starting to seriously tear up and get emotional because the whole sound experience was just so overwhelmingly beautiful and impactful. Rotting Christ - In Yumen Xibalba and Bon Enfant - L'hiver à l'année being two examples where this happened.

Now this might not be of much value to you experienced audio folks out there, I don't really have much experience to speak of in the field of portable DAC/AMPs and full sized headphones. I have been using my AKG N5005 IEMs for over 5 years now as my sole pair of headphones and didnt really feel the urge to replace or upgrade them, the Westone W40 that had started my love for high quality audio years ago were to only "real" pair of IEM's I had before the N5005. This here is just my subjective experience I wanted to share, because I am really happy with the combo I've got here.

to add something else besides positive experiences, I did find that badly recorded audio files sound very harsh and unpleasant, a real turnoff almost. I had never noticed this before with my N5005 over the Qudelix 5K or the ES100 MKII. I have yet to figure out if the Z1R is the main culprit here or the Gryphon.

 

[OhmsClaw]

I don't mean to be arguing just wanted to disagree with the shared comment. I noted outside of the impedance impact on sensitive IEMs there's something else too, a blunting of transients, some smearing and dynamics decrease - maybe with more detailed spectral analysis something might be observed perhaps. It's just that the measurements we have nowadays don't always tell the story; rme adi 2 and chord qutest measure very similar (excellent) but have distinct audible difference in sound for example

Would love to see a square wave test, ring test, and harmonics sweep.

I don't see how a lower OI which obviously affects sensitive BA's (more bass and downsloping mids/highs with a higher OI) could possibly affect attack/decay/filtering.

That's all on the DAC's dynamic bit depth and filter settings/implementation not the OI.

 

[OhmsClaw]

After a few hours and lots of testing I've got some solid impressions to share. Compared to many reviewers I like to keep things short and simple. This missile is going to be of the shootout variety. Gear includes Fiio BTR5, Ifi iDSD BL, Sony WM1A and of course the xDSD Gryphon. Headphones are the Campfire Solaris OG, K712 (Balance modded) & HD660S. I've owned some pricey TOTL headphones however the K712 has been my main go-to due to it's enjoyable and competent performance. I have no financial incentive to pull any punches. I also have no connection to any vendors. With that said I really appreciated the service Bloom audio provided in my purchase of the xDSD Gryphon.

Let's start with fit and finish. The display is gorgeous. The status lights are not overwhelming and the finish is very premium. Much preferred over the fingerprint magnets that are the original xDSD and xCAN. I love the 4.4mm&SE in/out on the back. Optical in and the sheer plethora of things this device can do. From an aesthetic standpoint this is top shelf. The PCB layout is a thing of beauty as well. The engineering of this device seems incredible. The end result has some mixed feelings with me however.





The Gryphon's signature is more neutral leaning with a hint of warmth. It's fast yet not sibilant. I think it's a rather nice balance however I will start with the obvious "Birth of a Head-Fi legend" as being an overstatement. It's a great device with great sound. It's a jump over the xDSD&xCAN but if you are going to reach for that star it needs to be a complete knockout in every department. My listening impressions were with the unit powered up before connecting to USB (both BL and Gryphon) and only connecting the data transfer cable.



Let's start strong and that is with full sized headphones. The Gryphon drove my 660S and K712 beautifully from the 4.4 port. SQ was ABOVE the iDSD BL and BTR5, only tailing the WM1A (Which is firmware modded) which has a nicely tuned sound signature. I was actually impressed the Gryphon outperformed the iDSD BL as it made the BL sound a little hazed in comparison. The Gryphon retains the engagement factor too. It doesn't have the output power which wasn't needed in the case of my headphones so no loss there. This thing is like an iDSD BL with better clarity and a hint less warmth. I was seriously impressed and the bluetooth performance excels too. I was able to discern between USB/BT though. I wasn't surprised the WM1A pulled ahead in sound quality. In detail they were equals but the WM1A has such a nice tuning from Sony. I can see some people preferring the Gryphon though, so YMMV. SQ for full sized headphones finished as so WM1A (down to preference) > xDSD Gryphon > iDSD BL > BTR5 (This was flat and uninspiring). This is an impressive performance by the Gryphon. There is a caveat to iDSD BL vs Gryphon though. The iDSD BL is more euphoric and forgiving. It's just flat out enjoyable. If you are one who wants to constantly be toe-tapping the BL may suit you better. I game as well so the Gryphon has some attraction there for it's speed and neutrality.

****THIS PART IS EXCLUSIVE TO 4.4BAL****
Things took a strong spiral downwards when the Solaris OG came out though. The hiss scale goes as follows xDSD Gryphon >> WM1A >(slight) iDSD BL > BTR5 -- this is without IEmatch. Enabling IEmatch on the first setting with iDSD BL made it just about silent but SQ took a little hit. Second setting added more veil. The Gryphon's IEmatch 3.5mm impacts the BAL output and 4.4MM setting is like extreme on the BL. 3.5 IEM didn't sound quite right so I figure this was not meant to be used for the BAL port. Still, IEmatch extreme & 4.4 squashes the dynamic ability and really killed the sound for me. I did some demoing without IEmatch and it was just too noisy on the Gryphon and too low in the pot for the BL. The BAL output from the rear is pretty quiet though, but the SQ wasn't much of a step up. In all testing with the Solaris the Gryphon finished back of the pack. I think Ifi is using IEmatch as a crutch to have the device managable and this to pulls Gryphon from the stars. Keep in mind though, the Solaris is incredibly sensitive so your less than sensitive IEM may work fine without the IEmatch and if so this device would be a knockout for you. In terms of sound quality with Solaris OG things ended up as so: WM1A > iDSD BL > BTR5 > Gryphon. The BTR5 does much better with IEMs as far as SQ goes, still a little veil though.

So, we've got some great and...well not so much. Unfortunately I don't know if the Gryphon will really have a place in my stable because my hopes was for it to be a device that could do everything - as it is advertised right? I LOVE that it outperforms the BL for my full sized cans and it's a great upgrade for my laptop setup in that regard. This performance alone made me think it's a keeper. It's really that good! As soon as that high noise floor reared it's ugly head (This floor was still present after switching to BT) on the Solaris OG I was set back to reality. The sound wasn't bad, I could live with it - but it was inferior to the BTR5 with incredibly sensitive IEMs with IEmatch engaged. Another positive is that it didn't get hot when charging/listening at the same time. So there is that..

****EDIT**** Hiss is significantly better from the SE output with IEMATCH off, slightly less than WM1A on 4.4. DO NOT USE BAL for sensitive IEM is my suggestion. From 3.5mm the unit sounds better ******
I'd rank the 3.5mm performance xDSD Gryphon>WM1A>iDSD BL>Fiio BTR5 - I like the 4.4 on the WM1A much better than 3.5 which is why the Gryphon pulls ahead in this scenario. All things considered, WM1A holds the top spot.

*BONUS* As a DAC at 0DB into my 2ch system the Gryphon was quite pleasing and detailed. I thought this may be a weaker point of the Gryphon going into this but I was proven wrong. It's quite capable as a DAC.

So the IEMatch 4.4 is attenuating the output signal and reducing the OI at the same time? But in reality just pushing down the noise floor dB with nothing playing yet you'd still have to turn the volume up to get similar levels.

In the end is it clipping? (Reduced HR) it does want a full volume source signal correct? Would reducing the incoming signal help?

 

[Voxata]

So the IEMatch 4.4 is attenuating the output signal and reducing the OI at the same time? But in reality just pushing down the noise floor dB with nothing playing yet you'd still have to turn the volume up to get similar levels.

In the end is it clipping? (Reduced HR) it does want a full volume source signal correct? Would reducing the incoming signal help?

I haven't measured OI, it's not clipping it's just noticeably flatter and less dynamic. IMO the charts prove alterations to the sound in my scenario when IEmatch is engaged. Your experience may very well be different - I'll point out the obvious and say this piece of kit wasn't specifically designed for highly sensitive IEMs, it's just got IEmatch on there so it'll work with them. It's really not a showstopper for most users. Looks like you've got a solid CA collection though, so if those are your primary prospective purpose for the Gryphon I personally wouldn't recommend it. Also, on the 660S I had a slight preference for the iDSD BL over the Gryphon even when using the 4.4 - My main headphone is the K712 so I mostly judged from this headphone in which the Gryphon was fantastic.

 

[floydfan33]

Gryphon up and running as DAC for my Ropieee Roon endpoint. Pretty intuitive setup and sounds pretty good so far.