[Arghavan]

Surprised to come across this at a local dealer today, became an impulse buy.
So far it is driving my Timeless and LXSE fairly well. From what I am hearing it tightens up the bass a bit (compared to my PAW6000)
The feature set is very nice, sound is clean and fairly neutral with the slightest tint of warmth. Will have to shop around for a 4.4mm to 4.4mm interconnect to try it out as a balanced amp later on.

Thanks for the impressions. Can you test the bluetooth performance? If you put it on one pocket and your phone on the other pocket, is the connection reliable? (preferably on LDAC 990kbps)
One last question. Is the presence switch a boost on upper midrange or midbass?

 

[Hanesu]

Has been a very long time since demoed the older XDSD, so not much of a memory to recall. Size is surprisingly on the large side, width and length has increased, but retains same thickness.
Yes the volume nob is aluminium matching the main body.

Thank you very much for your impressions! I saw in your signature you have the SA700. I remember I have once compared my XDSD to a SA700 and found them surprisingly close in signature! Would you say that is similar with the Gryphon? By the way, do you use it mainly in BT mode?

 

[srkbear]

Have you heard the iDSD or iCAN? They are fabulous units, which pretty much set the benchmark for the mid-tier DAC/amp segment when they came out. If this is an all-in-one and at that price it will be a top notch product.

Hype train or not, iFi has proven to put out some pretty darn good equipment at this level and up.

I agree—this isn’t hype. This is a premium tier option for those of us who listen to genres that benefit from some hardware-based enhancement in the low end, or who have open-backed cans that could use the same. I’ve been griping for eons that the Pro iDSD is unfairly biased against those who don’t exclusively listen to classical or prestige jazz—I’m not suggesting that this unit is in that same league, but it’s definitely a step up in components, tech and features over the Hip DAC and Zen lines.

Now if they’d just release something similar in a desktop unit that isn’t dependent on battery power, I’d be even more thrilled—although I still maintain that they’d move a ton more flagship products if they’d just outfit the Pro iDSD Signature with TrueBass or this xBass II, and make the damn thing Roon-Ready (as their Zen Stream is) instead of sticking with their limited in-house streaming protocol…

Based on my past experience with iFi, I’ll probably buy this thing and they’ll come out with exactly what I’m asking for the day my return policy expires

 

[loganme]

If this is plugged into a computer via USB, is it powered by the USB bus or is it still being powered by the battery?

 

[srkbear]

Correct. There will be no successor or V2 to this for quite some time - and I can confirm that straight out.

Take how long the xDSD and xCAN lasted as an example!



We do not share that information publicly as we encourage people to think about implementation before thinking about the chip.

Beware of “straight out” confirmations along these lines when it comes to ifi’s product refreshes—before the Hip DAC blasted their Q rating into the stratosphere it was in fact true that in the xDSD era, months or years went by before they refreshed their product lines. It wasn’t long ago that their range of options was quite impressive, but limited in scope to basically on or two items in each price point tier.

But since the Hip DAC took off, they’ve launched the “Signature Series” phenomenon, and they’re pumping out new gear like candy. In just the past year or two, they’ve put out the Diablo, the Neo iDSD, the micro iDSD Signature, the Hip DAC v1 and now v2, the Zen DAC and its v2, the Zen CAN and its signature, two Signature Zen DAC options, a 4.4mm Pro iDSD with a Signature version following a few months later, a signature Pro ICAN, the Go Blu, the Zen Stream, and now this xDSD refresh.

And it must be said that this product (which I’m admittedly quite excited about), was long overdue—my xDSD has been gathering dust for ages because it only had a 2.5mm balanced option and a very outdated and confusing signal selection knob—and for those who didn’t care about wireless, I think the Hip DAC did all it could and more. This Gryphon release is their first product in quite awhile that convinces me that iFi is taking heed of the latest in consumer demands and listening to their customer feedback.

I truly love their stuff and hope this trend continues!

 

[srkbear]

Can we use Gryphon as a DAC only? the line-out spec says 3.7V variable. Is it fine to just max it out or we need to set it to 2V somehow?

According to what I’ve read, the 4.4 and 3.5mm jacks on the back will act as both inputs and outputs, and it is possible to run the 4.4 mm out to the 4.4mm in on the Zen CAN to put the Gryphon in DAC-only mode. I’m awaiting my unit to arrive next week to test this, will let you know!

 

[Sebastien Chiu]

Beware of “straight out” confirmations along these lines when it comes to ifi’s product refreshes—before the Hip DAC blasted their Q rating into the stratosphere it was in fact true that in the xDSD era, months or years went by before they refreshed their product lines. It wasn’t long ago that their range of options was quite impressive, but limited in scope to basically on or two items in each price point tier.

But since the Hip DAC took off, they’ve launched the “Signature Series” phenomenon, and they’re pumping out new gear like candy. In just the past year or two, they’ve put out the Diablo, the Neo iDSD, the micro iDSD Signature, the Hip DAC v1 and now v2, the Zen DAC and its v2, the Zen CAN and its signature, two Signature Zen DAC options, a 4.4mm Pro iDSD with a Signature version following a few months later, a signature Pro ICAN, the Go Blu, the Zen Stream, and now this xDSD refresh.

And it must be said that this product (which I’m admittedly quite excited about), was long overdue—my xDSD has been gathering dust for ages because it only had a 2.5mm balanced option and a very outdated and confusing signal selection knob—and for those who didn’t care about wireless, I think the Hip DAC did all it could and more. This Gryphon release is their first product in quite awhile that convinces me that iFi is taking heed of the latest in consumer demands and listening to their customer feedback.

I truly love their stuff and hope this trend continues!

To clear up some confusion here, I am on the same team @iFi audio is on - I just get to support the community directly (as me). I have a very clear understanding of what is coming down the line and will not comment on something if I do not have solid info. Along the same lines, if there is something coming, I can also not talk about it (since NDAs exist)!

I can see how the brand is applying feedback, and it's one of the primary reasons why @iFi audio and I have jobs. Things don't happen in the snap of a finger, but they do happen, and as you said, I hope the xDSD Gryphon is the best example of that so far for you all!

 

[srkbear]

I think theres some confussion here.
About the the xbass 2 it says that one is for bass and the "presence" is for upper midrange, which makes no sense at all for a bass boost, plus I the official website this mornig said that it was for low and midbass, which would be more logical.
It would be nice if Ifi could clarify this. Thanks.

Heres a screenshot of it before they changed it.

My understanding is that the two bass enhancement settings are sub bass and low bass, which I’m guessing is a bit of a combination of their existing TrueBass (low bass) and XBass (sub bass) technologies in the Zen series, but with some further refinements.

If so I’ll certainly be happy because I prefer to run my Zen DAC v2 in variable volume mode connected to my Zen CAN, so I can employ both TrueBass and xBass simultaneously—that combination gave me the best performance with my Utopias (Actually, in full disclosure I upgraded my Zen CAN to the Signature 6xx because I prefer the bass enhancement it provides over the xBass on the non-Signature CAN).

My Gryphon should arrive early next week and I’ll post my experience once I test it out!

 

[Sebastien Chiu]

@ Sebastian,

Your website listing for this product advises "iFi’s ‘Bluetooth engine’ can also be updated over-the-air, so future codecs may be added "

Question - Can the Qualcomm QCC5100 chip support aptX Lossless?

I don't see it mentioned in this Qualcomm link: Qualcomm QC5*** link or perhaps i missed it?

Thanks in advance, looks like a really nice portable amp/dac btw.

Yep, it means, at least at the moment, you'll need a smartphone with Snapdragon 888 processor to meet the basic requirement of 'Snapgradon Sound', meaning aptx Lossless support. However, having Snapdragon 888 on its own doesn't automatically equal to 'Snapdragon Sound' as I believe it required both software implementation as well as Qualcomm official certification. There are already a few smartphones in the market that have the Snapdragon Sound certification, XiaoMi Mi 11 Pro and Mi 11 Ultra for examples.

great poduct. however, the problem i have again: you pay so much for all the different bluetooth connections. all of them will be soon outdated since qualcomm introduced aptx lossless - which will be a pure game changer in the bluetooth / wired marked anyway. i would like to have the exact same product but without the outdated bluetooth functions.

wow, ok. i have to read that in detail later. so many different reviewers say that with aptx lossless anything else becomes immediately outdated. interesting.

On the lossless discussion, I would stress to not worry about this as much as you possibly can. I would encourage you all doing a blind A/B test between codecs and see if you can actually hear the difference.

Just because there's a "new" or a "better" codec does not mean things are outdated.

iFi received the announcement about Lossless the same time you all did, and that was past Gryphon's development phase.

The Gryphon does not have the chip that @ClieOS mentioned above, but that does not mean in the future chips could be rolled back to support AptX Lossless.

The current answer to this question is "we don't know" because it's a decision that entirely relies on Quallcom and it is up to them how they decide to roll it out.

When is this available in the uk?

Anytime this month, all distributors will vary.

Is the presence switch a boost on upper midrange or midbass?

It's midbass. xBass does not affect midrange.

If this is plugged into a computer via USB, is it powered by the USB bus or is it still being powered by the battery?

It is still on battery when it is plugged into USB to my knowledge.

According to what I’ve read, the 4.4 and 3.5mm jacks on the back will act as both inputs and outputs, and it is possible to run the 4.4 mm out to the 4.4mm in on the Zen CAN to put the Gryphon in DAC-only mode. I’m awaiting my unit to arrive next week to test this, will let you know!

You can absolutely connect the Gryphon to a Zen CAN through 4.4 to 4.4. Keep in mind, it operates in variable mode and there is currently no way to switch the line out to fixed. It can operate as a DAC and DAC/Preamp.

 

[KerrangZ]

My understanding is that the two bass enhancement settings are sub bass and low bass, which I’m guessing is a bit of a combination of their existing TrueBass (low bass) and XBass (sub bass) technologies in the Zen series, but with some further refinements.

If so I’ll certainly be happy because I prefer to run my Zen DAC v2 in variable volume mode connected to my Zen CAN, so I can employ both TrueBass and xBass simultaneously—that combination gave me the best performance with my Utopias (Actually, in full disclosure I upgraded my Zen CAN to the Signature 6xx because I prefer the bass enhancement it provides over the xBass on the non-Signature CAN).

My Gryphon should arrive early next week and I’ll post my experience once I test it out!

If you have a hip dac, can you share your impressions between the two?

 

[Arghavan]

It is still on battery when it is plugged into USB to my knowledge.

So is it fine using it as desktop dac/amp or it constantly charge and discharges the battery? Micro iDSD had an option to power on before or after plugging USB to bypass charging

 

[srkbear]

To clear up some confusion here, I am on the same team @iFi audio is on - I just get to support the community directly (as me). I have a very clear understanding of what is coming down the line and will not comment on something if I do not have solid info. Along the same lines, if there is something coming, I can also not talk about it (since NDAs exist)!

I can see how the brand is applying feedback, and it's one of the primary reasons why @iFi audio and I have jobs. Things don't happen in the snap of a finger, but they do happen, and as you said, I hope the xDSD Gryphon is the best example of that so far for you all!

Sebastien, I’m very aware of what your role is at iFi. I’m also sensitive to the fact that you have an obligation to protect proprietary information from being released to the public prior to authorized releases.

But please be cognizant in return that since I have no such corporate obligations, I can respond as a consumer peer to others on here, and call things as I see them based on being a devoted customer who has bought just about every product you’ve released to date.

And although there may indeed not be a v2 to this xDSD in the pipeline for some time (arguably because you’ve finally tricked this thing out with so many high-quality features that there isn’t much left to pack in there), there could be a different product in the works that offers everything this one does and more. There might be a desktop option that equals it, or maybe even an flagship option that includes these new and highly requested tone adjustments and complex configurations. Based on the prodigious output you guys have been offering over the last year, that’s all I meant. Peace.

If you have a hip dac, can you share your impressions between the two?

In fact I have a Hip Dac v1 with the original XMOS, a Hip Dac v1 with the current XMOS, and a Hip Dac v2, and yes I would be happy to! I’m quite interested to see how this improves on my old xDSD as well.

On the lossless discussion, I would stress to not worry about this as much as you possibly can. I would encourage you all doing a blind A/B test between codecs and see if you can actually hear the difference.

Just because there's a "new" or a "better" codec does not mean things are outdated.

iFi received the announcement about Lossless the same time you all did, and that was past Gryphon's development phase.

The Gryphon does not have the chip that @ClieOS mentioned above, but that does not mean in the future chips could be rolled back to support AptX Lossless.

The current answer to this question is "we don't know" because it's a decision that entirely relies on Quallcom and it is up to them how they decide to roll it out.



Anytime this month, all distributors will vary.



It's midbass. xBass does not affect midrange.



It is still on battery when it is plugged into USB to my knowledge.



You can absolutely connect the Gryphon to a Zen CAN through 4.4 to 4.4. Keep in mind, it operates in variable mode and there is currently no way to switch the line out to fixed. It can operate as a DAC and DAC/Preamp.

I’m perfectly happy that it operates in variable output mode because I assume I can then utilize the xBASS II while connected to the Zen CAN!

 

[MundoHiFiOz]

My understanding is that the two bass enhancement settings are sub bass and low bass, which I’m guessing is a bit of a combination of their existing TrueBass (low bass) and XBass (sub bass) technologies in the Zen series, but with some further refinements.

If so I’ll certainly be happy because I prefer to run my Zen DAC v2 in variable volume mode connected to my Zen CAN, so I can employ both TrueBass and xBass simultaneously—that combination gave me the best performance with my Utopias (Actually, in full disclosure I upgraded my Zen CAN to the Signature 6xx because I prefer the bass enhancement it provides over the xBass on the non-Signature CAN).

My Gryphon should arrive early next week and I’ll post my experience once I test it out!

Hi, how do you know that xbass is a sub bass gain and truebass is low bass gain? Is there an official post or something like that?

 

[KerrangZ]

In fact I have a Hip Dac v1 with the original XMOS, a Hip Dac v1 with the current XMOS, and a Hip Dac v2, and yes I would be happy to! I’m quite interested to see how this improves on my old xDSD as well.

I have the v1 as well. How would you know if it’s with the original XMOS or current? Like you, I have the MDR-Z1R so we have a good reference point. I’m looking for a replacement for my hip dac and am considering the Gryphon or the upcoming Mojo 2.

 

[OldRoadToad]

Cool device. It looks pretty neato but...I don't buy any thing that has MQA.

ORT