[Johnfg465vd]

Sorry, I meant for desktop use nothing to be portable/mobile.

Oh ok, never mind then

 

[Ufanco]

I doubt that will be possible any time soon. At Least not without output power limitation and huge battery usage from the phone.

As an example, something like Luxury&Precision W2 or CEntrance DACport HD are great battery less DAC's but they drain the phones battery too much.

Battery powered portable DAC's also have the advantage of delivering more than 1W of power.

Found the W2 to work better battery wise with something with that’s more powerful than a phone. Bought mine to go with iphone12 mini. Rarely use it that way it’s ended up be better suited to the iPad Air 4.
Been eyeing something that be a better fit for portable use. This one caught my eye but, the lack of battery replacement option worries me.
I tend to keep items long term and 2 years is too short. Is it normal to be seeing this type of issue battery wise with this brand?

 

[Johnfg465vd]

Found the W2 to work better battery wise with something with that’s more powerful than a phone. Bought mine to go with iphone12 mini. Rarely use it that way it’s ended up be better suited to the iPad Air 4.
Been eyeing something that be a better fit for portable use. This one caught my eye but, the lack of battery replacement option worries me.
I tend to keep items long term and 2 years is too short. Is it normal to be seeing this type of issue battery wise with this brand?

I once connected the Zen DAC to my phone and noticed the sound quality was not as good as when it was connected to my PC and I had to max out the volume to get to a good listening level even with easy to drive gear. I know that's not it's intended use and it sounds great on PC but the whole experience made me think that without battery to provide enough juice, a portable DAC may not perform it's best and that phones cannot output enough current/power? to max out the DAC's potential. I know it's probably not very accurate and it might depend on how the device was designed but it kind off left me with the impression that battery powered DAC's are better than those without.

I tend to go thru gear at a quicker pace so fortunately never had to deal with problems like failing battery or other parts. I think the replacement & warranty services are dependent on brand and also region. iFi generally has a good reputation with customer support but again, I've not had a chance to deal with them yet...

If you are not driving anything power hungry, you could get the GO Blu or UP5... depending on which tuning you are after. They are not as expensive and so even if you get problems when claiming warranty or repair, it would not be a huge loss.

 

[iFi audio]

The only thing of significance I’m missing from the Pro iDSD is the DSD1024 upscaling,

A form of upsampling this extensive requires a FPGA unit that's not possible in a product as small as xDSD Gryphon.

 

[scarfacegt]

How is this gryphon amp vs the ifi xcan amp?

 

[MarkParity]

Found the W2 to work better battery wise with something with that’s more powerful than a phone. Bought mine to go with iphone12 mini. Rarely use it that way it’s ended up be better suited to the iPad Air 4.
Been eyeing something that be a better fit for portable use. This one caught my eye but, the lack of battery replacement option worries me.
I tend to keep items long term and 2 years is too short. Is it normal to be seeing this type of issue battery wise with this brand?

I've got an xDSD that I've had since release and the battery still does OK.

Ifi's battery in the xDSD is nothing special just a single cell lipo with cell protection so it can be replaced outside of warranty by the end user. I would do it myself and have done in the past with a Nano BL I used to own (battery didn't fail I just had a bigger battery that would fit) . Maybe a local mobile phone type repair place could replace it if you took it in with a suitable generic battery.

 

[BLacklWf]

I'm wondering about the synergy between Gryphon with two headphones I'm considering buying next, Diana Phi and LCD-5. If anyone has either, I'd love to hear your feedback. I know neither are suited for on the go. But, I'm looking for an on-bed set-up before going to sleep. I've been thinking about Diablo, but I think Gryphon may have a better DAC.

 

[Voxata]

I'm giving this one a go as well. It'll have to prove itself well to be a keeper. Ifi has had a great track record thus far though and I've got high hopes.

 

[srkbear]

Noticed something wonky in the GUI, which is likely a firmware issue. The user-selectable filter settings are supposed to be Bit Perfect, Standard and GTO—but mine has no GTO; it has “MIN” instead, which I presume stands for minimum phase.

The reason I’m curious if it’s a firmware issue is that in the “FAQ” section of ifi’s website, they have an entry called “How to unbrick Gryphon”, which mentions a firmware version 1.07 (which is what is loaded on mine from factory), and after the instructions how to reboot, they request that you upgrade to the latest firmware.

At the moment, the firmware page for the Gryphon still seems to be undergoing construction. IFi-Audio, could you please advise?

 

[Johnfg465vd]

I just saw that there is a new USB driver available for the Signature. Just wanted to update incase someone missed it.

Hey, @Sebastien Chiu what does the "Firmware XMOS" do exactly? and how does it differ (if it does) to the other firmwares 7.20, 7.2b...

edit: my bad, meant to post this in the iDSD Signature thread.

 

[srkbear]

I just saw that there is a new USB driver available for the Signature. Just wanted to update incase someone missed it.

Hey, @Sebastien Chiu what does the "Firmware XMOS" do exactly? and how does it differ (if it does) to the other firmwares 7.20, 7.2b...

It allows for PlayStation 4 & 5 compatibility.

 

[Johnfg465vd]

It allows for PlayStation 4 & 5 compatibility.

I read that in the description, just wanted to know if that was the only thing

 

[Hardcorist]

How about battery life? I didn't find anything about it in the specs.

 

[Sebastien Chiu]

I'm wondering about the synergy between Gryphon with two headphones I'm considering buying next, Diana Phi and LCD-5. If anyone has either, I'd love to hear your feedback. I know neither are suited for on the go. But, I'm looking for an on-bed set-up before going to sleep. I've been thinking about Diablo, but I think Gryphon may have a better DAC.

Diablo is still a higher-end product and as a result, still has the better DAC. That said, they are very similar - especially in terms of sound signature.

From my past experience with those two headphones, both would be excellent choices.

I'm giving this one a go as well. It'll have to prove itself well to be a keeper. Ifi has had a great track record thus far though and I've got high hopes.

Look forward to your thoughts and feedback.

I just saw that there is a new USB driver available for the Signature. Just wanted to update incase someone missed it.

Hey, @Sebastien Chiu what does the "Firmware XMOS" do exactly? and how does it differ (if it does) to the other firmwares 7.20, 7.2b...

edit: my bad, meant to post this in the iDSD Signature thread.

It does not change anything else other than at PS4/5 compatibility for units that do not have it yet.

How about battery life? I didn't find anything about it in the specs.

It is around 8 hours. Some people have gotten longer depending on their usage and the power their headphones need.

Noticed something wonky in the GUI, which is likely a firmware issue. The user-selectable filter settings are supposed to be Bit Perfect, Standard and GTO—but mine has no GTO; it has “MIN” instead, which I presume stands for minimum phase. Firmware, amirite?

Further proof: in the “FAQ” section of ifi’s website, they have an entry called “How to unbrick Gryphon”, which mentions a firmware version 1.07 (which is what is loaded on mine from factory), and after the instructions to rescue the unit they request that you upgrade to the latest firmware.

But there are no firmware downloads for the Gryphon; until yesterday there wasn’t even a support page for it—today one appeared that has a couple of driver downloads but under firmware it says “0”.

IFi-Audio, you guys did this with the Hip DAC 2 as well—it took over a month for you to build the support page and upload firmware options on your site. We can’t follow your instructions to upload to the latest firmware over an apparent “brick” issue if you don’t make any firmwares available for download. Might wanna have these matter sorted out BEFORE the launch?

While I’m mentioning this, please take a looky-loo at your headphone calculator—you added the Signature Zen CANs to your available products for calculation but there are still no ieMatch recommendations for the Pro iCAN Signature, along with several others. Quite a few are missing key values—not for the headphones, for your own gear. Probably better to prioritize your latest and flagship devices over the legacy ones from 2012. And I mustn’t forget that under the Zen CAN Signature HFM, you have two selections in your drop-down menu—unbalanced and unbalanced. Kind of in a pickle over how to pick between those two.

Oh! And one more thing—please fix all the broken links on a myriad number of your product pages—specifically the button at the top that says “BUY”. When one presses with anticipation that “buy” tab, we’re often sent to a dusty Amazon page that says “product unavailable”. Folks who hit that button wanna buy your gear—dontcha wanna tell them how?

Ya know, it might just be best to bring in a new webmaster—your site could use some CPR. Now will iFi see this? Will start holding my breath…NOW

I will ask our R&D team why this is the case. Yes, MIN stands for minimum phase.

While I appreciate your feedback, I would encourage you to think about the tone you are giving your feedback to us and return the discussion to the Gryphon. It isn't going to speed things up any faster. The last thing we want is for Head-Fi to step in again.

You don't need to hold your breath. We are listening and watching this thread very closely.

The firmware will be added to the site soon.

 

[rlw6534]

Diablo is still a higher-end product and as a result, still has the better DAC. That said, they are very similar - especially in terms of sound signature.

I understand that the Diablo has more power, but you are saying it has a better Burr-Brown DAC chip? Your marketing material says the Gryphon has the same chip as the the Pro iDSD Signature (your flagship). I'm apparently easily confused by all your marketing terms and claims (S-balanced, Purewave, true native, etc).