[OhmsClaw]

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.

Just trying to wrap my head around the compression of dB/SPL. I measure stuff on an FSMR 26N regularly and wonder how it works.

Anyhow I was hoping this could be an end game upgrade for mobile (not getting a Cayin Tube portable lol) I currently use a Qudelix 5k for walks and the gym and that's good enough for LDAC OTG.

Looks like it could use a revision but it's already in production so that's unlikely. The Cayin RU6 looks spicy but has no Bluetooth. So I shall wait!

 

[Voxata]

Depends on your main set of IEMs for the gym. My dynamic set didn't have too much of an issue. CA ultra-sensitive is kind of the outlier in an otherwise great device. The Gryphon's ability shouldn't be overshadowed by a few sets of IEMs from a specific manufacturer. Just keep that in mind.

 

[srkbear]

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.

If you mean the micro iDSD Signature, I think the Gryphon trounces it in all aspects, including sound signature, form factor, versatility, features, and user-friendliness, and in terms of available power they’re fairly equivalent. I’ve had the micro iDSD Black label and recently upgraded to the Signature, but fortunately the Gryphon was released in time for me to return it and I didn’t hesitate for a second. I think the Gryphon is the most satisfying, all-you-could-ask-for portable headphone DAC/amp under $1,000 that has been released to date, by any manufacturer, and I’ve tried just about all of them—iFi definitely caught FiiO with its pants down with this one.

 

[JoshG1217]

Really? Well, there you go. This what I needed to know. The micro idsd signature sounds fantastic. I even Compared it to the dx300, which is 1300, and it best that. If gryphon sounds just as good as far as resolution and stage, thats great news!

 

[koinmove]

poisoned my friend get a Gryphon together
first impression, sound quite good but not yet meet my expectation, especially the bass.
let see after 50~100hrs.

compact and came with bt, convenience for me to use any situation.

few years ago i emailed to ifi asking when will they came out a xdsd + bt product , at last....

 

[MarkParity]

few years ago i emailed to ifi asking when will they came out a xdsd + bt product , at last....

xDSD has Bluetooth though, OK only Aptx, Aptx-LL and AAC.

At just over a week owning the Gryphon I have to say I'm happy with my purchase, yes its not perfect what purchase is ever perfect, they all have some little niggle.

I've never heard my Dan Clark Audio Aeon V1 sounding as good as it does paired with the Gryphon from the balanced O/P, yes I do have XSpace and XBass+ on. I wasn't that impressed with the Aeon before using various sources but now it sounds so good I can't take it off.

I'm keeping my Gryphon and Aeon.

 

[koinmove]

volume knob is too big and on some surface the body will move together when u turn it

 

[MarkParity]

volume knob is too big and on some surface the body will move together when u turn it

Don't put it on those surfaces then.

 

[koinmove]

xDSD has Bluetooth though, OK only Aptx, Aptx-LL and AAC.

At just over a week owning the Gryphon I have to say I'm happy with my purchase, yes its not perfect what purchase is ever perfect, they all have some little niggle.

I've never heard my Dan Clark Audio Aeon V1 sounding as good as it does paired with the Gryphon from the balanced O/P, yes I do have XSpace and XBass+ on. I wasn't that impressed with the Aeon before using various sources but now it sounds so good I can't take it off.

I'm keeping my Gryphon and Aeon.

the sound not good from bt connection, i was asking for more in the email

 

[MarkParity]

the sound not good from bt connection, i was asking for more in the email

Did you ever own the xDSD? The Bluetooth quality over AptX and AAC was actually very good as long as your phone or whatever supported those CODEC's if the connection dropped to SBC then, yes, it was not good.

Bluetooth range was very, very good too, I often left my phone on my desk and walked down the office to get a coffee and the connection stayed solid even through plaster walls.

Gryphon is similar, great range by my experience.

 

[MarkParity]

A little warning for anyone planning on using their Gryphon direct from the Tidal app on Android and playing "Masters" tracks, normal PCM is OK.

It does work but there is a little click and sample rate change 1-2 seconds in on almost all the tracks I listened to. I hope iFi/Tidal fix this soon, I don't believe there are any user settings that will fix this, but if anyone knows of any, please let me know.

If that is your main use case hold on to your money for now.

UAPP doesn't have the same problem and works fine but you loose offline playback mode.

 

[531412]

A little warning for anyone planning on using their Gryphon direct from the Tidal app on Android and playing "Masters" tracks, normal PCM is OK.

It does work but there is a little click and sample rate change 1-2 seconds in on almost all the tracks I listened to. I hope iFi/Tidal fix this soon, I don't believe there are any user settings that will fix this, but if anyone knows of any, please let me know.

If that is your main use case hold on to your money for now.

UAPP doesn't have the same problem and works fine but you loose offline playback mode.

F*ck. This will be my main use case. But it sounds strange ... I never had this issue with a MQA full decoder DAC so far. Even with Pro iDSD and Diablo.
Have you ever tested some other MQA full decoder DAC with your PC/Mac/Smartphone?

 

[MarkParity]

F*ck. This will be my main use case. But it sounds strange ... I never had this issue with a MQA full decoder DAC so far. Even with Pro iDSD and Diablo.
Have you ever tested some other MQA full decoder DAC with your PC/Mac/Smartphone?

No the Gryphon is the only full decoder I own.

I have an LG V50, Android 11, latest Tidal app and a short USB C to C cable, I can't see how I've set it up wrong but if any other Gryphon owner could confirm my findings that would be great.

To be honest the MQA playback seems to have significant issues, it shows PCM for all tracks initially, sometimes at 88Khz and sometimes at 96Khz then it usually drops back to 44Khz and "OFS" is then displayed.

I also tried another cable, with the same result.

 

[gLer]

No the Gryphon is the only full decoder I own.

I have an LG V50, Android 11, latest Tidal app and a short USB C to C cable, I can't see how I've set it up wrong but if any other Gryphon owner could confirm my findings that would be great.

To be honest the MQA playback seems to have significant issues, it shows PCM for all tracks initially, sometimes at 88Khz and sometimes at 96Khz then it usually drops back to 44Khz and "OFS" is then displayed.

I also tried another cable, with the same result.

I suspect this is something that can either be fixed in firmware or in the Tidal Android app. ifi will need to work with Tidal on this.

 

[MarkParity]

I suspect this is something that can either be fixed in firmware or in the Tidal Android app. ifi will need to work with Tidal on this.

I think this and other issues I have are a combination of software issues with Gryphon and Tidal.

I still have issues with the volume control on Gryphon, for example I'm now using it with Hiby music on my phone to stream Tidal which works great and sounds great too but if I change the volume on the Gryphon it wakes up my phone and pops up the notes app.

The volume also randomly seems to increase to Turbo +6 Red sometimes when plugging into my phone, not good @iFi audio we need new F/W to address this issue ASAP or damage will result to peoples ears and equipment.

Just removing the HID volume feature over USB would be perfect and a quick fix, perhaps.