expirediconian | Staff posted Jun 13, 2022 08:36 PM
Item 1 of 5
Item 1 of 5
expirediconian | Staff posted Jun 13, 2022 08:36 PM
iFi AUDIO micro iDSD Signature DAC and Headphone Amplifier
+ Free Shipping$449
$749
40% offAdorama
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5.0 can drive even 600 ohm headphones without any problem. I love it. It is also recommended by donglemadness site too. Read that guy detailed review.
With this AIO you get a real nice DAC and the AMP is top notch. This AIO sounds badass. You will absolutely love the xbass and 3D features, extremely addicting. This AIO is also really really good with IEMs if you ever get into them. $449 is a solid deal all things considered.
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It dumps 4.1 watts at 16 ohms into a SE connection on full power settings. While this is definitely not the strength of a solid Amp with XLR connections, it can out muscle a great deal of single ended amps out there.
Let's look at some examples at 16 ohm loads:
JDS labs Atom+ = less than 2W at 16 ohms $100
Schiit Magni = 2.8W $100
Drop THX AAA One = 1.5W . $150-200.
Schiit Asgard 3 = 5W at 16 ohms. $245
iFi Zen Can Signature = Less than 2W at 16 ohms $299
Schiit Magnius w/ XLR = 6W . $200
Hifiman EF400 AIO = $599 , 4.4W w/ XLR/balanced
Topping DX5 AIO = 1.8W w XLR = $450.
All things considered the iDSD Signature Portable is pretty impressive and for an AIO at $450 with all of its features is pretty slick if you ask me.
t. 25+ year greybeard in countless home theater / car audio installations
This is what I have had for 15+ years JUST for aesthetics, nice volume layout and RCA outputs on the back for desktop monitor use.
https://www.amazon.com/Aune-Secon...merRevi
The only problem with iFi DAC/AMP lines are: that they often have channel imbalance issue at lower volumes, this one does have IEMatch so it is less of a problem, I assume? Either way, I can report back if that is a problem.
For beginners, channel imbalance is a problem where your left and right channels have different loudness. I experience it on my iFi Zen DAC V2, and some research shows that it is a widespread issue for non-pro lines of iFi products.
Oh and also the 4.4mm balanced output is not truly balanced. But still, at this price, this is a great deal for a versatile, quality, and good-sounding DAC/AMP like this.
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The only problem with iFi DAC/AMP lines are: that they often have channel imbalance issue at lower volumes, this one does have IEMatch so it is less of a problem, I assume? Either way, I can report back if that is a problem.
For beginners, channel imbalance is a problem where your left and right channels have different loudness. I experience it on my iFi Zen DAC V2, and some research shows that it is a widespread issue for non-pro lines of iFi products.
Oh and also the 4.4mm balanced output is not truly balanced. But still, at this price, this is a great deal for a versatile, quality, and good-sounding DAC/AMP like this.
https://ifi-audio.com/faqs/channel-imbalance/
As the document states it is there, why it is there and how to work around it and avoid it altogether.
As for not being truly balanced, that is absolutely true, however when you look into what their S-Balanced tech actually is/does, I would rather have S-Balanced. Here is a tech note regarding it.
https://ifi-audio.com/wp-content/...h-Note.pdf
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