$189 DSD Dac and headphone amp?

[gmgraves]

Sounds like you are doing something incorrectly.

 

There's not much to do "wrong" and I am an electronics engineer, after all.

 

As far as the Nano goes, it is small and meant to be portable device, where would you like them to put the connections?

 

regards

Bob

 

 

All I/O except the headphone jack on the back and all controls on the front, perhaps?

[Mike Mcsweeney]

It is by far the least expensive native, Quad-rate DSD capable DAC.

 

Buying this is a no-brainer unless you have the budget for the upcoming iDSD products.

 

 

I would consider the KORG [h=1]DS-DAC-100m for $300[/h]

[jhwalker]

I would consider the KORG DS-DAC-100m for $300

 

 

Hm - in the US, the Korg is $350 (i.e., almost 2x the price of the Nano iDSD), and it "only" goes up to 192k. Also, it requires a special driver, even for Mac. And it doesn't support iPhone / iPad, etc.

 

I agree one should consider it, I just don't think it's particular competitive.

[Mike Mcsweeney]

Hm - in the US, the Korg is $350 (i.e., almost 2x the price of the Nano iDSD), and it "only" goes up to 192k. Also, it requires a special driver, even for Mac. And it doesn't support iPhone / iPad, etc.

 

I agree one should consider it, I just don't think it's particular competitive.

 

You can find the Korg for $300 on amazon and i have seen them sell for less.

They also support double dsd so not sure where you are getting your incorrect info about 192k,unless you are speaking pcm only. Even then you get the Audiogate software where you can upconvert to DSD.

[jhwalker]

You can find the Korg for $300 on amazon and i have seen them sell for less.

They also support double dsd so not sure where you are getting your incorrect info about 192k,unless you are speaking pcm only. Even then you get the Audiogate software where you can upconvert to DSD.

 

Yes, the 24/192 reference is to PCM.

[Mike Mcsweeney]

You can find the Korg for $300 on amazon and i have seen them sell for less.

They also support double dsd so not sure where you are getting your incorrect info about 192k,unless you are speaking pcm only. Even then you get the Audiogate software where you can upconvert to DSD.

 

I didn't know about MAC, as i am an android/pc guy, but i just googled, and they added apple support in april/may timeframe.

[gmgraves]

Hey Bob, which power supply did you add?

 

It can be powered by either iFi's own iUSB (~$200), or via Schiit's Wyrd PS (~$100). Both offer the same improvement to the DragonFly (i.e., pretty impressive), and so I'm sure they will both do likewise when used with either the Nano iDSD or the KORG DS-DAC-100m. The iUSB does have the potential advantage of being able to split it's output into separate power and signal outputs. When used with the optional iFi "Gemini" cable (~$179 in the 0.7 meter length), the 'power' type-A USB cable section of the Gemini has no signal on it and the 'signal' cable section has no power on it. When used with a normal Type-A to Type-B USB cable, the 'signal' output of the iUSB power supply carries both the clean power and the USB signal fed from one's computer through the iUSB to one's DAC input. The Schiit 'Wyrd' does not have the option of splitting USB signal and power, and has but a single Type-B USB input and a single Type-A USB output which combines the USB signal (fed through from the computer) with the 5 volts DC power supplied by the upgraded 'Wyrd' power supply. Both power supplies discard the 5 Volt USB power fed from the computer's USB port to provide very clean 5 Volt power to any USB powered DAC or USB to SPICA converter.

 

There may be other products of this type coming on the market, but I have personal experience with these two, and can testify from personal use to the improvement in the sound. If I were going to purchase one, I'd surely purchase the Schiit Wyrd. It is half the price of the iFi iUSB, and the improvement in sound of the DragonFly is identical in both (can't speak for the Nano iDSD. Haven't tried it.). Someone on another thread mentioned using a "battery bank" of the type used to recharge cell phones and iPods, etc. when mains or a car's cigar lighter port are not available, but Schiit says that their Wyrd power supply is cleaner than a battery, although I suspect that even a battery bank would provide cleaner power than that coming from one's computer via the computer's USB port.

[bogi]

Someone on another thread mentioned using a "battery bank" of the type used to recharge cell phones and iPods, etc. when mains or a car's cigar lighter port are not available, but Schiit says that their Wyrd power supply is cleaner than a battery, although I suspect that even a battery bank would provide cleaner power than that coming from one's computer via the computer's USB port.

 

I can confirm that ... it makes clearly audible difference with many USB DACs or converters I tried. Schiit Wyrd provocates me but I'm not so sure how much audible difference it could bring against my 25€ battery bank.