iFi micro iDSD

[Jimmypowder]

My only complaint about the Micro iDSD is the lack of battery level indicator.

 

Yeah. That would be nice . You have no idea where You you are at battery wise .

 

I don't think the green light will turn another color if it's low,will it?

[john57]

Cat's out of the bag - they just updated the Facebook Page here -

 

If they have beta version ready to test we can pretty much say they will demo this at High End this May :-D

 

That is the ICAN pro not the IDSD pro. It seems that both are in the prototype stage.

[john57]

Yeah. That would be nice . You have no idea where You you are at battery wise .

 

I don't think the green light will turn another color if it's low,will it?

 

It will turn red just before the battery is exhausted. I allways charge my micro at night having a full charge before I take the micro out for the day.

[bmoura]

That is the ICAN pro not the IDSD pro. It seems that both are in the prototype stage.

 

iFi is on a roll these days with the iDSD Nano, Micro and now the Retro. Not to mention the upcoming iDSD Pro.

[jtwrace]

Yeah. That would be nice . You have no idea where You you are at battery wise .

 

I don't think the green light will turn another color if it's low,will it?

 

It will turn red just before the battery is exhausted. I allways charge my micro at night having a full charge before I take the micro out for the day.

 

yep. It would be nice...

[bmoura]

Speaking of iFi, they have a "Easter Weekend Sale" that actually extends through May 1st on a pair of DSD Samplers from Fone (Jazz) and Channel Classics (Classical) where you can get 10% Off using the offer code "NativeDSD" bringing the price of each to $7

 

Competition Closed...but what is in the Retro

[MG32]

Speaking of iFi, they have a "Easter Weekend Sale" that actually extends through May 1st on a pair of DSD Samplers from Fone (Jazz) and Channel Classics (Classical) where you can get 10% Off using the offer code "NativeDSD" bringing the price of each to $7

 

Competition Closed...but what is in the Retro

 

 

They updated the website too with an official post here Thank Native DSD it’s Easter weekend.

[bmoura]

They updated the website too with an official post here Thank Native DSD it’s Easter weekend.

 

Nice. That should help get the word out about the $7 deal on those Jazz and Classical DSD Samplers.

[pdvm]

Nice! Onkyo HF player now is also able to convert PCM to 2.8 or 5.6Mhz DSD on the fly

[Jimmypowder]

Nice! Onkyo HF player now is also able to convert PCM to 2.8 or 5.6Mhz DSD on the fly

 

Damn straight! And the DSD conversion sounds as close to live music as you can get .

 

I'm using Sennheiser Hd 650 , Nuforce Primo 8 and Westone W40's and I actually quit working for about 30 minutes

mesmerized by the Ifi micro DSD and Onkyo combo

[kurb1980]

iFi iDSD Micro DSD512 / PCM768 DAC and Headphone Amp. Impressions, Reviews and Comments. - Page 228

 

A beta firmware is up via support ticket request for DSD256 and unlocking in Mac the same rates up to 768kHz. Now for HQplayer users this means nothing since HQplayer already supports iDSD rates up to DSD256. I asked the question about firmware fix for the USB implementation ie; looses lock and requiring you to unplug USB and reconnect this is intermittent but a issue none the less.

[Paul R]

iFi iDSD Micro DSD512 / PCM768 DAC and Headphone Amp. Impressions, Reviews and Comments. - Page 228

 

I asked the question about firmware fix for the USB implementation ie; looses lock and requiring you to unplug USB and reconnect this is intermittent but a issue none the less.

 

That's going to be hard to solve in firmware. You can solve it by putting the DACs power source on a UPS, be it the computer or an external power supply feeding 5v on the USB cable.

 

-Paul

[kurb1980]

That's going to be hard to solve in firmware. You can solve it by putting the DACs power source on a UPS, be it the computer or an external power supply feeding 5v on the USB cable.

 

-Paul

 

Since iFI follows Head Fi and follows up with support on that site most predominantly I asked the question and opened up a support ticket. But maybe I wasn't clear so I will attempt to explain the issue and hopefully others will chime in with similar issue when using iDSD w/HQP?

 

When converting to DSD256 with Mac 'DoP' using HQP the iDSD will intermittently when switching to another artist or playlist lock. The iDSD display will read as 'White' light on the unit 705/768 kHz and when you select a song it will play nothing in HQP. The display in HQP will show the track playing which is visible on the time frame countdown. When I look at the iDSD it will still read as White 705/768kHz. The only way to fix the problem is to disengage the USB cable from the back of the iDSD and reconnect. I have experienced this in about 1/3 of the listening sessions and in some a worst case up to 3 times in a hour on 1 session. This issue is not limited to just DSD256 but at the lesser bit rates as well.

[Dyson]

Since iFI follows Head Fi and follows up with support on that site most predominantly I asked the question and opened up a support ticket. But maybe I wasn't clear so I will attempt to explain the issue and hopefully others will chime in with similar issue when using iDSD w/HQP?

 

When converting to DSD256 with Mac 'DoP' using HQP the iDSD will intermittently when switching to another artist or playlist lock. The iDSD display will read as 'White' light on the unit 705/768 kHz and when you select a song it will play nothing in HQP. The display in HQP will show the track playing which is visible on the time frame countdown. When I look at the iDSD it will still read as White 705/768kHz. The only way to fix the problem is to disengage the USB cable from the back of the iDSD and reconnect. I have experienced this in about 1/3 of the listening sessions and in some a worst case up to 3 times in a hour on 1 session. This issue is not limited to just DSD256 but at the lesser bit rates as well.

 

+1

same for me, intermittent when switching to DSD playback

[Paul R]

Since iFI follows Head Fi and follows up with support on that site most predominantly I asked the question and opened up a support ticket. But maybe I wasn't clear so I will attempt to explain the issue and hopefully others will chime in with similar issue when using iDSD w/HQP?

 

When converting to DSD256 with Mac 'DoP' using HQP the iDSD will intermittently when switching to another artist or playlist lock. The iDSD display will read as 'White' light on the unit 705/768 kHz and when you select a song it will play nothing in HQP. The display in HQP will show the track playing which is visible on the time frame countdown. When I look at the iDSD it will still read as White 705/768kHz. The only way to fix the problem is to disengage the USB cable from the back of the iDSD and reconnect. I have experienced this in about 1/3 of the listening sessions and in some a worst case up to 3 times in a hour on 1 session. This issue is not limited to just DSD256 but at the lesser bit rates as well.

 

Is this happening only with HQPlayer? Have you tried it with a normal disk based MacOS boot?

 

This really doesn't sound like the DAC to me, though it may be.

 

-Paul

[Dyson]

Is this happening only with HQPlayer? Have you tried it with a normal disk based MacOS boot?

 

This really doesn't sound like the DAC to me, though it may be.

 

-Paul

 

Can't remember having the issue with A+.

[kurb1980]

Only happens with HQP I have tired in both Mavericks and Yosemite same problem.

[eligeorgia]

Hey Guys. Happy Sunday.

 

Just upgraded from a Nano to a Micro as part of my main 2 channel system. Streaming my library wifi from a Synology NAS to an Auralic Aries, on to the Micro through an iUSB Power device. The only changes I made other than the DAC change is a switch from a cheap USB cord to a Audioquest Cinnamon USB from Aries to the iUSB power.

 

Settling in with it and feeling really great about sound quality so far. But a couple of quirks that may or may not have been covered yet.

 

1) Has anyone had the experience that at the very beginning of playing certain tracks (no, that's as specific as I can be atm, other than it's a very small percentage), the first one second or so of playback starts at a significantly low, barely audible volume and then immediately ramps up to normal. I realise I should report back any consistencies in terms of bit depth or sampling rates, but as I said, I don't have that info right now. Most of my music is PCM. It doesn't happen WITHIN the playback of an album, just when a new selection is initiated through the Aries app. Anyone know what might be happening? This did not occur with my Nano.

 

2) On several occasions so far, After playing a DSD track, when I switch back to PCM, playback doesn't work. I've tried rebooting the Aries app, and also trying to "retrigger" the connection by switching outputs of the Aries away from the Micro and then back again. The only way to get it to play that I've identified when this happens is to manually unplug the USB to the Micro and plug it back in again. Always a bummer. Is this a documented issue? This didn't happen with my Nano as far as I recall, or certainly not more than once or twice in the months that I used it.

 

Thanks as always!

[jtwrace]

Does anyone know if there is an iFi mailing list for new firmware updates? I'm likely to miss them in these threads so I'd prefer to just get an email when they're out.

[sondale]

 

1) Has anyone had the experience that at the very beginning of playing certain tracks (no, that's as specific as I can be atm, other than it's a very small percentage), the first one second or so of playback starts at a significantly low, barely audible volume and then immediately ramps up to normal. I realise I should report back any consistencies in terms of bit depth or sampling rates, but as I said, I don't have that info right now. Most of my music is PCM. It doesn't happen WITHIN the playback of an album, just when a new selection is initiated through the Aries app. Anyone know what might be happening? This did not occur with my Nano.

!

I have the same problem, I reported it to iFi and they effectively said it is a feature and to use JRiver to add a second at the front - since I use HQPlayer it is something I will have to live with. Other players may also have the ability to add this second of silence by which time the dac is up to full volume.

 

Just to be clear this is only occurs on the first track of an album, not every track.

[Miska]

I have the same problem, I reported it to iFi and they effectively said it is a feature and to use JRiver to add a second at the front - since I use HQPlayer it is something I will have to live with. Other players may also have the ability to add this second of silence by which time the dac is up to full volume.

 

...HQPlayer begins playback with one second of silence. Original reason being to leave time for tight S/PDIF receiver PLLs to acquire lock...

 

With latest version you can add as much as you like by starting playback with pause-button. This will start playback in paused state, you can then release the pause by clicking pause again.

[sondale]

...HQPlayer begins playback with one second of silence. Original reason being to leave time for tight S/PDIF receiver PLLs to acquire lock...

 

With latest version you can add as much as you like by starting playback with pause-button. This will start playback in paused state, you can then release the pause by clicking pause again.

 

Miska, thanks for that, I will give it a try tomorrow.

[Franatic]

eligeorgia

"2) On several occasions so far, After playing a DSD track, when I switch back to PCM, playback doesn't work. I've tried rebooting the Aries app, and also trying to "retrigger" the connection by switching outputs of the Aries away from the Micro and then back again. The only way to get it to play that I've identified when this happens is to manually unplug the USB to the Micro and plug it back in again. Always a bummer. Is this a documented issue? This didn't happen with my Nano as far as I recall, or certainly not more than once or twice in the months that I used it."

++++++++++++++++++++++++++

 

I've experienced the same problem when switching from dsd to pcm. I also use HQPlayer with the micro idsd. I assumed it was caused by HQPlayer. Your post has me second guessing my assumption. I can not do the plug and unplug to the micro because my 2 pc streamer will definitely shut down playback. I'm going to have to dig out my nano and try and see if it happens on the nano as on well as the micro. I will post if I get any definitive results.

 

I also get occasional playback stops when I am browsing while playing music

 

Other than that, this setup sounds amazing!

[Bigbwb]

I just ordered the uptone regen and am thinking of grabbing the ifi micro idsd dac to replace my parasound zdac. Using jriver I can then convert all material to dsd. Anyway, I also have the HD plex LPSU which can power the regen, my caps server, and even my PPA USB card!

 

question is, with the above setup, would the separate ifi micro iusb device have any benefit or no? With the HD plex, it would seem redundant but I wanted confirmation.

 

thanks.

[DZetye]

The IFI iUSB Power device is not as good as the Regen. I have one I used on my IFI iDSD Micro DAC and I replaced it with the Regen and everything was better. My IFI iUSB Power is now for sale.