iDSD Pro

[AMR/iFi audio]

And some top secret Pro iDSD stuff, enjoy!

[AMR/iFi audio]

Additionally, we have some more RMAF coverage.

[AMR/iFi audio]

RMAF has come and gone and it seems we don't know any more. I was assuming that if a demo unit was going to be shown at RMAF that we would have some kind of information, but seems not.

 

We wish we could share with you all juicy details right now, but these will be served once we're ready. Rest assured, you'll get lots of information once right time comes, as per usual with us!

[AMR/iFi audio]

The demo iDSD Pro was at RMAF at the CanJam tent.

 

Let us just add that there is a real product, things are in good shape and finishing line can be seen. Stay strong, we'll deliver!

[AMR/iFi audio]

I think there's an extra "if" you want to delete there.

 

Yup, thanks for this!

[AMR/iFi audio]

'Nuff said!

 

 

[AMR/iFi audio]

Hello iFi, now that Warner releases is officially on the MQA train and Tidal is releasing their Masters section of 30.000 songs in hires MQA. Are you soon officially on the MQA train for true end to end DAC compensated MQA in iFi products and iDSD pro?

 

We constantly monitor the situation.

[AMR/iFi audio]

Boys and girls, just a quick reminder. We'll attend to UK's world famous Sound & Vision - Bristol Show. As per usual, we'll show a new thing or two there, so if you're around, please come and visit us!

The date: 24th - 26th of February

The place: Marriott City Centre Hotel, Lower Castle Street, Bristol, BS1 3AD

The brand: iFi Audio / suite 11

For further info, please take a look here:

http://www.bristolshow.co.uk

See you on the spot!

[AMR/iFi audio]

The Pro iESL

First among energizers

The Pro series iESL is an unsurpassed energiser for electrostatic headphones (and transformer-coupled stage for flagship dynamic headphones too).

 

The Pro iESL driven by either the iFi Pro iCAN or a powerful amplifier takes electrostatic headphones to an unprecedented level of performance.

 

Its defining characteristic is a transparency and an ultra-wide dynamic range that is totally natural. The Pro iESL works with Stax, Sennheiser Orpheus and many more.

 

Classic & Cutting Edge Technology

 

The Pro iESL’s three key elements combine the very best in classical approaches with the latest in cutting-edge technology AND superb component quality to deliver the ‘perfectly matched’ headphone experience.

 

•      Atypical Pinstripe Permalloy Core transformer

•      Bias voltage generator

•      Capacitive Battery Power Supply

 

Outstanding Component Quality

 

• One-off, hand-wound, Pinstripe Permalloy Core Transformer
• Wima Capacitors 
• Vishay MELF resistors
• Gold-plated silver and sealed-silver alloy contact relays

 

 

Specifications
Maximum Output voltage:	640V RMS (16Ω/20V in) 320V RMS (64Ω/20V in)
Frequency Response:	5Hz – 50kHz (-3dB)
Input Voltage (Pro iESL):	5V – 9V/1A max
Input Voltage (iPower):	AC 85 – 265V, 50/60Hz
Power Consumption:	< 1W
Dimensions:	213(l) x 206(w) x 63.3(h) mm
Weight:	2.5kg (5.5 lbs)

 

The retail price of the Pro iESL is US$1,399 (ex-tax) or €1,575/£1,395 (incl VAT).

 

Stay tuned, tech stuff coming up shortly!

[AMR/iFi audio]

To be shown with Sennheiser Orpheus HE-1 is a reason for us to be proud, hence we'll just leave the proof here...

[AMR/iFi audio]

On 22.06.2017 at 7:02 AM, Lord Raven said:

 

Same here, I know the prices you just told me. 

 

I have a Chord Mojo, I run my headphones through it, almost all the time I use it as a stand-alone  DAC for my studio monitors and tube amp. I was looking for something else, a full blown DAC. I used Geek Pulse SFi, it was good but only for a while.

 

The Pro iDSD will arrive, we've put so much effort to have it at this almost complete stage. This is a very important product for us, we don't want and won't rush it.

[AMR/iFi audio]

On 23.08.2017 at 7:46 AM, kelvinwsy said:

Yes but the 64 Million Dollar Question is WHEN? We ifi fans have been waiting since Mid 2015. Is it going to be before year end. Some of us have worn out our idsd micro once over (battery dead), gone onto the BL and if things don't happen guess we will have to become customers of something like the T& A DSD 8>??

 

An update and a sneak preview of the special goodies in this much delayed Pro iDSD will be much appreciated. 

 

We feel your pain, we really do! Yet it goes rather without saying how important Pro iDSD is for us. Becaue we aim at something truly impressive, we cant rush the development process. And in order to achieve that, time is needed. 

 

To make this rather blunt and a bit harsh statement a bit sweeter, let us just say that the development process is almost done and we're deep in the tweaking phase. And once this is done, we'll start to propagate our usuall tech talk. Folks, we aren't that far off. We can't give any specifics yet, but the Pro iDSD cogs are moving nicely.

 

[AMR/iFi audio]

On 27.08.2017 at 1:04 AM, rickca said:

I just read that iFi will implement MQA in new product lines.  That will probably delay things even more.

 

We neither confirm nor deny MQA.

[AMR/iFi audio]

22 minutes ago, lmitche said:

Please don't include MQA. I want MQA to fail. It is a DRM technology and has no benefits for the consumer. The fewer DACs with MQA the better. We may have to start a boycott of MQA enabled DACs in support of a DRM free world.

 

As far as MQA goes, we look into it.

[AMR/iFi audio]

Girls and guys, just a short announcement:

We will be at RMAF !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

On our several stations we'll have lots of currently available iFi audio stuff with us, namely Pro iESL and Pro iCAN, iCAN SE, iTube2, iDAC2 micro iDSD BL and a bunch our accessories too!

But there we will also show nano iDSD Black Label !!! 

Be sure to visit us at the atrium - CanJam 24!

[AMR/iFi audio]

GE5670 reserved for flagship AMR and iFi

Press release

 

We have some mixed news for lovers of the GE5670.

 

It is our understanding that we have tracked down and acquired the last known large-scale stockpile of GE5670 tubes.

 

 

 

The good news is that we have amassed a respectable inventory for AMR to use in their machines and for iFi to use in their flagship ‘Pro’ series for the foreseeable future (read: years).

 

The bad news is that once units in the supply chain of iTUBE2s and NOS6922s are all gone, there will be no more. The recent rise in the price of the GE5670 makes it even more the right decision to not continue with using the GE5670 in this product. Given that we need to reserve 2 pcs of the GE5670 for each Pro iDSD and Pro iCAN and for the AMR 777 machines too, priority must be given to these flagship products.

 

History of the venerable GE5670

 

For those wishing to delve into the history of the GE5670 and why we chose it over its ‘lesser’ cousin the 6922:

 

https://ifi-audio.com/portfolio-view/accessory-nos-6922-2/

[AMR/iFi audio]

Guys, please keep it civilized in here, alright? We also don't think that Pro iDSD topic is the best place to discuss MQA in general. 

[AMR/iFi audio]

Just now, Samuel T Cogley said:

 

Hello @AMR/iFi audio

 

I was reading the thread over at Head-Fi, specifically about tube availability and warranty period, etc.

 

My question:  Can the tube be bypassed in the iDSD Pro?  I would probably bypass it on day one, eliminating the concern for finding replacement tubes in the future.

 

Thanks in advance

 

It can. Via a knob on the product's front, its output stage can be set to be purely solid-state J-FETs based circuit of fully-discrete Class A topology. Tubes will always glow once the device is powered on nonetheless.

[AMR/iFi audio]

Just now, Samuel T Cogley said:

 

Whew!  Thanks!

 

Any chance the manual will be released soon so that curious people like me can read this kind of information before 2/15?

 

It actually will. Very shortly we'll introduce people to Pro iDSD's front, then rear and probably innards afterwards. Do check this thread.

[AMR/iFi audio]

Pro iDSD - The easygoing perspective The enclosure and front panel – part 1/2

Introduction

Our latest and greatest DAC – the Pro iDSD – is just around the corner. We’ve already tackled several technical matters related to this device, and all these are to be found via links in the first post of this thread:

 

·         https://www.head-fi.org/threads/ifi-audio-pro-idsd-the-official-thread.869144/

 

In short, we’ve explained in our regular fashion why this product is very unique. Since there’s still some time left to the official launch of our upcoming flagship DAC’s, we thought we’d describe in a less techy and more easygoing, newbie-friendly way what our Pro iDSD is all about. First stop is its enclosure’s front, back and - later on - also innards.

 

The Pro iDSD – what is it exactly?

 

This machine, in short, is a DAC, also known as a d/a converter and quite commonly as a source. This means that its main purpose is to receive a digital signal either via cable or wirelessly, convert it to its analogue form and then pass it on to devices such as a preamplifier, a stereo power amplifier, a pair of mono amplifiers, a headphone amplifier or directly to various headphones. Yes, all these devices operate in the analogue domain, which leads us on to this statement:

 

·         The Pro iDSD won’t pass digital signals to a different DAC and yes, this is on purpose

 

The Pro iDSD was primarily built as a high quality digital to analog converter and this is how it should be used. It’s already function packed as it is and - instead of making it operable as an S/PDIF converter - our goal was to use the space normally reserved for this in a more useful way. Basically, using the Pro iDSD to feed a similar device with a digital signal is a big waste of its potential.

 

The enclosure

 

Now, we have all that out of the way, let’s focus on the Pro iDSD’s enclosure. This machine is the same size as the iFi audio Pro iCAN and both products look very similar. The enclosure is made out of aircraft grade aluminium and its main purpose is to dissipate heat from the devices inside as they will get hot when powered on. In order to further improve on this, the chassis has many venting holes on its sides and on top. These align in a pleasantly rounded shape with a magnifying glass with a pair of fabulous vintage JAN GE5670 valves underneath. (Quick note – these class act valves are now reserved ONLY for our Pro series products but that’s another story). Anyway, we reckon that the Pro series chassis looks very cool.

 

The front panel – LED diode and standby/power switch

Let’s start with the upper left corner. There’s the iFi Pro logo based on a LED diode. Once the Pro iDSD is powered on, this lights up with one of four different colours. Each indicates a different operational status:

 

·         Green: warming up

·         White: solid-state mode

·         Orange: tube mode

·         Red: protection mode

 

 

Moving on, there’s a small, flat button in the lower left corner. This turns the product on or puts it in standby mode if you are not shutting it down completely.

 

 

 

The front panel – input selector

Let’s now go a bit to the right. A large and endlessly rotating aluminium knob is next in line. It handles several jobs with its main one being digital input selection. You can cycle through the following options:

 

·         Ethernet/WiFi/Hard Disk/Micro SDHC (Network Bridge/Streamer)

·         Host USB

·         Coaxial/Optical Digital Input

·         XLR Digital Input

·         BNC Digital Input

 

 

There are also two additional adjustment options available via the input selector:

·         Brightness (adjustable via a three second press)

·         Polarity (adjustable via a long press)

 

The front panel – digital filter selector

The smaller knob located a bit to the right from the input selector is the digital filter selector. It enable two things.

 

 

The first feature (available via pressing the digital filter selector) is our proprietary DSD remastering. You can choose whether you’d like to have your music:

 

·         Normal – where DSD signals are passed directly to the DAC. For PCM you may choose between a set of digital filters or bit-perfect, unprocessed PCM

·         Upconverted to DSD512

·         Upconverted to DSD1024

 

The second feature allows you to cycle through these five different filters on the fly via the rotary action:

 

1.       'Bit-Perfect' - No digital filtering is applied, one tap

2.       'Bit-Perfect+' - No digital filtering is applied, one tap, SINC roll-off @ HF is corrected

3.       'Minimum Phase' - Minimum filtering, no pre-ringing, minimum post ringing, 32 taps

4.       'Apodising' - Modest filtering, no pre-ringing, modest post ringing, 128 taps

5.       'Transient Aligned' - Max filtering, max pre-ringing, maximum post-ringing, 16,384 taps

 

Please think of these filters as different flavours. Each trades off frequency response flatness, transient response and suppression of ultrasonic images in a different way. There is no “perfect” filter option, such a thing is not possible, so select the filter that offer the right set of compromises for you.

 

We’ve already covered in detail how our proprietary digital filtering works in the Pro iDSD. Please take a look here:

 

·         https://www.head-fi.org/threads/ifi-audio-pro-idsd-discussion-thread.702376/page-127

 

What’s important is that the Pro iDSD is equipped with a FPGA chip that runss on iFi audio’s custom firmware and is responsible for all filters and remasters listed above. It’s worth noting that in this DAC, these operations are hardware based.

 

 

 

[AMR/iFi audio]

Folks, iFi will attend Canjam NY. Come&see us! We'll showcase our upcoming Pro iDSD, we'll have Pro iRack on display, there's going to be a press conference at 12:00 on Saturday (17th of February) regarding launch of Pro iDSD and pro iRack.

 

See you there!

[AMR/iFi audio]

18 hours ago, photonblur said:

As a veteran of the audio wars, no need to thank me

for my service, when something sounds too good to

be true I'm eager to try it from dealer/distributor who

offers a reasonable satisfaction guarantee trial period

with no restocking fee a la musicdirect or similar.

Will this dac be broadly offered by current iFi USA

distributors.

 

It will, but at the very beginning stock available will be limited.

[AMR/iFi audio]

We'll leave it here... 

 

The Sound & Vision Bristol Show 2018 is in the past now. Things happened there, oh yes they did!

 
 
Yup, that's our full Pro rig on the Pro iRack.

 

 

 

Some people were impressed more than just 'mildly'....

 

And we had someone (aka The Cap'n) in there to answer the most technical questions there are.

[AMR/iFi audio]

On 7.03.2018 at 9:55 AM, firedog said:

Schiit seems to be very in love with theirs, also. 

 

What can we say, we honestly like how and what we do. But this aside, the 2018 Audio Video show in Lisbon just ended and here are some pictures our staff did during short breaks they were fortunate to have.

 

There were some peculiarly looking audio products showcased in there, that's a given!

 

The place itself was beautiful, in comparison to the weather in UK right now it seemed like a real paradise!

 

We had a listen to Sennheisers HD820 for the 1235423123123 time and yes, we like these.

 

Some of us couldn't keep up with the pressure and had to rest for a bit whenever and wherever possible. That's the official version. The unofficial one? It's very easy to be intimidated by TOTL Gryphon floorstanders...

 

[AMR/iFi audio]

23 hours ago, RichB said:

Cue Sir David Attenborough  narration . . .

 

Very rarely seen, much less filmed, due to its long 4 year gestation time, the elusive iDSD Pro is for the first time ever filmed here in the wilds of New York City (apparently prior to the headphone jack size change):

 

 

https://youtu.be/7bsMhFPhGHk

 

 

Yup, that's our man Owen in acton! Cheers!