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iFi breaks into the major league – Nano iDSD scoops EISA award!

 

Nano iDSD scoops EISA award

Best Product 2014-2015: HiFi Accessory

 

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iFi shatters the mould with EISA award

iFi is very pleased to announce that the nano iDSD has won the EISA 2014-2015 Best Product in the Hi-Fi Accessory category.

 

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EISA (European Imaging and Sound Association) is the most prestigious consumer electronics association in Europe and spans the globe. Perennially, the electronics giants are always there - iFi being only a two years “young” company(okay, parent AMR has been going for much longer), is pleasantly surprised by this award.

 

It seems iFi is gaining bigger and bigger accolades and they do not come much bigger than the EISA award. In everyday terms, this is like a non-Hollywood movie winning an Oscar for the best movie! So as you can see, this is pretty major news for any audio company let alone iFi.

 

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The EISA citation reads:

“Beautiful sounds can certainly come from very small packages, as iFi’s nano iDSD serves to demonstrate. This USB DAC is powered via an internal Lithium battery that’s charged via the connected USB hub on a PC or Mac, offering up to 10 hours of playing time with most headphones or via the RCA line outputs. The single USB input confers compatibility with the highest resolution music files including 32-bit/384kHz DXD and quad-speed DSD256 and will even play DSD files directly from a mobile phone (iOS/Android) or iPad using a third-party App. The specification includes precision, temperature-compensated clocks and a bespoke headphone amp rated at 80mW but it’s the impressively sweet and insightful sound that is the nano iDSD’s most memorable feature. This has to be the hi-fi bargain of the year!”

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Art’s excellence Micro iDSD Review – Part 1

 

“Now that I have listened intensively to the iFi Micro iDSD for almost a week, I can see my piggy-bank getting nervous…The iFi Micro IDSD is actually five appliances in one. In no particular order: it is a very comprehensive (portable) headphone amplifier, a USB to S/PDIF converter (coaxial and optical), a preamplifier, a USB da-converter that can handle a staggeringly high resolution for both PCM and DSD and last but not least a portable charger for your smartphone or tablet. All combined in a compact, perfectly finished aluminum housing.”

 

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Thanks Max Delissen! (iFi:Holland)

 

More information at:

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Art’s excellence Micro iDSD Review – Part 2 – As a DA-Converter

 

“As a DA-Converter – The iFi Micro iDSD found its way to my big audio system as the ‘resident da-converter’…The sound quality I got from my MacBook (using JRiver as a Player) was phenomenal. I threw every Hi-Res file-format I could find at it (24/192 PCM, DSD64, DSD128 and DXD)….An album that is really good for determining sound quality is When The World Was One by Matthew Halsall & The Gondwana Orchestra…Through the Micro iDSD, the instruments in the slow and brooding track A Far Away Place are firmly placed and clearly separated from each other, in a huge bubble of sound in which the acoustics of the recording space are clearly distinguishable. The timbre of each instrument is very life-like and natural, and there still is that sweetness in the sound that I really like. Listening fatigue is something that will not occur with the iFi Micro iDSD.”

 

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Thanks again Max Delissen! (iFi:Holland)

More information at:

Edited by Stereo_Electronics

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Art’s excellence Micro iDSD Review – Part 2 – As a Headphone amp

 

“As a Headphone Amp – To get a good impression, I use both my Ultimate Ears Triple-Fi in-ears, as well as my ‘big’ AKG K 701…the range of the volume control was nice and wide, and the music loud enough. The sound you get is powerful and deep, with a lot of dynamics and detail…The 3D Holographic Sound actually puts the music more ‘outside’ of my head, making it sound as if I was listening to a good set of hifi loudspeakers”

 

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Thanks again Max Delissen! (iFi:Holland)

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Art’s excellence Micro iDSD Review – Part 3 – Final

 

“The young and rapidly growing market for compact DSD da-converters, the competition is fierce. But if you take all the other brilliant features of the iFi Micro iDSD into consideration, the competition falls behind. As a portable da-converter annex headphone amplifier, the iFi Micro iDSD gives you true High-End performance. As a stand-alone da-converter, in a computer-audio setup or even a large hifi set, it’s also worth every penny. A similarly priced DSD converter from an esteemed semi-professional brand (which I will not name here) got a run for its money, and completely lacks portability.”

 

Thanks again Max Delissen! (iFi:Holland)

 

Some great snaps of the Micro iDSD, too!

 

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iFi audio Micro iDSD Battery Powered DAC / Headphone Amplifier

Holy &%$&! the Micro iDSD DAC with headphone amp rocks!

Review By Steven R. Rochlin

 

Once in a Blue Moon, comes a review written with such fervour that one just cannot ignore. The fact that the micro iDSD won a Blue Note Award is fabulous in itself but the enthusiasm of this review literally jumps out at you.

 

"Today it is my joy to bring forward one of those great designs that meets exceeds, their customer's 'wants list'....

 

.....As a stand-alone DAC, only some crazy reviewer-type would compare the $499 iFi Audio Micro iDSD to the ~$26,600...

 

...As this month is Enjoy the Music.com's annual Blue Note Awards, am sure you can already tell that the iFi Audio Micro iDSD has earned not just my highest of respect, but my personal fave award for best portable DAC/amp combo too! For only $499 the ifi Audio Micro iDSD delivers and incredible value, can handle every conceivable digital music file type today and for the foreseeable future for many years to come....

 

... I foresee the iFi Audio Micro iDSD unit being one of those products you will be gladly using 10 years from now. A decade from today it should still handle everything you can throw out it from modern digital music files, an external DAC, plus handle everything from custom IEMs and those hard-to-drive planar magnetic headphones too. Smart audiophiles can stop wasting their hard earned cash with typical DAC-of-the-month products and instead get a device that can keep them happily enjoying the music today and for many years to come.

 

Yes, we nearly spat our coffee out when we ready this.

 

Thank you Mr Rochlin - we didnt expect to see the Blue Note Award and neither did we see your enthusiasm! We love it.

 

iFi audio Micro iDSD Battery Powered DAC / Headphone Amplifier Holy &%$&! the Micro iDSD DAC with headphone amp rocks! Review By Steven R. Rochlin

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Technoheadphone reviews micro iDSD and gives it 9.5 outta 10!

 

Technoheadphone was one of the core contributors to the micro iDSD “Crowd-Design” thread on Head-Fi. So to be fair, they played a part in development of the micro iDSD. With that disclaimer out of the way, Technoheadphone waxed lyrical: “The result is a spectacular soundstage in terms of depth, width and height. Other than the flying high resolution it can output, the musicality is excellent with great presence. I can hear every single click in the music with detail; highs are well rounded, making it a suitable pairing with any headphone amplifier. The imaging of the DAC is equally impressive as the soundstage making it a great smart choice for movies.” With a 9.5 out of 10 rating, concluded “For $500, I would say it’s a perfect sweet spot asking price despite its high output power, duo DAC, high resolution playblack and so much more in a rather small chassis (for what it offers).”

 

Thank your Technoheadphone very much and for contributing to the Crowd-Design thread making the micro iDSD the spectacular product that it is.

iFi Micro iDSD Review: The Meaty Monster

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ClieOS pens a very technically proficient review of the Nano iDSD/iCAN/iPurifier

 

It is not every day that one comes across a reviewer who knows what he/she is measuring as well as being able to pen an exceptionally thorough review. Well ClieOS from inearmatters.net has done just that.

 

In addition to the very nice review on the sonics and features, we do like reading about the technical measurements and the fact that the nano series measure just fine.

 

“On the nano iDSD however, I’ll say you are getting a hell lot more of a DAC than an amp…

 

How did iFi do it then? Well, they were able to dig up some hidden features that are designed into the chip but not officially documented. Then they develop a custom XMOS solution to enable all those extra stuffs that you won’t find on any other DSD1793 implementation outside of iFi. The result is a sub$200 USB DAC that has features than usually belong to DAC that is priced in the thousands….

 

The degree of refinement is something I haven’t experienced on EQ from another brand of portable amp…

 

…. iFi Audio has managed to pack in some unique features to both nano iDSD and iCAN to make them stand out from the sea of portable amps and DAC in the market, while still makes sure they stay competitively priced. That’s no small feat on its own.”

 

We would like to thank ClieOS for taking the time to listen, measure and dig deep down into what the nano iDSD, nano iCAN and iPurifier all do. A big thank you.

 

Read here for full article: In Ear Matters: [impression] iFi nano iDSD and iCAN with a splash of iPurifer

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Michael Fremer’s Analogo Planet iTUBE elevates US$10k setup into “A Super System”

 

Towards the end of the very nice VC Audio Labs MB-45 KT120 Monoblock Power Amplifier review, Michael Fremer dropped the iTube into the US$10k setup and it seems like he enjoyed what happened next:

 

“So I took the amps upstairs to my home theater that uses a pair of excellent Sonics by Joachim Gerhard Amerigo speakers (the brand name was subsequently changed to Spiral Groove and later to Canalis). These are/were $8000 3-way floor standers with relatively low 85dB efficiency. Add the Oddwatt MB-45s and the iFi iTube and you’re at around $10,000………Holy ****! The combination was like “what more could one want”? The iTube sufficiently (but just subtly) softened the overall sound to produce some of the best sound I’ve heard yet from those speakers. There was an ideal synergy between the iTube and the amps. The volume was almost up all the way but I was playing it loud into a fairly large room. The speakers are usually powered by 200 watts per channel of a 5 channel John Curl designed Parasound A-51 amp that’s very good sounding but these tube amps produced tube amp oomph and spaciousness while locking down those woofers.”

 

Thanks Analog Planet. Try the iPhono+iTube = baby PH-77!

The VC Audio Labs MB-45 KT120 Monoblock Power Amplifier Kit (Manufacturer's Comment Added) | Analog Planet

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Two thumbs up for the Micro iDSD!

 

“The IDSD provides for a few days with me for first impressions and no less than excellent….in any case, the IDSD a real caliber, powerful, tonally clean, with lush correct spatial representation….So much time to time in accordance with the first impressions and not difficult to see that this is a very interesting device….So in short, the IDSD has it sound downright in itself and is a real number…. I could hear up to that quality, sufficient for two thumbs up”

 

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Thank you Lotus Blossom of Open-end-Music!

ifi Audio Micro iDSD - open-end-music-professional

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CanMania 2014: iFi and the stack of portable awesome!

 

A short write up of iFi products at CanMania!

 

“iFi Audio is a fascinating brand, focusing (almost) exclusively on portable personal audio….They are, in short, really nifty….The iFi lineup right now is rather robust. There are solutions for headphone amplifiers, portable DACs, preamplifiers, cables, USB converters and “scrubbers”, and more. Happily, not a single component falls anywhere near $1,000, so I suppose all of these components fall on the “high-value” side of the audiophile line, which give me a happy….They now sell a mini shelf system for keeping all these little dudes organized….iFi, FTW”

 

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Thanks Scot Hull! Great snaps too!

CanMania 2014: iFi and the stack of portable awesome | Confessions of a Part-Time Audiophile

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David of Blog.pclad.pl is surprised by the iDSD Micro!

 

“People with Audio iFi reached out to the community forum Head-Fi.org. They asked for comments, what features users would like to see in the mobile converter…In tandem with iDSD Micro HiFiMAN HE-560 plays excellently, and the smoothness and naturalness are the key words…..iDSD Micro is the next iTube, for me the best sounding, most refined and thoughtful iFi audio device….Therefore iDSD Micro is for me such a big and positive surprise….It mainly makes listening to music for me is just so pleasant, that I forget about analyzing it”

 

Thanks David “Violator” Mushroom of Blog.pclab.pl and MojeAudio (iFi: Poland)!

iFi Audio iDSD Micro - test. Ma

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Rie Fu blasting ahead with Quad-Speed DSD256 recording of her latest album!

 

 

 

Please bookmark Rie Fu’s Facebook site as she will be uploading cool photos of her recording session with Shimada-san and his team at iFi Japan.

 

We absolutely cannot wait to hear her Quad-Speed DSD256 album. It is going to be absolutely amazing. It will go down a treat both inside and outside of Japan.

Here is Rie Fu with the micro iDSD aka the “Meaty Monster”

 

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Sharing a beautiful song by Rie Fu

Edited by Stereo_Electronics

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The Digital Octopus! Micro iDSD review by Mr Jose José Victor Henriques, Editor

 

HiFi Club’s editor: (HiFiClube - Bem vindo!) Mr Jose Henriques is one of the most well-respected reviews in Portugal.

 

“So, I have informed Esoterico – I’ll buy the iFi Micro IDSD and integrate it into the main Hificlube team to compete in the world championship of digital audio…..Note: as if not enough to have the best spec / price ratio of the market, the packaging of Micro looks like a Kinder Egg full of “gifts”: velvet pouch, multiple analog and USB cables, adapters Sets, self-adhesive of octa adopters. A feast for the big kids that we are all of us audiophiles! ..”

 

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Thank Mr Henriques – for the extremely thorough and professional write-up and welcome to the iClub!

iFI Micro iDSD DAC: O POLVO DIGITAL | Reviews/Testes | Artigos | HifiClube

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Audeze Co-Founder And CEO Alexander Rosson gives the iFi Audio Micro iDSD partnered with the LCD-X a big thumbs up!

 

With thanks to Enjoy the Music’s Steven Rochlin and Michael Mercer, here is the just uploaded ETM interview with Alex Rosson (CEO: Audeze).

 

Fast-forward to 04.20. Albeit at a low-volume, Alex said the Micro iDSD “was the most advanced product on the floor”.

 

Audition an Audiophile combo, iFi Audio and Audeze at Stereo@Plaza Singapura and Stereo@ION Orchard now! Financing available up to 12 months interest-free instalment plan with Citibank credit card!

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U3TNp_w4988

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