May 28, 2018 the ifi micro idsd black label is surely expensive. Oct 05, 2016 it finely arrived and took the place of my ifi micro idsd black, micro itube 2 and micro iusb 3. The inbuilt ifi ipurifier means it delivers clean, quality music with no buzz, no hiss and no fuss. After the upgrade, please unplug the nano idsd from your computer and completely power off the nano idsd before first use. All existing ifi devices minus the original idac and minus the idsd pro use the exact same firmware.
The black label looks very good on the outside yet the inside is even better where relentless attention has been paid to advancing the sonics with the very latest components. The ifi micro idsd black label is the newest ifi micro flagship product. Oct 05, 2016 software march mqa firmware for all nano and micro products this firmware was one of the most important things for us in 2018. The nano idsd black label is small but mighty with 10x more amplification power than an iphone. Jul 03, 2018 ifi nano idsd black label product link. Take it anywhere small enough to fit in your pocket, the ifi nano idsd dac and headphone amplifier signifies the first time you can enjoy sterling dsd audio on the go.
Review and measurements of ifi nano ione dac audio science. They are very clean sounding, with little to no emphasis on the bass. Adds gibbs transient optimised digital gto filter this replaces the minimum phase filter. Paul rigby looks at the ifi nano idsd le light edition the idsd le comes from the same design place as the nano idsd but without the spdif output, digital filter selection and runs any file up to dsd128pcm384. Its portable form belies its bleedingedge technological design. Follow the on screen instructions and ensure the ifi equipment is plugged in. Apr 14, 2017 if you are keen on audio quality but listen to music on your phone or computer, a mobile dacheadphone amplifier is the key to getting results. Review and measurements of ifi nano ione dac page 2 audio.
While i tried the nano idsd with 17 different earphones and headphones, i did the bulk of my listening through two models that yielded spectacularly good results with the ifi. Micro idsd dop pop fix via firmware upgrade with native dsd playback, on some audio software playback programs, the pop issue is dealt withnot dealt with. Only do the upgrade or downgrade of the firmware when necessary. The software i use is jriver, so it does not play mqa. It can drive most headphones and has our iematch technology builtin, so it can work with inearmonitors iems. File playback, meanwhile is what ifi terms as true native. Out front, the nano idsd provides a stereo rca analogue output, a 3. The micro idsd micro will try to recharge while in sleep mode e. Yes, its taken a while to come to market but, boy, has it been worth the wait.
Due to the pro idsd having different circuit architecture, weve produced its own firmware and instructions. The unit is quite cute in a small and portable configuration although somewhat chunky. The inbuilt ifi ipurifier means it delivers clean, quality music with. Fwiw, i feel that way using oppo pm2 and pm3, audeze lcdxc, and philips fidelio x227. Mar 30, 2018 for demonstration purposes this video is purely to show that how to correctly install ifi firmwares via the windows operating system, it is not specific to any individual firmware version. The original was one of the first batterypowered dacs compatible with iphone and android and it offered full highresolution audio playback with support for dxd. This makes the impression that the instruments are not all at the same distance from you which, actually, is closer to how live music sounds in reality. It is the worlds smallest, portable only 163g, batterypowered, serious dac that plays all highresolution formats. Disabling passthrough mqa allows tidals software unfoldin. System right now is a musical fidelity m6si integrated, thiel cs2. The sonic transparency is there for all to hear and is secondtonone. It is not specifically for the idsd nano bl only, please refer to our mqa upgrade guide or user. Coming from ifi micro idsd, i can only treat it with more attention and see if the buzz words make a difference in sound quality.
I would choose the hugo over the idsd see what i did there. For demonstration purposes this video is purely to show that how to correctly install ifi firmwares via the windows operating system, it is not specific to any individual firmware version. This is an upstream characteristics of native, dsd playback and varies from system to system. I listened to the ifi nano for two evenings, feeding it everything from redbook data to 192 khz, and some dsd my own recordings via a sotm mini sever usb output. The micro idsd has just made another leap, an octaleap to be precise. Requirement iphone 44s5 5c 5s ios7 ipad any ios ipod touch ios7 ipod classic thgeneration 4 thand 5. Review and measurements of ifi nano ione dac page 2. Ifi nano idsd original using filtro gto general forum. Im exagerating a bit, but youll hear it for yourself. I feel the hugo has more controlledtighter bass, and it has noticeably. Upgrade the firmware upgrade the firmware by pressing start.
When it is done, it will say firmware upgrade finished successfully. Looking ahead, as audio transmission standards improve, with an ultraspeed. It is a usb headphone amplifier that supports high rates of dsd and with a recent firmware mqa a nice addition. The original nano idsd portable dac appeared on the market in 2014 and proved to be a bit of a gamechanger and now manufacturer ifi are back with the updated nano idsd black label. Soundstage and imaging you get a feeling of more depth and space. When ifi was designing the micro idsd bl i think they decided making something for everyone wasnt quite enough, i think they wanted to make it everything to everyone, a big challenge. The nano idsd is approximately 55% the size of the idac or the itube from the micro series. It also supports mqa, thus extending playback to physical mqa files and tidal masters. Windows firmware installation ifi audio products only. With an onboard lithiumpolymer battery you can listen music up to 10 hours at home or on. Its a great piece of equipment and a fantastic price. Review and measurements of ifi nano ione dac audio. Nov 11, 2017 the original nano idsd portable dac appeared on the market in 2014 and proved to be a bit of a gamechanger and now manufacturer ifi are back with the updated nano idsd black label. The downloads and ifi website have changed, though.
Good afternoon, i have an original ifi nano idsd with firmware 5. Mine sure as heck do not have usbc, and the your pictures clearly show a microb interface. So my ifi idsd nano dac was delivered yesterday, got it home and hooked it up with no issues. The ifi micro idsd bl could be the finest transportable allinone ampdac unit i have heard. The nanos burrbrown true native dac can handle pcm files all the way up to 32bit384khz arguably more than you need, as well as dxd and dsd256 formats. Jul 19, 2014 while i tried the nano idsd with 17 different earphones and headphones, i did the bulk of my listening through two models that yielded spectacularly good results with the ifi.
But by adding a second double b, ifi was able to lower the noise floor by 3 db as well as improve channel separation to boot. But this high price affords you a complete device that is a bit of a swiss army knife its got lots of features and is extremely capable in everything it does. It might be interesting to compare to the chord hugo 2 under more controlled circumstances blind and in a home setting however. We hope you enjoy your idsd nano even more than before. In some instances it may be necessary to disable the antivirus software to install this driver. Looking for a low cost, high value headphone amplifierdac. Follow the on screen instructions and ensure the ifi. This direct signal path is without peer and is a mainstay of the ifi dac range including the idsd le. Hugo vs idsd musical delight vs analytic presentation. However, they also do not recommend the user to upgrade or downgrade the firmware just for fun since there is a small chance of bricking the idsd nano. The mqa renderer on all ifi dacs except pro performs unfolding to 8x rates. We dsd the ifi nano idsd dac also doubles as a batterypowered 80mw headphone amp and can handle pcm resolutions up 32384, dxd, single and double rate dsd and with a recent firmware upgrade even quad rate dsd.
Now, ifi is set to rock the digital world again with the launch of idsd pro, a groundbreaking quad dac that will be used across the next generation of ifi products. We didnt want to include mqa functionality in just one or two products, we wanted to roll things out across all suitable ifi goods, even some discontinued models. Windows 10 idsd nano bl dac active speakers lineout from the idsd. Felt solid and well built, especially for being so diminutive. A key factor behind why the nano idsd le sounds so true is directdrive which means there are no output coupling capacitors. Here youll find firmware update over bluetooth for the devices listed above.
Even the micro idsd and nano idsd lines had far more specs published. Hipdacmicro idac discontinuedmicro idac2micro idsdmicro idsd blmicro ilink discontinued nano idsd. There is also the added sonic benefit from the usb3. It finely arrived and took the place of my ifi micro idsd black, micro itube 2 and micro iusb 3.
Extra ordinary mqa easter egg introductionwith easter just around the corner, ifi audio has delivered an eagerly anticipated upgrade option as a very special easter gift. If your device is not on the list, you may just have to try it out. As you can see above, at the heart of the idsd is a pair of burrbrown multibit dacs that offer true native dsd and pcm support, the exact same chipset found in the nano version of the idsd. The top panel of the nano idsd sports a tiny, multifunction, multicolour led that indicates formats and sample rates for files being played, connectivity status, and battery charging status. List of android compatible device and list of android noncompatible device 1. Unable to resist a challenge, i went through the upgrade process, which started with upgrading to the latest windows drivers version 2. If you mean more meaty, i think the idsd micro with firmware 5. Ifi micro idsd black label page 4 super best audio friends. Ifi nano and microgame changers steve hoffman music forums. Mqa and ifi audio have ifi xmos firmware version 5. Not surprising though as a lot, and i mean a lot of people complained about a standard microb, stating that usbc and fast charging is the way to go because its current year. Ifi nano and microgame changers steve hoffman music.