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iFi micro iDAC2 is out

Posted by soundchekk (A) on July 1, 2015 at 01:41:11

Hi there.

Just figured that the iDAC2 is out in the shops. Actually I've been looking forward to it for quite some months.
I tested the Nano some time back. And it was good. Not that good that I would have kept it though.
The flagship "Micro iDSD", which showed up a bit later, I considered too expensive. I actually didn't need all the features that came with it.
The iDAC2 was then announced in early 2015. By that time it seemed to be a high potential device to me. A no-frill highest quality DAC.

How did it turn out?
The iDAC2 now comes with class-A output stage. And the BB DAC known from the iDSD. That's it?
It can be assumed that Thorsten also improved the overall design.

The device is officially lined up between Nano and iDSD.
They don't tell if that ranking applies also to soundquality
on the RCA out. That's actually my main area of interest.

First glance impression (by looking at the specs):

1. There is no (analog) volume control on the RCA out. It's voltage is fixed at 2.1V. You need to run digital VC from the PC. Hmmh.
That's IMO not the best solution. Even a Dragonfly offers a better option. Many Sabre based solutions offer internal high quality VC too.
The devices volume control refers to the headphone-jack only.

2. I do not hope that the device has issues with 0db (max voltage) turn-on sounds/plops/crackles/...
Why am I concerned about this? What made me suspicious was a note ("Tip") in the manual: "ALWAYS connect and power on ALL other devices before connecting the USB cable to the iDAC2 as final step". Hmmh. Yep. ALWAYS and ALL is written in capital letters in the manual.
Every time I restart my computer I have to unplug the iDAC2 first!?!?
Come on iFi. You gotta be kidding.

Perhaps this requires further clarification.

3. The device doesn't have a battery. So. For mobile use it's not the first choice either.

4. The iDAC2 is buspowered only. Buspower vs. battery power might be a challenge. Perhaps Thorsten improved the power section and got this under control.
Otherwise a split USB cable is probably needed to feed high quality 5V for best sound. IMO iFi could have added at least one of the new quality wall wart powersupplies plus USB adapter to the package.

5. The device gets offered as bundle with ifi Purifier USB just 10% above the iDAC2 basic price of 379Euro over here.
I'm a bit suspicious about this point. If they offer it as bundle it could mean that even the newest generation DAC suffers noise issues on the USB interface.
If the iDAC2 wouldn't show any differences with the iPurifier there'd be no need to buy the bundle - even at a 10% extra only.

IMO a bundle offer with external iFi power wall wart supply and a USB adapter to inject external power would have been my prefered solution.

Update: Jul-6th

6. The DAC is mainly meant for desktop/stationary use according to iFi.
Why then having the USB port on one and the RCA out on the opposite side!?!?
RCA cable routing is gonna be all but optimal in most cases.
For headphone use it'll be OK of course.

###
###

Bottom line. Am I tempted to order the device right away?? Unfortunately not.
The iDAC2 needs to sound extraordinary good to make it an attractive device to me.
Otherwise my above comments obviously show that the iDAC2 wouldn't match my expectations on a 2015 DAC.

I'll wait for the first reviews to show up to see how it sounds and performs.

Good luck with the device iFi and Thorsten


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Edits: 07/01/15 07/01/15 07/06/15

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