Ifi Micro iDSD Octa DSD DAC - Anyone heard one?

Bigerik

AK Subscriber
Subscriber
Really curious about the Ifi Micro iDSD DAC. Seems like technological overkill for now (Octo DSD???), but for $500 it seems like a pretty great and future proof way to get into DSD streaming.

http://ifi-audio.com/portfolio-view/micro-idsd/

iDSD-Micro-Render.jpg
 
I haven't heard it but there's a big thread on it over at head-fi. It looks like it could be a real winner. Unfortunately it's starting to give me gear lust :)
 
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I saw that thread, but I figure the folks on AK have better taste and discernment. :)
 
Yep - go check out that thread - LOTS of great info there!!! Sometimes I wish we could combine "Modern Day Hi Fi" and "Digital Formats & Music Servers" since there are typically only 30-40 viewers of Modern Day Hi Fi and 10-20 for the other one.

Anyway - Eric, check out that thread. I've been dragging my feet for a couple years now and finally jumped in after reading that nudge from Slippers' thread. I'm VERY happy that I did. The ifi Micro iDSD is FANTASTIC connected to the Mac Mini :D
 
Yep - go check out that thread - LOTS of great info there!!! Sometimes I wish we could combine "Modern Day Hi Fi" and "Digital Formats & Music Servers" since there are typically only 30-40 viewers of Modern Day Hi Fi and 10-20 for the other one.

Anyway - Eric, check out that thread. I've been dragging my feet for a couple years now and finally jumped in after reading that nudge from Slippers' thread. I'm VERY happy that I did. The ifi Micro iDSD is FANTASTIC connected to the Mac Mini :D

Josh,

Great idea on combining the two threads. More to read in one place, especially since I'm getting more into digital now:D. But seriously I see a lot integration of digital into all types of amplification and combination products.
 
I've had mine for two weeks now and....


...it hasn't left the box. :sigh:

Im ready to hear it kick the Schiit out of this Gungnir that sent the Rega and MF M1 packing. But no expectation bias here...I promise.

I can say this...iFi would do themselves a favor to put Byron on their US sales team. :yes: I didn't get any further than two or three pages into his thread and before I knew it I had an email notification from Paypal that I'd sent payment to so and so for an iFi Micro DAC and USB PS. :sigh:
 
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as I am repurposing my old mac, I was considering the non DSD DAC as well. I will watch here with great interest.
 
Josh,

Great idea on combining the two threads. More to read in one place, especially since I'm getting more into digital now:D. But seriously I see a lot integration of digital into all types of amplification and combination products.
Well, maybe the powers that be will consider integrating the Digital sub forum in with the Modern Day Hi-Fi sub forum :D
 
I've had mine for two weeks now and....


...it hasn't left the box. :sigh:

Im ready to hear it kick the Schiit out of this Gungnir that sent the Rega and MF M1 packing. But no expectation bias here...I promise.

I can say this...iFi would do themselves a favor to put Byron on their US sales team. :yes: I didn't get any further than two or three pages into his thread and before I knew it I had an email notification from Paypal that I'd sent payment to so and so for an iFi Micro DAC and USB PS. :sigh:

Lol! Well I hope it works out for you! And if not, you can always send it to me! :thmbsp:
 
Eric, I don't have the iDSD yet, but I do have the iUSB power supply and it is nothing short of miraculous. Highly Recommended! I was under the impression that the iDSD DAC had the iUSB's power supply already built into it, but I could be mistaken. I see that everyone is getting the iUSB with the iDSD, so there must be a benefit. I can tell you that the iUSB took my USB powered Roland AD/DA unit up several notches in sonic quality. I'll be laying down the cash for the iDSD soon!
 
I finally caved in & pulled the trigger on one. Gave it some charge time as per instructions & then tried to get it to hook up with the computer. Got the installing drivers message but then got the installation failed message (I'm at work now so can't check what the exact wording is). I tried it on 2 computers, a laptop running Vista & a desktop running Windows 7 (preferred since that's my main system) & got the failed message on both. I'll try it again tonight but may need to open a ticket with iFi to see what is going on. Big bummer, because I was really looking forward to checking this thing out too. We'll see what time & further tinkering will produce.
 
Try running the driver install as administrator. Right click "run as administrator"
Sometimes this helps on driver installs
 
Thanks for the tip, Beercan. I'll try that but first I have another problem to overcome now. This afternoon when I turned on the computer it didn't even give the installing drivers message. I had disconnected the iDSD before booting up. This morning I had tried booting up with the unit already connected & got the same results. I tried doing a search but didn't find anything under iFi or iDSD so I can't tell if the drivers are still on the computer or not.
 
Thanks for the tip, Beercan. I'll try that but first I have another problem to overcome now. This afternoon when I turned on the computer it didn't even give the installing drivers message. I had disconnected the iDSD before booting up. This morning I had tried booting up with the unit already connected & got the same results. I tried doing a search but didn't find anything under iFi or iDSD so I can't tell if the drivers are still on the computer or not.

I did have an issue in the beginning. I installed the drivers and all was perfect. Then one day I forgot to turn off the Micro....so I fired up the system and noticed a error message from Jriver. Apparently the Setting I was using wasn't showing up in JRiver. So I checked the sound and the driver wasn't there. Finally I checked device managers and under sound drivers it wasn't showing. So I deleted all of the iFI install from the computer..all that I could find...everything iFI related, all but the initial down load folder. After all was deleted, I rebooted the computer and installed drivers from the down load folder again. Still no drivers showing in device manager. I then did a power cycle on the iUSB. Unplugged the power from the IUSB for like 30 seconds and plugged back in...and tooshay! Drivers all appeared and back in business. Ain't had a problem sense.....blissful DSD128!
 
Thanks for the suggestions, BeerCan & slippers-on. I opened a ticket with iFi & they replied that their latest OS doesn't work with a small percentage of computers. They suggested I load version 2.20. That seems to have solved the problem. Just doing a quick A/B with the micro & my Aune T1 & will try to post some impressions in the next day or so. Thanks again!
 
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