![]() This means you get the most comprehensive collection of supported formats I have ever seen and the ability to handle (in truncated form) up to 96kHz audio should you have an LDAC equipped source. Something that’s also worth noting is that the iDSD is actually the equivalent of two ZEN products because the Bluetooth implementation is identical to the ZEN Blue MkII. This message doesn’t differ that radically from the ZEN products but there’s more components mentioned here and greater emphasis on the output stage. The message is that everything that the iDSD does is done as well as it can be. There’s a roll call of op amp based outputs, TDK and muRata capacitors, alongside FET based switching. The analogue side of the iDSD reflects the same attention to detail. An extremely high quality clock serves to ensure that, pretty much regardless of what you elect to connect to it, the iDSD will decode it with negligible jitter. The company uses what it calls its Neo Engine which is a microprocessor controlled interface between the inputs and the decoding. In keeping with other iFi devices, there is a fair bit of emphasis on the wider circuit that this is employed in. ![]() As this is a four channel DAC, it allows the iDSD to be naturally balanced. These products do not make use of the ESS family of DACs and instead iFi employs Texas Instruments silicone for decoding. The mechanics by which the Neo iDSD does this is related to the ZEN DAC (and indeed other members of the ZEN family). The long and the short of it is that you’re unlikely to find yourself unable to play something in the next decade. The 768kHz PCM and DSD 512 benchmarks are hit (with DXD support too) and there is the added facility of MQA decoding as well. The good news for a number of people though is that the iFi is entirely state of the art. It’s largely irrelevant that files you play on the DACs have just about increased to the point where the original 192kHz PCM threshold might be useful. ![]() Over the years it has increased to the point where that same threshold the point where you go “yeah, that’s state of the art” is 768kHz PCM with DSD 512 support. When I began reviewing equipment for AVForums, the threshold of ‘decoding acceptability’ for DACs was 192kHz PCM. The second is that what has been tested is the iPower Elite external linear PSU, which was supplied with the unit and has been used for sections of testing. As this sample showed up prior to these devices being added to the bundle, they have not been tested. The first is that, at the time of writing (late December 2021), the Neo iDSD seems to be being offered as a pack with the iPurifier 3 and iPurifier 2 which are inline filters for the USB and S/PDIF inputs. Two small addenda need to be covered before we get stuck in to this one. The questions that need to be asked are, are these improvements sufficient to justify the price increase and does the product that results cut it against the competition at the price point? At £800, the Neo iDSD is considerably more expensive and, as we shall cover, it does a fair bit more with it too. This logically asks what happens if you give them more budget. More than simply being sensible, no nonsense engineering, it has a remarkable level of genuinely innovative thinking, judged almost regardless of price. We are in fact looking at the Neo iDSD because of its relationship to the ZEN DAC MkII.įor £160, the ZEN DAC MkII is an absurdly good product. As you may surmise then, we’re not looking at the iNeo DSD because it does something radical. This is in fact the same basic description that one can apply to the ZEN DAC MkII and indeed a host of other devices we have tested in recent years. The iFi Audio Neo iDSD is a DAC and preamp with headphone capability.
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