Black Label micro iDSD Amplifier Top Seller in Japan

Black Label micro iDSD Amplifier Top Seller in Japan

Southport, UK based company IFI has been making waves this year with their portable audio amplifiers and MajorHifi just got word that their micro iDSD Black Label Amplifier was a #1 seller this year in Japan. The micro iDSD BL is a handsome looking amplifier and DAC combo featuring the AMR Global Master-Timing femto precision clock system to reduce phase-noise and jitter. The micro iDSD BL has a Burr-Brown DSD512/PCM768/2xDXD True Native DAC enabling it playback of all music formats. The components are rich with high-fidelity parts like Sanyo OSCON capacitors, HCOFC copper lead-frames and 4N Gold bond-wire on the OV IC’s. The micro iDSD also has 3 output modes (Eco, Normal and Turbo) for different headphone applications as well as 3D and X-Bass technology. The battery will last 6-12 hours depending on the type of output needed for your headphone and can even charge your iPhone through the side USB port when not in use.

The micro iDSD BL edition is a powerhouse DAC and Amplifier that appears to be impressing even the most savvy tech customers making it a formidable opponent in the portable DAC/Amp market.

ifi-micro-idsd-black-label-portable-dac-amp-front-back

SPECIFICATIONS

Inputs/Outputs

Inputs (rear) USB 2.0 type A “OTG” Socket
(with iPurifier® technology built-in) Compatible with computers (Apple/Win/Linux), iPhone, iPod Touch, iPad and Android Devices, camera kit or USB-OTG cable required. (Full USB3.0 port compatible)
Intelligent SPDIF® Coaxial 3 Way combo SPDIF port (Coaxial In/Out; Optical In); Up to 192kHz PCM
SPDIF Optical

Outputs (rear) Audio RCA L+R
Intelligent SPDIF® Coaxial Up to 192kHz PCM

Output (right side) SmartPower® Socket Fast charge all portable devices. Compliant with USB Battery Charging Standard 1.2 – 5V @ 1.5A

Controls

Controls (front)
– HP Output Audio 6.3mm Headphone Jack
– Volume with Power On/Off switch Precision analogue volume control – 3.5mm Input Auto disable the digital section when this is in use
– X-Bass® On/Off
– 3D Holographic Sound® On/Off Auto-switching for Speakers® and Headphones® (two separate and distinct circuits)

Controls (left side)
– Power Mode Turbo, Normal, Eco Computer controlled power and gain scaling
– Polarity Normal/Inverted
– Filter 3 positions, 6 filters (see filter section below)

Controls (bottom)
– Line Direct/Preamplifier Preamplifier function Enable/Disable, 0/9dB gain selectable Fixed 2V or variable with up to 5V available
– iEMatch® Perfect-matching circuit for IEMs (eliminate hiss) Off / High Sensitivity Headphone / Ultra Sensitivity Headphone

DAC section

DAC Dual-core DSD, DXD, PCM DAC by Burr Brown 2-DAC Chip; 4-Channel; 8-Signals, custom interleaving for maximum SNR
Bit-Perfect DSD processing, Bit-Perfect PCM processing

Clock Ultra low jitter GMT computer controlled Femto Clock RMS jitter 12kHz – 1MHz < 280 Femtoseconds Audio Formats DSD 512/256/128/64 24.6/22.6/12.4/11.2/6.2/5.6/3.1/2.8 All native decoding, no internal hardware conversion DXD 2x/1x 768/705.6/384/352.8kHz All native decoding, no internal hardware conversion PCM 768/705.6/384/352.8/192/176.4/96/88.2/ 48/44.1kHz All native decoding, no internal hardware conversion Filters – PCM Bit-Perfect Processing/Minimum Phase/Standard Digital filters selectable – DSD Extreme/Extended/Standard Range Analogue filters selectable – DXD Bit-Perfect Processing Fixed analogue filter Specifications (DAC Section) Dynamic Range (Line) >117db(A)
THD & N (0dBFS Line) <0.003% Output Voltage (Line) >2V
Output Impedance (Zout) < 240Ω Jitter (correlated) Below AP2 test set limit Headphone Power Output HP Amp Output Power (max) Power (continuous.) – Turbo mode 10.0V/4,000 mW @ 16 Ohm >1560 mW @ 64 Ohm
> 166 mW @ 600 Ohm

– Normal mode 5.5V/1,900 mW @ 16 Ohm > 950 mW @ 32 Ohm
> 100 mW @ 300 Ohm

– Eco mode 2.0V/500 mW @ 8 Ohm > 250 mW @ 16 Ohm

Specifications (Headamp Section)

Dynamic Range (HP) >115dB(A) (Eco Mode, 2V Out)
THD &N (HP 500mW/16R) < 0.008% Output Voltage (HP) >8V (Turbo Mode)
Output Impedance (Zout) <1Ω (iEMatch not engaged)
Maximum Output Power 4,000mW @ 16 Ohm Load when using sinewave testing the iDSD micro may engage protection circuits
Continuous Output Power 1,000mW @ 64 Ohm Load

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An audio engineer living in Brooklyn, NY, Steven spends his spare time enjoying the sounds of ethereal indie rock and creating electronic music.