To me I think what we are paying for is convenience, power, and a smooth and a touch warm sound that I actually enjoy for portable use. Definitely might not be your cup of tea. Everyone’s ears are different and we all perceive sound differently for sure. I also know that the amp did sound better with some burn in time as well.
Also I think synergies are important when pairing an Amp/Dac/transducers. I haven’t used any of the headphones you have with the iFi IDSD Micro Black Label so I cant offer much help there.
I would say in my experience using turbo gain mode on a 300ohm cans like the 6XX, or other high impedance or voltage needy planar magnetic headphones such as the Aeon2 line really helps open things up and tighten up the sound to my ears. So with your HD800 or other high impedance headphones Eco mode doesn’t likely do many favors for them audibly.
I don’t know honestly how many people are taking LCD4 on trips with the weight and size of them but I definitely could see a use case for wanting to have a portable solution to drive any headphone anywhere you go and with an output power at 4,000mW on turbo gain the iFi Micro IDSD Black Label does drive quite a few.
Yeah I mean I’m definitely conflicted if I actually like the product or not. I tried the Cayin N6II and that was a good bit better to me than the black label but also being twice the price, but… also not providing the power there really for harder to drive headphones. I could always use USB so it may not be a problem for meets. I probably had about 150 hours of use on the BL.
I definitely agree with the synergies part, I noticed some of headphones/IEMs substantially better on one amp over the other.
And then I did try it on the HD 580/800 but the turbo gain was waaaaaay too loud that I had to lower my phones output to the lowest level and needed to go lower than where I was already experiencing channel imbalance. I didn’t try it with normal gain as I felt it wouldn’t make much of a difference but maybe.
It definitely helps, if you look up the measurements and output for each gain level I believe it’s listed on Ifi’s website. I have only used normal gain and turbo gain with it, as most all my headphones benefit from one of the two. Maybe if you run into one again try it out and see, it could just be the sound signature you don’t like or the way it’s pairing up with your headphones too If it wasn’t related to running in normal gain. 150 hours should have been more than enough time.
I bought the iDSD BL to listen to music while I work on my computer. I must say I’ve been quite impressed with it.
One thing I’m not sure about is whether it’s alright to just leave it plugged into the USB port permanently. This means that the battery will charge constantly. Will this harm the battery?
I would have to reference the manual to properly answer that question. I also know iFi support is great about getting back to people if you drop their website a quick ticket they may have the answer. Typically I do not leave it connected however. I am glad you are liking it! Definitely one of my favorite amp/Dac combo units!
I found a write up on this on one of the FAQs on iFi’s website. It seems that there is no issue leaving the iDSD plugged-in permanently. Battery charging and preventing overcharging are handled automatically.
2.1) Preparation - Make sure to let the iDSD micro charge fully over a > 12 hour period switched off to make sure the battery is at maximum charge. Disconnect iDSD micro and reconnect while switched off. The LED should turn blue for a few seconds, then go off. If the LED stays blue it means the previous charge process timed out before the battery was full, in this case investigate your USB cable and charger/port used, as they may provide insufficient power.
2.2) Operation - Turn on iDSD micro after connecting the USB cable. Leave turned on permanently. Make sure that the USB audio stream cuts off when not using the iDSD micro audio and the iDSD micro goes into sleep mode.
Then, if attached to a BC1.2 USB port, operation is ‘forget about it’ and completely transparent. If attached to a standard USB Port ‘forget about it’ use is limited to Eco & Normal power modes."
I am still using the IFi Micro IDSD Black Label - the “Swiss Army Knife” of mobile/desktop DAC/amps. It drives practically anything you throw at it, from over the ear to iems, with aplomb. I use it both as a desktop DAC/amp with a MacBook Air and Focal Stellias, and as a mobile DAC/amp with an iPhone X on the patio or around the house.
Given all the things that it can do, and do well, it is a great value.
Yes. Although it would be helpful to get more out of you re use scenario and expectations so Im assuming you know what this does.
You can often find them as open box or used so you can get them at better pricing if you are patient and lucky. Got mine open box.
There is very little out there that can beat it for versatility, especially as a transportable amp/DAC. A bit big to call portable - back pack not pocket. Sound quality is good, the Burr Brown DAC is very good for its price so even if you upgrade to a stand alone amp later you can use it as DAC only.
I’m looking for some help: I recently got the iFi iDSD Micro BL and I’m using with Win10 and Tidal.
With MQA enabled, the LED light on the iDSD BL is only showing GREEN (in fact that is all it ever shows, regardless of what I’m playing.) I know I got a newer batch since the box I got this from has an MQA sticker on it. I have managed to successfully installed the driver for it (v3.2).
So my question is, is it suppose to behave like this? Is it working? I can’t tell the difference when MQA is toggle on/off.
make sure you don’t have Tidal set to passthrough the MQA. The BL only has renderer capability not decode so it needs Tidal to do the initial decode. Also make sure it’s updated to at least the 5.3 firmware (or 5.3c if you want the GTO filter).
Hey everybody, so it’s about that time to purchase my dac. Hoping some good discounts occur.
My question pertains to battery life on this unit from anyone that owns it. I have the Nano black label which a friend let me borrow. I went on a trip not to long ago and I noticed my Nano literally destroyed my iPhone battery. I had about an hour and half use before my battery went from a 100% to 5%. Screen was off and only tidal was running, I thought it was tidal so I just used Sirius and it’s the same.
Kind of confused cause I thought the Nano has a built in battery, so why is it draining my battery so much? Was I doing something wrong?
Is anyone having the same issue with the micro?
Generally I can listen to pandora or Sirius app for like 3 hours and consume 10% battery life. I do a lot of 6 hour round trips. 3 hours each way and this is where I see this trend.
iPad or iPhone will not charge the micro. You will get an error message saying the device is drawing too much power. The Nano may draw less power to charge so maybe it is sucking power away and the phone doesn’t notice??
If it’s like the micro you should turn it on before connecting it as that makes it operate by battery only. Try that and see if it makes a difference.
I don’t think it has on and off. It’s just the volume which turns it on when you turn the volume up it clicks and is turned on.
I had to charge my phone twice that day, it was a 2 hour drive, drained my battery and then when I was on my way back it depleted the battery in the same fashion. I always charge my phone to a 100% with an external battery and in a period of 5 hours I had to do it twice to get 3 hours of music.
My battery usually lasts like 10 hours per day no problem.
Maybe the unit is defective idk.
All in all, you are not experiencing this on the micro?
Your volume knob is probably the power switch as well. Full counterclockwise should be off. Turn it clockwise like you are increasing the volume, the Nano should now be on. Have the Nano on before connecting your phone and dont leave the two connected when not listening. See if that helps.
honestly how many people are taking LCD4 on trips with the weight and size of them but I definitely could see a use case for wanting to have a portable solution to drive any headphone anywhere you go and with an output power at 4,000mW on turbo gain the iFi Micro IDSD Black Label does drive quite a few.
