I finally got my new iDac2 with Purifier (bought it at the launch) and spent some time to play with it.
First, the RCA line output, 3.5mm headphone jack and analogue volume control all keep on the front in iDac2 (exactly the same to iDac1).
On the back, the new iDac2 has two additional features, filter switch and digital output apart from USB 30 input (slightly different to iDac1).
In terms of dimensions and weight between new and old models, I don’t see any differences among them.
Back to basic, I really like the new iDac2 so far! I decided to play with my ‘normal gear’ at my desk listening to some sampler by Sound Liaison. The DSD stuff sounds especially good. I have been comparing it to high-res FLAC , PCM and DSD so hard. I can hear a difference, or at least my brain is telling me I can. Good stuff iFi! In is very new and only been using it for a few weeks but it just gets better and better and has passed the iDac1 which was good already.
The iPurifier which was a special deal is a really nice product. It did add to making the sound more easy, relaxed. But it was not a big difference. I asked the support iFi and they said it works better for other Dacs than iFI Dacs.
iDac2 and iDac1 – the sound is smooth, very smooth. The headphones section is now very nice, not as good as iCan but much better than iDac1 which was so so.
For bass people the iDac2 is a better bass producer, it goes low, low and low. Not messy, very clean and crispy.
Pros
- Special launch bundle with the iPurifier at a special bundle price (for the first 500 buyers) offer to budget customers.
- Great new design features include filter switch (Bit-Perfect/Minimum Phase/Standard filters) and digital output on the back of the device provide multiple filter options under PCM/DSD/DXD formats and output and SPDIF signal.
- All-new Burr-Brown chipset keeps the integrity of the file format unchanged all the way through.
Cons
- The device doesn’t have any battery or AC/DC adapter (or iPower) but is USB powered.
- The iDac2 may not have enough power to push high-end/decent headphones (like Sennheiser HD700 or above) so you may need micro iCan for better performance.
- The iDac2 seems not designed for the portable/mobile devise due to insufficient power supply through these devices.
Listening:
Special iFi Music Sampler DSD album by Sound Liaison
01. Carmen Gomes Inc. – Thousand Shades of Blue
02. Andre Heuvelman – Oblivion
‘Oblivion’ and ‘Thousand Shades of Blue’ were performed live in the studio, recorded in multi-track PCM 96kHz. The DSD conversion was done via an analog signal chain, using state of the art professional equipment to the Tascam DA-3000 DSD recorder.
03. Tony Overwater & Bert van den Brink – Impromptu
‘Impromptu’ was recorded live directly to DSD using the Tascam DA-3000 DSD recorder and simultaneously to PCM with the RME UFX.
Associated Equipment:
- iMac + iTunes
- Sennheiser Momentum Headphones (don’t use HD700 or HD800. But then these are over USD1,000 or more h’phones with USD400 dac.)
Mifi
why is it not strong enough for the HD800's?