Hello, and thanks for a great review. Dont know if you will see this or will be able to comment, but currently, I have the iFi Hip Dac II and really enjoy its performance. I run it with my Beats Studio Pros (wired), Denon AH-D5200s, and Beyerdynamic DT 177X GOs (fabulous). I am thinking of upgrading to the iFi Micro iDSD Signature for an all-around performance gain and would value your input. Thanks.
Cool and detailed reviews! Think i watched every dac review and it's getting harder and harder to decide 😅 I'm looking for a dac/amp combo neutral/flat as possible for mixing dawless setup so sonarworks or headphone calibration is not an option. With tight budget narrowed to the SX4 or LCD1 with a q5s, nx4, ha-4se, ifixcan. Thanks and regards from Barcelona
What puzzles me is the absence of a female USB3.0 to USB-C adaptor. What came in the box was a female USB3.0 to USB-B adapter which was kinda odd in that it resembles those plugs commonly used for printers or telephone points. It's touted as a higher end amp/DAC with 4.1watt of max power I would think it would be targeting the DAP owning community. Was so disappointed to realise I couldn't use it upon reaching home. Will be going to pick up the OTG cable from the store before I can enjoy it. What made it even more annoying is the manual's lack or mention of all the items that should come inside the box as well as diagrams on how to set it up.
how is this compared to something lime jotunheim 2 with built in dac sound quality wise? i think we will end out about same price but is the preformance comparable? considering this to use at home.
Looking at this to go with my Hifiman Sundara, mostly as a minimal desktop setup. The portability aspect is just a nice extra as far as I am concerned.
Same here. Sold my Zen stack setup recently and will be grabbing one of these. I considered the Diablo as it is likely more resolving and closer to Mojo but its actually too powerful for my gear. I wish ifi had dialed down the output in balanced mode for the Diablo, but in the end they still got my money :)
5th time watching this review, think this is the way I'll go, as just going to run music through my phone and like that can run it 24/7 while listening and not dying like hip dac.
wow nobody even mentioned that this device has huge channel imbalance issue! For such a price this is not expected by anyone else unless this is not your hard earned money! Just have bought a new micro idsd signature today and having lots of issues with it! Also i should mention that, the device power keeps shutting down rapidly (directly connected to pc - usb) (not on battery power)
All IFI products come with a slight volume miss balance till about 9:00 it's not that really a big deal unless you listen to music at extremely low volumes. I have own many Ifi products and never had issue with it personally. But every one is different
I could charge and also usb power the micro bl via the input port. If i leave it on the desktop, its good to know its running via usb alone and not draining the battery. I womder why they remove that option and if its worth the trouble two have 2 cables.
The reason for having a separate charging port is usually so that you can connect a phone without the phone shutting off the port due to the charging current required. The other possible reason is the ability to have a higher charging voltage, though the Signature doesn't mention any compatible specifications for that. Also, possibly, the USB-A input isn't readily compatible with their low-noise circuit, and/combining them may degrade sound quality.
@@Currawong make sense, also i read somewhere its because it uses the battery as a filter, as a clean power source. Just bothers me that it goes through tha bat all the time. My phone battery degrades and after 2 3 years, its half gone. Not quite ideal for desktop usage.
I am new to this. Just picked up a pair of Sennheiser HD 660s. I tried my Mac book pro it sounds like crap compared to my momentum 3’s or the HD 5xx series I have. (Forget the model number) Something like this worth the investment in the long run to use with iPhone and Mac Book Pro? I am lost looking at all of these reviews. I listen to some classic rock, classical and some dance/electronic from the early 90’s and today’s type if that makes any difference.
Well, I owned the hip-dac for 2 months and after that I bought a Micro iDSD Black Label. Even though the Black Label has only a 1/4 inch 6.3mm unbalanced output, whereas the hip-dac has a 4.4mm pentacon balanced, the sound is more powerful and enjoyable on the Black Label with 6.3mm than on the hip-dac with 4.4mm. So I was definitely not regretting the change. And for the reason reviewers said that the sound got even better on the Signature than the Black Label, that is why I would recommend upgrading from the hip-dac to Signature. I also plan on selling the Black Label and buy a Signature because of the 4.4mm balanced output. A reviewer who had and tested both, said that the Signature has an even wider and deeper soundstage. So I'm curious what can it bring out of my HD 800 S which headphone in itself has a pretty big soundstage. Hope I could help you.
@@sfomann Your welcome! But it's important, if you can try it before you buy it, that's the best so you can hear the difference and decide whether it is worth you the bigger price or not, cause the Signature is way more expensive than the hip-dac, and hip-dac has a very good sounding in itself. For the 4-5 times bigger price you won't get a 4-5 times better sound. However you definitely get a better sounding. But that's how it is with every audio gear. Hope the best! ;)
Own both. I'd say Hip Dac performance is close to Signature on genres like pop, rock, electronic etc. Where Hip Dac falls short is OST, Classical those need scale dynamics and air. And Xbass on Signature is cleaner, while on Hip Dac bass quantity is more but feel soft. In short Signature more layering and authority, but I don't think it justifies its price tag, Hip Dac on the other hand is great great product already, no snake oil, full on good sound, I love Hip Dac.
Just ordered this to replace my schitt stack, the dac just died on me. I don't really care much about portability as it's going to replace my desktop setup.
I'm confused about whether a balanced cable or SE cable connected to the 4.4 output will provide the best performance and sound resolution. What is your advice? I use the HiFiman Sundara
You wouldn't want to make anything but a balanced cable for the 4.4mm socket as if you used the headphones with any other device it might not work properly.
@@Currawong Thank you so much for your response. I thought that the S-Balanced technology used allowed one to use both balanced and single ended on all output sockets. Is that incorrect? In addition, the circuitry is not balanced, so I assumed it didn't make a difference.
Using either of the 6.3mm or 4.4mm sockets will give the same result as the amp isn't balanced internally. Your original question suggested using an "SE cable connected to the 4.4 output". If you have a standard 4.4mm terminated cable from a manufacturer (or aftermarket maker) it will be balanced. That doesn't mean the amp will be. But basically, just use whichever socket is convenient.
Is there any negative effect on the Signature or headphones if you switch power/iematch/xbass/3D modes while music is playing? I have also heard there is an audible popping noise when turning the Signature on/off, does this harm the headphones at all?
Thank you for explaining how to set it up and what port is for what, i really appreciate it !
Hello, and thanks for a great review. Dont know if you will see this or will be able to comment, but currently, I have the iFi Hip Dac II and really enjoy its performance. I run it with my Beats Studio Pros (wired), Denon AH-D5200s, and Beyerdynamic DT 177X GOs (fabulous). I am thinking of upgrading to the iFi Micro iDSD Signature for an all-around performance gain and would value your input. Thanks.
I plan on using this device when I purchase the HD800s.
Cool and detailed reviews! Think i watched every dac review and it's getting harder and harder to decide 😅 I'm looking for a dac/amp combo neutral/flat as possible for mixing dawless setup so sonarworks or headphone calibration is not an option. With tight budget narrowed to the SX4 or LCD1 with a q5s, nx4, ha-4se, ifixcan. Thanks and regards from Barcelona
it's a good piece of gear and sounds nice,,, nice for a second hand purchase(or the gryphon)
What puzzles me is the absence of a female USB3.0 to USB-C adaptor. What came in the box was a female USB3.0 to USB-B adapter which was kinda odd in that it resembles those plugs commonly used for printers or telephone points. It's touted as a higher end amp/DAC with 4.1watt of max power I would think it would be targeting the DAP owning community. Was so disappointed to realise I couldn't use it upon reaching home. Will be going to pick up the OTG cable from the store before I can enjoy it. What made it even more annoying is the manual's lack or mention of all the items that should come inside the box as well as diagrams on how to set it up.
The white ifi Logo is too flashy. It's good that they toned it down in their updated batches
how is this compared to something lime jotunheim 2 with built in dac sound quality wise? i think we will end out about same price but is the preformance comparable? considering this to use at home.
Looking at this to go with my Hifiman Sundara, mostly as a minimal desktop setup. The portability aspect is just a nice extra as far as I am concerned.
Same here. Sold my Zen stack setup recently and will be grabbing one of these. I considered the Diablo as it is likely more resolving and closer to Mojo but its actually too powerful for my gear. I wish ifi had dialed down the output in balanced mode for the Diablo, but in the end they still got my money :)
Great review. Just ordered one.
5th time watching this review, think this is the way I'll go, as just going to run music through my phone and like that can run it 24/7 while listening and not dying like hip dac.
wow nobody even mentioned that this device has huge channel imbalance issue! For such a price this is not expected by anyone else unless this is not your hard earned money! Just have bought a new micro idsd signature today and having lots of issues with it! Also i should mention that, the device power keeps shutting down rapidly (directly connected to pc - usb) (not on battery power)
Some people received the Signature with bad volume pots. I'm sure I said it in the video, but a combined power/volume control is just a bad idea.
All IFI products come with a slight volume miss balance till about 9:00 it's not that really a big deal unless you listen to music at extremely low volumes. I have own many Ifi products and never had issue with it personally. But every one is different
Nice review
Nice review, do you think it would be able to drive Susvaras?
It has enough power, but it's not going to do anything like a desktop amp will with them.
@@Currawong thank you ... need to look into desktop amps then
I could charge and also usb power the micro bl via the input port. If i leave it on the desktop, its good to know its running via usb alone and not draining the battery. I womder why they remove that option and if its worth the trouble two have 2 cables.
The reason for having a separate charging port is usually so that you can connect a phone without the phone shutting off the port due to the charging current required. The other possible reason is the ability to have a higher charging voltage, though the Signature doesn't mention any compatible specifications for that. Also, possibly, the USB-A input isn't readily compatible with their low-noise circuit, and/combining them may degrade sound quality.
@@Currawong make sense, also i read somewhere its because it uses the battery as a filter, as a clean power source. Just bothers me that it goes through tha bat all the time. My phone battery degrades and after 2 3 years, its half gone. Not quite ideal for desktop usage.
I am new to this. Just picked up a pair of Sennheiser HD 660s. I tried my Mac book pro it sounds like crap compared to my momentum 3’s or the HD 5xx series I have. (Forget the model number)
Something like this worth the investment in the long run to use with iPhone and Mac Book Pro? I am lost looking at all of these reviews. I listen to some classic rock, classical and some dance/electronic from the early 90’s and today’s type if that makes any difference.
Definitely worth the investment!
I have the Ifi Hip dac. Is this worth upgrade? Anyone compared it?
Well, I owned the hip-dac for 2 months and after that I bought a Micro iDSD Black Label.
Even though the Black Label has only a 1/4 inch 6.3mm unbalanced output, whereas the hip-dac has a 4.4mm pentacon balanced, the sound is more powerful and enjoyable on the Black Label with 6.3mm than on the hip-dac with 4.4mm. So I was definitely not regretting the change. And for the reason reviewers said that the sound got even better on the Signature than the Black Label, that is why I would recommend upgrading from the hip-dac to Signature.
I also plan on selling the Black Label and buy a Signature because of the 4.4mm balanced output. A reviewer who had and tested both, said that the Signature has an even wider and deeper soundstage. So I'm curious what can it bring out of my HD 800 S which headphone in itself has a pretty big soundstage.
Hope I could help you.
@@WolfAyron thank you so much. Looks like upgrade is worthwhile
@@sfomann Your welcome! But it's important, if you can try it before you buy it, that's the best so you can hear the difference and decide whether it is worth you the bigger price or not, cause the Signature is way more expensive than the hip-dac, and hip-dac has a very good sounding in itself. For the 4-5 times bigger price you won't get a 4-5 times better sound. However you definitely get a better sounding. But that's how it is with every audio gear.
Hope the best! ;)
Own both. I'd say Hip Dac performance is close to Signature on genres like pop, rock, electronic etc. Where Hip Dac falls short is OST, Classical those need scale dynamics and air. And Xbass on Signature is cleaner, while on Hip Dac bass quantity is more but feel soft. In short Signature more layering and authority, but I don't think it justifies its price tag, Hip Dac on the other hand is great great product already, no snake oil, full on good sound, I love Hip Dac.
Just ordered this to replace my schitt stack, the dac just died on me. I don't really care much about portability as it's going to replace my desktop setup.
I'm sure your stack is not that schitt. It's all relative buddy.
So this is the 3rd version already? Any idea when the next version releases, based on previous release cycle?
Probably never. It's a more than 10 year old design, and the original designer left the company.
They should have used the same volume control used in the xDSD. Channel imbalance is my bugbear.
I'm confused about whether a balanced cable or SE cable connected to the 4.4 output will provide the best performance and sound resolution.
What is your advice?
I use the HiFiman Sundara
You wouldn't want to make anything but a balanced cable for the 4.4mm socket as if you used the headphones with any other device it might not work properly.
@@Currawong Thank you so much for your response.
I thought that the S-Balanced technology used allowed one to use both balanced and single ended on all output sockets. Is that incorrect?
In addition, the circuitry is not balanced, so I assumed it didn't make a difference.
Using either of the 6.3mm or 4.4mm sockets will give the same result as the amp isn't balanced internally. Your original question suggested using an "SE cable connected to the 4.4 output". If you have a standard 4.4mm terminated cable from a manufacturer (or aftermarket maker) it will be balanced. That doesn't mean the amp will be.
But basically, just use whichever socket is convenient.
Can anyone compare this to the ifi idsd nano black label? Overall impressions would be helpful deciding if this is the right upgrade for me.
seems like a very minor upgrade to make considering the price. might as well save for a diablo 2
Hey Amos, how would you compare the signature to the Hugo 2?
The Hugo 2 is significantly more detailed.
Is there any negative effect on the Signature or headphones if you switch power/iematch/xbass/3D modes while music is playing?
I have also heard there is an audible popping noise when turning the Signature on/off, does this harm the headphones at all?
No and no.
@@Currawong Thank you.
I prefer Made In U.K. or America stuff. China junk is a big no no.
Can this power the Sony IER-Z1R?
Of course.
I can’t give up my xbass sadly otherwise diablo