Kills USB power noise by ‘breaking’ the earth/ground loops in the correct way.
It significantly reduces the system noise floor and makes for better dynamic contrast, warmth and resolution.
Is your audio still taking a beating from buzz and hum?
iFi’s iDefender+ is for those battling with noisy audio due to unwanted ground loops in their audio chain.
Beat the buzz
Is your audio still plagued by hum and buzz?
Using multiple plugs within your audio chain means separate earth/ground points. These multiple earth or ground points cause a ground loop problem. This creates an unwanted chain of noise, buzz and distortion.
Struggle no more. iFi’s iDefender+ provides the simple, effective solution you need.
Break the loop
When plugged into the source device’s USB socket, the iDefender+ detects whether there is a ground loop problem.
It breaks the ground loop by ‘intelligently’ disconnecting the computer’s earth and, as well as eradicating audible ground-loop hum, it lowers the system noise floor, improving resolution and dynamic contrast.
Using a USB DAC?
Are you using the iDefender+ with a DAC that relies on USB power from a computer rather than power from the mains or a built-in battery?
Good news. The iDefender+ offers an additional benefit. If an external power supply is plugged into the USB-C socket on its side, it blocks power from the computer and instead feeds the DAC with ‘clean’ power from the external supply.
If a high-quality, low-noise power adapter such as iFi’s iPower X is used, the performance of the USB DAC will be significantly improved.
New and improved.
We’ve upgraded the circuitry; low-ESR tantalum capacitors have been added for improved input and output filtering. Filtering capacitance has been increased 10-fold.
The iDefender+ now comes in 3 versions and includes the newer USB-C connector.
- USB-A to USB-A
- USB-C to USB-A
- USB-C to USB-C
Beat the buzz with the iDefender+.
Inject 5 volts of clean power via the ‘separate’ USB-C port. This disconnects the USB power from the PC and replaces it with clean external power. For ultra-low noise, use our 5-volt iPower Elite or iPOWER X.
To ‘break’ the earth/ground on USB-powered DACs, adding a separate 5 volt supply is necessary . This is not required for DACs with an internally-powered USB section.
‘SuperSpeed’ USB 3.0 has a more exhaustive wiring specification which allows for a greater amount of audio transfer while still being backwards compatible. The units incorporate high-quality gold-plated connectors for optimal signal transfer.
Support
| USB | Super-Speed USB3.0 (and USB2.0 backwards compatible) |
| Connectors | USB3.0 gold-plated connectors |
| Dimensions | 50mm (I) x 20mm (w) x 9mm (h) |
| Weight | 6.6g (0.23oz) |
| Warranty period | 12 months |
We’re working on it — check back soon!
Reviews
Finally solved my issue with GPU noise!
Before purchasing, I had an aweful buzz throuugh USB audio devices when my graphics were under load. Tried a power conditioner, and a dedicated USB hub that took sata power right from the PSU, neither helped. Finally pulled the trigger on this little device alongside the iFi iPower DC PSU to connect to it, and they solved the buzz completely!
Finally I can edit videos and play games in peace. Only downside is the cost, nearly $100 to get this with the PSU which I needed since my audio interface requires power over USB, but in the end it’s well worth it.
(Click name to read original review)
USB Audio Interface noise? This thing fixes it.
I run a Scarlett 2i2 1st gen, and I also have a Scarlett 2i2 3rd gen (thinking it wouldn’t be as noisy, it wasn’t). These are running into two KRK 6″ Studio monitor speakers. I noticed that whenever I was gaming or doing really intensive mixing with tons of VSTs open I had this white-noise static noise. Found out through a lot of testing and money spent that it was from my USB hub in my computer, and my power is dirty.
I even bought a Scarlett 8i6 for $500 thinking a non-usb powered audio interface would fix it, it did not. It all comes from the a USB cable being plugged into the audio interface. So if you’re getting noise through your monitors while doing heavy computer processing stuff like gaming or recording, buy this thing.
I bought a few knockoff ifi defenders, and they all didn’t work, then finally the ifi defender came back into stock, and the moment I plugged it in, all of my distortion and noise went away.
(Click name to read original review)
Cheaper Than Power Conditioning and It Worked For Me!
I was having a nasty ground loop buzz through my RME Babyface Pro and Yamaha HS5 monitors since I moved into my flat. Despite my skepticism, the iFI Defender actually worked as things are whisper quiet now.
Be aware, THIS IS NOT A MIRACLE CURE FOR GROUND LOOPS.
I still had to do a lot of trouble-shooting in regards to my setup, as the culprit was due to my multi-effects (Line 6 Helix) creating a lot of noise via its USB connection in the same chain as the RME Babyface ; even with the iFI Defender connected. It still depends on how you chain your audio equipment together.
While it may be pricey in comparison to the cheaper ground loop isolation modules on the market, it may be the only product you need to keep you from a large headache with ground loops!
(Click name to read original review)
Removed GPU noise
So I run a Schiit Modi DAC + Schiit Vali tube AMP combo running to yamaha HS7 and HS8 studio monitors from my PC.
PC Specs :
Nvidia RTX 3090 FE
Ryzen 5900x
ASUS X570I Rog strix motherboard.
Under load or when running heaven benchmark, the studio monitors would have this buzzing sound. Even when playing games that stress out the GPU it would buzz. I tried everything, RCA hum eliminator, seperate powered USB hub with its own powersupply but the motherboard power noise would still get through.
I got this little USB and plugged it, first without the dedicated psu and the buzzing was still there. I tried the audioquest forest high quality USB cable for audiophiles and the buzzing reduced by like 20% but was still there.
But once I plugged in the external power supplyto the USB the NOISE COMPLETELY DISSAPRED. So a note to everyone out there. Just the USB on its own does absolutely nothing…for it to shine make sure you plug in the external PSU and that basically eliminates all the buzzing hissing audio.
Now im a big fan gonna order a couple of these just in this case I need it for other devices.
(Click name to read original review)
Completely resolved speaker noise caused by my gpu
My nVidia 1080 Ti was causing a bunch of random speaker noise and this removed it!
I might try combining it with the iPurifier3 next to get the idle hissing down, but other than that it’s everything I hoped for.
(Click name to read original review)
DAC (Digital-to-Analogue Converter)
DACs convert digital information, stored or streamed by computers, into music we can hear through speakers or headphones.
Every device that’s a source of digital sound has a built-in DAC (TVs, games consoles, CD players, phones, portable music players etc). Dedicated external DACs sound much better than standard DACs used in digital devices such as phones.
Ground Loops
In an electrical system, a Ground or Earth loop occurs when two points of an audio system both have a ground reference which causes a ‘potential voltage difference’ between them. Ground loops are a major cause of the noise, hum, and interference in audio, video, and computer systems.
