Most of the time it’s a nightmare due to hiss, distortion and metallic audio.
Connect the micro iDAC2 to via USB or S/PDIF and relax.
Natural ebb and flow are added to your music, sound becomes stronger, textured and sucks you into the recording studio alongside your favourite artists.
The micro iDAC2 is compatible with all future DSD and DXD formats and even MQA, which means you won’t need to upgrade for a long time to come.
The soundstage the micro iDAC2 produces is vast, making your music appear as if it’s coming from outside the width of your speakers or the confines of your headphones. Just connect via the RCA or 3.5mm outputs respectively.
The micro iDAC2 punches above its price class and competes with high-end DACs with ease. Just put it into any five-figure high-fidelity system and be ready for bewitching sonics.
The micro iDAC2 includes:
Music is handled with finesse, making it come alive as it drives speakers and top-spec headphones to the max and ensures a vibrant listening experience.
Hear music as the artist intended. The Burr-Brown True Native® chipset means file formats remain unchanged for the truest sound.
Your music remains 'Bit-Perfectly' perfect!
The iFi 'Bit-Perfect' filter means no loss of signal. No format conversion. No resampling. It handles all formats from 16/44 through to DSD256 with finesse for the same original, high-quality sound.
Listen to MQA straight out of the box.
For MQA tracks, simply connect to Tidal (on your computer) and check the options to stream MQA.
The Class A amplifier stage is a Ferrari - it runs fast and at its max potential at all times.
It combines N-Channel J-Fet and a PNP bi-polar transistor for a warm, unsurpassed, natural sound.
DirectDrive® means no output coupling capacitors – this direct signal path is without peer and is the reason why the sound is so ‘true’. The sonic transparency is second to none and is there for all to hear.
With an S/PDIF output it is able to receive a USB signal and then convert and output a digital S/PDIF signal to another device such as Sonos streamer or an A/V amplifier (with an onboard DAC).
As your system changes over time, it just simply follows suit.
| Input: | USB3.0 (USB2.0 compatible) |
| Output: | SPDIF RCA (only PCM up to 192KHz) |
| Audio RCA | |
| 3.5mm Headphone | |
| Formats: | 44.1/48/88.2/96/176.4/192/384KHz PCM |
| 2.8/3.1/5.6/6.2/11.2/12.4MHz DSD | |
| 353/384KHz DXD | |
| DAC: | Bit-Perfect DSD & DXD DAC by Burr Brown (1-DAC Chip; 2-Channel; 4-Signals) |
| Filters: | |
| -PCM: | Bit-Perfect/Minimum Phase/Standard, Digital filters selectable |
| -DSD: | Extreme/Extended/Standard, Analogue filters selectable |
| -DXD: | Bit-Perfect Processing, Fixed Analogue filter |
| Output: | 2.1V (+/-0.05V) fixed |
| Zout: | < 39 Ohm |
| SNR: | > 114dB(A) @ 0dBFS |
| THD+N: | < 0.0025% @ 0dBFS (100k Load) |
| < 0.025% @ 0dBFS (600R Load) |
| Output: | > 350mW (2.40V) into 16R (<10% THD+N) |
| > 34mW (3.20V) into 300R (< 0.1% THD+N) | |
| Output Impedance (Zout): | < 2 Ω |
| THD+N: | < 0.0025% (1V into 16 Ohm, 0dBFS) |
| SNR: | > 114dBA (3.2V into 16 Ohm, 0dBFS) |
| Power consumption: | <1.5W |
| Dimensions: | 158(l)x68(w)x28(h)mm |
| Weight: | 265g(0.58 lbs) |
We recommend the iDAC2 as being worthy of purchase. It pairs particularly well with other iFi products – we love using it with the iCAN SE…
Good:
* Delivers on audio quality
* Versatile and adaptable
* Comes with accessories that let you get going in minutes
Pros: Transparent neutral/cold signature, good sound, good value, plenty of outputs, nice soundstage, USB bus powered so no power cable or brick to carry around.
iFi will be back to reclaim its throne as a DAC and iFi really has a product that goes beyond the DACs…I like the iDAC2, which gives a lot of bass to find the amplifier…The highlight of this DAC is the dynamic, dimensional and soundstage…I personally give iFi iDAC2 the best price in this category.
This iDAC2 is such a versatile device…First, a word on the iFi product line: I am impressed with a firm that makes intelligent engineering/design trade-offs and puts out an entire line fits together from a marketing planning (many complementary building blocks)…As a headphone amplifier, the iDAC2 is very good….iDAC2 up sampling differences: this is an area where the iDAC2’s versatility shines..iDAC2 is versatile as hell…and the synergies with iFi power add-on products are extreme…iDAC2 – and for that matter, all iFi products – performance/price ratio is off-the-charts.
This review focuses on the iDAC2 used in a 2 channel speaker system and not as a headphone solution…The iDAC2 has a nice aluminium case with three LED lights that indicate power, resolution and I believe connection to the computer or USB lock…I like the simplicity of the iDAC2 and the fact that it is basically plug and play…have a very natural sound that is non-fatiguing….do a nice job of finding the sweet spot….the additional detail that the iDAC2 is able to retrieve from records. What stuck out most was the ability of the iDAC2 to retrieve more information on the leading edges of instruments and voices…the clarity, imaging and dynamics are better…
If you did not know already, iFi Audio is a co-brand of AMR Audio that is known for its famous audio gears such as DP-777. They produce many different audio components – digital audio converters, amplifications, speakers, cables and active noise cancellation units.
On the iDAC2, there are coax/USB digital inputs and RCA/3.5mm outputs…Overall build quality is quite satisfactory and the volume potentiometer works well; there is no unbalanced problem. In addition, as a DAC/Amp combo, iDAC2 supports all popular formats including DSD 256, PCM 384 and DXD.
