Up to 8 hours of musical enjoyment on the go!
Connect to a smartphone or tablet and let our compact box of tricks do the rest.
nano iDSD LE
nano iDSD LE
Our nano iDSD LE is our beginner portable DAC and headphone amplifier.
Perfect for use with IEMs while you’re out exploring or when you’re chilling at home. The nano iDSD LE partners with headphones or active speakers to give your audio a superior sound.
One small step…
Known as the ‘pocket rocket’, our nano iDSD LE is perfect if you’re new to digital audio and ready to take the first step to improve the sound of your music.
It’s a cut above above entry-level DACs with its power/performance and even better, its price is kind on your pocket too.
Perfect. Powerful
The nano iDSD LE plays high quality audio files up to DSD256 and keeps them in the ‘Bit Perfect’ format you know and love.
With a headphone amplifier that outputs 130mW, the nano LE packs a punch for most ear buds.
When the going gets good…
The good gets even better as the nano LE is simple to use.
At home, the nano connects to your existing system via RCA or 3.5mm line out, or use the USB3.0 cable to connect to your computer.
On the go, just connect a CCK cable for iPhone or OTG cable for Android via the additional shorty cable in the box.
Smooth operator
The iDSD LE is affordable yet atypically has a precise, analogue volume control.
It delivers a smooth sound with superior no-loss music quality.
It’s no joke
We’ve stamped out jitter with our Zero Jitter® technology to ensure you don’t miss a beat.
No beats or ‘Bits’ missed in our tech. (Sorry, we told you it was no joke!)
And finally, the nano LE has up to 8 hours of battery life for you to enjoy on the go.
This precise, analogue volume control is normally found on items at a much higher price point. Its transparent sonic nature delivers a smooth sound with no loss in music retrieval. It delivers the sonic goods.
Zero Jitter® equals good audio. Is it essential to have a very precisely buffered digital signal before it goes to a DAC.
We pushed the envelope even further by doing this not only with the nano iDSD BL‘s USB input, but the rest of the digital interfaces as well.
An important aspect of the circuit design is its direct-coupled nature (no coupling capacitor is present), achieved without a conventionally applied DC servo.
DirectDrive® equals a direct signal path which means less signal degradation. This direct signal path is unequalled in audio and is the reason why the sound is so ‘true’.
The Burr-Brown True Native® chipset means file formats remain unchanged or ‘bit-perfect’. This means you are listening to music as the artist intended in the format in which it was recorded.
At iFi we use Burr Brown extensively in our products having selected it for its natural-sounding ‘musicality’ and True Native architecture. Our experience with this IC means we know how to make the most of it.
Hi-Res True Native® playback of all music formats from MP3 to DSD256, PCM384 and DXD384.
Support
| Formats supported: | PCM 44.1 to 384kHz/16-32bit DSD 2.8, 3.1, 5.6 and 6.2MHz/1bit DXD 352.8, 384kHz/24bit |
| High-Speed Asynchronous USB 2.0 (32bit/384kHz) |
|
| Battery: | Lithium-polymer 1000mAh |
| Power(max): | 1.5W |
| Dimensions: | 106 (l) x67 (W) x28 (h) mm |
| Weight: | 167g (0.37 lbs) |
Reviews
Hifi on the go
Great price for such a fantastic product. I now have 2 iFi headphone amps and this is the best for mobility. It’s compact and will improve any phone or dac.
(Click name to read original review)
Nano iDSD LE – Sweet item
I am really enjoying this DAC…definite improvement in sound.
(Click name to read original review)
Well worth the money
Wow, warm, gentle, clear, luscious, full-bodied sound and no hissing on highs. Very happy with my purchase. Well done iFi!
(Click name to read original review)
Everything is beautiful and nice
iDSD LE is the introduction to the magical world of sounds and musical ecstasy for all this who finally decide the discover the beauty of the more and more popular digitised collections. It provides us with mobility comfort and offers a really good sound.
(Click name to read original review)
A tiny device that still offers extensive features
For when you want to take your audio setup with you on the go. You can have a very nice sounding portable set up with this DAC. Overall it’s a pretty small device. This DAC is a great product to consider.
(Click name to read original review)
A tiny device that still offers extensive features
iFi offers no simple economy version but focuses on what makes the nano series devices a great sound and a low price.
(Click name to read original review)
Compare
| micro iDSD BL | xDSD | nano iDSD BL | |
 |  |  |
|
| Primary use | Transportable | Portable | Portable |
| Headphone Output | 6.3mm | 3.5mm | 3.5mm |
| iEmatch | Yes | Yes / Auto | Yes |
| 3D Matrix | On / Off | On / Off | - |
| XBass | On / Off | On / Off | - |
| Max. power | 4,000mW @ 16 Ohm | 500mW @ 16 Ohm | 285mW @ 30 Ohm |
| Output Impedance | <1 Ohm (Direct) | <1 Ohm (Direct) | <1 Ohm (Direct) |
| <4 Ohm (iEmatch) | <4 Ohm (iEmatch) | <4 Ohm (iEmatch) | |
| Battery playback | 6-10 hours | 6-8 hours | 6-8 hours |
| Inputs | |||
| Bluetooth (aptX / AAC) | - | Yes | - |
| USB | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| SPDIF | In / Out | In | - |
| Line Out | RCA | - | 3.5mm |
| DAC | Burr-Brown (Dual) | Burr-Brown | Burr-Brown |
| Formats | PCM768 / DSD512 / 2xDXD | PCM768 / DSD512 / 2xDXD | PCM384 / DSD256 / DXD |
| Filter switch | Bit-Perfect / Min Phase / Standard | Listen / Measure | Listen / Measure |
| MQA | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Clock | Low-jitter crystal clock | Low-jitter crystal clock | Low-jitter crystal clock |
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.
IEMs
IEMs stands for In-Ear Monitors.
These fit inside your ear. You’ve been using them for years. You just called them something else.
You will also see these referred to as earphones, ear buds and CIEMs. CIEMs are Custom In-Ear Monitors – IEMs made specifically to fit your ear shape.
Active 'v' Passive Speakers
So, what’s the difference?
Active speakers have an in-built power amplifier and just need a power cable (or battery) to operate. Passive speakers require an external power amplifier to operate.
In short, you need an amplifier for passive speakers, you don’t with active speakers.
DSD (Direct Stream Digital)
DSD is a very high-quality digital audio format that’s even better than CD quality. The higher the ‘DSD rate’ – DSD64, 128, 256, 512 and 1024 – the greater the amount of music information available, which means better sound quality.
Files can be remastered to higher file rates to improve sound quality. The pinnacle of this is DSD1024. Not many machines out there are capable of this feat.
Bit-Perfect
If a file is “Bit Perfect’ it means it has stayed the same. For example, if a PCM file is played through a DAC to improve the sound quality and the DAC does not change the file format. The file is ‘Bit Perfect’.
Apple CCK and Android OTG
So, why don’t we provide these two cables with our products?
The Apple CCK cable can only be purchased from Apple. We can’t make one ourselves as it has a special chip in the cable that we’d need to use for them to actually work with Apple hardware. Sadly, Apple has not released this chip to anyone.
We can and do make two versions of an Android OTG cable – Type C and micro.
Analogue 'v' Digital Volume Control
For cost and convenience, modern DAC chips have a built-in digital volume control. The drawback is that a digital volume control works by ‘truncating’ the signal. Or ‘chopping Bits’ of resolution. For a 16-Bit music file at 50% volume level means the listener is actually listening to 14.5-Bits!
All iFi products bypass the digital volume control and use a separate analogue volume control which does not ‘lose Bits’ so a 16-Bit file stays unchanged which delivers maximum resolution.
Losing Bits of resolution (quality) is like having missing pixels on a computer or TV screen.
File formats
MP3 – this is the most popular format, every device in the world can use it.
DSD – Direct Stream Digital is a very high-quality audio format, better than CD quality. The higher the number (sample rate), the better the recording – DSD64, 128, 256, 512 and 1024.
PCM – Pulse Code Modulation is the most common format for CDs and DVDs.
DXD – Digital eXtreme Definition is a very high-quality PCM format. It was developed to edit hi-res (high quality) recordings recorded in DSD.
