
IFi Audio is a new company with several products aimed at high-definition audiophiles and enthusiasts, including the micro iTube2 Tube Pre-Amplifier, the Micro IDSD Black Label – Portable DAC/Headphone Amp, and the Nano IDSD LE Portable DAC/Headphone Amplifier. Licensing technology developed by AMR-Audio, their products boast Class-A analog circuitry with no DSP, keeping the signal “Bit Perfect” throughout.
The micro iTube2 is designed to bring the sound and feel of real tubes to your listening environment. This updated second-generation version builds upon the original, but with a completely redesigned layout with new parts and new circuitry borrowed from the flagship Pro series. The micro iTube2 is a tube output stage, tube preamp, tube buffer, and an impedance-matching device all in one. There are different settings for the tubes, which offer a variety of sounds including the single-ended Triode power amplifier, a Push-Pull tube power amplifier, and a classic tube amplifier. Additional sound-enhancement features include the XBass+, which simulates an accurate bass response to speakers that don't inherently reproduce low-end frequencies all that well, while the 3D Holographic+ matrix corrects the spatial distortion in recordings and increases the width of the soundstage beyond that of the speaker placement.
The Micro IDSD Black Label is a high-resolution portable DAC and headphone amplifier capable of playing a variety of formats, including MP3, PCM, DSD, and DXD files. The unit utilizes coaxial S/PDIF connections for digital I/O and features a USB input, which can charge the iDSD while supplying it with audio from a smartphone or tablet. For analog connections, the unit offers a stereo ¼" output for headphone and a stereo set of RCA line outputs for connecting to consumer gear, while an auxiliary 1/8" stereo input is provided to connect additional sources. The Micro IDSD Black Label utilizes a Burr-Brown DAC chip set that is capable of true native playback of high-resolution files, including DSD at 512 MHz, PCM at 768 kHz, and 2xDXD. To further enhance your listening enjoyment, the device offers the 3D+ and XBass+ to create a larger soundstage with deeper, tighter bass. The unit can be run on its internal, rechargeable lithium-ion battery for up to 12 hours and can charge your smartphone via its side USB port.
For an even smaller and more portable DAC/headphone amp, check out the Nano IDSD LE, which is designed to facilitate high-fidelity audio playback for on-the-go devices, such as smartphones and DSD audio players. The Nano IDSD LE utilizes the same DNA as the Nano iDSD, but without the SPDIF output, and can read high-resolution files up to 384 kHz and DSD128 without any conversion. A Burr-Brown DAC chipset is employed with AMR military-grade temperature-compensated clocks to mitigate and eliminate jitter and digital noise. Other notable features include an analog volume control, which provides smooth, contoured volume control, DirectDrive technology for supersonic transparency, and a built-in, lithium-ion battery for up to 8 hours of music while on the move.
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