The brand new flagship iDSD Diablo 2 ($1,299) is a whole redesign of 2021’s iDSD Diablo that includes aptX Lossless Bluetooth connectivity, marking the primary time that the lossless model of Bluetooth 5.4 has made its means into a transportable DAC/headphone amp. Excessive-resolution LDAC and LHDC codecs are additionally supported.
Beneath the hanging crimson aluminum case with its warmth dissipating channels, are 4 Burr-Brown DACs, two of that are put in in a customized ‘interleaved’ configuration to allow 4 pairs of differential alerts (two pairs per channel); the format is alleged to decrease the noise flooring and enhance channel separation, whereas enhancing the chips’ capability to resolve wonderful musical element.
Sound high quality is optimized by a 32-bit, 16-core XMOS Cortex microcontroller that includes “intensive jitter-eradication applied sciences,” together with the newest model of iFi’s GMT (World Grasp Timing) femtosecond-precision clock and sensible storage cache.”
The Diablo 2 helps PCM audio as much as 32 bits/768 kHz and all ranges of DSD to 22.6 MHz (DSD512) by way of separate pathways, due to the Burr-Brown chips’ True Native structure, which allows every sign to stay ‘bit-perfect’ proper by to the analog conversion. MQA can also be supported, with full decoding/upsampling as much as the format’s highest 384-kHz specification.
The DAC/amp additionally sports activities a strong headphone-amp part constructed to drive headphones starting from extremely delicate in-ear screens (IEMs) to current-hungry planar-magnetic headphones. Rated energy output is 5,180mW into 32 ohms and 611mW into 600 ohms (by the 4.4mm balanced output), making powerful hundreds straightforward to deal with.
The amp offers three acquire settings: Regular (0dB), Turbo (+8 dB), and Nitro (+16 dB) along with an IEMatch attenuation mode for super-sensitive IEMs, which is alleged to take away potential background noise whereas growing usable quantity vary.
Including to its spectacular checklist of options, the Diablo 2 consists of an output mode optimized for xMEMS solid-state microspeakers, a brand new type of speaker by which a silicon diaphragm is mixed with a piezoelectric layer to create a tiny speaker able to part and transient response that’s superior to conventional voice coil/magnet-based drivers; the audio system are voltage-driven, reasonably than current-driven, which makes particular calls for on an amplifier. The xMEMS mode was launched earlier this 12 months in a limited-edition model of the unique iDSD Diablo known as the Diablo-X.
To make sure sign purity within the analog area, the Diablo 2 boasts the newest era of iFi’s fully-balanced PureWave twin-mono topology. Launched within the authentic Diablo, the design is alleged to attain distinctive linearity with low ranges of noise and distortion.
Different key options embrace a direct-coupled circuit design, which is applied with no conventionally utilized DC servo, and using a number of suggestions loops, every of which is optimized for a specific perform — a configuration iFi calls OptimaLoop.
Battery life is rated at 6-12 hours, relying on headphone sensitivity and quantity stage, and the Diablo 2 can run on AC energy when used with the provided AC/DC adapter, which offers energetic noise cancellation circuitry to maintain sonic efficiency as pure as attainable.
Audio inputs embrace USB-C, coaxial/optical S/PDIF, and 4.4mm balanced analog with 4.4mm balanced headphone, 6.3mm headphone, and 4.4mm balanced line-level connections on the output facet. iFi provides a journey case with three digital audio cables, together with a Lightning-to-USB-C cable for iOS gadgets and a USB-C-to-USB-A adapter.
Removable legs on the housing of the Diablo 2 allow the system to be located horizontally or vertically. For extra info, go to ifi-audio.com .
