Three years on from the primary Neo iDSD DAC-cum-headphone amp, a sequel is lastly able to launch. With a raft of recent options and upgrades, together with intensive assist for quite a few codecs alongside and a raft of bodily connections, the Neo iDSD 2 additionally claims to be the world’s first DAC that may assist aptX Lossless Bluetooth (offered you’ve got a pair of headphones first rate sufficient to assist it).
In accordance with iFi, “it’s the solely DAC that may ship…lossless sound over each wired and Bluetooth connections, to the utmost specification that any supply machine will permit.” We have had a style of how manufacturers and producers have tried to implement aptX Lossless by way of Bluetooth (basically CD-quality audio transmitted by way of a Bluetooth connection), so we’re to see how iFi executes it right here.
Redesigned from the within out, the high-end DAC sports activities a reimagined headphone amp able to delivering greater than 5,550mW into 32 ohms from its balanced 4.4mm output. The brand new mannequin additionally boasts an analogue circuit designed to cut back noise and crosstalk by way of the sign path.
Audio assist is intensive, with the Neo 2 supporting PCM knowledge as much as 32-bit/768kHz and all ranges of DSD. Because of the DAC chip’s four-channel design, the PCM and DSD codecs take separate pathways and so can stay of their respective native varieties earlier than being transformed to an analogue sign. MQA assist can also be out there for recordsdata as much as 384kHz.
The Neo utilises three operational modes and can be utilized as a pure DAC with a fixed-level analogue output or can function as a DAC/preamp with a variable output for, say, connecting on to an influence amp or energetic audio system. Headphone customers, in the meantime, can have entry to the Neo’s amp stage.
By way of connectivity, the NEO iDSD 2 offers USB-B, optical and coaxial digital inputs, plus a 3.5mm analogue enter, that means as much as 4 gadgets might be linked concurrently, plus a fifth by way of Bluetooth. On the entrance, there’s a regular 6.3mm headphone jack and a 4.4mm output, whereas across the again, single-ended RCA outputs are accompanied by balanced XLR sockets to attach the Neo iDSD 2 to an amp and/or audio system.
Externally, there is a rotary management for ease of use and a brand new two-inch color show which reveals info similar to audio format, pattern fee, quantity stage, enter mode and settings. There is a distant handset, too, though you need to use the iFi Nexis app, suitable with Android and iOS, in the event you choose.
For those who want to tailor your listening expertise, the Neo iDSD 2 gives additional tuning choices to the unique Neo iDSD’s catalogue. The DAC stage gives 4 digital reconstruction filters – Normal, Bit Good, Minimal Part and GTO (Gibbs Transient Optimised) – which might be chosen by way of the principle menu.
The headphone amp, in the meantime, handles 4 achieve settings consisting of Regular (0dB), Turbo (+8dB), Nitro (+16dB) and an IEMatch attenuation mode (-12dB) for utilizing delicate in-ear screens. Higher nonetheless, additional analogue processing modes present even better personalisation choices.
With the iDSD 2, iFi is promising a definitive DAC-cum-headphone amp combo that ought to be the one product of its kind that you will ever want, delivering music in “full impact” to “make sure you expertise all the pieces”.
The Neo iDSD 2 will probably be out there from chosen retailers from October at a value of £899 / $899 / AU$1,950.
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