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iFi Audio has introduced the latest portable DAC / Headphone Amp model named iFi Diablo. This is color iFi DAC portable head the company’s higher than the line of Micro iDSD Signature.
The iDSD Diablo is highly qualified today’s best sound like a challenge to Chord Hugo. Although similar in size to the Micro iDSD series, it has a bright red design and color inspired by supercars.
On the decoding part, Diablo uses two Burr-Brown DSD1793 DAC chips commonly found on previous iFi products, designed ‘interleaved’ to be able to utilize up to 4 decoding channels to have the most detailed sound quality.
Another new feature of Diablo is the use of a microcontroller chip of XMOS 16 core to process pre-decoded sound. The chip part is similar to its new NEO DAC model, as this chip will process a clock time signal (2000 MIPS) while reducing noise, increasing accuracy, and adding digital processing before sending it to the DAC.
iFi Diablo will support decoding PCM to 32bit / 768kHz, DSD512, and MQA. PCM and DSD signals will be separated into two completely independent decoding lines to ensure no upsampling / conversion to get the most realistic sound quality.
On the analog part, the Headphone Amp is designed with a fully balanced, differential to ensure no interference and reduce crosstalk between two channels. Similar to the NEO DAC, Diablo uses a Pure Wave design circuit with a minimalistic and independent amplifier line for the most linear sound quality, without distortion. Diablo’s headphone output power is just too great for a portable product up to 5W at balanced 4.4mm and 2.4W on 6.3mm single-ended ports.
In terms of connectivity, Diablo supports USB-A, SPDIF (Coaxial / Optical), and Bluetooth ports. Another interesting point of Diablo when no longer using the regular Line Out RCA port, but using the 4.4mm line-out port on the back. Comes with a 4.4mm Balanced to 3-pin XLR converter for connecting balanced via amplifiers or speakers.
The source part of Diablo is a battery up to 4800mAh. Comes with it is an iPower 5V power supply of 1.1 million to charge or power to use with a computer.
iFi Diablo price and availability
iFi iDSD Diablo DAC Headphone Amp is now available to pre-order on the Bhphotovideo.com website for $899.99.
Recently, HiFiMan has also released the Portable DAC called HM1000 for both casual and professional use. The digital to analog audio converter product supports Bluetooth connectivity and USB-C OTG, which is compatible with most high resolution audio devices on the market today, and also offers a sophisticated and beautiful design to decorate the entertainment corner or your office desk, and is priced at $599.
