Closer Examination

The iFi micro iDSD Signature is quite unlike anything else I've seriously tested thus far, combining portability with the feature set of a desktop class DAC and amplifier. There are certainly others in the market aiming to bridge this gap, and indeed iFi itself has a couple of other models targeting consumers who appreciate having a powerful, feature-rich source on the go, as well as others who simply wish to use battery power for the source instead of AC mains. The micro iDSD Signature is a hefty unit, coming in at just shy of 300 g courtesy of the metal chassis and dense internal components, taking up 172 x 67 x 27 mm of room on your desk or bag. Now you may see why I was inclined to mention that a carry case would be preferred over the included soft pouch!

While the newer iFi Diablo comes in red and the Gryphon in gunmetal gray, the micro iDSD Signature enjoys a deep blue colorway. I appreciate the design, with a trapezoidal form factor from the side, allowing for easier pick up and transportation. The durable coating also holds up quite well, given I have had this sample in use for a couple of months now and it looks as new as it did when I first unboxed it. On the top is the iFi logo and the iDSD Signature moniker. Another neat detail here is one of the two longer sides goes with a ridged finish to help easily distinguish it, so you can easily connect the charging USB Type-C port on the side simply by touch. Yes, that Type-C port is not used for data transfer on purpose, with iFi wishing to decouple the power input from the data signal.


The bottom side ends up being a canvas for the various features on board the iFi micro iDSD Signature, avoiding their presence being a distraction. This is all the more important because at the top are some very relevant words, in addition to the four spherical rubber pads at the corners to help lift the chassis off the desk, both preventing scratches and stopping it from sliding around. Those terms in white are tied to three buttons on the other side of the charging port itself, and now we get to what makes this a very special unit. The red colored button the left toggles through three power modes—effectively a gain selector if you think about the end goal—of Eco, Normal, and Turbo. The middle set allows the end user to select between three filter types—Standard, Minimum Phase, and "Bit-Perfect". Then comes one of iFi's coolest tech in the form of iEMatch wherein you can select between Off, High Sensitivity, and Ultra Sensitivity. More on these on the next page!


The shorter sides are effectively the front and back sides, where all your I/O options are found. The front contains a full-size 6.35 mm single-ended headphone output to immediately distinguish this from the vast majority of portable DAC/amps that are also smaller in size, a 4.4 mm balanced output next to it for more power, and then more iFi tech courtesy an XBass+ and 3D+ toggle switches that are inset in the metal chassis but still easy to access with your fingers. Above them is an indicator LED, then finally we get to a combo on/off and analog volume control knob wheel itself with an indicator mark. On the back is a Coax/optical input from, say, a music player, an RCA output to connect to active speakers or a standalone amplifier, and finally the weird-but-fully-functional male USB Type-A input from a digital source such as your PC. This is why we have the female-male Type-A cable provided, and I would have rather seen another Type-C port here instead of the awkward placement with the necessary gap around this connector.


Given the loaner nature of this product, which seems hard to disassemble without damaging it, I was glad to have a PCB photo provided by iFi to discuss the internals. I knew going in that the micro iDSD Signature, as with any iFi DAC product, would use a Burr-Brown True Native DAC chipset given the company's innate familiarity with it, and a preference for a more "natural-sounding musicality" as opposed to purely getting the best possible technical measurements. There are two of these DACs here for lower noise and increased channel separation. These also provide bit-perfect DSD512, 768 kHz DXD, and 32-bit/768 kHz PCM playback, coupled with an ultra-low jitter GMT femto-second clock. Voltage amplification is handled courtesy of a custom OV operational amplifier with Texas Instruments low-noise filters and Panasonic OS-CON capacitors. There is no specific part number provided though, so we end up having to rely on what iFi mentions on the product page.