The feature list of the iFi Pro iDSD Signature does remind me of the recently reviewed FiiO R7 which comes in at under a quarter of the price and is easier to work with. So then the question might come up—what does this offer which makes the $3300 price tag justified, especially as a product that released nearly 18 months ago? I suppose the easiest way to answer this is by saying it took me about a week to test the FiiO R7 whereas I have been testing the iFi Pro iDSD Signature for more than a couple of months now and still have not fully appreciated everything it can do. Some of this is due to the clearly professional-level features it has that are not compatible with my home HiFi equipment, whereas others offer the flexible budget audiophile the option to pair this with an audio chain which could cumulatively cost enough to be a house mortgage in most countries. The inputs and outputs on offer here would make anything else covered to date simply shy away and I do see why Headamp mentioned I should take a look at this alongside the BHSE to make the most of my e-stat headphones.

When you consider that potential customers who are able to even consider the Pro iDSD Signature already have amplifiers and headphones which cost far more than this product, suddenly things do fall in a different context. I know this won't stop the comments section from talking about how anything priced this high isn't justifiable, and in that case you should absolutely save the money for something more practical and / or important in your life. The iFi Pro iDSD Signature is for those who are earning as a professional in the music industry just as much as the aforementioned audiophile who has decided the money spent here can be amortized over thousands of hours of enjoyment in the long run. So the real question should be whether or not the feature set is to your appeal.

I will give iFi due credits for putting out so many features in a relatively diminutive body, with the stacked PCB approach helping as does the years of experience putting out audio hardware at various price points. There is also IP used here from iFi's parent company which deals in the pro-audio world even more, and certainly this shows up with the accessories as well as the electrical engineering seen. Nearly every single thing is a step up in quality from DAC / amps we've covered to date and having actual vacuum tubes inside for genuine tube output modes rather than simulated filters on solid-state output is a win very few can boast about. There's a reason this review took so long to write and also why it has seven long pages too. Yet it's not a perfect product by any means even with the cost aspect out of the picture.

Some of the user experience misses are do feel avoidable, especially with iFi having shown it can put out highly detailed guides on, say, getting the Roon Bridge running to have the Pro iDSD Signature be a Roon output device. But convincing people to go through all those steps is easier said than done in a world increasingly dominated by devices you simply connect to your local network and have it be automatically recognized by Roon. Even getting the network streaming part up and running involves using a poorly designed third-party app that has changed names since the time this was launched and I still see more complaints and questions about this than an easy solution online from the company. Perhaps this is where iFi could have considered getting onboard the first-party software train after all, but then again it has put out more accessible and budget-friendly streamers to where the Pro iDSD Signature might simply be showing its age. Where it does not feel old by any means whatsoever is in the excellent sound it puts out and the flexibility it offers to get that same excellent sound across a variety of other devices, be it headphones you can power off this directly or amplifiers of your choice for a more personalized experience. There is certainly enough here to strongly consider and learn more about even if you can't afford it at this point.