For all amps in the many iFi flavors.
First kick at the Can! (i’m sorry for the pun)
Just putting some feelers out on the Pro iCan and I’m curious if it’s the “swiss army knife” I’ve been reading about.
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I think it is in that regard, but the problem is that you will be sacrificing some of that performance for it’s flexibility. So I do think it’s fairly flexible, but you will be trading some sq for the price point for those extra features
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16 posts were merged into an existing topic: General Source Gear Help Thread
Post diablo iFi portables
I think there’s very little to say about these 2, its good ol’ ifi, some love it, some dont.
The reviews I’ve seen on youtube cover these products better than most other kinds of gear, because they are straightforward. You can rely on the written or video reviews more than usually with these two.
If you want to know anything specific I may be able to help
Here’s some facts, impressions and maybe things a reviewer missed.
Applies for both Go Blu and xDSD Gryphon
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The volume syncs for windows and android (not sure bout apple) let you control the volume from your laptop, pc, phone, dap, whatever. Its very handy. This can be turned off in the gryphon
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Their volume wheels seldom move in the pocket and are very responsive
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Build quality and looks are as good or better than expected
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The battery isn’t a problem, they last about from 5 to 8 hours and charge super fast with the right charger(s) (can use two with the gryphon)
Applies for Go Blu
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The signature is zen dac/can-ish but more boosted on the bass, its like half of the xbass is always turned on by default, so bassy product, midforward and intimate
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The xbass is very subtle because it doesnt really need much more, the xspace is not the best implemented but can save the timbre on some matchups by boosting the treble, both are very handy anyway
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The balanced output sounds better, SE almost as good
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Easily outperforms BTR5 and q5k with mid tier headphones and sometimes can surprise you with its drive ability, like its great matchup with grados, ATH including the high impedance r70x, imo 6xx sounded bad cause I dont like the 6xx with this signature (cant do miracles), the focal clears way better than expected. Planars could work.
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The BTR5 and q5k have better mics, their bluetooth gets clipped way less (on some pockets and handlings small skips will happen), have a hanger and are better for gaming, go blu is for SQ only; and I didnt find the BT cutting out that annoying, it happens mostly on pockets, getting blocked by the body and whatever lol but somehow it never annoyed me, it wasn’t constant and I used it 90% of the time for walks. When it sits still, the bt doesnt get interrupted and has good range.
Applies for xDSD Gryphon
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Its gorgeous and sounds the way it costs new or better if you love its features
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It has a neutral tuning with great detail that leans towards smooth with just a bit of ifi roundness on the edges, the soundstage is also average which is satisfactory for a portable and can further be augmented by xspace (sometimes it helps with depth, others in a 3d fashion, sometimes it just boosts gently the treble)
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Hardly ever sibilant, because of the smooth edges, and the neutral + filters makes it insanely good allrounder for a ton of headphones
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It has more than sufficient power for things that would be used portably
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The xbass II, xspace and presence (upper bass boost), exquisitely sounding analog filters and you have 7 possible combinations, Godlike, then you have 3 digital filters to wrap it up.
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It can pull out the punch of my LCD X without xbass no problem, and even make my beyer T1.2 sing with authority (obviously not like a RNHP would but still good enough)
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Bluetooth works wonderfully, may rarely skip for microseconds while handling
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May lack texture for the most demanding, but the filters usually help
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The 2 headphone outputs on the front and the 2 pre outs on the back work all at the same time
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The Dac sounds very good/fun by itself, I use it when I need to Xbass+Xspace something (my klipsch rp400m mostly)
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Fits very nicely in the pocket and hands
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Haven’t tested the spdif, most likely better than usb
Gryphon’s sins
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The outputs in the back can be used as inputs as well, sadly this is only useful to use the amp portion of the gryphon, you can’t really daisy chain this product to use the filters on your chain, you have to use it as a Dac or Amp.
(technically you can with the front outputs but those are for headphones and have enough power to make it a bad idea) -
You can’t skip or backtrack songs, which could and should be implemented in an update, even the go blu can do this. It can be annoying having to reach your player to change songs.
I have never had a DAP of this price range so take this with a teaspoon of salt. I’ve listened to the Kann Alpha for some hours, I think their SQ is comparable, mostly because I really like ifi’s filters.
If you spot any mistakes let me know! The gryphon is both a desktop and portable solution I’d recommend highly specially to someone looking for either an all in one solution, but specially an all in one portable solution.
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I really like my Go Blu for when I’m out and about. My only issue was that using the balanced output gave me very little range on the volume control using efficient headphones like the Focal Stellia and Celestee, so I’ve switched to single ended, which as you say, is still good. I don’t mind that it’s warm-ish signature because when I’m outside, or messing around in the kitchen, I’m looking for more of a fun signature anyway.
I’m thinking of buying a Gryphon as a travel all-in-one to use in hotels, plugged into my laptop using a USB cable rather than BT, so your comparison was really helpful.
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Hello,
I am also thinking about the Gryphon after the Hidizs Ap80 proX is a complete disaster.
The part works on Android passable with Apple devices even less.
More like Bluetooth in Sbc mode was not there.
I am now thinking about the Gryphon or a Dap.
It should be something that keeps me busy when I’m travelling and at home in the bedroom.
I mainly want to use it to operate the Aeon R/T when I’m on the road.
At home it can be used with the Little Dot 1+ and other headphones.
I have read that the Gryphon on Android has better support via cable as well as Bluetooth and with Apple unfortunately only Sbc and cable 96/24 maximum resolution.
Can anyone confirm this?
Would be important for me because unfortunately I have both systems and should just run smoothly.
Where I still have some concerns is the XBass function with more bass somehow still bothers me.
Above all, it could just be too thick.
Somehow I’d just like something musical and without sound-bending stuff.
A Dap wouldn’t be bad either, it would be great if I could download my Tidal playlist and use it offline.
I haven’t found anything else like the Hiby R5 and Cayin N3.
On the other hand, I find the Gryphon interesting again in terms of its performance and Ifi’s system maintenance is also to be praised.
They simply take care of their products, which is not unusual today.
That’s why it’s at the top of my list.
But the decision is still a bit difficult for me.
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Theres a very long thread on headfi, I cant confirm myself but the gryphon seems to have good perfomance on iphones and includes very nice otg cables with lightning and usb c, iphone users seem to be very happy with the gryphon; the sample rate seems to be fixed with a player like neuron. Anyway I would be happy with 44.1/16 tbh for what it is, but it seems from the thread that you can get more than that on BT and cable.
Not sure but you may not be able to go past 96/24 via cable, I haven’t found evidence of it, and SBC is what it is, so if that bothers you a lot, go for another product.
I think its very musical without using any filters at all. And the xspace was a pleasent surprise for me.
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