Customer Reviews

Exactly what a DAC/AMP should be!

I bought this to go along with my Focal Clear Mg Pro, the headphones on their own are amazing but when I added the iFi NEO iDSD 2 and I was blown away. I could hear things i had never heard before from songs I've been listening to for decades. The myiad of connection options will be able to meet anyone's needs, I run mine via usb through my Macbook Pro and it sounds phenomenal! There are also many other function buttons including x-bass which works really well and I'm very happy about that as I love bass, to me it adds extra depth to music. The gain function works better than I thought it would as the volume goes up exponentially and got very loud very quickly so much so I had to back it off. This DAC/AMP is very easy to use, looks great, and does exactly what it's supposed to do but at a very high level, I couldn't recommend this more definitely worth it!

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Top notch and versatile DAC/amp!

After a few weeks of testing, the NEO iDSD 2 quickly became one of my favorite DAC/amps I've had the pleasure to demo. Most of my listening was via a WiiM Ultra into the optical input, or iPhone over USB, paired with a wide range of headphones from Sennheiser, Audeze, Dan Clark, Focal, Meze, and more. It had no trouble driving anything I threw at it-from 300-ohm Sennheisers (HD800S, HD650) to low-efficiency planars-with headroom to spare. The NEO iDSD 2 is incredibly versatile: plenty of input options (including the oft-omitted analog in), preamp functionality for powered monitors, and loads of tweakability. Between XBass II, XSpace, and selectable filters, there's a sound here for just about everyone. My favorite was XBass II-a quick, convenient way to add bass, treble, or both via a simple button on the front panel. I often tweak EQ settings for different headphones, recording quality, etc, and this made it effortless to add some low end to the HD800S or brighten up a darker Audeze. Throughout, the sound was clear and refined, with good imaging and no harshness-unless you overdo the treble on already-bright headphones. If I were shopping for a desktop-friendly all-in-one system, this would be near the top of my list.

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iFi NEO iDSD 2

Works as intended

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Powerful, Musical, Feature-Packed

While an audiophile since the late 80s, I've been out of the hobby for about 4-5 years as I focused on my photography. I recently got excited about it again Nov 2023, and started voraciously consuming reviews and information about all the headphones and DAC/Amps I could find. After 7 months of reading and watching YouTube videos, I started to realize a couple of things. I'm 55 years old, and right now my hearing seems to peak around 15KHz. I figure now is the time to buy something really special, because my hearing is as good as it will ever be. I also realized that If I wanted a system that I'd really enjoy long term and would be happy with for at least ten years, I'd need to spend some money. I also wanted something made outside of China, which made it a challenge, because there are some very good Chinese products available for reasonable money. I ended up with this excellent iFi NEO iDSD 2 and the also-amazing Meze Empyrean II headphones. TBH, I struggle to imagine how the audio could be any better. Supremely detailed, very strong dynamics, superb frequency response (though as I was warned, a little warm in the lower mids, but which sounds musical rather than muddy), and power for days. This feels like an excellent pairing, and I'd recommend it to anyone with the cash to spare.

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