iDAC2: an excellent portable performer especially with the iPurifier2

Pros: Transparent neutral/cold signature, good sound, good value, plenty of outputs, nice soundstage, USB bus powered so no power cable or brick to carry around Cons: Slight treble emphasis may be off-putting to some, timing imperfect without iPurifier2 List price: $299 Acknowledgment The iDAC2 was provided on loan to me by iFi along with the... Continue Reading →

April 25, 2017 5

iFi iPurifier2: USB clean-up value king in a pocketable size

Pros: Increased soundstage width and depth, better note definition, timing smears fixed, cleaner vocals and treble, price better than a midrange USB cable and gives greater performance boost Cons: Didn’t feel like it pushed higher end cables to their limits, not as good as Micro iUSB3.0 List Price: Acknowledgment The iPurifier2 was loaned to me... Continue Reading →

March 12, 2017 4

Airist Audio Heron 5: power and grace in form and function

Pros: articulate, silky smooth, neutral, black background like the dark side of the moon, power to spare Cons: doesn’t mate well with low impedance phones, no impedance measurements provided for low and high jacks, stepped attenuator volume control lacks sufficient steps and is noisy on step switches List Price: $1000 Acknowledgment Thanks Airist Audio for... Continue Reading →