Southport,UK–April2018xDSD

TechNotes

XDSD–PREMIUM.POCKET-PORTABLE.PERFECTION.

Wearebuzzedabout thexDSDandourcustomerswillbe too.ThexDSD isaultraportablesolutionforeverydaymusicloversandhigh-endconnoisseursalike,andthewildchildoftheflagshipProiDSDandhigh-endmicroiDSDBlackLabel.ThexDSDshinesbothinsideandout–fromitsAAC/aptXBluetoothconnectivitytoitsluxuriousmagnesium-alloyconstruction.FromSpotifytoMQA/DSD512,everyonewillenjoyrediscoveringtheirfavoriteplaylists.

NEXTGENPREMIUMPORTABLEAUDIOSo, what is the xDSD? It is an ultra-portable product designed to be used withheadphones/IEMs/CIEMsandmobiledigitalsourcessuchassmartphonesandDAPsaswellasstationarydeviceslikecomputers,TVsandgameconsoles.ThexDSDcanbeoperatedeitherinwirelessorwiredmodeviaaptX/AACBluetooth(wireless) or USB and S/PDIF inputs (wired). It supports high-resolution formats(MQA and DSD) and includes the iFi S-Balanced 3.5mm TRRS headphone circuit,whichdelivers500mWofpowerper channel. In short, the xDSD is amajor game-changerforportablehigh-fidelity.

TechNotesxDSD

PART1–THEGUIDEDTOURHI-RESWIRELESSON-THE-GO

High-qualitywirelessisamajortoolinitsarmoury.WithBluetooth,thexDSDcanbewirelesslypairedwithsmartphonesorDAPs,sothere’snolongeranyneedtostackseveralunitstogether.Picturethis:YourxDSDstaysinyourpocketdrivingyourheadphoneswhilstthephoneisinyourhand,textingorbrowsingtheweb.Thiseaseofusetransformstheuserexperiencebothon-the-goandathome.NEWAESTHETICSWhen you first set your eyes on the xDSD, it is instantly obvious that it does notresembleanyotherportableaudioproductonthemarket.The xDSD exudes luxury and style. The enclosure is tactile, compact andmade ofrugged,ridgedmagnesium-aluminiumalloy.ThemouldedplasticmeansunrestrictedBTtransmission.All the switches and connections previously seen on iFi products have beenoptimised to match the new chassis, yet they still provide easy access to all thexDSD’sstandoutfeatures.Thisproduct isastunningobject in itsownrightwith itsvisualsanduserinterfacemerelypartofafargranderdesign.

Atthefrontofthemachine,fromlefttoright:

- the3.5mminput.- LEDsforkHzandinput- Centrerotaryforon/off,volumecontrol(mute)andinputselection- LEDsfor3D+andXBass+(user-selectable)- Settingsbutton

Southport,UK–April2018xDSD

TechNotes

Attherear:

- S/PDIFinput(forDAPs)- USBtype‘A’male(perfectforCCK/OTG)- Listen/Measurefilterswitch- MicroUSBchargingport(withstatusLED)

TechNotesxDSD

PART1–LOADEDWITHTECHNOLOGYWeareourownsternestcriticswhenwedevelopnewproducts.Partlybecauseofcustomerinputandsometimesjustbecausewecan,forthesheerheckofit,weliketoseehowfarwecanpushthetechnologyenvelope.The xDSD epitomises this. This section provides an in-depth explanation of itstechnologyandfeatures–andwhywe’vedonewhatwe’vedonesothat it isbotheasytouseANDsonicallystunning,asistheAMR/iFiway.MULTIBITDIGITALENGINEWITHAMRGLOBALMASTERTIMING

ThexDSDisverymuchakintothemicroiDSDBlackLabelforaperfectlyvalidreason.BothproductsarebasedontheBurr-BrownDSD1793D/Aconverterchipandshareextremelysimilardigitalandanaloguestages.The digital section of the xDSD is drawn from the micro iDSD Black Label withDSD512/PCM768compatibilitywithDSDviaDoP,nativeDSDplayback,USBtypeAandS/PDIFinputs,XMOS-basedUSBcircuitryandclocksderivedfromthemicroiDSDBlack Label with zero-jitter operation courtesy of the AMR Global Master Timing(GMT)clock,re-clockinganddatamanagement.

The Bluetooth section inside xDSD is derived from our Retro Stereo50 and is alsosubject to the AMRGMT clock system that operateswith femto precision. In thexDSD, the clock domain not only covers USB, S/PDIF and Bluetooth, but alsosynchronises the MCU (Master Control Unit) – effectively, the entire digital

Southport,UK–April2018xDSD

TechNotes

functionalityofxDSDisslavedtotheGMTclocksystem.Itisglobalbynameandbynature.

REMAP–OPTIMISEFORMQAORNON-MQAFORMATSWedonotdo thingsbyhalves.Wewriteourownsoftwarecodeso thexDSDwilllaunchwithtwospecialisedXMOSfirmwareversions.

v5.30–pre-installedandoptimisedforMQAv5.20–isoptimisedformusicfileformatsuptoDSD512/PCM768(non-MQA)

Each firmware version squeezes that last ounceof performance from the xDSD tosuiteachcustomer.Justascarenthusiastsloaddifferent‘remaps’intotheECU(ElectronicControlUnit)fortheirpreferreddrivingexperience,weletourcustomersloadtheirpreferred‘fileformatremap’fortheirownmusictorquecurve.

S-BALANCEDOPTIMISEDFORBALANCEDIEMS

OurexclusiveS-Balancedtechnologyextractsthemaximumperformancefromsingle-endedandbalancedheadphonesalike:

- WithTRRS,thebenefitisfulldual-monowithgroundsseparatedallthewaytoamplifiers.Justlikeaudiophilehi-fisystems.

TechNotesxDSD

- WithTRS,youlosethefullseparationofthegrounds,however,byhavingtwocontactsonthegroundcrosstalkisreducedby50%overastandardsinglecontactsocket.

WithS-Balanced,adedicatednegativewireperchannelallthewaytothestar-groundofeachchannel’samplifiertoensurethereisnocrosstalkbetweenthechannels.PlugginginunbalancedheadphoneswithaTRSconnectorinsteadofTRRSwillcausezeroissuesand,infact,thereisonlyupsideascrosstalkiscutby50%,comparedtousingaTRSsocket.Allthebenefitsofbalanced,withnoneofthedrawbacks.AndforthosewhowishtoconnectthexDSDtoahomesystem,thexDSDcanbesettolineoutmode.Its3.5mmheadphonejackisconvertedintoafixed2Vlevel3.5mmlineoutput.Needlesstosay,thexDSDremembersitssettingsasyouleftthemsoyoucanturnitonandpickupfromwhereyouleftoff.BRANDNEW‘CYBERDRIVE’HEADPHONEAMPLIFIERSTAGE

The‘Cyberdrive’headphoneamplifierstageisoneofthepivotalnewcircuitdesignsin the xDSD. This new design places all parameters of the fully analogue systemunderdigitalcontrolfora‘bestofbothworldsscenario’.Thekeycomponentsare:

i. Adigitally-controlledsteppedattenuatorIC

Southport,UK–April2018xDSD

TechNotes

ii. iFiproprietaryoperationalamplifiers(W990VSTandthehigh-performance,low-noise,quadJ-FetOV4627A)

iii. Dual-monopowerampICheadphonedrivers.

The xDSD draws upon the existing iFi headphone platform but with the circuitryratchetedup several notches. Performance is increased, bothnoise anddistortionareloweredandtheXBass+and3D-Matrix+modulesgainelectronicswitching.

The ‘Cyberdrive’ headphone amplifier provides up to 3.6V output to easily drivehigh-impedanceheadphoneswhileoffering a low-noiseperformance that parallelsthe micro iDSD Black Label’s ‘Eco’ mode with high-sensitivityheadphones/IEMs/CIEMs minus the need to switch anything! Simply set volumecontrolasneededandletthe‘Cyberdrive’circuitrydotherest.Got Sennheiser HD800s or Focal Utopias? No sweat. The xDSDwill drive them toeardrumsplittinglevels(notrecommended!)so,shortofthemost-demandingHE-6,justconnectanypairofheadphones.

NEWVOLUMECONTROLSYSTEMBEHINDTHE‘CYBERDRIVE’In short, we developed a new ‘the best of both worlds’ solution - a completelydigitally controlled process merged with attenuation itself done in the analoguedomain.Bothpowermodeswitchingandvolume levelarecombined inonerotarycontrol,whichmeansthexDSDtransparentlyandevenlyadaptspowermodesasthevolumesettingisadjusted.

This means that while the volume control operates like a digital control system,every‘Bit’ofresolutionisretainedlikeananaloguevolumecontrol.(Digitalvolumecontrolsbuilt-intoDACchipsloseresolutionatlowerlisteninglevels).NEW‘CYBERDRIVE’BATTERYSYSTEMWITHEXTENDEDPLAYBACKTIMEWe gathered extensive feedback regarding battery-powered products and thisaspectofthexDSDhasbeenre-designedfromtheground-up.

TechNotesxDSD

A dedicated USBmicro connector at the rear serves as a charging port. Power isneverdrawnviaitsUSBtypeAaudioconnection.Thisisreservedforaudioonly.In addition, a new 3.8V/2,200mAh LiPo battery (of the same size as its 3.7Vequivalent)offers+/-12%greatercapacity,whichextendstheplaybacktimeawayfrompoweroutlets.TheentirebatterycircuitryinthexDSDisalsosubjecttothefull‘Cyberdrive’system,whichnotonlymonitorsitsstateandconstantlymonitorsanattachedcharger,butalso manages the way xDSD is used. Depending on the connected load and realusage,toeithermaximiseplaybacktimeonbatterymodeorbatterylongevity,oneoftwomodes(‘desktop’or‘portable’)isautomaticallyselected.ThesefeatureswerealreadyimplementedinthemicroiDSDBlackLabelyethadtobesetmanuallywhereasonthexDSD, it is fullyautomaticandoptimisedfarmoreextensively by comparison. Finally, in the event of a depleted battery, the xDSDautomaticallyswitchesovertoexternalUSBpowerandwillcarryonasifnothinghaschanged.On-the-go,dependingupontheheadphones,thetypicallisteningtimeis6-8hours.

LATEST3D+ANDXBASS+FORHEADPHONES

The3D-Matrix+andXBass+arealsounder‘Cyberdrive’control,henceasimplesinglemultifunctionbuttonenablesonetocyclethroughallinputoptionsandon/off.Withapureanaloguevolumecontrolretainingfull-resolutionatallvolumelevels,itsselectable 3D+ and XBass+ functions offer both great sensitivity and powerperformancefortheultimateinheadphoneenjoyment.WhenusedinLineOutmode,botharebypassedandastraight2vsignal issenttotheoutput.

Southport,UK–April2018xDSD

TechNotes

ANDFINALLYWith one eye on the future as to how we all enjoy music and one eye on ourportable/transportable line-up, it has been a long road to bring the X-series tomarket.Thoughwearesatisfiedthatthisnewmodelencapsulatesourverybestand latestportableaudioknow-how.

ThexDSDsignificantlychangestheportablemeta.Itsetsthenewstandardforwhatcustomers should expect in terms of features ANDperformance. All at a stunningpricepoint–US$399(ex-tax)/€449(withVAT).TravelxClasswiththexDSD.Premium.Pocket-Portable.Perfection.AboutiFiiFiaudioisheadquarteredinSouthport,UK.ItisthesisterbrandofAbbingdonMusicResearch(AMR).Theyrespectivelydesignandmanufactureportableanddesktop‘ultra-fidelity’audioproductsandhigh-endaudio‘home-based’components.Thecombinedin-househardwareandsoftwaredevelopmentteamenablesiFiaudioandAMRtobringtomarketadvancedaudioproducts.

Fullproductinfo:http://ifi-audio.com/High-resolutionphotos&officiallogos:http://mediaportal.ifi-audio.com/Forfurtherinformation,pleasecontact:VictoriaPickles,Marketspress@ifi-audio.com+44(0)1704227204