iFi iDSD GR 2 review

iFi knows its way around a digital-to-analogue converter. From the pocket-sized, pocket-change-costing Go Link through to its mid-range Zen DAC line, all the way up to the flagship iDSD Phantom, the British brand has established itself as a solid option for buyers seeking a capable DAC/headphone amp that performs well for the money.

iFi has billed its latest creation, the premium iDSD GR 2 DAC, as “a legend perfected”. Acting as the de facto successor to the company’s xDSD Gryphon from 2021, the new model promises wholesale changes from its predecessor, including redesigned balanced circuitry, a new Burr-Brown PCM1795 DAC chip, and a touchscreen display.

A lot of promise on paper; time to find out how the iFi iDSD GR 2 performs in practice.

Build & design

iFi’s premium DAC/headphone amplifier feels like a quality item. Constructed using a ridged aluminium chassis adorned with an OLED touchscreen and topped with a metal control knob, the iDSD GR 2 does a fine job of making you feel as though you’re getting your money’s worth.

If out-and-out portability is your primary concern, iFi offers smaller, cheaper alternatives in its arsenal of DAC/ headphone amplifiers, including the iFi hip-dac 3 (£199 / $199 / AU$449) and Zen DAC 3 (£229 / $229 / AU$399), with the iDSD GR 2 designed to straddle that tricky hinterland between desktop use and on-the-go listening.

Viewed from above, it’s about the size of an iPhone, but the DAC’s metal chassis and chunky profile mean you might struggle to get it in your pocket comfortably. 268g isn’t exactly heavy, but when you consider that an iPhone 15 weighs about 170g, you’ll realise that it isn’t feather-light, either.

Battery life clocks in at around seven hours, and there are plenty of ways to connect your headphones and music sources to the premium DAC. It features balanced 4.4mm and single-ended 3.5mm inputs and outputs, as well as a USB-C input alongside a combination optical/coaxial input. You can also accept a signal from a Bluetooth (5.4) source, with codec support coming in aptX Lossless, aptX Adaptive and LDAC flavours.

The iDSD GR 2 features a narrow OLED colour touchscreen, from which you can access volume adjustment, input selection, choose your desired digital filter and see your music’s file rate.

A display is nice to have, and the touchscreen itself is responsive and precise in its operation. Some aspects of operation take a bit of practice, such as holding certain icons down and then swiping across in the same motion to switch the desired gain mode, but we imagine those are things we’d grow accustomed to with time.

Away from the display, a few little usability quirks are worth flagging. The inputs and outputs at either end of the unit aren’t labelled particularly clearly, meaning that we sometimes had to bust out our phone’s flashlight to find our desired connection. Labelling each port with clearly contrasting white text would make legibility a little easier.

The volume control operation also seems counterintuitive – moving the dial forwards with the DAC lying flat turns the volume down a notch, while moving it backwards raises it up. That feels like the mirror image of what we’d expect, but again, we’d likely get used to it over time.

If you’re planning on taking the DAC out and about and want to keep it safe from knocks and scrapes, iFi offers a faux suede protective case, sold separately for around £50 / $50 / AU$79. The case comes with a cut-out so that you can still operate the touchscreen, though we do find that it can make tapping icons near the edge of the screen a bit trickier due to the cut-out being a little too small.

Internally, the iDSD GR 2 employs Class A amplification, in service of iFi’s pursuit of what it describes as a “natural analogue character”. The brand has also refined its new DAC’s circuitry – which is fully balanced from end to end – to reduce noise within the signal path.

The iDSD GR 2 delivers up to a claimed output of 1513m/W RMS – an increase of 50 per cent over the outgoing xDSD Gryphon – to grant more headroom to handle more demanding loads. That matches up with our testing, as from the premium Beyerdynamic T1 (£899 / $999 / AU$1599) to the high-end Sony MDR-Z1R (£1700) headphones, we find that there isn’t much that the iFi can’t handle.

Features

The iDSD GR 2 supports DSD512 files and PCM playback up to a sky-high resolution of 32-bit/768kHz, though the chances of any layperson having such ultra-high-resolution recordings are slim. Still, it’s nice to know that, whatever music file you feed the iDSD GR 2, you’ve got a near-cast-iron guarantee it can handle it.

Doing said handling is a new Burr-Brown PCM1795 DAC chip sitting at the heart of the circuitry, which is claimed to produce a "warm, analogue character" with "lower distortion and greater dynamic range". That DAC chip is supported by 'K2HD' technology, a harmonic restoration algorithm built to bring recordings closer to their original character by "reintroducing subtle detail" and restoring musical tone.

iFi’s usual parade of digital filters is on hand for tweaking your sound to your own tastes, with four options consisting of ‘Standard’, ‘Bit-Perfect’, ‘Minimum Phase’ and ‘GTO’. Each will impart a slightly different flavour on your tunes – ‘Standard’ makes music crisper and more sharply defined; ‘GTO’ widens the soundstage a little – but for most of our testing, we stick with the smooth, pleasingly fluid balance of ‘Minimum Phase’.

iFi’s complementary ‘XBass’ and ‘XSpace’ analogue processing features have a more perceptible effect. ‘Xbass’ is useful for adding a good deal more lower-end muscle, even if it sacrifices precision and subtlety in the process, while ‘XSpace’ widens out the soundstage for an airier, less ‘on-head’ experience.

Both are fun to play around with – and potentially useful if you’re seeking to make up for a pair of cans with, say, not much oomph in the bass – but we perform the bulk of our testing with them switched off, as this grants the resultant sound a more natural, balanced character.

Away from filters, iFi’s latest DAC offers a hybrid power mode, meaning that the unit will prioritise mains power when connected to an external supply. If extra power is required, the iDSD GR 2 will utilise its internal battery and then switch to the external supply when the demand drops.

While you’ll likely spend a good deal of your time controlling the DAC using its on-unit touch controls, Android users can connect to iFi’s Nexis app. From here, you can access digital filters, fine-tune your listening profile, select your desired input and reap the rewards of any handy over-the-air updates.

It’s not the most stylish control app you’ll ever find, and most of the functionality can be adjusted via the DAC itself, but the Nexis platform is clear and easily navigable. Just be aware that, to get the most out of the app, you’ll need your source device to be connected physically, rather than via Bluetooth. iPhone users can still use the app via Bluetooth, but it’s a far sparser, more limited affair.

Sound

We use a range of premium and high-end wired headphones to test the iDSD GR 2’s capabilities, including not only the Sony MDR-Z1R, but also the budget-friendly Røde NTH-100 (£149 / $149 / AU$249) and premium Austrian Audio The Composer (£2249 / $2699 / AU$3999). We also make sure to test the full range of connections on offer, although we prefer using the punchier, crisper-sounding 4.4mm balanced output over its 3.5mm counterpart when possible.

With the iFi connected via USB-C to our laptop at one end and a pair of the high-end Sony MDR-Z1R connected to the 4.4mm balanced headphone output at the other, we reach for a 24-bit/96kHz rendition of Muse’s Panic Station. The iDSD GR 2 will give any music you play from a laptop a boost, no matter the quality of the files you use, but there’s no question you’ll really notice its full arsenal of capabilities with suitably high-resolution recordings.

Those abilities include impressive sonic clarity wedded to an ear for detail, all painted across a broad, big-picture soundscape. Panic Station is as crisp and funky as John Travolta’s iconic Saturday Night Fever suit, yet the iDSD GR 2 has the poise and restraint to prevent things from sounding sloppy or ill-ordered. Top-end notes are sharp but rarely bright or overdone, whereas low-end bass tones resonate deeply without sacrificing punch or precision.

A 24-bit/48kHz recording of Fleet Foxes’ Wading In Waist High Water further highlights the iFi’s uncluttered, detail-rich presentation. Tremulous vocals shine brightly as the DAC spotlights Robin Pecknold’s featherlight tenor, all while delicate guitar strums and hazy blasts of brass lull us into a relaxed repose.

We can’t stay basking in the glow of blissed-out indie beats forever, and so it’s time to put out the Bat-Signal and recruit the services of Hans Zimmer to see how the iDSD GR 2 can convey the drama and intensity of The Dark Knight Rises soundtrack (24-bit/192kHz).

iFi’s premium DAC has the poise and refinement to keep the many layers of the epic Rise just where they should be, even if we’re left yearning for a touch more dynamic drama as the music builds to its heroic denouement.

This is where the Award-winning Chord Mojo 2 reminds us why it’s one of the best DACs we’ve tested at this kind of level. At £395 / $725 / AU$899, it’s a good deal cheaper than its iFi rival, yet the bite and drama it brings to these big orchestral numbers are beyond anything the iDSD GR 2 can muster.

To see how both DACs perform in a hi-fi separates set-up, we plug each into our reference system. From our network server, we play Michael Jackson’s Burn This Disco Out (in 16-bit/44.1kHz and 24-bit/176.4kHz) via 4.4mm balanced to XLR feeding into our reference Burmester 088 preamplifier, and the subsequent rendition sounds sparkier and more rhythmically capable via the Chord Mojo 2 than it does through the premium iFi.

The Mojo 2 is already a certified legend in its field, and as we switch back to a DSD recording of Aimee Mann’s Lost In Space, we find ourselves continuing to appreciate the GR 2’s strengths rather than bemoaning its relative shortcomings. Mann’s voice is packed full of personality, and the iFi’s loose, relaxed presentation plays into the tune’s hands to create a pleasingly easy-going rendition.

What about Bluetooth? The iDSD GR 2’s wire-free performance is perfectly capable, as evidenced by its sure-footed handling of a 16-bit/44.1kHz rendition of Goose’s Dripfield. But if you want to make the most out of your DAC – and indeed, the premium headphones you’ll be partnering it with – Bluetooth should be seen as a nice bonus rather than a primary means of listening.

Verdict

The iDSD GR 2 is a fine addition to iFi’s considerable stable of DACs. It’s not as entertaining or dynamically expressive as the benchmark-setting Chord Mojo 2, but its clear, detailed sound and extensive feature set, not to mention sturdy build and strong arsenal of physical connections, make it a fine alternative.

SCORES

• Sound 4
• Build 4
• Features 5

MORE:

Read our review of the Chord Mojo 2

Also consider the Cambridge Audio DacMagic 200M

Best DACs: USB, desktop and portable digital-to-analogue converters