As any champion knows, getting to the top of your game is just the beginning – it’s the staying there that’s the mark of a true legend. When it launched in 2021, the iFi xDSD Gryphon won rave reviews and a clutch of awards, so following it was never going to be an easy task. But with the iDSD GR 2, iFi has exceeded expectations – it hasn’t just tweaked the original Gryphon’s design, but completely re-engineered it from the inside out, with a new DAC chipset and refined architecture, new capacitive touchscreen interface and unrivalled versatility.
The result is a true heavyweight portable DAC/headphone amp that provides the sound of a hi-fi system, in your pocket.
Bucking the trend
None of these decisions were made by accident – the GR 2 is an intentional move away from the current trend of overly analytical portables. iFi instead carried out a wholesale rethink of the very fundamentals of its portable platform, opting to deliver its signature warm, analogue and very British sound in a compact and portable form factor for the ultimate in convenience. With a core philosophy focused on emotion rather than specification, each design choice has been made with careful consideration given to how it may contribute to breaking down the barrier between music and listener, and fostering a connection that can’t be measured on datasheets or charts.
Key to this is the new architecture built around a Burr-Brown PCM1795 DAC – a model hand-picked by iFi for its analogue tonality and visceral midrange, making it a perfect partner in iFi’s quest for musical involvement and authenticity. The GR 2 is actually the first iFi DAC to utilise the PCM1795, allowing for a bespoke I/V stage and a completely redesigned circuit, including a fully differential balanced pre-amp and headphone amp. This means more power, lower distortion, and greater dynamic range than anything iFi has previously crafted in this form factor.
For iFi, noise inhibits a direct connection to the music, and eliminating it brings that emotional connection closer, while greater dynamic range brings excitement and immersion akin to a hi-fi system in a listening room.
The balanced amp section also creates greater headroom and control, effortlessly communicating dynamic shifts to uncover every element of a track, no matter how subtle. It’s the GR 2 in a nutshell – every engineering decision has been made in order to better reveal the music, with a warmth and character guaranteed to keep you listening.
Such is the warmth of the GR 2 that you can listen for hours without becoming fatigued. It doesn’t just reveal more detail, it makes you feel more from your music, enveloping you in the emotion and delivering an unrivalled sonic impact. On first listen, new tracks will blow you away, while it will breathe new life into songs you know and love by uncovering hitherto hidden depths.
An extensive skillset
It’s also one of the most versatile products on the market, functioning as a portable DAC, headphone amp and preamp, and connecting to phones, laptops, tablets, desktops, home hi-fi setups and more, thanks to its extensive array of wired connections and wireless Bluetooth technology. The former include USB-C, line, coaxial, and optical inputs, headphone and line outputs, while wireless tech comes in the form of Bluetooth 5.4 for higher-quality aptX Lossless listening.
Such a versatile device demands effortless controls, and that’s exactly what iFi has delivered, courtesy of the OLED capacitive touchscreen display. With no complicated menus to dive into and no convoluted button combinations to commit to memory, tweaking settings never has to be an immersion-breaking experience. Instead, it puts power firmly at your fingertips – just glance, tap and go. Nexis integration delivers deeper fine tuning and over-the-air updates, allowing the GR 2 to keep evolving and adding new features months and years down the line.
But that’s not all. K2HD Technology from JVCKENWOOD restores harmonic content often lost in digital recordings for more life and depth, while the desktop mode bypasses the internal battery for permanent mains-powered use, so no listening session is interrupted by fears for long-term battery health. And when listening on the go, the 4,900mAh battery (30 per cent larger than the Gryphon) will keep the soundtrack to your day going long into the night and beyond.
At £529, it sets a new benchmark for portable audio in 2026 – this is what champions are made of.
