iFi Audio iGalvanic3.0 - The Holy Grail of Computer Audio

[thuandb]

From an experience point of view, my best sounding setup is iGalvanic3.0 and Micro iUSB3.0.  Of course, a Nano iUSB3.0 in front of iG3 thus powering the iG3 is icing on the cake.

[Chopin75]

Thanks for all your input! I can get the IFI bundle at music direct and have had great service from them. It does appear the bundle offers some good option including being able to use a battery run macbook (I have Mac air) via idefender. I presume that way using idenfender + ipower, entire system is run on battery + dc power till the DAC. I presume without idefender battery run Mac may not run as efficiently ? 

[Condocondor]

Quote

I presume that way using iDenfender + iPower, entire system is run on battery + dc power till the DAC. I presume without idefender battery run Mac may not run as efficiently ? 

I guess the packet data leg of the USB cable is run on your Mac which is battery powered.  The DC power provided by the iPower gives the iGalvanic ultra clean power to "re-clock" and "regenerate".  Since my DAC is battery powered already, I view the iDefender + iPower as supporting the iGalvanic's BEST functioning by giving it's circuitry the best chance of maximum performance.  The USB power leg of your Mac is maxed out at .9 amps into 5V.  The iPower is 2.5A into 5V.  The higher amperage capability of the iPower, I'm thinking, should ultimately give a steadier 5V power for more slam.    This then will give your DAC an easy job of performing at its finest.  

[Chopin75]

Looks like idefender is more for ground and AC power issue, none applies to me as I have laptop on battery. There is a slight harder less relaxed sound with AC power plugged in, so perhaps the idefender can work on that if I use AC power, Anyway your analogy makes sense. The bundle costs the same as only getting the iFi gal so I may just get it. I can also use the ipower on another DAC that I will get - minidsp u- DAC 8 for multi-ch playback

[AMR/iFi audio]

17 minutes ago, Chopin75 said:

Looks like idefender is more for ground and AC power issue, none applies to me as I have laptop on battery. There is a slight harder less relaxed sound with AC power plugged in, so perhaps the idefender can work on that if I use AC power, Anyway your analogy makes sense. The bundle costs the same as only getting the iFi gal so I may just get it. I can also use the ipower on another DAC that I will get - minidsp u- DAC 8 for multi-ch playback

 

Sounds like a solid plan!

[Chopin75]

Ok the iFi package arrived! 

‘I tried the iFi gal & idefender + ipower

here is a brief review before I forget:

 

System:

Mac air With Audirvana - via USB to Geek Pulse DAC - DACware Tori junior tube amp.

 

out of box, no burn in - straight between Mac and DAC: sound is warmer, smoother and deeper/wider sound stage, more air to sound, darker background

 

Compairing between my Macbook plug to AC vs running on its battery :

 

with AC cord -  more dynamic and harder sound, sounds a bit harsh, more digital

with battery only - softer and smoother, more analogue but less dynamic, quieter and a bit too gentle, not enough meat to the sound, 

 

I am not really satisfied with either , one too hard and one too soft.  When I play without the AC cord, the dynamic is much better if I don’t use the igalvanic, but the harshness is back. There is greater air and space without the igalvanic. With igalvanic while using battery on Mac, it feels like it is muting something, like having a tube gear that is coloring something but not really improving the sound much. If I put back the AC, it is much better but there is still some degree of harshness/hard feel. So I thought adding the igalvanic while running Mac on battery is not helping much. 

 

Maybe it really needs a separate power source from ipower to run better.

 

before I do that, I stick the idefender in:

 

mac —> idefender ->  igalvanic —> DAC

 

On battery only -  sounds much more open and more air, more dynamic  no harshness added 

 

on AC cord - the dynamics improves a bit but  hard sound is coming back a bit, though not as much as before, the warmth, improved sound stage is still there and perhaps one will feel reasonably good about this by now.

 

however I feel without needing AC still sound more organic/analogue but I want the punch of the AC power.

 

so comes the ipower!

 

Mac —> idefender fed by ipower —> Igalvanic —> DAC

 

things are much better now.

 

with battery: the dynamics and punch all back, like when the AC cord is there but without the harshness/digital feel etc, bass is deep, organic feel all there...

 

with AC - not really giving much more dynamic or power but the sound stage actually is thinner, bass is not as good,  more flat, less organic; so really no advantage of having AC cord. Clarity also not as good.

 

i am surprised that idefender helps a lot and that despite using separate ipower to boost the idefender thus isolating the source AC power, the lack of AC power makes the whole gear so much better, probably more obvious than before. 

 

My setting is - down - RF soft ground-link

the default causes dropout and clicks - ? Clocking issue with DAC? i suppose my DAC or the MAC is doing some clocking that is causing this issue ? Is this down setting less than optimal ? Maybe the manufacturer can comment on this ?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[PPk]

Feeding igalvanic with external power will bring up the sq a notch or two, especially good power source. Can't do without it. 

 

[AMR/iFi audio]

15 hours ago, Chopin75 said:

Ok the iFi package arrived! 

‘I tried the iFi gal & idefender + ipower

here is a brief review before I forget:

 

System:

Mac air With Audirvana - via USB to Geek Pulse DAC - DACware Tori junior tube amp.

 

out of box, no burn in - straight between Mac and DAC: sound is warmer, smoother and deeper/wider sound stage, more air to sound, darker background

 

Compairing between my Macbook plug to AC vs running on its battery :

 

with AC cord -  more dynamic and harder sound, sounds a bit harsh, more digital

with battery only - softer and smoother, more analogue but less dynamic, quieter and a bit too gentle, not enough meat to the sound, 

 

I am not really satisfied with either , one too hard and one too soft.  When I play without the AC cord, the dynamic is much better if I don’t use the igalvanic, but the harshness is back. There is greater air and space without the igalvanic. With igalvanic while using battery on Mac, it feels like it is muting something, like having a tube gear that is coloring something but not really improving the sound much. If I put back the AC, it is much better but there is still some degree of harshness/hard feel. So I thought adding the igalvanic while running Mac on battery is not helping much. 

 

Maybe it really needs a separate power source from ipower to run better.

 

before I do that, I stick the idefender in:

 

mac —> idefender ->  igalvanic —> DAC

 

On battery only -  sounds much more open and more air, more dynamic  no harshness added 

 

on AC cord - the dynamics improves a bit but  hard sound is coming back a bit, though not as much as before, the warmth, improved sound stage is still there and perhaps one will feel reasonably good about this by now.

 

however I feel without needing AC still sound more organic/analogue but I want the punch of the AC power.

 

so comes the ipower!

 

Mac —> idefender fed by ipower —> Igalvanic —> DAC

 

things are much better now.

 

with battery: the dynamics and punch all back, like when the AC cord is there but without the harshness/digital feel etc, bass is deep, organic feel all there...

 

with AC - not really giving much more dynamic or power but the sound stage actually is thinner, bass is not as good,  more flat, less organic; so really no advantage of having AC cord. Clarity also not as good.

 

i am surprised that idefender helps a lot and that despite using separate ipower to boost the idefender thus isolating the source AC power, the lack of AC power makes the whole gear so much better, probably more obvious than before. 

 

My setting is - down - RF soft ground-link

the default causes dropout and clicks - ? Clocking issue with DAC? i suppose my DAC or the MAC is doing some clocking that is causing this issue ? Is this down setting less than optimal ? Maybe the manufacturer can comment on this ?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thanks for your feedback! We're happy when our customers are happy!

[Chopin75]

Another question, can the idefender run by a battery like this ? :

 

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00CEZBKTO/ref=ox_sc_act_title_1?smid=A294P4X9EWVXLJ&psc=1

 

I read from some forum that someone has successfully used something like this to drive a DAC that uses low voltage. Unsure if this would sound better or worse than iPower but good thing is it is portable if one needs to carry the MACbook to play music without need of finding a wall socket to plug in

 

Adrian 

 

[AMR/iFi audio]

On 5/28/2018 at 6:36 AM, Chopin75 said:

Another question, can the idefender run by a battery like this ? :

 

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00CEZBKTO/ref=ox_sc_act_title_1?smid=A294P4X9EWVXLJ&psc=1

  

I read from some forum that someone has successfully used something like this to drive a DAC that uses low voltage. Unsure if this would sound better or worse than iPower but good thing is it is portable if one needs to carry the MACbook to play music without need of finding a wall socket to plug in

 

Adrian 

 

 

Our policy is to not comment products other than ours, hence we can't help you here. What we do know though is that our iPower is VERY silent, built strictly with audio on mind and affordable. 

[Bionic]

any chance of making a micro version of this and not just a single plug name version?

[Sator]

10 hours ago, Bionic said:

any chance of making a micro version of this and not just a single plug name version?

 

I was also thinking that it would be nice to be able to upgrade to a micro iGalvanic3.0 on which you can use the Gemini USB cable. Perhaps also with its own external power supply. Though I wouldn't be surprised if iFi were working on this already.

[AMR/iFi audio]

14 hours ago, Sator said:

 

I was also thinking that it would be nice to be able to upgrade to a micro iGalvanic3.0 on which you can use the Gemini USB cable. Perhaps also with its own external power supply. Though I wouldn't be surprised if iFi were working on this already.

 

We're always in development mode. ALWAYS. Who knows what the future brings. 

[Sator]

14 hours ago, AMR/iFi audio said:

 

We're always in development mode. ALWAYS. Who knows what the future brings. 

 

I'm very happy in the meantime with the sound quality out of the combination of the nano iGalvanic3.0 and micro iUSB3.0, so look forward to seeing what your R&D department manage to come up with next. I wish there were a way to have the iGalvanic3.0 run a bit cooler though just to nitpick a little.

 

Cheers

[PPk]

8 minutes ago, Sator said:

 

I'm very happy in the meantime with the sound quality out of the combination of the nano iGalvanic3.0 and micro iUSB3.0, so look forward to seeing what your R&D department manage to come up with next. I wish there were a way to have the iGalvanic3.0 run a bit cooler though just to nitpick a little.

 

Cheers

 

 

two more tweaks u can do...

 

1. change all cables to ifi mercury 3.0.. those cables are wonders.. they even beat those that cost a few thousand dollars 

2. use a idefender and feed good power(ipower) to igalavanic.. trust me.. it's worth the try..

[Sator]

10 minutes ago, PPk said:

 

 

two more tweaks u can do...

 

1. change all cables to ifi mercury 3.0.. those cables are wonders.. they even beat those that cost a few thousand dollars 

2. use a idefender and feed good power(ipower) to igalavanic.. trust me.. it's worth the try..

 

1. Am in the process of doing just that.

2. Already done

[Franatic]

I've stopped using the iGalvanic because of heat issues with my power supplies. I can't use it with the LPS-1.2 and Jcat Femto card combo. When I use it with a Plixir elite LPSU it works and sounds great but both the iGalvanic and Plixir heat up too much for my liking. It needs to be able to be powered up separate from the usb line. Its a problem and now I wish I hadn't bought it.

[Chopin75]

Hi Franatic,

 

Are u using separate power to IGalvanic e.g. via Idefender + ipower. Perhaps that would reduce the heat as it would then be powered separately?  

[Sator]

I am using a separate power supply to my iGalvanic via iDefender/iPower and the iGalvanic remains very toasty.

[Chopin75]

I am also wondering if this new product iFi DC purifier 2 can be used on the iPower? Would it improve things or just overkill? I also wonder what would work better ?  ipower alone vs stock DC power + ipurifer2 ?

 

Any comment from manufacturer?

 

 

[Franatic]

6 hours ago, Chopin75 said:

Hi Franatic,

 

Are u using separate power to IGalvanic e.g. via Idefender + ipower. Perhaps that would reduce the heat as it would then be powered separately?  

Chopin, it is an option to try. I ordered one and also a barrel to usb micro cable. This iGalvanic is getting more and more expensive. I have the groundhog kit also.

[Franatic]

I got an iDefender and a barrel to usb micro cable. I have a Terdak 30 watt linear sitting idle so I connected that through the iDefender to power the IGalvanic. It works great. Even this 30 watt supply gets pretty warm and the igalvanic gets toasty. I'm surprised iFi would design something so power hungry without a dedicated power supply input for it. Supplying power via usb with the supplies on my usb card did not cut it. The LPS-1.2 overloaded and my Plixir Elite lpsu got too hot.

 

So my usb line looks like this: Jcat Femto usb card with Uptone LPS-1.2 > dual headed iFi gemini 3.0 cable > iDefender w/teradak 30 watt on power leg > Igalvanic 3.0 > Usb 3.0 A to B adapter > micro iusb3.0 w/ LPS-1.2 > iFi mercury 3.0 cable > Singxer SU-1(usb to i2s converter) w LPS-1.2 > Wireworld Platinum Starlight HDMI > W4S DAC2V2 DSDse

I will replace the USB3.0 A to B adapter with another Mercury 3.0 cable and then I'm done.

 

All that being said about my issues with the iGalvanic power situation, it sounds great. The Igalvanic has made a nice improvement here. More texture and definition. The bass goes really deep. There is heightened presence. The speakers have seemingly disappeared leaving an expanded sound stage with greater imaging and placement of instruments......and I can't stop listening.

 

Junior Wells and Buddy Guy giving me the Hoodoo Man Blues. I feel  like I'm in the Chicago studio in 1965. This is why we spend good money to cultivate our systems!

 

P.S. I wonder how long the iGalvanic will last running hot like this. Does everybody's unit run hot??

 

BTW: The new line of iFi 3.0 usb cables are fantastic

[Chopin75]

Mine never gets warm, luke warm maybe. My connection is so simple: macbook - idefender + ipower —- > igalvanic ——> Dac that has its own power supply. Only one time it was hot was when i left it on attached to my macbook overnight but the DAC is off. I figured it might be somehow running by itself. Not sure if this is damaging i disconnected everythng before sleep. U should contact the company and ask them what the heck is going on. This does not seem normal.

[Franatic]

10 hours ago, Chopin75 said:

Mine never gets warm, luke warm maybe. My connection is so simple: macbook - idefender + ipower —- > igalvanic ——> Dac that has its own power supply. Only one time it was hot was when i left it on attached to my macbook overnight but the DAC is off. I figured it might be somehow running by itself. Not sure if this is damaging i disconnected everythng before sleep. U should contact the company and ask them what the heck is going on. This does not seem normal.

Well mine definitely gets warm. Not as toasty when music is not playing, but playing DSD128 it got warmer. I wonder if it is because I'm on a balanced power system. The ground is placed midway between the 120V winding. I wonder if iFi can comment on that. I should bet a temp probe on it and report the temperature here.........I'll do that.

[Chopin75]

Quote

 

I am also wondering if this new product iFi DC purifier 2 can be used on the iPower? Would it improve things or just overkill? I also wonder what would work better ?  ipower alone vs stock DC power + ipurifer2 ?

 

Any comment from manufacturer?

 

According someone who tested, adding iPurifier won;'t help and may worsen the ipower performance so it appears redundant