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

[Chopin75]

Also can the iFi Silencer  be used together with the idefender/igalvanic combo? It should improve by adding active cancellation.

 

Should it be:

 

Music server ---> ifi silencer ---> idefender with ipower ---> igalvanic ---> DAC

 

Or 

 

Music server ---> idefender with ipower  ---> iFi silencer ----> igalvanic ___ >

 

Does it matter?

 

 Adrian 

 

 

[AMR/iFi audio]

On 6/18/2018 at 2:37 PM, Franatic said:

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.

 

It comes down to how much current is drawn downstream. Also, 'hot' is quite subjective, both product's and room temperature would give us something to think about. If you're worried about your device, please open a ticket at our support platform and we'll look into this.

 

http://support.ifi-audio.com

[AMR/iFi audio]

1 hour ago, Chopin75 said:

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 

 

DC iPurifier (all versions) is in effect the same tech embedded in iPower, but scaled for higher current and voltage.

 

Adding one of these to iPower may still provide minor improvements, however it will not be as dramatic as with generic power supplies (SMPS & linear).

[gradier]

Just read all 26 pages of this thread (very interesting), having just received delivery of the IFI nano iGalvanic 3.0, iPower, iDefender 3.0 bundle. And I have to say WOW! Just love what it does to the sound. I am running it as follows:

 

Windows 10 desktop computer / JRMC 24 > iDefender + iPower from USB 3.0 socket > iGalvanic 3.0 > IDAC2 > Neumann kh120 monitors. I am using a USB 2.0 cable from iDefender + iPower to iGalvanic 3.0, the stock iGalvanic USB 3.0 cable to the IDAC2, and store quality RCA>XLR cable to the monitors in a small 10'x12' room with one specific listening location. Interestingly, to 'beef up' the Neumanns, I was previously using the 'upsampling to DSD' function in JRiver, but this setting caused interference in this new set up (but not before, when I wasn't using the new bundle). I have switched back to direct sound (ASIO) (no DSP studio options) and prefer the sound. Had to use the switch on the iGalvanic in the 'up' position (No Earth) as the middle position caused occasional loud pops in playback. Since the iPower and iDefender 3.0 were included in the bundle, I didn't bother testing the system with just the iGalvanic. I would have no other use for the iPower and iDefender 3.0 so I simply plugged them in from the get go.

[Chopin75]

Congrats on getting this, a great bargain this bundle. I was debating if I should get the intona instead but glad I made this choice instead as it has more options for upgrade matching and also you get USB 3 instead of 2. (I am planning on using Macbook PRO with USB 3 in future which is supposed to work better).  I find the idefender works very well to improve the sound futher. igal alone loses some energy and air/soundstage, probably  because i use battery powered Macbook Air, no ground. I suppuse idefender helps with ground issue, so I need to keep the igal switch Down (for no ground) . At neutral it causes disconnection/pauses (some clocking issue?) Adding ipower improves further to give the power and energy needed when I run on battery only from my Mac so  it won't need to power the iGalvanic. Definitely enhances musicality without causing it ti be sterile or analytical. 

 

 Could you clarify how you use ipower from USB 3 socket? I thought it has to be going to AC socket??

 

[Chopin75]

34 minutes ago, AMR/iFi audio said:

 

DC iPurifier (all versions) is in effect the same tech embedded in iPower, but scaled for higher current and voltage.

 

Adding one of these to iPower may still provide minor improvements, however it will not be as dramatic as with generic power supplies (SMPS & linear).

Could you comment if I silencer can be used too along same chain which I typed as example above?

 

[gradier]

1 hour ago, Chopin75 said:

Could you clarify how you use ipower from USB 3 socket? I thought it has to be going to AC socket??

 

By that, I mean the iDefender is plugged into a USB 3.0 socket, and the iPower is plugged into the mains and connects into the iDefender at that point.

[Franatic]

1 hour ago, AMR/iFi audio said:

 

It comes down to how much current is drawn downstream. Also, 'hot' is quite subjective, both product's and room temperature would give us something to think about. If you're worried about your device, please open a ticket at our support platform and we'll look into this.

 

http://support.ifi-audio.com

Well, I'm not sure if it there is an "issue" here. However, I am not the only one complaining about heat from this device. The device next downstream is your very own micro iUSB3.0, which has its own supply and should be no power draw. Everything on my USB line has its own power.

 

The iGalvanic is a bit power hungry, and it should have its own power supply. That much is clear to me. The LPS-1.2 overloaded and the Plixir Elite got very hot when they supplied power to the Jcat Femto card with the iGalvanic in the circuit. They can feed the Jcat no problem without the Igalvanic. So I had to buy an iDefender and inject in another supply (TeraDak 30 watt) on the USB line to feed the iGalvanic.

I made some temp readings Room temp: 24c/75f  /  iGalvanic temp: 38.5c/101f

Warm but I guess not alarmingly so.

BTW-This device give a very nice SQ boost in my system. Great command with improved depth, detail and imaging. Completely black background.

[AMR/iFi audio]

On 6/19/2018 at 11:24 PM, Chopin75 said:

Could you comment if I silencer can be used too along same chain which I typed as example above?

 

 

Yes, iSilencer can be used, however our iDAC 2 already has in effect 3pcs of iSilencer fitted internally (it was the first product to include this ANC tech, developed to improve mainly results from USB power).

[Sator]

On 6/20/2018 at 8:56 AM, Franatic said:

Well, I'm not sure if it there is an "issue" here. However, I am not the only one complaining about heat from this device. The device next downstream is your very own micro iUSB3.0, which has its own supply and should be no power draw. Everything on my USB line has its own power.

 

The iGalvanic is a bit power hungry, and it should have its own power supply. That much is clear to me. The LPS-1.2 overloaded and the Plixir Elite got very hot when they supplied power to the Jcat Femto card with the iGalvanic in the circuit. They can feed the Jcat no problem without the Igalvanic. So I had to buy an iDefender and inject in another supply (TeraDak 30 watt) on the USB line to feed the iGalvanic.

I made some temp readings Room temp: 24c/75f  /  iGalvanic temp: 38.5c/101f

Warm but I guess not alarmingly so.

BTW-This device give a very nice SQ boost in my system. Great command with improved depth, detail and imaging. Completely black background.

 

Agreed. It's a bit toasty and remains so even at idle. It's certainly not a huge "issue", given the clear improvement to the sound it provides. Just a little point to feedback to the R&D department to improve on a little in the future. If a micro iGalvanic came out tomorrow that addressed all of these minor points about the power supply/management, I'll buy it!

 

p.s. talking about R&D I'd love your engineers to cook us up a Pro USB 3.0 Master Clock too ?

[Chopin75]

Where should I place the isilencer? Before ot after the iGalvanic? I don’t have iDAC.

[Jgwtriode]

On 6/19/2018 at 6:56 PM, Franatic said:

Well, I'm not sure if it there is an "issue" here. However, I am not the only one complaining about heat from this device. The device next downstream is your very own micro iUSB3.0, which has its own supply and should be no power draw. Everything on my USB line has its own power.

 

The iGalvanic is a bit power hungry, and it should have its own power supply. That much is clear to me. The LPS-1.2 overloaded and the Plixir Elite got very hot when they supplied power to the Jcat Femto card with the iGalvanic in the circuit. They can feed the Jcat no problem without the Igalvanic. So I had to buy an iDefender and inject in another supply (TeraDak 30 watt) on the USB line to feed the iGalvanic.

I made some temp readings Room temp: 24c/75f  /  iGalvanic temp: 38.5c/101f

Warm but I guess not alarmingly so.

BTW-This device give a very nice SQ boost in my system. Great command with improved depth, detail and imaging. Completely black background.

At the risk of being politically incorrect their are two solutions. Uptone is the first one. They have a device that does the job at least as nicely and no power issue.  Second their is USB cable out there which sounds better than any recovery reclocking and/or Galvanic isolation.... just running straight to the DAC out of a JCAT Femto/LPS 1.2!   If you want more info message me.  I will happily share my experience having run all these devices in my system and finding the best solution.  YMMV!

 

Happy Listening

[Franatic]

1 hour ago, Jgwtriode said:

At the risk of being politically incorrect their are two solutions. Uptone is the first one. They have a device that does the job at least as nicely and no power issue.  Second their is USB cable out there which sounds better than any recovery reclocking and/or Galvanic isolation.... just running straight to the DAC out of a JCAT Femto/LPS 1.2!   If you want more info message me.  I will happily share my experience having run all these devices in my system and finding the best solution.  YMMV!

 

Happy Listening

A cable that trumps all the usb "fixers"?? Usb is a flawed transport method rife with noise, jitter and power issues. If there is an all-in-one solution, I'm interested.....and skeptical.

Interestingly, the temperature issue of the iGalvanic seems to be dissipating somewhat.

PM sent

[Required]

Hi
I am not from the Audio Stuff but I have an similar Problem. Its noise over an Electric Cable. In my case I will receive Signals from an "Radio" Receiver who cover the hole Amateur Radio Band. The Problem with existing Technology is the are creating noise like an Raspberry Pi2 and that reduce the received Packed. ? I searched a lot online and I found an IT Distributor who offer Products from "icron". So I saw that here some people talk about there Products.

 

So my Question is can someone who own a icron USB -> Fiber Set Test something for me?

Thanks

[AMR/iFi audio]

Folks...

 

CanJam London 2018!

 

 

...and two of our staff - Sarah and Hannah - will be there! The girls will be located with iFi audio hardware at the Electromod's booth! Please do visit the place, the iFi ladies don't bite!

 

And to all able to visit the event, enjoy!

[Chopin75]

isilencer does seem to make quite

an impact, currently placed after igalvanic, before getting to DAC. Its effect is most felt when no galvanic isolation is the chain. Everything becomes

clearer, more vivid and detailed where as before it is kind of muddy. It appears to work better post igalvanic than pre but I only did a rough quick test. 

[AMR/iFi audio]

19 hours ago, Chopin75 said:

isilencer does seem to make quite

an impact, currently placed after igalvanic, before getting to DAC. Its effect is most felt when no galvanic isolation is the chain. Everything becomes

clearer, more vivid and detailed where as before it is kind of muddy. It appears to work better post igalvanic than pre but I only did a rough quick test. 

 

If iSilencer works nicely for you in this specific place, that's the important part. Enjoy!

 

Oh, one more thing, our new site is up!

 

http://ifi-audio.com

[AMR/iFi audio]

Folks, awesome news!

 

EISA (the European Sound and Imaging Association) has awarded the xDSD as the Best Portable DAC/Headphone Amplifier for 2018-2019.

 

The official release is to be found here:

 

 

 HAPPY!

[Sator]

I have something surprising to report. After using the iGalvanic3.0 for a few months, it no longer runs toasty all the time as it used to. I am completely at a loss for an explanation for this, but I have repeatedly touched it to check how the surface temperature ran and, to my great surprise, it is always remarkably cool even after playing music for extended periods of time. It used to run toasty even before playing music, but this is no longer the case.

 

I would conclude that the iGalvanic3.0 simply needs an extended burn-in period and that buyers should not be alarmed when it runs hot for weeks on end after the initial purchase.

[AMR/iFi audio]

On 8/15/2018 at 10:19 AM, Sator said:

I have something surprising to report. After using the iGalvanic3.0 for a few months, it no longer runs toasty all the time as it used to. I am completely at a loss for an explanation for this, but I have repeatedly touched it to check how the surface temperature ran and, to my great surprise, it is always remarkably cool even after playing music for extended periods of time. It used to run toasty even before playing music, but this is no longer the case.

 

I would conclude that the iGalvanic3.0 simply needs an extended burn-in period and that buyers should not be alarmed when it runs hot for weeks on end after the initial purchase.

 

Has anything changed in your setup?

[Franatic]

On 8/15/2018 at 4:19 AM, Sator said:

I have something surprising to report. After using the iGalvanic3.0 for a few months, it no longer runs toasty all the time as it used to. I am completely at a loss for an explanation for this, but I have repeatedly touched it to check how the surface temperature ran and, to my great surprise, it is always remarkably cool even after playing music for extended periods of time. It used to run toasty even before playing music, but this is no longer the case.

 

I would conclude that the iGalvanic3.0 simply needs an extended burn-in period and that buyers should not be alarmed when it runs hot for weeks on end after the initial purchase.

I experienced the same thing with no change in my system. It still gets warm nut not hot like it did the first week I installed it. You can see my posts here in June.

[Condocondor]

On 8/6/2018 at 9:19 PM, Chopin75 said:

isilencer does seem to make quite

an impact, currently placed after igalvanic, before getting to DAC.

You wouldn't believe what the new iPuifier3 sounds like after the iGalvanic3.0...connected just before your DAC. Incredible!

[Franatic]

23 minutes ago, Condocondor said:

You wouldn't believe what the new iPuifier3 sounds like after the iGalvanic3.0...connected just before your DAC. Incredible!

Yes, I would!! I put it before my SU-1 usb input......wow, it is much better than the iPurifier2. Highly recommended. I have the trio: Igalvanic > micro iusb3.0 > iPurifier3.  Each one raises the SQ. I was floored by the addition of the iPurifier3.

 

I had to use the iPurifier2 originally so I could use the mercury3.0 cable into the SU-1. Now it does much more than just adapt fittings for me.

[PPk]

Sounds promising.. Will wait for more to try.. Thuandb? 

[Sator]

4 hours ago, AMR/iFi audio said:

 

Has anything changed in your setup?

 

I did upgrade the USB cable from micro iUSB3.0 > iGalvanic to iGemini3.0 

 

Before the iGemini3.0, I had AudioQuest Carbon USB cable in there for a couple of months. I then tried to upgrade to iGemini2.0, but "unfortunately" the unit I received was faulty (as per iFi support) and had to return it, after which I was left wondering why it was taking so long to get stock of more iGemini cable, and when I did get a replacement, again wondered why the cable looked so different to the iGemini2.0 on the iFi website. It turns out I had received an iGemini3.0 a couple of weeks before the official release date! When I first set the iGalvanic up, I used the generic blue cable that came in the box, and with this, the iGalvanic also ran hot. 

 

When I was running Audioquest Carbon USB 2 cable from iUSB3.0 to iGalvanic, I also had an iDefender3.0 with an iPower plugged into it to decouple the data transmission from the power (which is no longer necessary or even possible to do with the iGemini).