- IDSD Valkyrie is IFI’s most advanced DAC to date
- It’s $ 400 / £ 400 more expensive than the previous flagship, Diablo 2
- … but it also boasts 44% more power
At this point you would be forgiven to think IFI Audio (the excellent sister company for Abbingdon Music Research, headquartered in Southport, UK) has been around for decades.
In fact, IFI was only formed in 2012, but in its short 13-year period, this sympathetic audio anti-clothing has already brought us some of the best portable headphones we’ve ever tried. Even a quick look at our latest IFI reviews is proof that this sudden specialist company is not resting on its laurels.
So what new and affordable piece of Hi-Res Audio Excellence has it got for you today? Well, (how to put this?) This latest offer is not like your under $ 100 IFI GO LINK MAX.
No, this is a solid step up – towards the sky if you want. If the word ‘Valkyrie’ calls both magic and the idea of rubbing shoulders with gods in the big halls in Valhalla, that’s what IFI wants you to think. For although IFIS IDSD Diablo 2 was, ahem, devilish animal, this is far north of it.
IFI IDSD VALKRIE: What raises it high above the rest?
The most important piece of tech you need to know about in IFIS IDSD Valkyrie is K2HD. This is Jvckenwood’s famous coding solution aimed at restoring the heat and feeling of analog recordings for digital music (often considered a colder or more clinical listening). Valkyrie offers this technique in two variants: ‘K2’ mode and ‘K2HD’ mode, where the former retains the files’ original resolution.
Next, IFIS DSD 1024 Remastering algorithm, driven by a custom coded FPGA (which stands for ‘Field programmable gate array’). Here you can choose between the ‘normal’ setting, where DSD signals are transferred directly to DAC and PCM signals through a user-selected digital filter, or ‘Remastering’, with options for remastering to DSD512 or DSD1024-AKA seriously Hi-Rese Audio.
On the most important digital-to-analog conversion then, and Valkyrie has a Quad DAC architecture ferry than four intertwined Burrown DACs. You also get six digital filters to choose from, including apodising, gto, bit perfect, standard, minimum and short -lived, giving you more ways to explore the shade of your music
Valkyrie also has treatment perks that are unique to IFI, such as Xbassii (to enhance the low end), Xpresence and XSpace. It also houses a 20,000 mAh battery for portability that boasts 18 hours of continuous playing time, with fast charging via USB-C in just 2.5 hours.
IFI tells us that, unlike other products, Valkyrie uses Switchable analog circuits for its EQ modes rather than digital signal processing (DSP). Why? It is a further suggestion to preserve the sound quality and allow for more natural frequency adjustment with less phase changes and distortion.
And without a doubt the biggest deal here? Power. IFI IDSD boasts 5,700 MW Peak output to run the most powerful headphones. And for clarity, it is about 44% more power than IFIS the aforementioned flagship IDSD Diablo 2.
Oh, and if you do not use wired headphones, the absolute best quality in Bluetooth -Codecs is supported all, including LDAC, APTX -Tabs -free and APTX -Adaptive.
Pricing? Yes, but stiffen you. IFI IDSD is available from today (March 25) Price $ 1,699 / £ 1,699, then around AU $ 2,704 taking the American figure as an estimate – and doing what does, Diablo 2 launched with a $ 1.299 / £ 1,299 / AU $ 2,199.
How good is IFI IDSD Valkyrie? We are working on what we promise you.
