About to review this dac and you and Thomas only videos review i have watched and bro your on the money !!!!! Wow you just shocked me !! Rich n warm analog musical - bass deep but not the fastest - ( tightness) Not as transparent and clean like my burson but the burson cost a little more great Job !! 🌟 🌟 🌟 🌟 🌟
Compared, at home with my setup,. with D90 (AKM version) and SMSL M400 well, really more refined sound. Seems analog, a litte "vacuum tube". Really amazing DAC in its price range
From the demo its sounds very near to ifi idac2. The difference i hear is the top end is more pronounced in the neo but it could also be the speakers doing it. As always, the midrange of the neo and idac2 are the star of the show. Im in the market for standalone dacs as i need opitcal, or coax for my cd transport. This is on my short list together with denafrips ares ii and schiit bifrost.
Is the preamp any good? Plan to connect it to a class D power amplifier (NAD C298 purifi). I do have the Quad Z2 speakers. Other option is to connect it to my other amp Musical Fidelity M5si.
I’ve got an ifi Zen Signature DAC and use both the balanced (4.4) and unbalanced (RCA) out at the same time and use one for the sub. Works great! Hopefully that would work for this device too.
Hi. Did you get rid of your JBL Studio 590s? I am in between a decision of getting either the JBL Studio 590s In Cherry Finish! Rare find! or Forte III and a great price or the Focal Chora 826 or the Monitor Audio Silver 500. I like them all, albeit I have not heard the JBLs, but I am willing to take a chance because I like the JBL "sound". You got rid of your Parasound gear too? I do really like your new Denon. I see their anniversary model in that looks great. I also see a Marantz ruby for half off, and the Musical Fidelity M6 for a good deal too. I also came across a Parasound 2250 v2. Both the Focal and Monitor Audio speakers go down to a low 3 Ohms, my current Mitsubishi DAA15DC amp is rated for 4 to 16 Ohms and I am afraid it won't handle these speakers, but will probably be just fine with the JBL and Klipsch. What do you think? Thank you for the reviews. BTW where did you get the sound dampening behind your gear. It looks great.
Which do you like the sonics more on ... the iFi or Tone 2 Pro? Is iFi worth the xtra $cash ? You're saying it's not that good for pre-recorded CD's? Is it better performer than Schiit Bifrost2? It does seem feature-ladden!
I know this is unrelated to this video but I just watched your review of the Elac Debut B6.2 and wanted to know how you thought those compared to the Klipsch R-51M?
Thank you for your response. Based on your review I have placed an order for D300. Should be getting it in another couple of weeks. Will share the feedback. Thanks
I bought this model but I have an issue when I play music on a MacBook Pro. The display is stuck on 44kHz no matter what is the sample rate of the song; this however does not happen when I connect the dac to my Android phone or iPad.
Yes is a must if you play MQA from android phone, only UAPP & HIBY can fully unlock MQA USB bit perfect output. but try add on the iFi idefender with external 5V to the for your phone output. it helps a lot on power & sound improment.
Very much obliged Sir. I’m just a newbie I only use IPhone and iPad. Sir what cables do I need to connect it with? Also Sir it has Bluetooth so can it be connected Bluetooth iPhone or iPad then just plug earphones or headphones? Very much obliged stay safe God bless and Happy New Year.
For Iphone/Ipad you would need the ‘lightning to usb camera adapter’, along with the included usb cable. And yes, you could simply stream from your Ipad / Iphone to the Neo via Bluetooth. Be warned though: Apple devices only use the AAC bluetooth codec, which isn’t the best. In fact, bluetooth always uses compression. So if you’d like top quality sound you’d be better off connecting your iphone/ipad with those cables.
have a pair of wharfedale evo4.4 but thinking to sell and get wharfedale linton heritage, the bass performance is better with linton much deeper with 8 inch woofer, what would you suggest
Have the 4.2 and i had a chance to listen to the heritage. The soundstage and imaging are much better in the 4.2. Yes the bass is better in the heritage but overall, ill take the 4.2 over the heritage.
Agonizing over buying this DAC to pair with a Topper A90 Head Amp/Pre-Amp or the Topper D90. Clearly the topper D90 will look better with the A90 and seems to have the better specs/components, but this thing seems to really make people smile. I have an ifi DAC/CAN stack with balanced cables and planar cans on my desktop computer setup and have been happy with ifi so far. Ughhhh, the Toppers look so nice stacked but I fear this may sound better with the A90 than the D90 will in DAC mode only.
Hi sir i have a analog integrated amps can i connect this via rca to my amps and connect this to my smart tv and blue ray player as well? Thank you and God Bless
Excuse me Thomas ...but the speakers on video set up are not Warfedale EVO 4.2 as You put down in the descripions... With the all respects ... Best regards
You should try Schiit Bifrost DAC which is basically the same price but it's a standalone DAC. For me it was slightly better than SMSL SU-9. But I'm also interested in this DAC.
@@Tharbamar Thank you very much. Because if a company can make a good phono, that means it loves a sound, and their products have something on a background imho
I have here a Luxman L-505, SMSL SU-9 and MA Gold 100 speakers... When I use Luxman with the su-9 I feel the mids region very pronounced! I have tried an iFi micro idsd and liked it more, I think it was a best match... but the iFi Micro lacks some features and I sold it... Did you compare this iFI NEO DSD whit SU-9? Any thoughts? Thank you very much! Congratulations for this excellent review!
I did not compare it with SU-9, in my system NEO iDSD was a little more forward sounding than any other DACs I have, I will have comparison review of Loxjie D50 and iDSD in a week or two, thanks
Please can you explain the connections you made between the equipment you use. That´s a flaw with all these review videos. Don´t forget not all of us are a Einstein like you.
@@Tharbamar Sorry to insist once again in the difilculty of understanding the obvious connections that are in the mind of the video presenter. How many guys that watch your videos have a Master Degree in HI-FI Audio ? Maby some of us are only hedonist audio lovers, with no or low tecnical expertise in audio hi-fi. Can i sugest, the use of audio connections graphics with nomenclatures in pictures and video, to follow the audio system you use. Maby you will have more work in the edition of your videos, but you will make a differentiation from others (all the same) reviews.
@@joaquimpato522 I have another suggestion for you: if you’re going to make a suggestion about anything, do so in a polite and friendly way. People might actually listen then. But remarks like “we’re not all Einstein like you” won’t do you any good.
is it a dual dac implementation? hope so at this price.. anybody found crosstalk? what is the burrbrown dac chip used? looking at the board ... and wow it's clearly overpriced
Audio equipment manufacturers measure how it sounds comparing to competitors. If someone who was the first decided to ask 650, and these guys thought their DAC sounded better, they could ask 700 and no matter what was inside ;) Welcome to an irrational market ) And to be better than 90% of them it is enough to add low noise voltage regulators, sample rate refiner, good crystal oscillator, and something better than 5534
@Car Guy daddyo haha like if burrbrown design have not been here since ever.. pcm1974 can be implement as only one resistor in the analog output stage.. better be 2 chip thats for sure.. if not YES its overpriced and it should be max 400 even with dual dac.. depending on headphone amp quality.. 5532 is actually quite good in mono config tho..
@@lextr3110 It’s strange how all of sudden, so many people come up with this “overpriced” nonsense for a pre-amp / headphone amp / dac which is only $600 - $700. It is, in fact, still a very cheap device for decent build/component quality. You can buy power amps for $50.000 and nobody complains about the price then.
@@christopher1800 you can buy a power amp for 5 billions too these dac chips are what 5$ each and they cant put 2 haha.. i think its more than 700$ and this is in US dollars.. in canada it mean 1200$ + 15% taxes... it is costly... you can buy very good dual dac DAP for this price..
@@lextr3110 dac is not all about the dac chip. Its not just resistors and capacitors. You need to design power stage, analog stage, voicing, etc. after all that you need to cover overhead cost, warranty claims, etc. after all that you need profit. Go ahead and start a company that sells this level of decoding, sound quality, and design then sell it for $100. You will make a killing. Lets see you do it.
This all depends on the (quality of) the components used. Personally, I don’t particularly like those “extra’s”... the Neo is for purists in its featureless setup and sound. Knowing IfI, there’s probably something in there that justifies the price... since they make decent quality stuff for a decent price.
@@zyghom You missed “knowing ifi”. And yes, a lot of this has to do with trust in a company. Name one other device that is “overpriced” in IFI’s lineup.
