The iFi iDSD Phantom is iFi’s flagship streamer/DAC/headphone amp/preamp and looks like it’s built like a tank with a rather industrial look featuring a two-box system which is connected to become one unit.
The bottom section has heat sinks and features the jacks for headphones and inputs on the rear panel including the power supply. The iFi iPower Elite power supply comes with the iFi iDSD Phantom as a package deal and it does lower the noise floor to a great extent.
From the outset I must say that I had issues trying to connect the iFi iDSD Phantom to the home wi-fi. Using the iFi Nexis app, my Samsung smartphone could detect the iFi iDSD Phantom as ‘device’ but could not connect it to the wi-fi network. After a few tries, I decided to bypass its streamer function and used my WiiM Ultra as the streamer and connected it to the iDSD Phantom with a Van den Hul co-ax cable to play the audio tracks of TV shows via HDMI ARC on the WiiM Ultra and lots of music files from Spotify and Tidal.
I also spent some time listening to hi-res and DSD files from my laptop via J River and Goh Kheng Liang’s Clearlink USB cable.
Using the iDSD Phantom as a DAC/headphone amp/preamp resulted in music reproduced at very high quality which, I dare state, would not be outclassed by DACs of much higher cost. If iFi can improve its streamer connectivity, the iDSD Phantom would be a strong contender to be included in high-end systems.
The sound quality is smooth, satisfying, rich, quite detailed and full-bodied with a tonal balance that tilts towards the bass. The bass is more prominent than usual, but is not overpowering and is sufficiently tight. Images are well formed and the soundstage is spacious.
The iDSD Phantom has lots of features to play around with such as JVCKENWOOD’s K2 and K2HD technology. From iFi’s website: “K2HD restores rich, natural harmonics to lifeless digital recordings. Its advanced high-frequency extension revives overtones beyond 22kHz, delivering audio quality close to the original master.” I tried both K2 ad K2HD and preferred K2 as the K2HD setting made the music sound artificial and processed.
It also offers real-time tube and solid-state output with the tube mode powered by matched NOS GE5670 valves. Activate Tube+ mode to boost 2nd-order harmonics by 6dB for an even more fluid, musical sound, says the website. I tried all three modes and opted for ‘solid state’ which sounded more dynamic.
It features “Studio-grade DSD2048 Remastering”, but I am not a fan of any upsampling and ‘remastering’, so I did not try it.
Its headphone output is powerful at 4,676 mW RMS into 64 Ohms. I was listening to hi-res and DSD files with Sennheiser HD600 cans on balanced mode via J River v28 on my laptop and it was already loud enough at the volume setting of 30. With the more sensitive Sony MDR-M1 Professional headphones, the volume setting of 21 was loud enough.
The Digital to Analogue conversion is handled by four Burr-Brown DSD1793s operating in a custom interleaved configuration which can handle PCM 768kHz and DSD512 (DSD2048 with Remastering).
The iFi iDSD Phantom is available at E1 Personal Audio at a special price of RM22,049. E1 Personal Audio is on the 3rd floor of Sungei Wang Plaza, Jalan Sultan Ismail, Bukit Bintang, Kuala Lumpur. Call 03-21102328 for more details.
