In the search for a better musical experience extracting better sound from my recent iFi DAC upgrade and get more pleasure in the sound presentation I discovered SOTM products, I searched for information of network streamers and similar user opinions about them, saw videos and all that I can find about on the web, and after reading lots of average consensus of users in their with their experience, and after some weeks acquired an SOTM sMS-200 Ultra without listening.

I have to admit that acquiring without listening is risky decision, and sometimes you could end with a unit that do not give any positive enhancement to your system. The intent was to remove my noisy Mac Pro from degrading the sound of the DAC, is this case an iFi iDSD Pro that has galvanic isolation but is very sensible to all cables and accessories before it, as any other DAC the quality of the USB connection is primordial to a better sound experience.

You can clean your computer USB, but you will pay the same or more than buy a optimised and clean dedicated computer exclusively for audio.

It’s that quality USB connection I was searching and found it on the SOTM sMS-200 Ultra, it impressive how a single device for giving you a great USB link affects the final sound.

Computers are terribly noisy devices, electricity in an apartment is full of noise, that contaminates the computer, processor, motherboard, fan, hard drive, external devices with bad power supply’s, even software resource needs generate noise, and that noise affects the link that is made from the computer to the DAC.

Any user like me trying to get better audio will start a journey of cleaning that USB transmission with galvanic isolated solutions, USB regenerators and re-clockers, and many other solutions that exist on the market and stores that clean the USB signal. Some of devices at every step give you an extra more, or a different presentation, or change the total presentation, sometimes in a good way, other times not accomplishing what they promote or I expect for the price

What did SOtM do, they produced a small audio optimised network computer to connect to your DAC by USB, it has an optimised and excellent internal clock board, but they build it with high quality audiophile components, for me they have made something very special that results very well on my system.

The SOtM SMS-200 Ultra is a simple audiophile network streamer for the only propose to pass the bits to your DAC in the cleanest way possible.

The sMS-200 Ultra supports various audio standard protocols like the Roon RAAT, HQPlayer, LibreSpot, Minim Server, Airplay, Bubble UPnP, DLNA, Squeezelite, and runs a light linux optimised version for audio called Eunhasu that can be upgraded with more functionality and add support for future DAC hardware.

Their service and support has been very receptive to beginner questions, with fast reply and helpful responses, thats a thumbs up for support. For me, product support is one of the most important features of any product.

The sOTM sMS-200 Ultra is an awesome product it made a big change for the better to my music enjoyment… The final result is based on my personal system, room, cables, and could be different on your system, but one thing I have certain, If anyone tries one of this units the change will be noticed for the better.

When I dedicate some of my time to write about it, it’s because I the product quality and benefit it gave me. Is common that the new upgraded unit is better than the last used solution, and the big motive I upgraded an stayed in the system. But regarding the presence I feel now when I listen to a good album, the SOtM sMS-200 Ultra is one of the best upgrades I have done in the last few years, and the upgrades where a lot.

Apart from some rock concerts, small jazz groups and some classical music concerts, my live music experience is not that active, I will not compare the real presentation that I can achieve, but instead the enjoyment the SOtM offered to me from my system, and with it came a new musical experience. The difference of hearing a real orchestra in plain euforia is something that I never heard any system being capable of, the real thing is a more powerful experience that any system or my small one can reproduce, I herd systems close to that reality with prices impossible to archive by a normal person, but with my hardware limitation, the emulation of the artist presence was upgraded to a new level.

All of this to explain that is difficult to quantify how better in my case the SOtM is compared to reality, but I can quantify listen experience before and after the SOtM, and here it goes.

The SOtM is all about music, after changing the in the box power supply for an SBooster it really shines, the music presentation grows a lot, and the speakers grow the sound to a huge presentation, the sound is so big that the room feels larger, a friend of mine when showing the music, started to look behind searching for surround speakers on the back wall, the SOtM sMS 200 Ultra really made the presentation of some albums impressive. One example of this is the Pink Floyd track On The Run from the Dark Side of the Moon album, or tracks from the album Blood from This Mortal Coil.

The SOtM sMS-200 Ultra is musical and not aggressive in any way, and has this 3D way of presenting the sound a sensation of magical sweetness without loss of information, I am loving it and ordered an SPS-500 Power supply with silver cable, it deserves the best friend to complement and shine even more.

The sound from my Mac Pro was somehow a little bi dimensional when compared to the SOtM, the highs sometimes where to much, and lacked the dimension that the SOtM has, it sounded ok but was not holographic like the sound I have now, and lacked some musicality, some albums where too harsh and very aggressive to be played, this doesn’t mean a bad recording will sound good, the bad will sound always bad, but good recording elevate your experience in a way with the SOtM that the computer did not acomplished.

When used with a good DAC and a quality usb cable, in my case the iFi iDSD Pro DAC and the Audioquest Diamond USB, it gave me impressive results connected to my Focal Solo 6be.

I find the SOtM sMS-200 Ultra very sensitive to power cables, I used Audioquest tornado cables on the iFI and SOtM, and they proved to result very well in my setup.

So I think audiophiles will love it, for me is not an option to revert back to my Mac Pro as a USB source.

If you are using a DAC connected to your computer, you have to try an SOtM streamer and see what you have been loosing in sound with your computer, and pair the SOtM with a good and decent power supply and it will really shine.

have acquired the dc iPurifier 2, I have a substantial investment in power accessories in my desktop audio, audioquest thunder and tornado cables, an audioquest nigara, sbooster power supply’s, and now the DC iPurifier 2.

The introduction is not to grab about cables or other hardware, but because I thought the DC iPurifier 2 will not do anything or bring any benefit to my setup, it was connected between the SBooster and the SOtM sMS-200 Ultra streamer.

In my case it did no do a big, mean big difference but it made difference, after all hardware and cables before it to clean and modulate the sound to my taste it bettered the sound a little more.

What I have noticed was an overall sound gain in sharpness from low frequency’s to the high’s without compromising any musicality or having a degradation effect that some man in the middle accessories could bring.

I already have a pretty big investment for cleaning the electricity of my desktop audio, so the result of the DC iPurifier was a surprise to me that I was not expecting.

If I removed the SBooster and the audioquest tornado connected from the SOtM, and try the DC iPurifier 2 with the original power supply that comes with the SOtM the difference’s this time were in a greater proportion, as affects a lot more aspects of the sound as bigger image, a better sensation of transparency, attack and decay of notes, and the wall on the back of the speakers goes back a few inches more.

The combination of the SBooster, Audioquest tornado and DC iPurifier 2 result is justified for me, even giving only a small increase in the global result. But one thing I can’t complaint is an increase. The original SOtM transformer with DC iPurifier 2 combination is a bigger and more justified difference, but can’t compete with the added SBooster, AQ Tornado and DC iPurifier 2 trio.

All devices audio devices were connected to the AQ Nigara 1000, and for the price of the DS iPurifier 2 you can’t go wrong.

I became addict of the iPurifier when it fist brought it to my first edition iFi Micro iDSD, at the time I was discovering the iFi Products, and the iPurifier was an interesting product then in price and quality.

The original changed the sound signature of my system in a positive way, giving me more information and after that I brought the original Micro iUSB, but with the micro iUSB I also purchased the iPurifier 2, and they work paired giving me a lot or more information and dynamics, better sense of dimension with the harman kardon GLA-55, the effect was present in texture, better highs and lows, better small dynamic perception.

This small changes that sometimes when reading could be interpreted as big and that your system changes completely, but they are not in the magnitude of the words, but the words used are a good guide to focus a user in the perceptible changes in an easy to better evaluate the perceived benefits , for me in the way they work are in a magnitude way bigger than the 100 euros could give.

But this review is not about the iPurifier 2, instead the new iPurifier 3.

The iPurifier 3 is a USB gadget that reclocks, regenerates and has a rebalance tech, it incorporates a active noise cancelation technology that works impressively, a revised and upgraded version of the last itineration of their iPurifier 2 I also own, as always the unbox experience of the package from iFi products is very special.

The little package comes with a lot of extras and no one will indifferent of the construction quality of the iPurifier 3, it’s a rewarding hardware tech marvel.

Ifi upgraded all the internals resulting in a little bigger piece of hardware, there are new OS-CON capacitors, a new version of the noise canceling technology named “Active Noise Cancellation2® (ANC2)” and all the internals are better quality.

What about the iPurifier 3 in sound when compared to the 2.

The iPurifier 2 was a great product and it made an very good sonic upgrade, the iPurifier 3 feels a lot more refined, it has most the benefits form the iPurifier 3, but is more transparent, musical and natural, when connected to the system it does not have a defined personality, to explain I will try to explain the effect of the iPurifier 3 and the original iUSB, it added bass and highs noticeably, and when I connected to some of my higher quality and recent components like the iFi Pro iDSD version 2 gave a small veil in the sound. Notice that the iFi Pro iDSD does not need an iPurifier 2.

Anyway I tried the iPurifier 3 in my iFi iDSD pro to see if the same issue was present, and it was not, it simply cleaned the sound without any added issue, so this was an interesting test, the product has no degradation effect on the cables.

After that, as I brought it to the micro iDSD Black Label for my son I, removing the iPurifier 2 and connecting the iPurifier 3, it does give a more realistic and neutral musical presentation, also it really cleans more as some little sound are more perceptible like if o had sharpness to little details that where there but not so audible, the high frequencies are substantial more natural and less “irritating”, the lows are also more perceptible, and example is the Album Tubular Bells 3 from Mike Oldfield, the first track in the beginning has a bass that goes from left to right and right to left and that perception with the iPurifier 3 is a lot more defined and engages you more on the music track.

Also, the sound stage has benefits, as you gain small details and separation, you also gain in density of information, focus on all the dimensions of the soundstage and a global better enjoyment of your music.

Reading all the above and buying the iPurifier 3 is a no brainer if you have a system transparent enough that could show changes in the whole, I used the iFi new Gemini 3.0 Cable and also an Audioquest Diamond, and the original version of the iFi Gemini.

As I have been upgrading my system a lot in the last year, every step comes with trades and benefits, my system has turned out to become more revealing each time, some hardware results very well other not that so. The iPurifier 3 made no degradation and gave me a more beneficial effect with the iDSD Black Label.

I have to give my regards to iFi as each itineration of their product line, has been really an upgrade from the last, the iPurifier 3 deserves a very good listen.

Photos from AudioShow 2019 in Lisbon, the event was open from 1 of March to 3 of March 2019.

This year was in Hotel Ritz and Hotel Intercontinental.

As usual full of great gear audio gear be seen and listen live.

The system evolves and some thing really change with cables, I needed a power cable for my new das and the tornado results perfectly with the ifi iDSD Pro.

Also brought a new audioquest diamond usb cable, it impressive the quantity of information this cable can extract from any recording, some cables can offer a lot of detail but not so perceptible as the diamond, it separates all the sounds with clarity, the diamond shows every single detail and texture on the music in a way the is not intrusive, after installing the audio quest diamond and put some tracks in Roon and Audirvana I was really admired but the clarity of the information of some track I liked and listened many times.

The bigger downside for me is that does not have a powerful bass, bas instead has a beautiful controlled one, the soundstage is another point where the Damond shines, it’s big very defined and tonal.

For example playing an old album of Mike Oldfield Tubular Bells 3 the first track of the album The Source of Secrets, the diamond shows in a perfect way the bass moving from one side to another in the beginning of the track.

The Audioquest Tornado and Diamond are very expensive cables, at this prices you begin to question the price benefit of the investment very seriously, but for me they justified the benefits for the price, If you have the money and looking for something similar these two should be on your list.

I thank Esotérico esoterico.pt to let be listen before I buy in my system.

It was an amazing day with great auditions and fantastic people.

Photos taken in AudioShow 2018 at Hotel Pestana Palace in Portugal.

Audioshow is up until 2018.03.18.

Shot with the Olympus EM-5 and 12-50mm f/3.5-6.3

Lit with natural light from windows left and right of the camera.

Here is the same shout lit with diffused flash.

How to start, the ifi iUSB made a clear diference in the sound of the micro iDSD, then it came the ifi Gemini USB and made an improvement that is noticeable, USB cables make diference in sound, they are not cheap but they make diferences in the sound presentation, bass extension, soundstage.

The focal are very sensitive to changes in the audio chain, and they are getting better and better with each change my computer system receives.

I started plugging some power cables, I had some NRG3, and NRG5 from Audioquest, also Acoustic Arts Ferrite I and Ferrite II, Vovox Textura Power Cables and some other brands from old systems, power cables made amazing diferences on the focal and Mac Pro, the diferences are not subtile as changing a DAC, they where huge and why not trying something better in this regard.

So I called Esotérico and asked the possibility to have a listen to the new Thunder Power Cable from Audioquest, you can buy a top of the line phone or an entry computer for the price of one of this cables, but I wanted to listen what the benefits they could give to my system.

Kindly Mr. Alberto from Esotérico sent me 3 Audioquest Thunder Cables and a Audioquest Niagara 1000 and after listening to the changes I will try to describe I have purchased all the items that was sent to me.

First I connected 2 thunder cables to the Focal Speakers, I was using one pair of Vovox textura on the speakers and comparing to the Vovox textura, the first thing it came to my mind was “the textura is no match for this”.

The textura are detailed cables in the highs and with interesting presentation of all frequencies in this spectrum, but sometimes if not correctly matched they are a little too much in the highs and low on bass, with the Audioquest Thunder the sound was upgraded in all aspects of the Vovox textura but… The imagem grows a lot, buss is very present and articulatd, focus, detail, presence of voices are amazing, the texture of the sounds are incredible, it’s an amazing change and easy perceptible in this context of my computer audio system, I couldn’t believe the changes in the sound, so I listened to music 6 days only with this change of the speaker cables in the Focal Solo 6BE.

Then the Audioquest Niagara and third Audioquest Thunder Cable entered in the system, the sound my computer was more than I expected with the change in the speakers, for some years and I was using a Supra Power strip MD06 to connect my small ifi audio devices, computer and speakers, when the Audioquest Niagara was connected and started playing the first music in audirvana it made one incredible thing that is very easy to notice, with the Niagara in place of the supra power strip it cleaned the sound in a to an extreme that when compared to the supra is like very dense curtain was removed from the front of my speakers, the texture and layering of the music was upgraded a lot in in front of my ears, the separation and dimension of the presentation was up a few points, this type of upgrades on an audio system are the ones that we feel the investment justifies as the change is very perceptible, there are upgrades sometimes made that makes little diference, the sense of transparency detail, focus and added resolution is nothing I want to live without anymore, these Audioquest products deserve a serious listening to any user interested in reducing noise from mains power entering your sound, believe me you will notice the effect.

The third Audioquest Thunder was connected to the Mac Pro, the effect on the Mac Pro is also very noticeable but not on pair to the dramatic changes that the focal presented me, but elevates the same aspects of the sound to a higher level giving more of the juice, global integration of the same aspects but at a lesser scale, maybe is too much of a good thing, but for me it justified the purchase of the four items.

I am really amazed also with the ifi iDSD micro Black, the quantity of information and detail this little baby can extract from hi-res audio is really impressive, today you can archive great performances in digital audio with moderate investment that 10 to 15 years ago would cost a little fortune.

I want to thank Esotérico and special Mr. Alberto for giving me the opportunity to listen before buying.

esoterico.pt

ifi-audio.com

www.audioquest.com/ac-power/ac-power-conditioners/niagara...

www.audioquest.com/ac-power/ac-power-cables/storm-series/...

Power Cables.

I have many power cables from past living room systems, old audioquest NRG3, NRG5, Acoustic Arts ferrite I and II, Vovox textura Power to mention a few.

This new Audioquest storm series range of cables compared to the others in my systems really make things shine a lot more, and I mean a lot more, they are not affordable, but for me they make very noticeable positive diferences, the diferences are so big that my account suffers every time one of them enters in my audio system and play some music, welcome upgrades that sometimes are bigger than changing most of the hardware.

Every power cable I have changed in my desktop system made a big diference, even the Apple Mac Pro made very big changes in the sound when the original supplied cable was exchanged by an Audioquest Thunder, it’s not a subtile change.

The hurricane is one of the best I have ever heard and one of the most expensive I have ever listened to, the only downside in a few weeks is not if it is good enough, but if I can live without the Hurricane in my system anymore.

I give my special thank’s to Esotérico to landing me the Hurricane to listen before acquisition, you can check their site in esoterico.pt

I became addict of the iPurifier when it fist brought it to my first edition iFi Micro iDSD, at the time I was discovering the iFi Products, and the iPurifier was an interesting product then in price and quality.

The original changed the sound signature of my system in a positive way, giving me more information and after that I brought the original Micro iUSB, but with the micro iUSB I also purchased the iPurifier 2, and they work paired giving me a lot or more information and dynamics, better sense of dimension with the harman kardon GLA-55, the effect was present in texture, better highs and lows, better small dynamic perception.

This small changes that sometimes when reading could be interpreted as big and that your system changes completely, but they are not in the magnitude of the words, but the words used are a good guide to focus a user in the perceptible changes in an easy to better evaluate the perceived benefits , for me in the way they work are in a magnitude way bigger than the 100 euros could give.

But this review is not about the iPurifier 2, instead the new iPurifier 3.

The iPurifier 3 is a USB gadget that reclocks, regenerates and has a rebalance tech, it incorporates a active noise cancelation technology that works impressively, a revised and upgraded version of the last itineration of their iPurifier 2 I also own, as always the unbox experience of the package from iFi products is very special.

The little package comes with a lot of extras and no one will indifferent of the construction quality of the iPurifier 3, it’s a rewarding hardware tech marvel.

Ifi upgraded all the internals resulting in a little bigger piece of hardware, there are new OS-CON capacitors, a new version of the noise canceling technology named “Active Noise Cancellation2® (ANC2)” and all the internals are better quality.

What about the iPurifier 3 in sound when compared to the 2.

The iPurifier 2 was a great product and it made an very good sonic upgrade, the iPurifier 3 feels a lot more refined, it has most the benefits form the iPurifier 3, but is more transparent, musical and natural, when connected to the system it does not have a defined personality, to explain I will try to explain the effect of the iPurifier 3 and the original iUSB, it added bass and highs noticeably, and when I connected to some of my higher quality and recent components like the iFi Pro iDSD version 2 gave a small veil in the sound. Notice that the iFi Pro iDSD does not need an iPurifier 2.

Anyway I tried the iPurifier 3 in my iFi iDSD pro to see if the same issue was present, and it was not, it simply cleaned the sound without any added issue, so this was an interesting test, the product has no degradation effect on the cables.

After that, as I brought it to the micro iDSD Black Label for my son I, removing the iPurifier 2 and connecting the iPurifier 3, it does give a more realistic and neutral musical presentation, also it really cleans more as some little sound are more perceptible like if o had sharpness to little details that where there but not so audible, the high frequencies are substantial more natural and less “irritating”, the lows are also more perceptible, and example is the Album Tubular Bells 3 from Mike Oldfield, the first track in the beginning has a bass that goes from left to right and right to left and that perception with the iPurifier 3 is a lot more defined and engages you more on the music track.

Also, the sound stage has benefits, as you gain small details and separation, you also gain in density of information, focus on all the dimensions of the soundstage and a global better enjoyment of your music.

Reading all the above and buying the iPurifier 3 is a no brainer if you have a system transparent enough that could show changes in the whole, I used the iFi new Gemini 3.0 Cable and also an Audioquest Diamond, and the original version of the iFi Gemini.

As I have been upgrading my system a lot in the last year, every step comes with trades and benefits, my system has turned out to become more revealing each time, some hardware results very well other not that so. The iPurifier 3 made no degradation and gave me a more beneficial effect with the iDSD Black Label.

I have to give my regards to iFi as each itineration of their product line, has been really an upgrade from the last, the iPurifier 3 deserves a very good listen.

It was an amazing day with great auditions and fantastic people.

Photos taken in AudioShow 2018 at Hotel Pestana Palace in Portugal.

Audioshow is up until 2018.03.18.

I became addict of the iPurifier when it fist brought it to my first edition iFi Micro iDSD, at the time I was discovering the iFi Products, and the iPurifier was an interesting product then in price and quality.

The original changed the sound signature of my system in a positive way, giving me more information and after that I brought the original Micro iUSB, but with the micro iUSB I also purchased the iPurifier 2, and they work paired giving me a lot or more information and dynamics, better sense of dimension with the harman kardon GLA-55, the effect was present in texture, better highs and lows, better small dynamic perception.

This small changes that sometimes when reading could be interpreted as big and that your system changes completely, but they are not in the magnitude of the words, but the words used are a good guide to focus a user in the perceptible changes in an easy to better evaluate the perceived benefits , for me in the way they work are in a magnitude way bigger than the 100 euros could give.

But this review is not about the iPurifier 2, instead the new iPurifier 3.

The iPurifier 3 is a USB gadget that reclocks, regenerates and has a rebalance tech, it incorporates a active noise cancelation technology that works impressively, a revised and upgraded version of the last itineration of their iPurifier 2 I also own, as always the unbox experience of the package from iFi products is very special.

The little package comes with a lot of extras and no one will indifferent of the construction quality of the iPurifier 3, it’s a rewarding hardware tech marvel.

Ifi upgraded all the internals resulting in a little bigger piece of hardware, there are new OS-CON capacitors, a new version of the noise canceling technology named “Active Noise Cancellation2® (ANC2)” and all the internals are better quality.

What about the iPurifier 3 in sound when compared to the 2.

The iPurifier 2 was a great product and it made an very good sonic upgrade, the iPurifier 3 feels a lot more refined, it has most the benefits form the iPurifier 3, but is more transparent, musical and natural, when connected to the system it does not have a defined personality, to explain I will try to explain the effect of the iPurifier 3 and the original iUSB, it added bass and highs noticeably, and when I connected to some of my higher quality and recent components like the iFi Pro iDSD version 2 gave a small veil in the sound. Notice that the iFi Pro iDSD does not need an iPurifier 2.

Anyway I tried the iPurifier 3 in my iFi iDSD pro to see if the same issue was present, and it was not, it simply cleaned the sound without any added issue, so this was an interesting test, the product has no degradation effect on the cables.

After that, as I brought it to the micro iDSD Black Label for my son I, removing the iPurifier 2 and connecting the iPurifier 3, it does give a more realistic and neutral musical presentation, also it really cleans more as some little sound are more perceptible like if o had sharpness to little details that where there but not so audible, the high frequencies are substantial more natural and less “irritating”, the lows are also more perceptible, and example is the Album Tubular Bells 3 from Mike Oldfield, the first track in the beginning has a bass that goes from left to right and right to left and that perception with the iPurifier 3 is a lot more defined and engages you more on the music track.

Also, the sound stage has benefits, as you gain small details and separation, you also gain in density of information, focus on all the dimensions of the soundstage and a global better enjoyment of your music.

Reading all the above and buying the iPurifier 3 is a no brainer if you have a system transparent enough that could show changes in the whole, I used the iFi new Gemini 3.0 Cable and also an Audioquest Diamond, and the original version of the iFi Gemini.

As I have been upgrading my system a lot in the last year, every step comes with trades and benefits, my system has turned out to become more revealing each time, some hardware results very well other not that so. The iPurifier 3 made no degradation and gave me a more beneficial effect with the iDSD Black Label.

I have to give my regards to iFi as each itineration of their product line, has been really an upgrade from the last, the iPurifier 3 deserves a very good listen.

I became addict of the iPurifier when it fist brought it to my first edition iFi Micro iDSD, at the time I was discovering the iFi Products, and the iPurifier was an interesting product then in price and quality.

The original changed the sound signature of my system in a positive way, giving me more information and after that I brought the original Micro iUSB, but with the micro iUSB I also purchased the iPurifier 2, and they work paired giving me a lot or more information and dynamics, better sense of dimension with the harman kardon GLA-55, the effect was present in texture, better highs and lows, better small dynamic perception.

This small changes that sometimes when reading could be interpreted as big and that your system changes completely, but they are not in the magnitude of the words, but the words used are a good guide to focus a user in the perceptible changes in an easy to better evaluate the perceived benefits , for me in the way they work are in a magnitude way bigger than the 100 euros could give.

But this review is not about the iPurifier 2, instead the new iPurifier 3.

The iPurifier 3 is a USB gadget that reclocks, regenerates and has a rebalance tech, it incorporates a active noise cancelation technology that works impressively, a revised and upgraded version of the last itineration of their iPurifier 2 I also own, as always the unbox experience of the package from iFi products is very special.

The little package comes with a lot of extras and no one will indifferent of the construction quality of the iPurifier 3, it’s a rewarding hardware tech marvel.

Ifi upgraded all the internals resulting in a little bigger piece of hardware, there are new OS-CON capacitors, a new version of the noise canceling technology named “Active Noise Cancellation2® (ANC2)” and all the internals are better quality.

What about the iPurifier 3 in sound when compared to the 2.

The iPurifier 2 was a great product and it made an very good sonic upgrade, the iPurifier 3 feels a lot more refined, it has most the benefits form the iPurifier 3, but is more transparent, musical and natural, when connected to the system it does not have a defined personality, to explain I will try to explain the effect of the iPurifier 3 and the original iUSB, it added bass and highs noticeably, and when I connected to some of my higher quality and recent components like the iFi Pro iDSD version 2 gave a small veil in the sound. Notice that the iFi Pro iDSD does not need an iPurifier 2.

Anyway I tried the iPurifier 3 in my iFi iDSD pro to see if the same issue was present, and it was not, it simply cleaned the sound without any added issue, so this was an interesting test, the product has no degradation effect on the cables.

After that, as I brought it to the micro iDSD Black Label for my son I, removing the iPurifier 2 and connecting the iPurifier 3, it does give a more realistic and neutral musical presentation, also it really cleans more as some little sound are more perceptible like if o had sharpness to little details that where there but not so audible, the high frequencies are substantial more natural and less “irritating”, the lows are also more perceptible, and example is the Album Tubular Bells 3 from Mike Oldfield, the first track in the beginning has a bass that goes from left to right and right to left and that perception with the iPurifier 3 is a lot more defined and engages you more on the music track.

Also, the sound stage has benefits, as you gain small details and separation, you also gain in density of information, focus on all the dimensions of the soundstage and a global better enjoyment of your music.

Reading all the above and buying the iPurifier 3 is a no brainer if you have a system transparent enough that could show changes in the whole, I used the iFi new Gemini 3.0 Cable and also an Audioquest Diamond, and the original version of the iFi Gemini.

As I have been upgrading my system a lot in the last year, every step comes with trades and benefits, my system has turned out to become more revealing each time, some hardware results very well other not that so. The iPurifier 3 made no degradation and gave me a more beneficial effect with the iDSD Black Label.

I have to give my regards to iFi as each itineration of their product line, has been really an upgrade from the last, the iPurifier 3 deserves a very good listen.

It was an amazing day with great auditions and fantastic people.

Photos taken in AudioShow 2018 at Hotel Pestana Palace in Portugal.

Audioshow is up until 2018.03.18.

It was an amazing day with great auditions and fantastic people.

Photos taken in AudioShow 2018 at Hotel Pestana Palace in Portugal.

Audioshow is up until 2018.03.18.

Monitor Audio RX1

Des systèmes au rapport qualité prix détonnant !

How to start, the ifi iUSB made a clear diference in the sound of the micro iDSD, then it came the ifi Gemini USB and made an improvement that is noticeable, USB cables make diference in sound, they are not cheap but they make diferences in the sound presentation, bass extension, soundstage.

The focal are very sensitive to changes in the audio chain, and they are getting better and better with each change my computer system receives.

I started plugging some power cables, I had some NRG3, and NRG5 from Audioquest, also Acoustic Arts Ferrite I and Ferrite II, Vovox Textura Power Cables and some other brands from old systems, power cables made amazing diferences on the focal and Mac Pro, the diferences are not subtile as changing a DAC, they where huge and why not trying something better in this regard.

So I called Esotérico and asked the possibility to have a listen to the new Thunder Power Cable from Audioquest, you can buy a top of the line phone or an entry computer for the price of one of this cables, but I wanted to listen what the benefits they could give to my system.

Kindly Mr. Alberto from Esotérico sent me 3 Audioquest Thunder Cables and a Audioquest Niagara 1000 and after listening to the changes I will try to describe I have purchased all the items that was sent to me.

First I connected 2 thunder cables to the Focal Speakers, I was using one pair of Vovox textura on the speakers and comparing to the Vovox textura, the first thing it came to my mind was “the textura is no match for this”.

The textura are detailed cables in the highs and with interesting presentation of all frequencies in this spectrum, but sometimes if not correctly matched they are a little too much in the highs and low on bass, with the Audioquest Thunder the sound was upgraded in all aspects of the Vovox textura but… The imagem grows a lot, buss is very present and articulatd, focus, detail, presence of voices are amazing, the texture of the sounds are incredible, it’s an amazing change and easy perceptible in this context of my computer audio system, I couldn’t believe the changes in the sound, so I listened to music 6 days only with this change of the speaker cables in the Focal Solo 6BE.

Then the Audioquest Niagara and third Audioquest Thunder Cable entered in the system, the sound my computer was more than I expected with the change in the speakers, for some years and I was using a Supra Power strip MD06 to connect my small ifi audio devices, computer and speakers, when the Audioquest Niagara was connected and started playing the first music in audirvana it made one incredible thing that is very easy to notice, with the Niagara in place of the supra power strip it cleaned the sound in a to an extreme that when compared to the supra is like very dense curtain was removed from the front of my speakers, the texture and layering of the music was upgraded a lot in in front of my ears, the separation and dimension of the presentation was up a few points, this type of upgrades on an audio system are the ones that we feel the investment justifies as the change is very perceptible, there are upgrades sometimes made that makes little diference, the sense of transparency detail, focus and added resolution is nothing I want to live without anymore, these Audioquest products deserve a serious listening to any user interested in reducing noise from mains power entering your sound, believe me you will notice the effect.

The third Audioquest Thunder was connected to the Mac Pro, the effect on the Mac Pro is also very noticeable but not on pair to the dramatic changes that the focal presented me, but elevates the same aspects of the sound to a higher level giving more of the juice, global integration of the same aspects but at a lesser scale, maybe is too much of a good thing, but for me it justified the purchase of the four items.

I am really amazed also with the ifi iDSD micro Black, the quantity of information and detail this little baby can extract from hi-res audio is really impressive, today you can archive great performances in digital audio with moderate investment that 10 to 15 years ago would cost a little fortune.

I want to thank Esotérico and special Mr. Alberto for giving me the opportunity to listen before buying.

esoterico.pt

ifi-audio.com

www.audioquest.com/ac-power/ac-power-conditioners/niagara...

www.audioquest.com/ac-power/ac-power-cables/storm-series/...

HighEnd Audio Show, Alkmaar/Holland

The EISA award is perfectly understandable, the product in the hand e a remarkable piece of jewellery for audio on the go, the sound is almost on par with the micro iDSD Black Label in a quarter of the size simply amazing.

I can't remember another brand but Sony to have in the past this level of pleasure of owning one great quality product on my hand like their top of the line walkman hardware in the 80’s.

iFi with the xDSD made me feel today the same desire and satisfaction. It a wow! product since the initial unpacking to the pleasure of having it on the hand, is beautiful crafted and on the dark side a fingerprint revelation, I am simply in love by it.

The sound, I never used my micro iDSD away from the desktop, it was portable but not that portable, and very awkward to me to use something like the micro iDSD BL on the go, even if the micro sounds a little better the small advantage that the micro can have on sound does not justify the space and lack of usability on the size of the unit, no way I was using it on the go, anyway the micro Black is more complete and better sounding hardware that deserve is place on the best of the best.

The xDSD is something I will gladly use on the go with pride like an Hugo Boss suit, or an Breitling watch, it simply feels premium and sounds so good, it's not awkward it's beautiful, makes heads turn and look at it with curiosity, it's great sound with stylish looks.

The xbass makes magic on music, the 3D makes everything float around, the effects are not Audiophile correct, but who cares, on the go they are magical, and with all the noise around you on the streets you get more pleasure with them, the xBass and 3D are simple like honey, it produces lot's of detail in a musical way. All other portable Dac's now seem ugly as hell comparing the hardware alone side by side, but not only the portable DAC's, there is a lot of hardware that design and build is not on par with their sound, some have the design and sound horrible, other have the sound and are bad looking. The xDSD is the synergy of sound and looks well made.

EISA Award is very deserved for sound, size, battery duration, beauty, portability, even the price.

There are things we sell to be able to upgrade, and then many years after we regret to have sold that hardware that marked our memories. The iFi xDSD is one product that you will never forget if for some motive I sell it, in 10 or 20 years I will regret have done it, this one is special.

This was my computeraudiophile forum post about the xDSD www.computeraudiophile.com/forums/topic/38723-ifi-audio-x...

Congratulations iFi.

I became addict of the iPurifier when it fist brought it to my first edition iFi Micro iDSD, at the time I was discovering the iFi Products, and the iPurifier was an interesting product then in price and quality.

The original changed the sound signature of my system in a positive way, giving me more information and after that I brought the original Micro iUSB, but with the micro iUSB I also purchased the iPurifier 2, and they work paired giving me a lot or more information and dynamics, better sense of dimension with the harman kardon GLA-55, the effect was present in texture, better highs and lows, better small dynamic perception.

This small changes that sometimes when reading could be interpreted as big and that your system changes completely, but they are not in the magnitude of the words, but the words used are a good guide to focus a user in the perceptible changes in an easy to better evaluate the perceived benefits , for me in the way they work are in a magnitude way bigger than the 100 euros could give.

But this review is not about the iPurifier 2, instead the new iPurifier 3.

The iPurifier 3 is a USB gadget that reclocks, regenerates and has a rebalance tech, it incorporates a active noise cancelation technology that works impressively, a revised and upgraded version of the last itineration of their iPurifier 2 I also own, as always the unbox experience of the package from iFi products is very special.

The little package comes with a lot of extras and no one will indifferent of the construction quality of the iPurifier 3, it’s a rewarding hardware tech marvel.

Ifi upgraded all the internals resulting in a little bigger piece of hardware, there are new OS-CON capacitors, a new version of the noise canceling technology named “Active Noise Cancellation2® (ANC2)” and all the internals are better quality.

What about the iPurifier 3 in sound when compared to the 2.

The iPurifier 2 was a great product and it made an very good sonic upgrade, the iPurifier 3 feels a lot more refined, it has most the benefits form the iPurifier 3, but is more transparent, musical and natural, when connected to the system it does not have a defined personality, to explain I will try to explain the effect of the iPurifier 3 and the original iUSB, it added bass and highs noticeably, and when I connected to some of my higher quality and recent components like the iFi Pro iDSD version 2 gave a small veil in the sound. Notice that the iFi Pro iDSD does not need an iPurifier 2.

Anyway I tried the iPurifier 3 in my iFi iDSD pro to see if the same issue was present, and it was not, it simply cleaned the sound without any added issue, so this was an interesting test, the product has no degradation effect on the cables.

After that, as I brought it to the micro iDSD Black Label for my son I, removing the iPurifier 2 and connecting the iPurifier 3, it does give a more realistic and neutral musical presentation, also it really cleans more as some little sound are more perceptible like if o had sharpness to little details that where there but not so audible, the high frequencies are substantial more natural and less “irritating”, the lows are also more perceptible, and example is the Album Tubular Bells 3 from Mike Oldfield, the first track in the beginning has a bass that goes from left to right and right to left and that perception with the iPurifier 3 is a lot more defined and engages you more on the music track.

Also, the sound stage has benefits, as you gain small details and separation, you also gain in density of information, focus on all the dimensions of the soundstage and a global better enjoyment of your music.

Reading all the above and buying the iPurifier 3 is a no brainer if you have a system transparent enough that could show changes in the whole, I used the iFi new Gemini 3.0 Cable and also an Audioquest Diamond, and the original version of the iFi Gemini.

As I have been upgrading my system a lot in the last year, every step comes with trades and benefits, my system has turned out to become more revealing each time, some hardware results very well other not that so. The iPurifier 3 made no degradation and gave me a more beneficial effect with the iDSD Black Label.

I have to give my regards to iFi as each itineration of their product line, has been really an upgrade from the last, the iPurifier 3 deserves a very good listen.

I became addict of the iPurifier when it fist brought it to my first edition iFi Micro iDSD, at the time I was discovering the iFi Products, and the iPurifier was an interesting product then in price and quality.

The original changed the sound signature of my system in a positive way, giving me more information and after that I brought the original Micro iUSB, but with the micro iUSB I also purchased the iPurifier 2, and they work paired giving me a lot or more information and dynamics, better sense of dimension with the harman kardon GLA-55, the effect was present in texture, better highs and lows, better small dynamic perception.

This small changes that sometimes when reading could be interpreted as big and that your system changes completely, but they are not in the magnitude of the words, but the words used are a good guide to focus a user in the perceptible changes in an easy to better evaluate the perceived benefits , for me in the way they work are in a magnitude way bigger than the 100 euros could give.

But this review is not about the iPurifier 2, instead the new iPurifier 3.

The iPurifier 3 is a USB gadget that reclocks, regenerates and has a rebalance tech, it incorporates a active noise cancelation technology that works impressively, a revised and upgraded version of the last itineration of their iPurifier 2 I also own, as always the unbox experience of the package from iFi products is very special.

The little package comes with a lot of extras and no one will indifferent of the construction quality of the iPurifier 3, it’s a rewarding hardware tech marvel.

Ifi upgraded all the internals resulting in a little bigger piece of hardware, there are new OS-CON capacitors, a new version of the noise canceling technology named “Active Noise Cancellation2® (ANC2)” and all the internals are better quality.

What about the iPurifier 3 in sound when compared to the 2.

The iPurifier 2 was a great product and it made an very good sonic upgrade, the iPurifier 3 feels a lot more refined, it has most the benefits form the iPurifier 3, but is more transparent, musical and natural, when connected to the system it does not have a defined personality, to explain I will try to explain the effect of the iPurifier 3 and the original iUSB, it added bass and highs noticeably, and when I connected to some of my higher quality and recent components like the iFi Pro iDSD version 2 gave a small veil in the sound. Notice that the iFi Pro iDSD does not need an iPurifier 2.

Anyway I tried the iPurifier 3 in my iFi iDSD pro to see if the same issue was present, and it was not, it simply cleaned the sound without any added issue, so this was an interesting test, the product has no degradation effect on the cables.

After that, as I brought it to the micro iDSD Black Label for my son I, removing the iPurifier 2 and connecting the iPurifier 3, it does give a more realistic and neutral musical presentation, also it really cleans more as some little sound are more perceptible like if o had sharpness to little details that where there but not so audible, the high frequencies are substantial more natural and less “irritating”, the lows are also more perceptible, and example is the Album Tubular Bells 3 from Mike Oldfield, the first track in the beginning has a bass that goes from left to right and right to left and that perception with the iPurifier 3 is a lot more defined and engages you more on the music track.

Also, the sound stage has benefits, as you gain small details and separation, you also gain in density of information, focus on all the dimensions of the soundstage and a global better enjoyment of your music.

Reading all the above and buying the iPurifier 3 is a no brainer if you have a system transparent enough that could show changes in the whole, I used the iFi new Gemini 3.0 Cable and also an Audioquest Diamond, and the original version of the iFi Gemini.

As I have been upgrading my system a lot in the last year, every step comes with trades and benefits, my system has turned out to become more revealing each time, some hardware results very well other not that so. The iPurifier 3 made no degradation and gave me a more beneficial effect with the iDSD Black Label.

I have to give my regards to iFi as each itineration of their product line, has been really an upgrade from the last, the iPurifier 3 deserves a very good listen.

I am not new to home cinema, my preference and priority always was the two channel audio setups, In the past I had some Dolby systems from Yamaha, Sony ES pre power setups like the interesting Sony DVP-S9000ES connected to my SONY TA-N9000ES, TA-E9000ES, acquired some 7.1 systems from Samsung for Blu-ray 3D, but two channel was my primary focus and passion.

In the last 5 years I have listened to amazing cinema setups from friends and family, so I decided to start acquiring a new updated cinema sound with projector for my living room.

This year in Audio Show 2019 Lisbon when I saw the Denon AVC-X8500H it was love at the first sight, a 13.2 channel Dolby Atmos and Auro-3D amplifier with an amazing set of features as astonishing build and look.

The AVC-X8500H will be the soul and first component of my new home cinema setup, now connected to recent acquired Epson EH-TW9300 Projector. All the speaker and HDMI Cables will be by my preference from Audioquest, the speakers will come slowly and for now some old ones are being used.

Here are some photos of the new Denon AVC-X8500H.

I am not new to home cinema, my preference and priority always was the two channel audio setups, In the past I had some Dolby systems from Yamaha, Sony ES pre power setups like the interesting Sony DVP-S9000ES connected to my SONY TA-N9000ES, TA-E9000ES, acquired some 7.1 systems from Samsung for Blu-ray 3D, but two channel was my primary focus and passion.

In the last 5 years I have listened to amazing cinema setups from friends and family, so I decided to start acquiring a new updated cinema sound with projector for my living room.

This year in Audio Show 2019 Lisbon when I saw the Denon AVC-X8500H it was love at the first sight, a 13.2 channel Dolby Atmos and Auro-3D amplifier with an amazing set of features as astonishing build and look.

The AVC-X8500H will be the soul and first component of my new home cinema setup, now connected to recent acquired Epson EH-TW9300 Projector. All the speaker and HDMI Cables will be by my preference from Audioquest, the speakers will come slowly and for now some old ones are being used.

Here are some photos of the new Denon AVC-X8500H.

Power Cables.

I have many power cables from past living room systems, old audioquest NRG3, NRG5, Acoustic Arts ferrite I and II, Vovox textura Power to mention a few.

This new Audioquest storm series range of cables compared to the others in my systems really make things shine a lot more, and I mean a lot more, they are not affordable, but for me they make very noticeable positive diferences, the diferences are so big that my account suffers every time one of them enters in my audio system and play some music, welcome upgrades that sometimes are bigger than changing most of the hardware.

Every power cable I have changed in my desktop system made a big diference, even the Apple Mac Pro made very big changes in the sound when the original supplied cable was exchanged by an Audioquest Thunder, it’s not a subtile change.

The hurricane is one of the best I have ever heard and one of the most expensive I have ever listened to, the only downside in a few weeks is not if it is good enough, but if I can live without the Hurricane in my system anymore.

I give my special thank’s to Esotérico to landing me the Hurricane to listen before acquisition, you can check their site in esoterico.pt

I became addict of the iPurifier when it fist brought it to my first edition iFi Micro iDSD, at the time I was discovering the iFi Products, and the iPurifier was an interesting product then in price and quality.

The original changed the sound signature of my system in a positive way, giving me more information and after that I brought the original Micro iUSB, but with the micro iUSB I also purchased the iPurifier 2, and they work paired giving me a lot or more information and dynamics, better sense of dimension with the harman kardon GLA-55, the effect was present in texture, better highs and lows, better small dynamic perception.

This small changes that sometimes when reading could be interpreted as big and that your system changes completely, but they are not in the magnitude of the words, but the words used are a good guide to focus a user in the perceptible changes in an easy to better evaluate the perceived benefits , for me in the way they work are in a magnitude way bigger than the 100 euros could give.

But this review is not about the iPurifier 2, instead the new iPurifier 3.

The iPurifier 3 is a USB gadget that reclocks, regenerates and has a rebalance tech, it incorporates a active noise cancelation technology that works impressively, a revised and upgraded version of the last itineration of their iPurifier 2 I also own, as always the unbox experience of the package from iFi products is very special.

The little package comes with a lot of extras and no one will indifferent of the construction quality of the iPurifier 3, it’s a rewarding hardware tech marvel.

Ifi upgraded all the internals resulting in a little bigger piece of hardware, there are new OS-CON capacitors, a new version of the noise canceling technology named “Active Noise Cancellation2® (ANC2)” and all the internals are better quality.

What about the iPurifier 3 in sound when compared to the 2.

The iPurifier 2 was a great product and it made an very good sonic upgrade, the iPurifier 3 feels a lot more refined, it has most the benefits form the iPurifier 3, but is more transparent, musical and natural, when connected to the system it does not have a defined personality, to explain I will try to explain the effect of the iPurifier 3 and the original iUSB, it added bass and highs noticeably, and when I connected to some of my higher quality and recent components like the iFi Pro iDSD version 2 gave a small veil in the sound. Notice that the iFi Pro iDSD does not need an iPurifier 2.

Anyway I tried the iPurifier 3 in my iFi iDSD pro to see if the same issue was present, and it was not, it simply cleaned the sound without any added issue, so this was an interesting test, the product has no degradation effect on the cables.

After that, as I brought it to the micro iDSD Black Label for my son I, removing the iPurifier 2 and connecting the iPurifier 3, it does give a more realistic and neutral musical presentation, also it really cleans more as some little sound are more perceptible like if o had sharpness to little details that where there but not so audible, the high frequencies are substantial more natural and less “irritating”, the lows are also more perceptible, and example is the Album Tubular Bells 3 from Mike Oldfield, the first track in the beginning has a bass that goes from left to right and right to left and that perception with the iPurifier 3 is a lot more defined and engages you more on the music track.

Also, the sound stage has benefits, as you gain small details and separation, you also gain in density of information, focus on all the dimensions of the soundstage and a global better enjoyment of your music.

Reading all the above and buying the iPurifier 3 is a no brainer if you have a system transparent enough that could show changes in the whole, I used the iFi new Gemini 3.0 Cable and also an Audioquest Diamond, and the original version of the iFi Gemini.

As I have been upgrading my system a lot in the last year, every step comes with trades and benefits, my system has turned out to become more revealing each time, some hardware results very well other not that so. The iPurifier 3 made no degradation and gave me a more beneficial effect with the iDSD Black Label.

I have to give my regards to iFi as each itineration of their product line, has been really an upgrade from the last, the iPurifier 3 deserves a very good listen.

I became addict of the iPurifier when it fist brought it to my first edition iFi Micro iDSD, at the time I was discovering the iFi Products, and the iPurifier was an interesting product then in price and quality.

The original changed the sound signature of my system in a positive way, giving me more information and after that I brought the original Micro iUSB, but with the micro iUSB I also purchased the iPurifier 2, and they work paired giving me a lot or more information and dynamics, better sense of dimension with the harman kardon GLA-55, the effect was present in texture, better highs and lows, better small dynamic perception.

This small changes that sometimes when reading could be interpreted as big and that your system changes completely, but they are not in the magnitude of the words, but the words used are a good guide to focus a user in the perceptible changes in an easy to better evaluate the perceived benefits , for me in the way they work are in a magnitude way bigger than the 100 euros could give.

But this review is not about the iPurifier 2, instead the new iPurifier 3.

The iPurifier 3 is a USB gadget that reclocks, regenerates and has a rebalance tech, it incorporates a active noise cancelation technology that works impressively, a revised and upgraded version of the last itineration of their iPurifier 2 I also own, as always the unbox experience of the package from iFi products is very special.

The little package comes with a lot of extras and no one will indifferent of the construction quality of the iPurifier 3, it’s a rewarding hardware tech marvel.

Ifi upgraded all the internals resulting in a little bigger piece of hardware, there are new OS-CON capacitors, a new version of the noise canceling technology named “Active Noise Cancellation2® (ANC2)” and all the internals are better quality.

What about the iPurifier 3 in sound when compared to the 2.

The iPurifier 2 was a great product and it made an very good sonic upgrade, the iPurifier 3 feels a lot more refined, it has most the benefits form the iPurifier 3, but is more transparent, musical and natural, when connected to the system it does not have a defined personality, to explain I will try to explain the effect of the iPurifier 3 and the original iUSB, it added bass and highs noticeably, and when I connected to some of my higher quality and recent components like the iFi Pro iDSD version 2 gave a small veil in the sound. Notice that the iFi Pro iDSD does not need an iPurifier 2.

Anyway I tried the iPurifier 3 in my iFi iDSD pro to see if the same issue was present, and it was not, it simply cleaned the sound without any added issue, so this was an interesting test, the product has no degradation effect on the cables.

After that, as I brought it to the micro iDSD Black Label for my son I, removing the iPurifier 2 and connecting the iPurifier 3, it does give a more realistic and neutral musical presentation, also it really cleans more as some little sound are more perceptible like if o had sharpness to little details that where there but not so audible, the high frequencies are substantial more natural and less “irritating”, the lows are also more perceptible, and example is the Album Tubular Bells 3 from Mike Oldfield, the first track in the beginning has a bass that goes from left to right and right to left and that perception with the iPurifier 3 is a lot more defined and engages you more on the music track.

Also, the sound stage has benefits, as you gain small details and separation, you also gain in density of information, focus on all the dimensions of the soundstage and a global better enjoyment of your music.

Reading all the above and buying the iPurifier 3 is a no brainer if you have a system transparent enough that could show changes in the whole, I used the iFi new Gemini 3.0 Cable and also an Audioquest Diamond, and the original version of the iFi Gemini.

As I have been upgrading my system a lot in the last year, every step comes with trades and benefits, my system has turned out to become more revealing each time, some hardware results very well other not that so. The iPurifier 3 made no degradation and gave me a more beneficial effect with the iDSD Black Label.

I have to give my regards to iFi as each itineration of their product line, has been really an upgrade from the last, the iPurifier 3 deserves a very good listen.

It was an amazing day with great auditions and fantastic people.

Photos taken in AudioShow 2018 at Hotel Pestana Palace in Portugal.

Audioshow is up until 2018.03.18.

Photos from AudioShow 2019 in Lisbon, the event was open from 1 of March to 3 of March 2019.

This year was in Hotel Ritz and Hotel Intercontinental.

As usual full of great gear audio gear be seen and listen live.

In the search for a better musical experience extracting better sound from my recent iFi DAC upgrade and get more pleasure in the sound presentation I discovered SOTM products, I searched for information of network streamers and similar user opinions about them, saw videos and all that I can find about on the web, and after reading lots of average consensus of users in their with their experience, and after some weeks acquired an SOTM sMS-200 Ultra without listening.

I have to admit that acquiring without listening is risky decision, and sometimes you could end with a unit that do not give any positive enhancement to your system. The intent was to remove my noisy Mac Pro from degrading the sound of the DAC, is this case an iFi iDSD Pro that has galvanic isolation but is very sensible to all cables and accessories before it, as any other DAC the quality of the USB connection is primordial to a better sound experience.

You can clean your computer USB, but you will pay the same or more than buy a optimised and clean dedicated computer exclusively for audio.

It’s that quality USB connection I was searching and found it on the SOTM sMS-200 Ultra, it impressive how a single device for giving you a great USB link affects the final sound.

Computers are terribly noisy devices, electricity in an apartment is full of noise, that contaminates the computer, processor, motherboard, fan, hard drive, external devices with bad power supply’s, even software resource needs generate noise, and that noise affects the link that is made from the computer to the DAC.

Any user like me trying to get better audio will start a journey of cleaning that USB transmission with galvanic isolated solutions, USB regenerators and re-clockers, and many other solutions that exist on the market and stores that clean the USB signal. Some of devices at every step give you an extra more, or a different presentation, or change the total presentation, sometimes in a good way, other times not accomplishing what they promote or I expect for the price

What did SOtM do, they produced a small audio optimised network computer to connect to your DAC by USB, it has an optimised and excellent internal clock board, but they build it with high quality audiophile components, for me they have made something very special that results very well on my system.

The SOtM SMS-200 Ultra is a simple audiophile network streamer for the only propose to pass the bits to your DAC in the cleanest way possible.

The sMS-200 Ultra supports various audio standard protocols like the Roon RAAT, HQPlayer, LibreSpot, Minim Server, Airplay, Bubble UPnP, DLNA, Squeezelite, and runs a light linux optimised version for audio called Eunhasu that can be upgraded with more functionality and add support for future DAC hardware.

Their service and support has been very receptive to beginner questions, with fast reply and helpful responses, thats a thumbs up for support. For me, product support is one of the most important features of any product.

The sOTM sMS-200 Ultra is an awesome product it made a big change for the better to my music enjoyment… The final result is based on my personal system, room, cables, and could be different on your system, but one thing I have certain, If anyone tries one of this units the change will be noticed for the better.

When I dedicate some of my time to write about it, it’s because I the product quality and benefit it gave me. Is common that the new upgraded unit is better than the last used solution, and the big motive I upgraded an stayed in the system. But regarding the presence I feel now when I listen to a good album, the SOtM sMS-200 Ultra is one of the best upgrades I have done in the last few years, and the upgrades where a lot.

Apart from some rock concerts, small jazz groups and some classical music concerts, my live music experience is not that active, I will not compare the real presentation that I can achieve, but instead the enjoyment the SOtM offered to me from my system, and with it came a new musical experience. The difference of hearing a real orchestra in plain euforia is something that I never heard any system being capable of, the real thing is a more powerful experience that any system or my small one can reproduce, I herd systems close to that reality with prices impossible to archive by a normal person, but with my hardware limitation, the emulation of the artist presence was upgraded to a new level.

All of this to explain that is difficult to quantify how better in my case the SOtM is compared to reality, but I can quantify listen experience before and after the SOtM, and here it goes.

The SOtM is all about music, after changing the in the box power supply for an SBooster it really shines, the music presentation grows a lot, and the speakers grow the sound to a huge presentation, the sound is so big that the room feels larger, a friend of mine when showing the music, started to look behind searching for surround speakers on the back wall, the SOtM sMS 200 Ultra really made the presentation of some albums impressive. One example of this is the Pink Floyd track On The Run from the Dark Side of the Moon album, or tracks from the album Blood from This Mortal Coil.

The SOtM sMS-200 Ultra is musical and not aggressive in any way, and has this 3D way of presenting the sound a sensation of magical sweetness without loss of information, I am loving it and ordered an SPS-500 Power supply with silver cable, it deserves the best friend to complement and shine even more.

The sound from my Mac Pro was somehow a little bi dimensional when compared to the SOtM, the highs sometimes where to much, and lacked the dimension that the SOtM has, it sounded ok but was not holographic like the sound I have now, and lacked some musicality, some albums where too harsh and very aggressive to be played, this doesn’t mean a bad recording will sound good, the bad will sound always bad, but good recording elevate your experience in a way with the SOtM that the computer did not acomplished.

When used with a good DAC and a quality usb cable, in my case the iFi iDSD Pro DAC and the Audioquest Diamond USB, it gave me impressive results connected to my Focal Solo 6be.

I find the SOtM sMS-200 Ultra very sensitive to power cables, I used Audioquest tornado cables on the iFI and SOtM, and they proved to result very well in my setup.

So I think audiophiles will love it, for me is not an option to revert back to my Mac Pro as a USB source.

If you are using a DAC connected to your computer, you have to try an SOtM streamer and see what you have been loosing in sound with your computer, and pair the SOtM with a good and decent power supply and it will really shine.

speakers - Monitor Audio BR5

speaker cables - Daxx S52

interconnect cable - Daxx R88

receiver - Sony STR-DA1200ES

source - ESI Juli@

How to start, the ifi iUSB made a clear diference in the sound of the micro iDSD, then it came the ifi Gemini USB and made an improvement that is noticeable, USB cables make diference in sound, they are not cheap but they make diferences in the sound presentation, bass extension, soundstage.

The focal are very sensitive to changes in the audio chain, and they are getting better and better with each change my computer system receives.

I started plugging some power cables, I had some NRG3, and NRG5 from Audioquest, also Acoustic Arts Ferrite I and Ferrite II, Vovox Textura Power Cables and some other brands from old systems, power cables made amazing diferences on the focal and Mac Pro, the diferences are not subtile as changing a DAC, they where huge and why not trying something better in this regard.

So I called Esotérico and asked the possibility to have a listen to the new Thunder Power Cable from Audioquest, you can buy a top of the line phone or an entry computer for the price of one of this cables, but I wanted to listen what the benefits they could give to my system.

Kindly Mr. Alberto from Esotérico sent me 3 Audioquest Thunder Cables and a Audioquest Niagara 1000 and after listening to the changes I will try to describe I have purchased all the items that was sent to me.

First I connected 2 thunder cables to the Focal Speakers, I was using one pair of Vovox textura on the speakers and comparing to the Vovox textura, the first thing it came to my mind was “the textura is no match for this”.

The textura are detailed cables in the highs and with interesting presentation of all frequencies in this spectrum, but sometimes if not correctly matched they are a little too much in the highs and low on bass, with the Audioquest Thunder the sound was upgraded in all aspects of the Vovox textura but… The imagem grows a lot, buss is very present and articulatd, focus, detail, presence of voices are amazing, the texture of the sounds are incredible, it’s an amazing change and easy perceptible in this context of my computer audio system, I couldn’t believe the changes in the sound, so I listened to music 6 days only with this change of the speaker cables in the Focal Solo 6BE.

Then the Audioquest Niagara and third Audioquest Thunder Cable entered in the system, the sound my computer was more than I expected with the change in the speakers, for some years and I was using a Supra Power strip MD06 to connect my small ifi audio devices, computer and speakers, when the Audioquest Niagara was connected and started playing the first music in audirvana it made one incredible thing that is very easy to notice, with the Niagara in place of the supra power strip it cleaned the sound in a to an extreme that when compared to the supra is like very dense curtain was removed from the front of my speakers, the texture and layering of the music was upgraded a lot in in front of my ears, the separation and dimension of the presentation was up a few points, this type of upgrades on an audio system are the ones that we feel the investment justifies as the change is very perceptible, there are upgrades sometimes made that makes little diference, the sense of transparency detail, focus and added resolution is nothing I want to live without anymore, these Audioquest products deserve a serious listening to any user interested in reducing noise from mains power entering your sound, believe me you will notice the effect.

The third Audioquest Thunder was connected to the Mac Pro, the effect on the Mac Pro is also very noticeable but not on pair to the dramatic changes that the focal presented me, but elevates the same aspects of the sound to a higher level giving more of the juice, global integration of the same aspects but at a lesser scale, maybe is too much of a good thing, but for me it justified the purchase of the four items.

I am really amazed also with the ifi iDSD micro Black, the quantity of information and detail this little baby can extract from hi-res audio is really impressive, today you can archive great performances in digital audio with moderate investment that 10 to 15 years ago would cost a little fortune.

I want to thank Esotérico and special Mr. Alberto for giving me the opportunity to listen before buying.

esoterico.pt

ifi-audio.com

www.audioquest.com/ac-power/ac-power-conditioners/niagara...

www.audioquest.com/ac-power/ac-power-cables/storm-series/...

I became addict of the iPurifier when it fist brought it to my first edition iFi Micro iDSD, at the time I was discovering the iFi Products, and the iPurifier was an interesting product then in price and quality.

The original changed the sound signature of my system in a positive way, giving me more information and after that I brought the original Micro iUSB, but with the micro iUSB I also purchased the iPurifier 2, and they work paired giving me a lot or more information and dynamics, better sense of dimension with the harman kardon GLA-55, the effect was present in texture, better highs and lows, better small dynamic perception.

This small changes that sometimes when reading could be interpreted as big and that your system changes completely, but they are not in the magnitude of the words, but the words used are a good guide to focus a user in the perceptible changes in an easy to better evaluate the perceived benefits , for me in the way they work are in a magnitude way bigger than the 100 euros could give.

But this review is not about the iPurifier 2, instead the new iPurifier 3.

The iPurifier 3 is a USB gadget that reclocks, regenerates and has a rebalance tech, it incorporates a active noise cancelation technology that works impressively, a revised and upgraded version of the last itineration of their iPurifier 2 I also own, as always the unbox experience of the package from iFi products is very special.

The little package comes with a lot of extras and no one will indifferent of the construction quality of the iPurifier 3, it’s a rewarding hardware tech marvel.

Ifi upgraded all the internals resulting in a little bigger piece of hardware, there are new OS-CON capacitors, a new version of the noise canceling technology named “Active Noise Cancellation2® (ANC2)” and all the internals are better quality.

What about the iPurifier 3 in sound when compared to the 2.

The iPurifier 2 was a great product and it made an very good sonic upgrade, the iPurifier 3 feels a lot more refined, it has most the benefits form the iPurifier 3, but is more transparent, musical and natural, when connected to the system it does not have a defined personality, to explain I will try to explain the effect of the iPurifier 3 and the original iUSB, it added bass and highs noticeably, and when I connected to some of my higher quality and recent components like the iFi Pro iDSD version 2 gave a small veil in the sound. Notice that the iFi Pro iDSD does not need an iPurifier 2.

Anyway I tried the iPurifier 3 in my iFi iDSD pro to see if the same issue was present, and it was not, it simply cleaned the sound without any added issue, so this was an interesting test, the product has no degradation effect on the cables.

After that, as I brought it to the micro iDSD Black Label for my son I, removing the iPurifier 2 and connecting the iPurifier 3, it does give a more realistic and neutral musical presentation, also it really cleans more as some little sound are more perceptible like if o had sharpness to little details that where there but not so audible, the high frequencies are substantial more natural and less “irritating”, the lows are also more perceptible, and example is the Album Tubular Bells 3 from Mike Oldfield, the first track in the beginning has a bass that goes from left to right and right to left and that perception with the iPurifier 3 is a lot more defined and engages you more on the music track.

Also, the sound stage has benefits, as you gain small details and separation, you also gain in density of information, focus on all the dimensions of the soundstage and a global better enjoyment of your music.

Reading all the above and buying the iPurifier 3 is a no brainer if you have a system transparent enough that could show changes in the whole, I used the iFi new Gemini 3.0 Cable and also an Audioquest Diamond, and the original version of the iFi Gemini.

As I have been upgrading my system a lot in the last year, every step comes with trades and benefits, my system has turned out to become more revealing each time, some hardware results very well other not that so. The iPurifier 3 made no degradation and gave me a more beneficial effect with the iDSD Black Label.

I have to give my regards to iFi as each itineration of their product line, has been really an upgrade from the last, the iPurifier 3 deserves a very good listen.

It was an amazing day with great auditions and fantastic people.

Photos taken in AudioShow 2018 at Hotel Pestana Palace in Portugal.

Audioshow is up until 2018.03.18.

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Photos from AudioShow 2019 in Lisbon, the event was open from 1 of March to 3 of March 2019.

This year was in Hotel Ritz and Hotel Intercontinental.

As usual full of great gear audio gear be seen and listen live.

I became addict of the iPurifier when it fist brought it to my first edition iFi Micro iDSD, at the time I was discovering the iFi Products, and the iPurifier was an interesting product then in price and quality.

The original changed the sound signature of my system in a positive way, giving me more information and after that I brought the original Micro iUSB, but with the micro iUSB I also purchased the iPurifier 2, and they work paired giving me a lot or more information and dynamics, better sense of dimension with the harman kardon GLA-55, the effect was present in texture, better highs and lows, better small dynamic perception.

This small changes that sometimes when reading could be interpreted as big and that your system changes completely, but they are not in the magnitude of the words, but the words used are a good guide to focus a user in the perceptible changes in an easy to better evaluate the perceived benefits , for me in the way they work are in a magnitude way bigger than the 100 euros could give.

But this review is not about the iPurifier 2, instead the new iPurifier 3.

The iPurifier 3 is a USB gadget that reclocks, regenerates and has a rebalance tech, it incorporates a active noise cancelation technology that works impressively, a revised and upgraded version of the last itineration of their iPurifier 2 I also own, as always the unbox experience of the package from iFi products is very special.

The little package comes with a lot of extras and no one will indifferent of the construction quality of the iPurifier 3, it’s a rewarding hardware tech marvel.

Ifi upgraded all the internals resulting in a little bigger piece of hardware, there are new OS-CON capacitors, a new version of the noise canceling technology named “Active Noise Cancellation2® (ANC2)” and all the internals are better quality.

What about the iPurifier 3 in sound when compared to the 2.

The iPurifier 2 was a great product and it made an very good sonic upgrade, the iPurifier 3 feels a lot more refined, it has most the benefits form the iPurifier 3, but is more transparent, musical and natural, when connected to the system it does not have a defined personality, to explain I will try to explain the effect of the iPurifier 3 and the original iUSB, it added bass and highs noticeably, and when I connected to some of my higher quality and recent components like the iFi Pro iDSD version 2 gave a small veil in the sound. Notice that the iFi Pro iDSD does not need an iPurifier 2.

Anyway I tried the iPurifier 3 in my iFi iDSD pro to see if the same issue was present, and it was not, it simply cleaned the sound without any added issue, so this was an interesting test, the product has no degradation effect on the cables.

After that, as I brought it to the micro iDSD Black Label for my son I, removing the iPurifier 2 and connecting the iPurifier 3, it does give a more realistic and neutral musical presentation, also it really cleans more as some little sound are more perceptible like if o had sharpness to little details that where there but not so audible, the high frequencies are substantial more natural and less “irritating”, the lows are also more perceptible, and example is the Album Tubular Bells 3 from Mike Oldfield, the first track in the beginning has a bass that goes from left to right and right to left and that perception with the iPurifier 3 is a lot more defined and engages you more on the music track.

Also, the sound stage has benefits, as you gain small details and separation, you also gain in density of information, focus on all the dimensions of the soundstage and a global better enjoyment of your music.

Reading all the above and buying the iPurifier 3 is a no brainer if you have a system transparent enough that could show changes in the whole, I used the iFi new Gemini 3.0 Cable and also an Audioquest Diamond, and the original version of the iFi Gemini.

As I have been upgrading my system a lot in the last year, every step comes with trades and benefits, my system has turned out to become more revealing each time, some hardware results very well other not that so. The iPurifier 3 made no degradation and gave me a more beneficial effect with the iDSD Black Label.

I have to give my regards to iFi as each itineration of their product line, has been really an upgrade from the last, the iPurifier 3 deserves a very good listen.

It was an amazing day with great auditions and fantastic people.

Photos taken in AudioShow 2018 at Hotel Pestana Palace in Portugal.

Audioshow is up until 2018.03.18.

Verdict: fabulous but still no excellence.

This is a very good slim subwoofer cable.

The EISA award is perfectly understandable, the product in the hand e a remarkable piece of jewellery for audio on the go, the sound is almost on par with the micro iDSD Black Label in a quarter of the size simply amazing.

I can't remember another brand but Sony to have in the past this level of pleasure of owning one great quality product on my hand like their top of the line walkman hardware in the 80’s.

iFi with the xDSD made me feel today the same desire and satisfaction. It a wow! product since the initial unpacking to the pleasure of having it on the hand, is beautiful crafted and on the dark side a fingerprint revelation, I am simply in love by it.

The sound, I never used my micro iDSD away from the desktop, it was portable but not that portable, and very awkward to me to use something like the micro iDSD BL on the go, even if the micro sounds a little better the small advantage that the micro can have on sound does not justify the space and lack of usability on the size of the unit, no way I was using it on the go, anyway the micro Black is more complete and better sounding hardware that deserve is place on the best of the best.

The xDSD is something I will gladly use on the go with pride like an Hugo Boss suit, or an Breitling watch, it simply feels premium and sounds so good, it's not awkward it's beautiful, makes heads turn and look at it with curiosity, it's great sound with stylish looks.

The xbass makes magic on music, the 3D makes everything float around, the effects are not Audiophile correct, but who cares, on the go they are magical, and with all the noise around you on the streets you get more pleasure with them, the xBass and 3D are simple like honey, it produces lot's of detail in a musical way. All other portable Dac's now seem ugly as hell comparing the hardware alone side by side, but not only the portable DAC's, there is a lot of hardware that design and build is not on par with their sound, some have the design and sound horrible, other have the sound and are bad looking. The xDSD is the synergy of sound and looks well made.

EISA Award is very deserved for sound, size, battery duration, beauty, portability, even the price.

There are things we sell to be able to upgrade, and then many years after we regret to have sold that hardware that marked our memories. The iFi xDSD is one product that you will never forget if for some motive I sell it, in 10 or 20 years I will regret have done it, this one is special.

This was my computeraudiophile forum post about the xDSD www.computeraudiophile.com/forums/topic/38723-ifi-audio-x...

Congratulations iFi.

In the search for a better musical experience extracting better sound from my recent iFi DAC upgrade and get more pleasure in the sound presentation I discovered SOTM products, I searched for information of network streamers and similar user opinions about them, saw videos and all that I can find about on the web, and after reading lots of average consensus of users in their with their experience, and after some weeks acquired an SOTM sMS-200 Ultra without listening.

I have to admit that acquiring without listening is risky decision, and sometimes you could end with a unit that do not give any positive enhancement to your system. The intent was to remove my noisy Mac Pro from degrading the sound of the DAC, is this case an iFi iDSD Pro that has galvanic isolation but is very sensible to all cables and accessories before it, as any other DAC the quality of the USB connection is primordial to a better sound experience.

You can clean your computer USB, but you will pay the same or more than buy a optimised and clean dedicated computer exclusively for audio.

It’s that quality USB connection I was searching and found it on the SOTM sMS-200 Ultra, it impressive how a single device for giving you a great USB link affects the final sound.

Computers are terribly noisy devices, electricity in an apartment is full of noise, that contaminates the computer, processor, motherboard, fan, hard drive, external devices with bad power supply’s, even software resource needs generate noise, and that noise affects the link that is made from the computer to the DAC.

Any user like me trying to get better audio will start a journey of cleaning that USB transmission with galvanic isolated solutions, USB regenerators and re-clockers, and many other solutions that exist on the market and stores that clean the USB signal. Some of devices at every step give you an extra more, or a different presentation, or change the total presentation, sometimes in a good way, other times not accomplishing what they promote or I expect for the price

What did SOtM do, they produced a small audio optimised network computer to connect to your DAC by USB, it has an optimised and excellent internal clock board, but they build it with high quality audiophile components, for me they have made something very special that results very well on my system.

The SOtM SMS-200 Ultra is a simple audiophile network streamer for the only propose to pass the bits to your DAC in the cleanest way possible.

The sMS-200 Ultra supports various audio standard protocols like the Roon RAAT, HQPlayer, LibreSpot, Minim Server, Airplay, Bubble UPnP, DLNA, Squeezelite, and runs a light linux optimised version for audio called Eunhasu that can be upgraded with more functionality and add support for future DAC hardware.

Their service and support has been very receptive to beginner questions, with fast reply and helpful responses, thats a thumbs up for support. For me, product support is one of the most important features of any product.

The sOTM sMS-200 Ultra is an awesome product it made a big change for the better to my music enjoyment… The final result is based on my personal system, room, cables, and could be different on your system, but one thing I have certain, If anyone tries one of this units the change will be noticed for the better.

When I dedicate some of my time to write about it, it’s because I the product quality and benefit it gave me. Is common that the new upgraded unit is better than the last used solution, and the big motive I upgraded an stayed in the system. But regarding the presence I feel now when I listen to a good album, the SOtM sMS-200 Ultra is one of the best upgrades I have done in the last few years, and the upgrades where a lot.

Apart from some rock concerts, small jazz groups and some classical music concerts, my live music experience is not that active, I will not compare the real presentation that I can achieve, but instead the enjoyment the SOtM offered to me from my system, and with it came a new musical experience. The difference of hearing a real orchestra in plain euforia is something that I never heard any system being capable of, the real thing is a more powerful experience that any system or my small one can reproduce, I herd systems close to that reality with prices impossible to archive by a normal person, but with my hardware limitation, the emulation of the artist presence was upgraded to a new level.

All of this to explain that is difficult to quantify how better in my case the SOtM is compared to reality, but I can quantify listen experience before and after the SOtM, and here it goes.

The SOtM is all about music, after changing the in the box power supply for an SBooster it really shines, the music presentation grows a lot, and the speakers grow the sound to a huge presentation, the sound is so big that the room feels larger, a friend of mine when showing the music, started to look behind searching for surround speakers on the back wall, the SOtM sMS 200 Ultra really made the presentation of some albums impressive. One example of this is the Pink Floyd track On The Run from the Dark Side of the Moon album, or tracks from the album Blood from This Mortal Coil.

The SOtM sMS-200 Ultra is musical and not aggressive in any way, and has this 3D way of presenting the sound a sensation of magical sweetness without loss of information, I am loving it and ordered an SPS-500 Power supply with silver cable, it deserves the best friend to complement and shine even more.

The sound from my Mac Pro was somehow a little bi dimensional when compared to the SOtM, the highs sometimes where to much, and lacked the dimension that the SOtM has, it sounded ok but was not holographic like the sound I have now, and lacked some musicality, some albums where too harsh and very aggressive to be played, this doesn’t mean a bad recording will sound good, the bad will sound always bad, but good recording elevate your experience in a way with the SOtM that the computer did not acomplished.

When used with a good DAC and a quality usb cable, in my case the iFi iDSD Pro DAC and the Audioquest Diamond USB, it gave me impressive results connected to my Focal Solo 6be.

I find the SOtM sMS-200 Ultra very sensitive to power cables, I used Audioquest tornado cables on the iFI and SOtM, and they proved to result very well in my setup.

So I think audiophiles will love it, for me is not an option to revert back to my Mac Pro as a USB source.

If you are using a DAC connected to your computer, you have to try an SOtM streamer and see what you have been loosing in sound with your computer, and pair the SOtM with a good and decent power supply and it will really shine.

The EISA award is perfectly understandable, the product in the hand e a remarkable piece of jewellery for audio on the go, the sound is almost on par with the micro iDSD Black Label in a quarter of the size simply amazing.

I can't remember another brand but Sony to have in the past this level of pleasure of owning one great quality product on my hand like their top of the line walkman hardware in the 80’s.

iFi with the xDSD made me feel today the same desire and satisfaction. It a wow! product since the initial unpacking to the pleasure of having it on the hand, is beautiful crafted and on the dark side a fingerprint revelation, I am simply in love by it.

The sound, I never used my micro iDSD away from the desktop, it was portable but not that portable, and very awkward to me to use something like the micro iDSD BL on the go, even if the micro sounds a little better the small advantage that the micro can have on sound does not justify the space and lack of usability on the size of the unit, no way I was using it on the go, anyway the micro Black is more complete and better sounding hardware that deserve is place on the best of the best.

The xDSD is something I will gladly use on the go with pride like an Hugo Boss suit, or an Breitling watch, it simply feels premium and sounds so good, it's not awkward it's beautiful, makes heads turn and look at it with curiosity, it's great sound with stylish looks.

The xbass makes magic on music, the 3D makes everything float around, the effects are not Audiophile correct, but who cares, on the go they are magical, and with all the noise around you on the streets you get more pleasure with them, the xBass and 3D are simple like honey, it produces lot's of detail in a musical way. All other portable Dac's now seem ugly as hell comparing the hardware alone side by side, but not only the portable DAC's, there is a lot of hardware that design and build is not on par with their sound, some have the design and sound horrible, other have the sound and are bad looking. The xDSD is the synergy of sound and looks well made.

EISA Award is very deserved for sound, size, battery duration, beauty, portability, even the price.

There are things we sell to be able to upgrade, and then many years after we regret to have sold that hardware that marked our memories. The iFi xDSD is one product that you will never forget if for some motive I sell it, in 10 or 20 years I will regret have done it, this one is special.

This was my computeraudiophile forum post about the xDSD www.computeraudiophile.com/forums/topic/38723-ifi-audio-x...

Congratulations iFi.

I am not new to home cinema, my preference and priority always was the two channel audio setups, In the past I had some Dolby systems from Yamaha, Sony ES pre power setups like the interesting Sony DVP-S9000ES connected to my SONY TA-N9000ES, TA-E9000ES, acquired some 7.1 systems from Samsung for Blu-ray 3D, but two channel was my primary focus and passion.

In the last 5 years I have listened to amazing cinema setups from friends and family, so I decided to start acquiring a new updated cinema sound with projector for my living room.

This year in Audio Show 2019 Lisbon when I saw the Denon AVC-X8500H it was love at the first sight, a 13.2 channel Dolby Atmos and Auro-3D amplifier with an amazing set of features as astonishing build and look.

The AVC-X8500H will be the soul and first component of my new home cinema setup, now connected to recent acquired Epson EH-TW9300 Projector. All the speaker and HDMI Cables will be by my preference from Audioquest, the speakers will come slowly and for now some old ones are being used.

Here are some photos of the new Denon AVC-X8500H.

It was an amazing day with great auditions and fantastic people.

Photos taken in AudioShow 2018 at Hotel Pestana Palace in Portugal.

Audioshow is up until 2018.03.18.

It was an amazing day with great auditions and fantastic people.

Photos taken in AudioShow 2018 at Hotel Pestana Palace in Portugal.

Audioshow is up until 2018.03.18.

The EISA award is perfectly understandable, the product in the hand e a remarkable piece of jewellery for audio on the go, the sound is almost on par with the micro iDSD Black Label in a quarter of the size simply amazing.

I can't remember another brand but Sony to have in the past this level of pleasure of owning one great quality product on my hand like their top of the line walkman hardware in the 80’s.

iFi with the xDSD made me feel today the same desire and satisfaction. It a wow! product since the initial unpacking to the pleasure of having it on the hand, is beautiful crafted and on the dark side a fingerprint revelation, I am simply in love by it.

The sound, I never used my micro iDSD away from the desktop, it was portable but not that portable, and very awkward to me to use something like the micro iDSD BL on the go, even if the micro sounds a little better the small advantage that the micro can have on sound does not justify the space and lack of usability on the size of the unit, no way I was using it on the go, anyway the micro Black is more complete and better sounding hardware that deserve is place on the best of the best.

The xDSD is something I will gladly use on the go with pride like an Hugo Boss suit, or an Breitling watch, it simply feels premium and sounds so good, it's not awkward it's beautiful, makes heads turn and look at it with curiosity, it's great sound with stylish looks.

The xbass makes magic on music, the 3D makes everything float around, the effects are not Audiophile correct, but who cares, on the go they are magical, and with all the noise around you on the streets you get more pleasure with them, the xBass and 3D are simple like honey, it produces lot's of detail in a musical way. All other portable Dac's now seem ugly as hell comparing the hardware alone side by side, but not only the portable DAC's, there is a lot of hardware that design and build is not on par with their sound, some have the design and sound horrible, other have the sound and are bad looking. The xDSD is the synergy of sound and looks well made.

EISA Award is very deserved for sound, size, battery duration, beauty, portability, even the price.

There are things we sell to be able to upgrade, and then many years after we regret to have sold that hardware that marked our memories. The iFi xDSD is one product that you will never forget if for some motive I sell it, in 10 or 20 years I will regret have done it, this one is special.

This was my computeraudiophile forum post about the xDSD www.computeraudiophile.com/forums/topic/38723-ifi-audio-x...

Congratulations iFi.

tabletop