🔷 iFi xDSD Gryphon

Equipment / Electronics / Gear / Accessories Portable DAC/AMPs & Dongles
42

I have a Fiio UWTS3 with a pair of Tape Pro’s, not being used that much. Mainly use my GL20s(love them) on a BC3 strapped to a GAD tube amp - really ghetto but I like it just missing some of the other options that either iFi or the xDuoo would give on top.

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So a side grade or better version of that setup would either be the Qudelix 5K [Clean/Neutral] or iFi GO Blu [Smooth/Neutral] depending on your preffered sound signature.

A step up would be XD-05 BAL [Clean/Neutral] or Gryphon [Warm-Neutral?]

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I have both the IFI go blu and xdsd gryphon. Bottom line, both sound amazing! Comparative to my schiit bifrost 2 and asgard 3. my asgard is at 1/4 vol and both the ifi blu and gryphon power my bayer dynamic dr990 600 ohm good. The blu i felt it didnt have the power for the lower umph needed for bass, it just felt like it held back. but the xdsd gryphon held strong. I was very suprised to listen back to back with my desktop system and ill hold the moment but i think the ifi sounded better, on the dan clark aeon 2 (closed back), the ifi was just more pronounced, better low end and just a bit wider. I have also listened to the go blu on my hifiman sundura’s and it was good but just ehh… definitely the gryphon provides better power no doubt. If you have not experienced the ifi xboost… get the blu to see whats up. They are both very good. For reference with the ifi go blu and the dan clark in 3.5mm the wife actually said “i can actually hear it”… and if you have a spouse with your hobby you know what that feels like.

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45

Can you share a bit more on the desktop setup vs Gryphon with the Sundara? and do you have a Balanced Cable for Sundara?

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Take this as a grain of whatever you’d like since I am our rep here, but my unit has a range of about 20 feet. I can easily walk around my apartment with the Gryphon when my phone is on the other side of it.

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47

The Gryphon has a bit more power and drive, so it may be a better fit for planars, especially over balanced.

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One question for you Sebastien: Is bass boost implemented the same way on all iFi amps, or differently for different models?

Thanks!

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It’s different from the majority of our models. Lots of reviewers have graphed them and you can find their changes through those reviews to compare.

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50

Thanks hit_the_right_note for the review and these ideas what to use the gryphon with! Just got mine and been testing a few days. Nice to see you enjoyed this item especially with HD800. I got HD700 which by comparison comes also close to the type this amp for sure likes maybe. A also like to pull all the notches for gryphon’s “bass up” with this pair - makes the sound feel more complete. And about a balanced cable, after a month or so when I get it from Ebay I will replace that one in the HD700s (never tried a balanced line in the first place so nice to see what happens). That’s all, for now.

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51

Welcome, @Delta-X!

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52

Would any of the lucky owners have tested the Gryphon with some Audeze’s maybe even the LCD-XC? :wink:

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Just chiming in that I would like to hear that as well.

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Darn, I just sold my XC a few weeks ago!

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I checked out the Ifi Gryphon with my he 6 se v2. This has much more features than the ifi micro signature or the diablo with the bluetooth and digital controls being one stand out and the xbass II that has a bass and mids boosting function that I haven’t encountered previously

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Thanks for the great review!

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Would there be one that have heard the LCD-i3 on the Gryphon?
In my search for the perfect set for home and portable I have been eying LCD-i3/4 and maybe the Gryphon as the source. I have the GL20s and love to be the open back planar in a small package.

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I had the LCD-5 for a bit and it was a great pairing. Not sure about any of those other ones.

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I am a lucky owner who has tested the 2021 LCD-XC with the Gryphon. I have owned the Gryphon for four days. Tried it with the 2021 LCD-XC, Arya V2, E-MU Teak and 7hz Timeless. I have heard just about any TOTL headphone you can name and the 2021 LCD-XC is my absolute favorite. Having said that, I find the stock tuning to be 3-4 DB short on bass and 1-2 DB too much energy above 10k. So I listen too it 90% of the time out of my RME ADI-2 V2 DAC (6db bass shelf). If you have the 2021 LCD-XC and find the stock bass and treble (to a lesser extent) tuning does not require EQ, then they will sound great with the Gryphon. For my taste, the Gryphon does not add enough bass via the XBass analog boost, for a lot of my favorite music. It is probably fine for 50% of what I listen to. I no longer have my older LCD-XC, but for my taste the Gryphon would be a perfect match for those, because they have 3-4 db more bass and the mids are a little sucked out. The XBass + Presence feature on the Gryphon I think would be perfect with the older LCD-XC.

Now the pairing that really surprised me was the Gryphon with the Arya V2- in word, delicious. The stock tuning of the Arya V2 is a bit closer to my preference in the bass and treble, so the XBass (and occasionally) the XSpace features on the Gryphon are a great match. Such a smooth and non fatiguing combo. The 1000mw of the Gryphon is just enough power to leave some headroom for the Arya V2, for me any less would be selling the Arya V2 short. Now all of my headphones still sound better on my RME ADI-2, but it does not fit in my pocket.

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HI - I just got the awesome Gryphon which I am using with my Focal Elegia + Grado ps500e headphones, and would like to ensure I am using optimal quality audio from streaming services and in my setup - I have Tidal, Spotify and Apple music all set to highest quality quality streaming and can connect my iOS device via bluetooth or cable to the Gryphon.

When connecting via bluetooth the Gryphon led display shows AAC / PCM / 44K (from any streaming service and quality) and via cable it shows AAC / PCM / 44K (from any streaming service apart from when playing Tidal masters then it shows OFS / 92K.

Here are my questions:

  • Which streaming service provides the optimal quality for this setup?
  • Which high quality formats should I expect to get from those services?
  • Which is the best method for connecting iOS device to Gryphon (I assume cable)?
  • Is the led display showing the correct infos, I was expecting higher quality from Apple lossless and Spotify, what is the difference between AAC / PCM?
  • Does it improve sound quality if I use the 4.4mm input as opposed to the 3.5mm one I currently am using?

Another topic is about EQ, my headphones both are lacking punch in the bass department even with XBass activated on the Gryphon.

  • Is there a decent iOS EQ app (that is not a player but works with Tidal, Spotify)?

Thanks in advance for any tips or answers and sorry for the mixed bag of topics :confused:

Darryl

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  1. Go with whatever steaming service you like.
  2. 16 bit, 44.1 KHz Flacs are good, anything more is a bonus but not essential.
  3. Wired for sound quality. AAC for convenience and LDAC (not available on iOS) for a mix of both.
  5. Yes

Personally, I have my own collection of Flac files and use Spotify for discovering music. I tried Tidal HiFi but was not impressed by it’s sound when compared to my own collection, it’s still better than Spotify Premium though. I read Qobuz is better than Tidal but have not heard it.

Lack of Bass is because you are using the 3.5mm Out, which does not have enough power for bigger Headphones. Get Pentaconn cables for your Headphones.