Balanced design is truly special.

The analogue output stage is balanced, not normally seen in DACs at this price point. Balanced means less noise, interference/crosstalk.

It has RCA and balanced outputs at HiFi standard level; 2V SE and 4V BAL and  is therefore compatible with both HiFi and Pro systems.

All underpinned by high-quality circuit components such as C0G capacitors from TDK and it’s fed by a precision low-noise power supply from Texas Instruments to make this a rare entry-priced beastie.

Plus we’ve improved our Global Master Timing (GMT) clock circuitry to give you an even smoother musical ride. It means >20db better performance for even more ZEN.

The iFi Bluetooth® implementation does not use a standard SOC (System On a Chip) as seen elsewhere. It uses a combination of quality elements to extract the most from each stage.

The Qualcomm chip routes the raw, digital Bluetooth® signal to a specialised Sabre DAC chip to convert the signal from digital to analogue – any jitter is eliminated using our GMT femto-precision clock system to deliver Bluetooth® that is a cut above.

Discrete ESS Sabre Hyperstream DAC chipset with time domain jitter eliminator, discrete oscillator and 112dB dynamic range for discerning listeners.

A key advantage of the ESS Sabre DAC chip is its Hyperstream architecture with integrated Time Domain Jitter Eliminator, which delivers vanishingly low distortion and a high dynamic range.

It is a superior method to the traditional single-ended circuit approach. Balanced circuits reduce noise and crosstalk. Less Interference – clearer sound.

You normally find this set-up in products at the higher end of the price spectrum such as the Pro iCAN but iFi is now using this across its range to produce the best quality audio for all our customers.

As with many other iFi audio products, we’ve incorporated a custom OV Series operational-amplifier. This top-notch component contributes to the extremely low noise, low distortion (0.0001%) and wide bandwidth.

Texas Instruments low-noise ICs offer great unity-gain bandwidth, very low noise and distortion, high output drive capability, Common-mode and Power Supply Rejection Ratios of over 100 dB, wide maximum-output-swing bandwidths and high slew rates.

TDK C0G (Class 1 ceramic) capacitors offer high stability and low losses for resonant circuit applications.

Getting ever closer to the theoretical ideal of pure, frequency-constant capacitance, these capacitors reduce capacitor-induced distortion to vanishingly low levels.

They are pricey but are a perfect addition to our products.