As a former portable HiFi party, when I first entered the pit, when I looked at the IFI nano iDSD BL in my hand, I was thinking:
Can you just use the portable machine to push the big ears, is it feasible?
Many friends laughed at the time, it was just whimsical!
However, in recent years, portable HiFi has made great progress, and what was not possible at the time has become possible today. Especially the portable HiFi front-end that has come out recently, the thrust is getting bigger than the other, and the sound presented is getting closer and closer to the level of the desktop.
And the new generation of Diablo 2 portable decoder headphone amp, which is also from IFI Yueerfa, to be evaluated today can indeed make "whimsy" a reality.
In fact, iDSD is a series of products with a long history under IFI, including the nano iDSD BL I mentioned earlier. The Diablo generation should have been launched at the end of 20 or early 21, and I heard about it at the headphone exhibition in our arena, and I was really impressed by the fact that it could push the big ears to the tiger.
After 3 years, the product has ushered in an upgrade, and the new version of Diablo 2 is not only a generation of upgrades, but also has a clearer product positioning, and presents it in front of people with a new look.
One of the most notable changes is that the Diablo 2 is equipped with a detachable desktop stand, and IFI's proud low-noise power supply has been upgraded to iPower 2, allowing the Diablo 2 to be transformed into a desktop decoder headphone amplifier...... In fact, during this time, I did use it as a machine, connected to the DMP-A6 digital broadcast, drove HD660S and HE560, and the sound came out even more fierce than the TA-22 of the real machine!
To a certain extent, this also confirms what Mrs. FiiO Ma said at the offline gathering of the National Brick Bar that the next development direction of portable must be to open up the multi-scene application of portable to the desktop. Through the blessing of external power and even additional heat dissipation accessories, the portable computer can also do the work of the desktop, so that users can spend one money and get two different enjoyments.
In order to meet this demand, the entire appearance of Diablo 2 adopts a completely new design, completely abandoning the style of the "power bank" of the generation, becoming more angular, and adding a "red robe", it is simply a strong man.
However, when I first arrived, I still wondered why the CNC grooves on the Diablo 2 shell were square and round.
It wasn't until the packaging accessories were completely spread out that I realized that the original part of the "job hopping" was actually used to install the desktop stand.
Diablo 2 is equipped with 2 sets of desktop stands, which can not only be placed on the desktop at various angles, but also work with the metal case to enhance heat dissipation - after all, it is not hot and HiFi. The design of the bracket itself is very delicate, it can be easily installed through the designated jump on the body shell, and it is compatible with a variety of placement methods such as flat, stacked, and vertical. And when not in use, it can be easily removed and stuffed into the standard storage bag to carry around.
In this regard, the Diablo 2 is obviously more thoughtful than the FiiO Q7 and xDuoo XD05PRO which are also positioned.
There are more than one similar ingenious designs.
For example, a lock is added to the lower left corner of the potential knob of the Diablo 2, and after being flicked to the right, it will be locked through the jump on the surface of the knob to avoid accidentally touching the knob during the carrying process and causing ear explosion - after all, the thrust of the Diablo 2 is really too large for the general in-ear or low-resistance large ears, and the addition of such safety considerations shows that the design of the IFI is also becoming more and more mature and perfect.
In order to meet the driving needs of different headphones, the Diablo 2 is equipped with 2 different sets of driver output controls. Among them, on the panel, you can switch between three different drive modes through the vertical lever, for the general in-ear headphones, you can use the [Normal] gear, if I use HD660S, it is enough to use the [Turbo], only HE560 really needs the [Nitro] gear to push it violently.
But there is a problem here, that is, the original Diablo generation is also a 3-gear drive output, of which the [Normal] gear corresponds to the [Turbo] file of Diablo 2 (both 5W power consumption), the [Turbo] gear corresponds to the new [Nitro] gear (12W power consumption), and the [Normal] gear on the new generation is actually corresponding to the [ECO] gear of the generation (2W power consumption). But this is easy to cause confusion for old users, and you must read the manual carefully!
In addition, there is also a [iEMatch] switch at the bottom of the body, which can further reduce the level of the balanced output port by 12dB and 6dB at the single end when we use the [Normal] and [Turbo] drive modes, so as to meet the driving needs of some lower impedance and high-sensitivity headphones.
In addition, the Diablo 2 is also equipped with a switch for headphones with xMEMS's new solid-state micro speaker technology, and NOBLE AUDIO will release the first new headphone to support this technology on the 30th of this month, so IFI is once again ahead of the new trend!
IFI's early portable products, USB AUDIO IN generally used Type-A USB males, which was traditionally mainly to meet the needs of iOS burners, and even the Diablo generation still retained this design. However, this has led to the fact that today's mobile phone HiFi burning oil has to be transferred an extra layer, or special cables must be used.
The Diablo 2 has finally been changed to the same dual C-port input as other "heavy-thrust" portable decoder headphone amps - the C-port on the outside of the right is USB AUDIO IN, and the C-port on the inside is POWER IN, and it can be used with a 5V version of the iPower2 low-noise power supply through the standard conversion cable.
In addition, the Diablo 2 also offers a richer set of input modes, including the ability to use optical and coaxial S/PDIF digital audio inputs via a 3.5mm interface (this is also available in the first generation), which I used to connect to when I used the DMP-A6 digital broadcast. As for Bluetooth, it is also a must, Diablo 2 supports Bluetooth 5.4 and aptX Lossless, which can achieve lossless Bluetooth transmission. In addition, the Diablo 2 itself also provides a 4.4mm LO input, but it is not a true balance input, which is a bit of a pity.
Of course, these are just the external highlights of some "branches", and for a decoder headphone amp, the sound is the most important thing!
On paper, the Diablo 2's thrust is only a small step up from its original generation, but the actual sound is not the same thing. As far as personal feelings are concerned, although the original generation does have a large thrust and can push the high-resistance big ears to the tiger, but the detailed taste will still feel a bit "strong outside and dry in the middle", lacking the sense of stability like a point machine, in short, it does not go beyond the sound bottom of the portable machine. The Diablo 2 adopts the newly upgraded Purewave fully balanced dual mono analog circuit, coupled with DirectDrive technology, and OptimaLoop negative feedback system, which makes the performance of Diablo 2 more stable under high loads.
In terms of actual listening, Diablo 2 can clearly feel more calm and stable than its predecessor, even when performing large dynamic and complex movements such as symphonies, it can still cope with it calmly and orderly.
As the "old tradition" of IFI, Diablo 2 still uses the familiar BB DSD1793 of Deyi, although the DAC of the BB family has basically faded out of the field of vision of HiFi oil, but IFI still insists on using it. Although DSD1793 is a product of the same period as ESS's ES9018, with the unremitting efforts of IFI, it not only retains the charm of the sound, but also continues to break through in the supported encoding specifications. Diablo 2 is directly equipped with 2 DSD1793 for independent balanced decoding output of the left and right channels, and also supports 768kHz PCM and DSD512. In addition, Diablo 2 retains support for the MQA format...... I know everything about MQA, and I can only say that IFI is indeed long-term!
It is worth mentioning that, including my own actual listening experience, as well as other oil-burning reviews on the Internet, it is generally agreed that DSD1793 quality of DSD audio sources is higher than that of PCM audio sources. This is not surprising,After allBB itself is divided into 2 product lines,PCM series is mainly optimized for PCM audio sources,And DSD is the use of DSD native decoding,Directly without any conversion (Bit-Perfect),Naturally, it is more authentic。
The sound base of Diablo 2 basically returns to the modern British sound of the original IFI, the overall sound is neutral and warm, and there is a degree of relaxation, compared to the first generation, both the degree of delicacy and smooth texture are better. Especially in the case of [iEMatch], even some of the easier to push into the ear, you can get a very silky texture, and it has a good "downward" compatibility. It can be said that Diablo 2 has changed the simple violent thrust of the original generation, and has become more controllable, so that it can better bear the role transformation in different scenes.
Of course, the burning of oil for Diablo 2 must not only be to push low resistance and high sensitivity into the ears, but also to have high thrust is still its core charm. The Diablo 2, on the other hand, is capable of pushing the boundaries and layers of sound out of the equation even when dealing with high-impedance headphones, and it also shows a strong control that is difficult to balance with a typical portable computer. Especially even without the help of external power boosting, the majestic momentum presented by the Diablo 2 and the precise control of high frequencies are not inferior to many desktop all-in-one computers.
The Diablo 2 itself has good detail and density, and in terms of accuracy, it is in no way inferior to many ES90X8 series devices. At the same time, the delicate and smooth sweet timbre takes into account the charm of the AK4497 level. It can be said that IFI's "dead picking" DSD1793 over the years has indeed been effective, combined with the continuous optimization of headphone amplifiers, power supply and other links, it will achieve the excellence of today's Diablo 2.
As for the adaptability of the musical style, there is no doubt that Diablo 2 has both high thrust and a sense of stability, with a clean and deep background and excellent micro-dynamic performance, it is not stressful to be competent for a large orchestra. In particular, its precise timbre can accurately present the original appearance of violin, bass drum and other instruments in complex scenes, and the hierarchical relationship and positioning can be expressed one by one, whether it is horizontal or vertical. However, the most important thing is to be able to hold on, not exciting, while the big dynamics are pushed away, it still maintains a very rich and delicate overtone details, so there will be no such stiffness as striking iron, and you can listen to it for a long time very comfortably.
At the same time, the Diablo 2's full-bodied midrange is also very good for vocals, and if not as powerful as its symphonic performance, it is still above the same level. In particular, the relatively warm timbre is like an emotional booster with the right amount of weight, which can make the singer's emotions more full, while avoiding excessive plumpness and greasy, and has a good air texture. And the generation will be tougher, and I don't think there's anything wrong with the performance of the male voice, but if it is replaced by a female voice, it will seem somewhat inconsistent.
Therefore, rather than being an upgraded version of the first generation, Diablo 2 basically makes up for the shortcomings of the original generation and presents it in a complete form.
Because of this, I suddenly have an expectation, if Diablo3 is going to be released in the future, how will IFI surpass itself and give players greater surprises?