iFi Audio – iFi Audio – xDSD Gryphon – Premium HD DAC + Balanced Headphone Amp

Fantastic Beasts. Here’s where you find them.

Portable DAC/amps tend to be compromised because they focus on a great digital OR a great analog section. But not both. The xDSD Gryphon is different. Just like its mythical namesake, it is two beasts in one.

From the Ultra-Res digital stage using the Burr-Brown MultiBit at the core to the PureWave analog power section pumping out 1,000mW and other things in-between, it takes serious headphones to tame the Gryphon.

Well-connected

Separate Bluetooth + DAC + amp stages: each optimized for maximum performance
Digital sources via USB, S/PDIF or Bluetooth
Analog sources via 4.4mm or 3.5mm inputs

Brilliant Bluetooth. Hi-Res Wireless.

Using the latest QCC 5100 series Bluetooth 5.1 chip as the starting point, for wireless connectivity, the xDSD Gryphon is at the bleeding-edge when it comes to the latest formats:

aptX Adaptive and aptX HD
LDAC and HWA/LHDC
regular aptX and aptX Low Latency
AAC
SBC (plain vanilla Bluetooth)

Not only this but the above is on the iFi digital platform where each section is distinct. So QC5100 for reception > Global Master Clock for jitter > Burr-Brown for DAC conversion. More effort but that’s why the wireless gives wired a run for its money.

USB & S/PDIF. Wired to the nines.

In terms of wired connectivity, the xDSD Gryphon handles all the formats using a hybrid Burr-Brown DAC chipset which is the same as used in the £3,000 flagship, the Pro iDSD Signature.

Rest assured that all the following latest formats are catered for but most importantly, are pushed to their zenith.

On USB:

PCM (768/705.6/384/352.8/192/176.4/96/88.2/48/44.1 kHz)
DSD (512/256/128/64)
DXD (768/705.6/384/352.8kHz)
MQA (Decoder)

On S/PDIF

PCM (192/176.4/96/88.2/48/44.1 kHz)
DoP

Balance of Power

The xDSD Gryphon uses PureWave amplification circuitry. It has 1,000mW at 32 Ohms. With a whopping max 6.7v output, bring on the high impedance headphones because the Gryphon will not break a sweat driving them.

This is plenty to drive all manner of headphones. The 4.4mm Pentaconn is the best for balanced playback. The 3.5mm S-Balanced will max SE headphones. And your premium high-sensitivity IEMs have not been forgotten either – iEMatch will cut out the hiss.

Tailored to your ears

XSpace adds back the cavernous sound stage of recordings.

XBass II reinstates the missing bass from open-backed headphones or for recordings that you hanker for bass slam. Under XBass II you can select ‘Bass’ and/or ‘Presence’ so that the low and mid-bass respectively, are correctly added back into your favorite recording.

iEMatch – is proprietary tech that reduces the annoying hiss from high-sensitivity headphones without losing any dynamic range.

OLED. Seen but not heard.

The OLED display and iFi’s CyberDrive operating system combined, usher in a whole new world of user enjoyment – all information from format to battery life is there. Just as importantly, SilentLine technology means the display does not add noise into the system. It can even be set to off if preferred.

FEATURES:

iFi uses Qualcomm’s new QCC5100 Bluetooth processing IC in combination with proprietary circuits to create an audibly superior ‘Bluetooth engine’. All the current high-definition Bluetooth audio formats are supported – Qualcomm’s aptX Adaptive and aptX HD, Sony’s LDAC and HWA’s LHDC, regular aptX and aptX Low Latency, AAC (Apple iOS devices), and SBC (the ‘plain vanilla’ Bluetooth codec). Of the 24-bit-capable codecs, aptX Adaptive and aptX HD support up to 48kHz, while LDAC and LHDC reach 96kHz. iFi’s ‘Bluetooth engine’ can also be updated over-the-air, so future codecs may be added.
The Burr-Brown True Native® chipset means file formats remain unchanged or ‘bit-perfect’. This means you are listening to music as the artist intended in the format in which it was recorded. iFi uses Burr Brown extensively in iFi products having selected it for its natural-sounding ‘musicality’ and True Native architecture. iFi experience with this IC means iFi knows how to make the most of it.
MQA (Master Quality Authenticated). MQA is an award-winning British technology that delivers the sound of the original master recording. The master MQA file is fully authenticated and is small enough to stream or download. The xDSD Gryphon adopts MQA technology to receive and decode MQA audio and provide master-level sound.
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 iFi customers.
The iFi exclusive S-Balanced technology made its debut in the original Pro iCAN. Since then, it has become a significant feature in across the iFi range and features as an integral part of the xDSD Gryphon. It delivers the maximum performance from both single-ended and balanced headphones. The S-Balanced (single-ended compatible balanced) 3.5mm headphone output delivers the benefits of the balanced connection to single-ended headphones.
‘Negative feedback’ is used in amplifier circuits to compare the output signal with the input signal and correct errors, in order to control gain and reduce distortion. For sound quality, this is positive; BUT commonly applied, one-size-fits-all ‘global negative feedback’ can also highlight different problems at the same time as solving others – corruption of the error signal, phase shifts, group delay and so on can all have a negative impact on sound quality. iFi recognized that different parts of a circuit benefit from specifically optimized feedback loops and have developed a negative feedback system that is much more accurate than the usual approach. This incorporates multiple feedback paths instead of a global loop, each path optimized for a particular function and working synergistically with the others to deliver optimal overall performance.
Balanced, differential analog circuit design has long been championed for its ability to reduce noise and cross-talk within the signal path by fully separating the left and right channels. PureWave is a new, balanced, symmetrical dual-mono topology with short, direct signal paths. The name refers to the sonic purity it achieves thanks to exceptional linearity and infinitesimally low levels of noise and distortion.
The OLED in the xDSD Gryphon sports a SilentLine design. This ensures that there is no electrical noise to interfere with the audio signal. The way its switches between settings has been engineered to ensure sonic transparency – FET-based switching is handled by a microcontroller, which only ‘wakes up’ when the user changes a setting, thus eradicating any sonically deleterious interference.
CyberSync is a software-driven volume control that operates in the analog domain and the way it synchronizes with any digital source to which the xDSD Gryphon is connected is very different. It provides perfect volume synchronization between the source and the DAC. It detects which operating system (OS) the DAC is connected to – iOS, Android, Windows, Mac OS or Linux – and instructs the source’s OS to bypass its software volume control. Whether the volume is adjusted using the xDSD Gryphon’s rotary control or on the source device, CyberSync ensures the change is performed purely by the Gryphon’s superior analog control chip, while also displaying the adjustment on the source device’s screen. Volume curves differ between operating systems and apps, but CyberSync ensures perfect synchronization between the source device and the DAC every time.