Hello all. I have a iFi Go Blu, and use to love it on Arc via Lightning cable. I have it playing to 4.4mm balanced to Meze Rai Penta IEMs. It is sounds amazing yet tiny for a travel setup.
But now using USB C it just can’t do hi res audio. It keeps breaking / stopping, even on local downloaded content, within a minute or so. I updated IFi’s firmware. I tried many USB-C cables so that’s not it either. Rebooted/restarted app etc. If I change to lossy playback, it works 100% solid, but that’s not the point of Roon ARC + USB DAC + Meze IEMs now, is it?
First it seemed to be a Roon ARC–>USB driver bandwidth issue. However I also have a Woo audio for cans in my office, and zero issues there, so I don’t think it’s Roon ARC–>hi res itself. I also switched to BT and had the same issue, so now I think it’s ARC–>hi res–>iFi issue. Hence looking for suggestions alternatives for iFi.
Any thoughts ?
Thanks in advance!
Cheers
Nicol
mjw
(Here I am with a brain the size of a planet and they ask me to pick up a piece of paper. Call that job satisfaction? I don't.)
2
I’d recommend opening a support ticket with Roon to be certain it is an issue with the iFI.
As for a DAC recommendation, have a look at the TANCHJIM Space. USB-C, balanced output, great reviews, measurements, build quality etc.
I have a Hidizs S9 Pro Martha USB-C that I use with balanced headphones with iPad, etc. It’s included USB-C cable was actually faulty after a few weeks, but a 4 inch replacement was cheap and it works great up to 32 bit/768 kHz PCM and DSD 512, providing a soothing color change to the logo depending on resolution class.
I’d recommended as I have it and no complain of it. It’s great with IEM. And you can download your particular brand EQ if it’s available in the app itself. I’m using it with Pixel 8 so Android phone. Hope it will work with your iPhone. I’d encouraged you to do a bit of research just in case. But it’s Bluetooth…so i don’t foresee any problem.
I’ve been happy with the Fiio Q3 on Android. It has 4.4mm and 2.5mm balanced outputs. It can handle up to 768kHz/32bit PCM and 512 DSD. More specs here: