[amator2]

I'm going to put the IPower Elite DC 12v.
I hope there is an improvement in relation to what came with the DAC.

Yes there should be. I ran the supplied wall wart for about 100 hours and then tried my FiiO 50 linear Power supply on 12V mode. Not subtle the improvement.
The thin vocals became fuller and less strident. Bass weight and slam also improved tremendously. Previously it was weak sounding on BP mode. This is running it as DAC to amp and 2 channel speakers

 

[amator2]

*Caveat : My LPS is also running a bespoke (longer) power cable to the Neo idsd2 which was huge improvement over the stock supplied FiiO cable the last time round. I changed it as the stock cable was too short but didn’t expect such improvements in portrayal of micro details and bass definition. .

 

[amator2]

 

[iFi audio]

*Caveat : My LPS is also running a bespoke (longer) power cable to the Neo idsd2 which was huge improvement over the stock supplied FiiO cable the last time round. I changed it as the stock cable was too short but didn’t expect such improvements in portrayal of micro details and bass definition. .

Thanks for your thoughts here, always valuable for the community to hear these thoughts!

Cheers!!

 

[amator2]

thoughts!

I did one last A/B before packing away the supplied wall wart.

I would say the capabilities of NeoIDSD2 with a better external power supply make this worth considering for those looking at Resistor ladder DACs; sonically it straddles the virtues of chip-based DAC’s while having the virtues of a more organic presentation. similar to R2R.

*My major gripe is that it doesn’t have a stand by mode and will lose settings if it is turned off. Hope this can be programmed in via an upcoming software update.

 

[amator2]

One important thing I might also add is that the tonal qualities can change - depending on what surface you place it on.

Granite vs wood sound very different due to vibrational microphonics.

This applies to other brands as well but I’ve found this is worth experimenting before coming to any conclusions about the sonic signature of neoidsd2.

 

[reynaldohm]

My major gripe is that it doesn’t have a stand by mode and will lose settings if it is turned off

I turn off my device with the on/off button and it always maintains the settings.
Do you never turn off the DAC?

 

[amator2]

I turn off my device with the on/off button and it always maintains the settings. Do you never turn off the DAC?

I turn off my device with the on/off button and it always maintains the settings.
Do you never turn off the DAC?

 

[amator2]

Hmm, I lose my pre-out volume settings. It returns to default whenever it’s powered off.

I turn it off when I know I won’t be using it more than once during the day. I’ve found it takes about an hour upon power on to warm up to its maximum potential. So I do turn it on earlier when I get home.

 

[reynaldohm]

Hmm, I lose my pre-out volume settings. It returns to default whenever it’s powered off.

I leave the DAC at a fixed volume, as I use it on an M6si integrated.
When I use headphones, I just plug them in and the DAC automatically switches to variable volume.
I think adjusting for variable volume in the setup, only if you use the DAC as a preamp.
When I finish using it, I always turn off the DAC using the cell phone APP and I have never lost the setting.

 

[amator2]

Thanks.
It’s set to ‘Line out variable control’ as I am currently using it as a pre amp through the RCA outputs.Does not retain ‘last’ settings if you power off.

My own preference would ideally be to have an idle/ sleep mode similar to what’s found on CD players or other DACs instead of total Power Off.

 

[iFi audio]

I did one last A/B before packing away the supplied wall wart.

I would say the capabilities of NeoIDSD2 with a better external power supply make this worth considering for those looking at Resistor ladder DACs; sonically it straddles the virtues of chip-based DAC’s while having the virtues of a more organic presentation. similar to R2R.

*My major gripe is that it doesn’t have a stand by mode and will lose settings if it is turned off. Hope this can be programmed in via an upcoming software update.

It is quite interesting you mention R2R DACs, as after I got my NEO Stream I found the same thing in my mind, in the end, I ended up selling my Denafrips Ares II as I just no longer used it compared to the NEO Stream.

Thanks for this observation!

Cheers!!