• WANTED: Happy members who like to discuss audio and other topics related to our interest. Desire to learn and share knowledge of science required. There are many reviews of audio hardware and expert members to help answer your questions. Click here to have your audio equipment measured for free!

ifi micro iUSB3.0 USB Filter Review

Daverz

Major Contributor
Joined
Mar 17, 2019
Messages
1,294
Likes
1,451
I wonder if it would clean up the problems with tick and pop noises from the RPi 3 USB when using high sample rates. This was particularly bad when feeding a Topping D10.

Of course, you wouldn't spend $400 to clean this up as it only costs $70 to put together an RPi 4 streamer that doesn't have the USB problem.

But, it's a cheap way to produce noise that this thing might be able to clean up.
 

JohnYang1997

Master Contributor
Technical Expert
Audio Company
Joined
Dec 28, 2018
Messages
7,175
Likes
18,292
Location
China
Ifi specifically promotes this product for higher end systems as I showed. Indeed many people buy such things to improve what is not broken.

You better read some of the reviews of this product before lecturing me on how to test it:http://www.enjoythemusic.com/magazine/equipment/0416/iFi_Audio_Micro_iUSB3_Review.htm

"I started out with the iDAC2 powered by my laptop USB. The DAC certainly sounded good, this was no surprise given the editor's recent review of the DAC. Compared with the original USB powered iDAC I felt the iDAC2 was a considerable step up. This suggested that the DAC has been significantly improved, part of this is bound be down to the latest iFi experience and developments around implementing highly effective filtering of what is invariably very noisy USB power and electrical ground. I should mention that I mostly used the DAC is set to Bit Perfect mode which means it operates as a Non-Oversampling (NOS) DAC."

Where do you read in this that he had a broken usb interface that needed fixing?
I thought ASR's review was to review what the product does not to subjectively defame a product and shouldn't be affected by any other reviews. Recommendation is one thing and should be separated from the testing. I feel extremely disappointed.
 
OP
amirm

amirm

Founder/Admin
Staff Member
CFO (Chief Fun Officer)
Joined
Feb 13, 2016
Messages
44,368
Likes
234,393
Location
Seattle Area
I thought ASR's review was to review what the product does not to subjectively defame a product and shouldn't be affected by any other reviews. Recommendation is one thing and should be separated from the testing. I feel extremely disappointed.
As was I reading the tone of your post. It is not my job to spend hours searching for something the device might do. It is to test how most people think of use cases for these devices.
 

VintageFlanker

Major Contributor
Forum Donor
Joined
Sep 20, 2018
Messages
4,940
Likes
19,692
Location
Paris
ifi positions this device for people with systems that cost more than $1,500:
That's the first warning sign.

:facepalm:

Didn't know the level of performance was set by the exact price of the system (does this work during specific deals?)... Seems like the unit itself is as useless as this stupid claim...
 

Veri

Master Contributor
Joined
Feb 6, 2018
Messages
9,596
Likes
12,036
I thought ASR's review was to review what the product does not to subjectively defame a product and shouldn't be affected by any other reviews. Recommendation is one thing and should be separated from the testing.
Price was always a factor in recommendations on ASR. $400 for a fancy USB hub to daisy chain one DAC onto is not good value.
If one wanted to buy a one-device USB hub/isolator I'd say buy an Intona. At least that is approved for medical/scientific use :)
 

digicidal

Major Contributor
Joined
Jul 6, 2019
Messages
1,981
Likes
4,838
Location
Sin City, NV
As was I reading the tone of your post. It is not my job to spend hours searching for something the device might do. It is to test how most people think of use cases for these devices.
Which in this case is clearly to really clean up that incredibly noisy ~$1,500 DAC. :rolleyes: Although I think this test was perfectly fine... it seems from their marketing description that perhaps the TotalDAC would have been a better choice or one from PS Audio. Maybe then those would have performed like a D90 - in which case it's more about redeeming your sunk cost than anything else. :p
 

Xyrium

Addicted to Fun and Learning
Forum Donor
Joined
Aug 3, 2018
Messages
574
Likes
493

In your defense, I could easily these reviews riding both sides of the fence. However, that would require the stock of a known faulty device of course.

For those who haven't set the baseline of a quiet system at idle, it may be difficult to determine what a "problem" on their USB line could be. For those who have, the entry of a noisy device into their system simply means contacting the manufacturer of that device to let them know they made a piece of cr4p, and request an RMA.

Certainly there are other variables, but at the cost of a 5V transformer in most cases, I don't see how a $400 device would ever be the answer, IMHO.
 

Shadrach

Addicted to Fun and Learning
Joined
Feb 24, 2019
Messages
662
Likes
947
Amirm must have tested hundreds of pieces of equipment by now. If he comes across as a bit jaded with a number of products it's hardly surprising.
Read the tests. Make your own mind up on the test, not the review part.
It seems lots of people are looking for some kind of guru to guide them in their choices. I can't think of one test I could be justifiable critical of.
Opinions are just that and everyone is entitled to one. I would be a lot less polite about much of stuff amirm has tested.
 

firedog

Senior Member
Joined
Jun 19, 2016
Messages
378
Likes
642
Last edited:

restorer-john

Grand Contributor
Joined
Mar 1, 2018
Messages
12,580
Likes
38,280
Location
Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia
You better read some of the reviews of this product before lecturing me on how to test it

In defense of @JohnYang1997 , he was pointing out something rather obvious. Just because certain people disagree with some of your testing procedures doesn't mean you are being lectured, Amir.

Where do you read in this that he had a broken usb interface that needed fixing?

The linked "review" is just rubbish of course, but he was using a Ciunas D/A with it and we know that is broken by design. Maybe it actually helped! ;)

1581033651402.png
 
OP
amirm

amirm

Founder/Admin
Staff Member
CFO (Chief Fun Officer)
Joined
Feb 13, 2016
Messages
44,368
Likes
234,393
Location
Seattle Area
In defense of @JohnYang1997 , he was pointing out something rather obvious. Just because certain people disagree with some of your testing procedures doesn't mean you are being lectured, Amir.
He didn't "disagree." He told me the test was flawed and I should go chase some other ways of finding this device doing something useful. If that is not lecturing and improper, I don't know what it is.

If the intent is otherwise, ask a question, don't tell me my work is useless and then tell me to go do a bunch of work to satisfy you.

So it is clear, if you want me to do some other test, you have a burden to justify it and motivate me to spend the extra effort on this device, versus reviewing tons of other gear waiting to be reviewed. I am turning down offer after offer of new gear to be tested because I don't have the bandwidth to do more. And you come and expect me to salute when told in a rude manner my work is worthless and I should go and chase your ideas of what else to test? And do so without understanding what people buy these boxes for?

A few people continue to have this demanding style of posting toward what other work I need to do to satisfy them. This needs to stop. I am not going to encourage it by jumping high when you order. :(
 
OP
amirm

amirm

Founder/Admin
Staff Member
CFO (Chief Fun Officer)
Joined
Feb 13, 2016
Messages
44,368
Likes
234,393
Location
Seattle Area

mansr

Major Contributor
Joined
Oct 5, 2018
Messages
4,685
Likes
10,700
Location
Hampshire
It would be good to verify that. In the past PM reported that jitterbug did the same whereas I could not see any such improvement from it.
A brief (~200 μs, less if closer than 3 miles) look at the insides of the Jitterbug is enough to see that it doesn't do anything at all.
 

Sanlitun

Member
Joined
Jan 10, 2020
Messages
27
Likes
12
As was I reading the tone of your post. It is not my job to spend hours searching for something the device might do. It is to test how most people think of use cases for these devices.

As someone who actually bought one of these my use case was initially as a power supply for devices like the Singxer DDC. I don’t use it at all for the DACs that I own that don’t require the 5v. I’m under the impression the data is a pass through and it’s only the power that is affected.

I did so after preferring the sound of the Singxer running from a battery. I’m using it on the TA-ZH1ES as it has some sort of Sony home brew USB receiver that needs the 5v.

I can accept that it actually does nothing, but still it would be cool to see it do nothing.
 
Last edited:

JohnYang1997

Master Contributor
Technical Expert
Audio Company
Joined
Dec 28, 2018
Messages
7,175
Likes
18,292
Location
China
He didn't "disagree." He told me the test was flawed and I should go chase some other ways of finding this device doing something useful. If that is not lecturing and improper, I don't know what it is.

If the intent is otherwise, ask a question, don't tell me my work is useless and then tell me to go do a bunch of work to satisfy you.

So it is clear, if you want me to do some other test, you have a burden to justify it and motivate me to spend the extra effort on this device, versus reviewing tons of other gear waiting to be reviewed. I am turning down offer after offer of new gear to be tested because I don't have the bandwidth to do more. And you come and expect me to salute when told in a rude manner my work is worthless and I should go and chase your ideas of what else to test? And do so without understanding what people buy these boxes for?

A few people continue to have this demanding style of posting toward what other work I need to do to satisfy them. This needs to stop. I am not going to encourage it by jumping high when you order. :(
Of course I wasn't trying to lecture you on this. Was just to point this out, of "review" for a product. I'm perfect fine if you never reviewed this product. Also I would never buy product like this. I don't like ifi or anything like this.
On the defense of myself, "flawed" =/= useless. It does show that the product is useless for something that's already good and it's expected. What would the effect on products that has some mains hum or usb noise. Surely the speed of pumping out these reviews is much much faster than before. But if you go back to more than a year ago. You tried to do much deeper and we appreciated that.
 

majingotan

Major Contributor
Forum Donor
Joined
Feb 13, 2018
Messages
1,511
Likes
1,781
Location
Laguna, Philippines
As someone who actually bought one of these my use case was initially as a power supply for devices like the Singxer DDC. I don’t use it at all for the DACs that I own that don’t require the 5v.

I did so after preferring the sound of the Singxer running from a battery. I’m using it on the TA-ZH1ES as it has some sort of Sony home brew USB receiver that needs the 5v.

I can accept that it actually does nothing, but still it would be cool to see it do nothing.

Have you tried using the battery for the iUSB instead of the iPower?
 
Top Bottom