iFi has been making portable and transportable DAC/Amps for years, with a number of excellent offerings like the hip-dac, xDSD Gryphon, micro iDSD series, and Diablo. iDSD Valkyrie builds on the technology and design of their past DACs with their biggest, most feature-packed, and most expensive (Valkyrie is priced at $1699) transportable DAC yet. Does more equal better with Valkyrie?
Build and Design
Valkyrie’s aesthetic is clearly inspired by past iFi devices, like the micro iDSD and ZEN series, but it also has its own unique elements, with a sleek, retrofuturistic bend to its design. It supports input from 3.5mm, 4.4mm, USB, Digital Coax, and Bluetooth 5.4, and output to 3.5mm or 4.4mm for either line out or headphones and RCA. Valkyrie is big – really big – for a portable device, and would probably have a hard time fitting in even a sweatshirt pocket. The design is fully transportable: great for bringing from place to place without having to worry about plugging in it, but it’s not going to come with you while you walk your dog.
The package provides everything you need, with a standard USB-C to USB-C charge cable, a USB-C OTG cable, an iPower X charger with adapter for optimized charging, and a very nice carry case. Probably the biggest standout of the package isn’t any of the actual accessories, it’s the box. Valkyrie comes in a wood box reminiscent of a cigar box, with a Valkyrie wing etched onto the top.
Using iDSD Valkyrie
Valkyrie’s list of features is extensive, and the unit is both a swiss army knife for various HiFi functions and provides an impressive array of sound customization options. Valkyrie’s inputs and outputs enable it to function as a DAC, preamp, headphone amp, or DAC/Amp combo, with Bluetooth, S/PDIF, USB, or analog 3.5mm/4.4mm as input options. The output is determined automatically by what you have plugged in, while the input is selectable from a button on the front.
For sound customization, there are essentially two categories: sound enhancement through features like K2HD, DAC filters and oversampling, and sound modification through the XBass, XSpace, and XPresence analog filters. For sound enhancement, you can switch between the standard PCM output and DSD Remastering, and there’s also the K2HD option, which aims to algorithmically restore portions of the recording which are typically cut off in the mixing and mastering process. In general it’s hard to call out specific differences between each filter and option, though K2HD with the NOS DAC filter ended up being how I did most of my listening, and there was a sense that different combinations of a DSD Remastering, K2HD, and Filters could result in a very detailed, but somewhat unnatural feeling presentation.
The analog filters are a bit more direct in their implementation. XBass adds a fairly large bass shelf with an emphasis on the low and subbass region. XPresence adds a small boost to the midrange and upper mids. XSpace attenuates the bass while (presumably) using aspects of a crossfeed to enhance the soundstage and sense of space in the sound. While the implementation of the filters is very strong and the difference between each is immediately clear to the listener, there’s a small cutout in the sound each time you change the filter, which can be particularly annoying at higher volumes.
Valkyrie has three gain modes, represented on the screen by water, fire, and lightning: Normal, Turbo, and Extreme. iFi’s guidance with gain modes is that you want to use the gain mode that puts your normal listening volume closest to 50 on the volume dial. If you’re using something highly sensitive, like IEMs and are experiencing background noise, Valkyrie has iFi’s iEMatch built in with the option to activate it for either the 3.5mm or 4.4mm output.
Sound
Valkyrie’s sound and presentation feels familiar, yet different for iFi. There’s a sense of the smoothness of devices like the micro iDSD Signature and Pro iDSD, but also more of the up-front, granular detail of devices like Diablo. Valkyrie in general strikes a great balance between technicality and musicality. Valkyrie’s imaging presentation is particularly strong, lending a spacious soundstage and good definition, separation, and body to your headphones.
Where Valkyrie really stands out is its performance with moderately hard to drive planar magnetic headphones – headphones like HIFIMAN HE1000 or DUNU Arashi that should be easy enough to drive on lower power devices, but end up feeling not quite all there on most portables. Valkyrie drives those headphones exceptionally well, but comes up just short on the hardest to drive headphones like HIFIMAN Susvara or the Modhouse Tungsten.
For IEMs, I found that higher impedance models like the Noble Viking Ragnar or FiR Audio Xenon6 were pretty good, but more sensitive IEMs experienced a bit of background hiss. iEMatch is available on the bottom of the unit, and generally does a good job of expanding the range of which IEMs you can use with the device.
If you’ve ever been curious of exactly what iFi’s XBass, XSpace, and XPresence filters do, we took some measurements with the HE1000 Unveiled to visualize their exact influence on how the sound is delivered.
XBass:
XSpace:
XPresence:
XBass + XSpace
XPresence + XBass
XPresence + XSpace
Comparison: Chord Hugo 2, iFi Diablo 2
The biggest competition for Valkyrie lies on either side of its price point in iFi’s own Diablo 2 ($1299), and the venerable Chord Hugo 2 ($2500). Diablo 2 is in many ways, just a lighter version of Valkyrie, but with a more aggressive sound and a feature set that might meet your needs without the added bells and whistles of Valkyrie. Hugo 2 is a similar device in theory, but it’s a similar device built from an entirely different design philosophy.
In terms of the general design, none of these are pocketable, though Valkyrie comes out as probably the most unwieldy design of the three. The iFi devices also have a lot more features, with stronger Bluetooth support, and the ability to function in standalone amp mode, the user interface for iFi also provides a bit more visible feedback than Chord’s famous symmetrical glowing buttons.
In terms of sounds, the three devices feel like they’re on a bit of a continuum. Diablo 2 has strong detail and a very aggressive, in your face sound. Valkyrie matches the level of detail, but is a notch or two more relaxed with a sound that’s more organic and takes the potentially fatiguing edge off of Valkyrie. Hugo 2 has a level of pristine detail that remains unmatched in a portable product, but Valkyrie comes very close, with a similar sort of transparent lifelike sound. In the imaging, Diablo 2 gives the impression of a speaker system that’s been cranked up, while Hugo 2 and Valkyrie have a more delicate touch to the imaging.
Valkyrie is, sonically, a step from Diablo 2’s brash delivery towards Hugo 2’s crystal clear, yet liquidy smooth presentation, while, in terms of features, it’s an evolution and expansion of Diablo 2, and iFi’s past devices.
The Bottom Line
There are a lot of things that Valkyrie does very well, and while it might not have a 100% clear focus, it demonstrates excellence in the core elements of, well… “sounding good” and “having useful features,” which is pretty much all you can ask for, and Valkyrie doesn’t just sound good, it’s clearly on par with other devices in this price bracket on up, that don’t match Valkyrie in the feature department. iDSD Valkyrie represents a continued evolution of iFi’s DAC lineup, and possibly the best all around unit to have the letters “iDSD” in its name.
