The iFi xDSD Gryphon is a hall of fame portable DAC/Amp. Its combination of features and sound quality for the price was exceptional when it released, and it remained a strong pick for years, even though a number of strong competitors have arisen since Gryphon’s launch. Gryphon2 (or GR2) aims to improve on the original, with more features and improved sound quality – at a slightly lower price point too – but can it overcome the strong competition that’s emerged since the original Gryphon’s release?
Build and Design
GR2 steals most of its good looks from its predecessor, with a similar flask-like shape, and the same grooves and contours, but the GR2’s chassis is a little longer, but also a little slimmer. The inputs and outputs are also essentially the same with USB-C, mini-Optical, and Bluetooth inputs, along with 4.4mm and 3.5mm headphone outputs, and 4.4mm and 3.5mm selectable line in/out jacks. The first big upgrade that GR2 offers over the original is a bigger, more vivid OLED screen, this time with touch capability as well.
iFi removed the selectable XBass II from the original version (which allowed you to select a bass, midrange, or “both” boost) and replaced it with standard XBass and XSpace. They also crammed a bunch of other new stuff into the device, like K2HD upsampling, selectable gain modes (replacing the iEMatch switch on the original), and more filter options that accompany the upgrade Burr-Brown PCM1795 chipset GR2 has under the hood.
The GR2 package is fairly basic, and includes key information like a quickstart guide and warranty card along with some cables: USB-C to USB-C, USB-C to Lightning, and USB-C to USB-A. iFi has also released a slipcase for GR2, sold separately.
Using GR2
GR2 takes a lot of DNA from its big brother in iFi’s lineup, iDSD Valkyrie. Like Valkyrie, GR2 has an OLED screen on top which you can use to manage gain levels, XBass and XSpace settings, DAC filters, inputs, K2HD, and device settings. A lot of the new features have trickled down from Valkyrie, adding significant value here, and the screen makes managing settings much easier and more intuitive than the original Gryphon.
While most of the features are easy to use and straightforward, there are a couple oddities in the design. For one, XBass, XSpace, and K2HD can be controlled both by physical buttons on the front of the device, and with the touch screen, while other features likes inputs and DAC filters are only controlled on the screen. The analog line input/output is a little confusing as well, but basically, unless you have the analog line input selected as your source, those ports are active as outputs.
Sound
The first thing I noticed about GR2 is how it was a big level up in sound quality over the original Gryphon. The core warm/neutral sound is still there, but GR2 sounds more natural, less grainy, and has stronger imaging than its predecessor. iFi loves pushing towards a warmer more “analog” sound, and sometimes they can go a bit too far, and end up with a sound that feels a little pillowy or lacking in control and authority. GR2 strikes a good balance here, delivering a clean sound with good separation and detail that leans very much towards warm, organic territory.
Another noticeable improvement with GR2 is how it handles a wider range of headphones. The original Gryphon was good for moderately sensitive IEMs to moderately hard to drive headphones, but GR2 delivers more power and headroom with harder to drive headphones. It’s not a great solution for extremely hard to drive headphones, but it can drive the vast majority well. With IEMs, GR2 no longer uses an iEMatch switch, instead it has three gain modes, with the lowest being intended for IEMs. I don’t know if there’s hidden iEMatch that’s being used under the hood, but switching to low gain immediately eliminated any hiss or background noise that I was hearing with sensitive IEMs on higher gain.
GR2 doesn’t have quite the same sonic range of its big brother Valkyrie, but between XBass, XSpace, and the DAC filters, you can push the sound a bit more towards reference, or go off the deep end with XBass. I found that combining the Bit Perfect DAC filter with XSpace gave me the cleanest, most reference-like sound. XBass takes you the other way, and if you combine it with the smoother GTO filter, you get hard hitting bass with a smoother treble. K2HD is hard to describe, as I’m not exactly sure what it’s doing, but it seems to eliminate some amount of graininess in the sound without changing anything else in an obvious way.
Comparison: Questyle M18i MAX
Since we’ve already done quite a bit of comparison with the original Gryphon, it only makes sense to check out one of the more recent competitors as a comparison. M18i Max has a similar feature set but in a much smaller form factor, and it’s $200 cheaper, but does it match up to GR2’s quality?
In terms of the general features, the inputs and outputs are generally similar, with GR2 having just a few more options, including optical digital input and analog inputs. GR2 also has an easier to use interface and more sound configuration options. Where M18i Max has the advantage is in the smaller form factor, and the overall price to performance ratio.
M18i Max aims for a more incisive, reference sound than GR2, though it still maintains a good sense of musicality. The general presentation of detail and imaging between the two are on a similar technical level, with the larger difference being in the tuning. However GR2 offers stronger power output and more headroom, making it a better choice for over-ear headphones. Overall, M18i Max gives you a great option for IEMs or sensitive headphones, if you’re simply looking for a more accurate reference sound, but GR2 offers more tonal range, and has better performance with a larger range of headphones.
The Bottom Line
Looking at the big picture, GR2 is as perfect of a follow-up to the Gryphon as we could have ever asked for: more power, more features, better sound quality, and all that at a lower price than the original. Looking at the current competition, GR2 still makes a strong case as the one of the best options available in for a portable DAC/Amp in the $500 range.
