Southport, UK, January 20, 2026– It is with great pride and anticipation that iFi audio unveils the iDSD PHANTOM – a new flagship home device that distils more than a decade of digital and analogue achievement into a single component. By uniting a reference-class DAC, ultra-resolution network streamer, and powerful headphone amplifier, the PHANTOM delivers iFi’s most accomplished listening experience to date – one that is more than worth the wait. Compared with the previous flagship Pro iDSD, the PHANTOM advances every core stage: a rebuilt streaming engine, higher-precision conversion, markedly greater output headroom, and more granular user-control.
Beneath its evocative two-tone exterior lies fundamentally new circuitry alongside professional-grade technologies designed to put you in command of your music. DSD Remastering up to DSD2048 and K2HD Technology offer a level of sonic control once reserved for elite mastering studios, while XBass Pro, XSpace Pro, digital filters and realtime circuitry switching offer deeper, more meaningful levels of personalisation.
“Each stage of development involved re-examining the circuit, measuring performance, and making improvements to cement it as the most accomplished iFi listening experience to date.” – Colin Farch (Chief Engineer, iFi audio)
Key Features of the iFi iDSD PHANTOM include:
• Ultra-Res Network Streaming: Next-gen engine provides 768kHz/DSD512 digital audio from Qobuz Connect, Tidal Connect, and more.
• DSD2048 Remastering: iFi’s Chrysopoeia FPGA remastering engine delivers unprecedented clarity and detail.
• Real-Time Circuitry Switching: Discrete J-FET solid-state and NOS GE5670 tube stages offer three distinct user-switchable output topologies.
• K2HD Technology: Restores musical harmonics lost in production/encoding for a natural listening experience.
• 7,747mW Peak Output: Discrete, pure Class A amplification provides effortless headphone power across a wide range of loads.
• Quad DAC Architecture: Four interleaved Burr-Brown DACs deliver the musicality of famed multi-bit chipsets, with superior low-level linearity.
• XBass Pro & XSpace Pro: Three levels of fully analogue bass contouring and spatial enhancement.
A True All-In-One Centrepiece
The iDSD PHANTOM debuts the latest evolution of iFi’s ultra-resolution streaming engine, adding Qobuz Connect alongside Tidal & Spotify Connect, AirPlay 2 and more. This next-generation platform brings a wealth of refinements, including enhanced stability, smoother web radio performance, and a more intuitive interface with advanced settings for deeper customisation.
The result is a true all-in-one audio centrepiece that serves as the beating heart of your home setup, underpinned by a network streaming experience that incorporates native 768kHz PCM and DSD512 support. The PHANTOM unlocks your library across your whole home, allowing management and access to ultra-res digital audio from external hard drives, NAS drives, and more.
To preserve signal purity, the PHANTOM incorporates galvanic isolation on its Ethernet, S/PDIF, and AES/EBU inputs, separating it from sources at a circuit level to block electrical noise while allowing audio data to pass unimpeded. For further refinement, the PHANTOM offers iFi’s signature Exclusive Modes, which shut down unused system processes when streaming to improve operating efficiency and reduce the potential for signal noise.
The iFi Nexis companion app has also evolved to support Wi-Fi linking, making it easier than ever to connect and queue music to the PHANTOM from anywhere in your home.
The World Premiere of DSD2048.
Native DSD excels at low-level resolution and time-domain behaviour; this philosophy has driven iFi’s previous successes in DSD Remastering technology, and they have recommitted to this by reworking and further customising this technology at every step of the signal’s journey through the conversion process.
For the first time, iFi’s Chrysopoeia FPGA-based Remastering Engine brings studiograde DSD2048 conversion into the living room. iFi uses this FPGA to apply proprietary remastering algorithms and reduce jitter, ensuring the DSD signal is clean, stable, and precisely timed before it reaches the conversion stage. The DSD bitstream is then directly converted to analogue using the same delta-sigma modulator that would be used in DSD recording. No digital filtering or volume control is applied to DSD – the latter is handled in the analogue domain, preserving the signal’s purity.
At the PHANTOM’s core, four Burr-Brown DSD1793 DACs operate in a custom interleaved configuration, drawing inspiration from the company’s experience with the legendary multi-bit Philips TDA1541A. In ‘Normal’ mode, DSD signals pass directly to the DAC while PCM signals go through a user-selected digital filter. In ‘Remastered’ mode, each DAC chipset processes up to DSD1024, and in their custom configuration they achieve native decoding that allows for DSD512, DSD1024, or the new pinnacle of DSD2048.
The result for the listener is that DSD Remastering deepens resolution and minimises distortion through its incredibly high sample rates. At DSD2048, the 1-bit stream is sampled ~90 million times per second, pushing quantisation noise far beyond the audio band for exceptionally low in-band distortion, unlocking a level of fidelity once reserved for only the world’s most prestigious mastering suites.
Three Voices. One PHANTOM.
Real-time user-selectable operation modes inside the PHANTOM delivers the experience of three DAC/amps in one. These options are provided courtesy of two entirely separate output topologies – one solid state, the other tube-based. Those familiar with the Pro iDSD will recognise the concept; the execution has been comprehensively re-engineered to exceed its predecessor at every level:
“We tuned the output stage to sustain a 67% higher current rating, supported by optimised voltage and current settings. This gave us greater drive with reduced distortion, resulting in power that feels effortless and sound that is more dynamic. We then carefully adjusted the GE5670 tubes, tuning their supply voltage so that the grid operates further from its contact potential current — a subtle shift that enhances linearity and overall clarity in the audio output.”- Colin Farch (Chief Engineer, iFi audio)
At the flick of a switch, listeners can move between a dual-mono Solid-State mode, where discrete J-FETs deliver lightning-fast precision and ultra-low distortion; a dualmono Tube mode, where hand-matched NOS GE5670 valves provide warmth and liquid smoothness; and Tube+, which reduces overall loop-gain to enhance the second harmonic by +6dB, pushing the tube character further still for greater body and a golden-era analogue feel.
These modes allow listeners to shape the character of their HiFi system or can instead be paired with the iDSD PHANTOM’s prodigious 7,747mW peak headphone output to craft the ideal synergy with your favourite cans.
Studio-Inspired Restoration.
Digital masters found on today’s music platforms often lose the warmth and richness of their analogue origins, leaving listeners with music that is cold, clinical, and devoid of the emotion one should expect. In collaboration with JVCKENWOOD, the PHANTOM is the latest in iFi’s lineup to incorporate K2HD Technology. By restoring harmonic content lost during post-production or encoding, it revives the depth, nuance, and musicality of the original performance. The PHANTOM offers this technology in two forms: ‘K2’ mode preserves the file’s original resolution, while ‘K2HD’ optionally upscales it to 192kHz/24-bit.
Developed by JVC’s engineers, K2HD Technology works to restore music close to its original master, infusing it with rich, natural harmonics lost during digitisation. To achieve this, JVCKENWOOD’s engineers meticulously analysed countless analogue masters with K2HD restored sound by ear, shaping the algorithm solely on experience and feel. This is what separates this processing from others; due to the emphasis on human approach and feel, it has an innately organic quality unlike any other.
Over the years, the principle of K2 was adapted and applied to CD mastering, where high-frequency information above 22kHz is typically removed due to the 44.1kHz sampling rate, and resolution is reduced 256 times when the bit depth is lowered from 24-bit to 16-bit.
The PHANTOM incorporates K2 parameters specially tuned by JVCKENWOOD for iFi, focusing on time-domain processing as opposed to frequency-domain adjustments. This approach allows for advanced high-frequency extension and minute signal (bit) extension, allowing both ‘K2’ and ‘K2HD’ modes to restore natural harmonics and overtones beyond 22kHz, and ultimately deliver audio that serves as a truer representation of the original master recording.
The Final Brushstrokes.
Open-back designs are often the most sought after by audio connoisseurs and enthusiasts. However, they inherently carry with them a compromise wherein they trade bass extension for spacial openness. Depending on driver technology, size, and tuning, even closed backs can suffer from compromises in low-end performance.
XBass Pro is a fully analogue variable shelving EQ, available in 10, 20, and 40Hz options. Ideal for restoring the impact and bass response often lost in open-back headphones, it lifts low frequencies without clouding the midrange, and the range of settings ensures that this restoration can be tailored both to the headphone itself, and to the listener’s personal preference.
XSpace enhances the audio by creating a spacious sound field, adding speaker-like depth to the more two-dimensional headphone experience. Crossfeed is a generalised term frequently used for such processing; however, XSpace is not traditional Bauer/Linkwitz crossfeed, Meier enhanced crossfeed, or any of the published systems based on the same research and targets.
Instead, XSpace is its own system, derived largely from the targets set by the Ministry of Radio and TV in East Berlin, and their foray into headphone/speaker replay compatibility; their goal being to allow a signal recording to playback via speakers or headphones, while retaining good spatiality. The results are distinct from, and well in advance of, ‘crossfeed’ of all variants.
XSpace Pro is our most advanced form of the XSpace, recreating the spaciousness of speaker playback in greater detail and with greater customisability. With 30-, 60-, and 90-degree settings, listeners can choose the most natural, lifelike presentation for their setup.
To ensure that these features come at no cost to the overall listening experience, particularly clarity and low-noise performance, further circuit-level redesigns have been implemented:
“At the system’s core, we implemented a new constant impedance negative feedback system. This ensures XBass Pro, XSpace Pro, and DSD Remastering work in perfect harmony. Within this design, we added a dedicated common-mode servo to the XBass section, smoothing voltage levels for seamless on/off transitions and maintaining bass consistency at higher gain levels.” – Colin Farch (Chief Engineer, iFi audio)
Once listeners have selected their circuit topology, restored harmonics with K2HD, and
applied analogue shaping, an array of digital filters provides subtle time-domain Sculpting:
• Bit-Perfect and Bit-Perfect+ offer pure, untouched playback – the closest you’ll get to the raw recording.
• GTO is an iFi-designed filter that upsamples to 352.8/384kHz with minimal filtering and post-ringing, adding density and detail.
• Transient Aligned offers balanced filtering with a focus on reducing highfrequency noise for a smooth, controlled, and relaxed listening experience.
• Apodising upsamples to 705.6/768kHz with greater post-ringing, Similar in character to GTO but with a softer edge.
Pricing & Availability
The iFi iDSD PHANTOM is available to purchase at ifi-audio.com and select elite dealers for £4,499/$4,499 USD/€4,695 EUR/$6,999 CAD.
About iFi Audio
Established in 2012 and headquartered in Southport, UK, iFi audio is a globally recognised developer and manufacturer of high-fidelity audio solutions. Its product portfolio encompasses portable, desktop, and lifestyle devices designed to deliver exceptional sound performance through advanced engineering and innovative design. Guided by a ‘music first’ philosophy, iFi’s products have received numerous international awards and acclaim from professionals and enthusiasts alike, reinforcing its position as one of the leading brands in modern audio. www.ifi-audio.com
