UNBOXED: iFi iDSD Valkyrie Portable DAC

I love nothing more than jumping into the deep end with whatever it is I’m doing in life. There’s no better way to approach things, with that sink or swim mentality. So, when it came to getting back in the business of reviewing tech products—something I’ve done in the past and, if you know me, you know I rather enjoyed doing—I was looking forward to getting back at it, but only in the way that I know how: diving headfirst into the Mariana Trench with a brand like iFi Audio.

A spinoff of U.K.-based Abbingdon Music Research, iFi Audio was founded in 2012 with the intent of bringing AMR’s high-end audio technology to portable devices. It took a couple of years for the brand to gain traction, but by the late 2010s, their Micro and Nano series helped drive adoption and get their product out into the hands of consumers. 

I had the opportunity to review their xCAN amp when it launched in 2019 and was blown away by the portable amplifier’s ability to produce a powerful soundstage with such a small form factor. So, to know that iFi just recently launched what they’re calling their flagship portable DAC/amplifier, I was ecstatic to get the opportunity to take it for a spin.

First Impressions

Something that makes reviews difficult, particularly in the audio space, is that so much of what you’ll read here and across the product review landscape is entirely subjective. I could list the important specs and features that are packed into the Valkyrie and talk about why they’re important or how they help justify the $1,699 price tag. But when it comes to the actual output and I grade my experience, it’s all about personal preference. My ears are going to pick up on things that another reviewer or consumer might single out.

Audio is one of the more intimate and personal mediums out there. That’s, truthfully, what makes the Valkyrie a standout product right from the jump. It’s a personal audio device that allows the user to create the experience that’s tailored to their preferences. There are myriad switches, filters, enhancements, and other adjustments that you can make to the audio as it passes through this device. And even taking a step back, the Valkyrie supports countless inputs, be it lossless Bluetooth, USB-C, analog inputs, or coax/optical connections. There’s so much potential packed into this product that it made it nearly impossible to test the full range during my own review period.

That said, I was blown away by what I was able to experience.

On the surface, the Valkyrie is an exceptionally beautiful and well-built product. The aluminum casing is a gorgeous golden hue that’s easy to look at but also functional in that it’s a sturdy product and can take a bump—not that you’ll want to juggle this thing around on the regular. It ships in a luxuriously crafted wooden box that makes the unpackaging experience one fit of someone seeking auditory ecstasy.  

iFi lists the Valkyrie in their Portable Audio section and, to their credit, provides a carrying case and strap. But even my strongest middle school cargo shorts would’ve had a tough time holding up against the two-pounds of material and components packed into this thing. I love the concept of audio enhancement on the fly, but I found this to be a more convenient experience around the house rather than on the go.

For those that would be willing to put down the seat back tray and connect some cables to up the in-flight audio experience, you will get 18-hours of listening time on a single charge thanks to the four 5,000 mAh lithium-ion batteries that are packed into this thing. I spent an hour or so a day with the Valkyrie for several days in a row without needing to recharge.

Take Total Control

One of the things that impressed me most about that xCAN review years ago was the implementation of iFi’s XBass II technology. It was one of the earliest examples of the capabilities of their XBass and XPerformance enhancers, and, to me, one of the simplest ways to crank up the juice on the music passing through the product.

For me personally, I’ve never been a big fan of bass enhancement. From the car stereo knobs to the old CD player switches that would crank up the heavy bottoms of a track, I just found them to be rough. Even with more modern examples built into headphones or other portable products, my music would end up sounding mushed and distorted in a way that made it less than enjoyable.

iFi, though, changed that narrative for me. They provide that boost to the floor of a track with their XBass II tech, but that’s supported by XPresence, which adds back in that midrange presence that often fell off in my experience. Then, taking it a step further, they present XStage, which can be applied to enhance the soundstage of a track, putting you front and center to an experience that feels like you’re there in the studio listening to your favorite artist record their music right in front of you.

Explaining high definition audio to a consumer isn’t the easiest of tasks, because words can only do so much. There’s nothing like the experience of taking someone through the difference in sound quality between a standard track and one that’s been remastered to produce the track as it was intended to be heard.

That’s just the tip of the spear in terms of what the iFi Valkyrie provides. You get to experience those tracks as they should be. Where the real horsepower of this product comes to the front is with all the other ways you can enhance a track and fine-tune the experience to your liking.

iFi provides the user with enough filtering and remastering options to effectively become their own studio master with the Valkyrie. Packed in here you’ll find:

• JVCKENWOOD’s K2HD technology that can help restore the natural harmonics of an otherwise flat digital recording.
• A quad-stack of Burr Brown DACs, a design legacy from iFis mastering-grade DAC, the Pro iDSD. The result is a highly detailed output unlike anything else you’ll hear.
• Up to 5,700mW of maximum peak output, which means this product can power even the most demanding headphones while still providing a crisp, distortion-free experience.

The filtering options go deeper with six different modes to help enhance the incoming signals. The setting, as described by iFi, include:

• Bit Perfect: Applies no digital filtering and no pre or post-ringing
• GTO (Gibbs Transient-Optimized): Signal is up-sampled to 352.8/384kHz with minimum filtering, no pre-ringing, and minimum post-ringing
• Apodising: Modest filtering with no pre-ringing and modest post-ringing, 128 taps
• Transient Aligned: Max filtering, max pre-ringing and max post-ringing, 16,384 taps
• Standard: Modest filtering with modest pre and post-ringing
• Minimum: Minimum phase, slow roll-off and minimum pre and post-ringing

All of this is achieved on a product that has seemingly not enough buttons or knobs to make it all happen. The sleek design is the result of many of those functions being packed into the existing buttons and executed using different tap-types. It’s a tradeoff that made the UI somewhat complex from a usability standpoint—I definitely kept the Quick Start Guide handy throughout the review—but it wasn’t an experience killer per se.

My audio tests usually involve a range of tracks. Bastille’s “Pompeii” serves as the go-to because of the challenging range it produces from start to finish. You’ve got the crisp vocals that play against the thumping, iconic bass drum and everything in between. I also like to see how it can handle some live acoustic performances, and, more recently, I’ve folded in Linkin Park’s “Heavy is the Crown” for something more powerful.

The Valkyrie handled the range of audio beautifully, putting me in the room for each performance. For me, I leaned towards having XBass and XPerformance on at all times, with XSpace adding something more to the live and acoustic tracks as opposed to the heavier tones. And for filtering, GTO consistently produced the most consistently enjoyable experience.

An Audiophile’s Nirvana

To bring it home, the iFi Valkyrie is an impressive product and lives up to the billing of what I expect from the brand. It carries an impressive price tag as well, which puts the Valkyrie in a class of its own when you look at the other Portable Audio solutions that iFi currently offers. But when you tear it apart and consider just how much technology is packed inside the gorgeous chassis, it’s certainly justified.

This isn’t a product that’s going to appeal to the Beats-wearing, Bluetooth streaming, daily commuter. Valkyrie is geared towards the informed audio enthusiast. It’s easy to start button mashing this machine in an effort to stress test it, but the knowledgeable audiophile who can grasp the concepts of digital remastering and filtering will find this to be an almost cathartic experience.

As far as flagships go, this is one that can fly atop the mast, catch the wind, and carry iFi forward into the next gen of auditory entertainment.