iFi iDSD Phantom first review: flagship streaming headphone amp brings studio grade audio home

Southport-based iFi audio has launched the iDSD Phantom, a statement home Hi-Fi  component that serves as a high-end music streamer, preamplifier, audiophile-grade headphone amp and DAC.  

The Phantom moniker is no misnomer, iFi makes no secret of the fact that it’s chanelling Rolls-Royce for inspiration here.

Both in terms of design and specification, the unit  impresses. The compact two-tone chassis is quite unlike a conventional Hi-Fi box of tricks, while beneath the hood there’s a new ultra-resolution streaming engine, with advanced DAC architecture, powerful analogue output stage and a level of user control that goes well beyond the norm for an all-in-one component.

At its London launch, held at The Tower of London, The Luxe Review was given an exclusive opportunity to spend extended time listening to the unit. Our early verdict? The iFi iDSD Phantom is a bold new centrepiece option for any high-end home audio system.

Legendary music producer Steve Levine has been using the iDSD Phantom at his studio. “From a sonic point of view, it’s breathtaking,” he says…

Digital precision with analogue soul

The iFi audio iDSD Phantom’s streaming platform is class leading. Supporting PCM up to 768kHz and native DSD512, it incorporates Qobuz Connect alongside Tidal Connect, Spotify Connect and AirPlay 2.

Local libraries stored on NAS drives or external storage are handled with equal fluency. iFi has also refined the user interface and stability of the platform, with an intuitive porthole OLED display.  

The DAC stage itself employs four Burr-Brown DSD1793 chips in a custom configuration. The unit offers both ‘normal’ and remastered modes to suit listener preference.  

What elevates the listening experience further is the inclusion of three distinct output topologies: a solid-state mode using discrete J-FETs, a valve mode based on hand-matched NOS GE5670 tubes, and a Tube+ setting that enhances second-order harmonics for a richer, more overtly analogue presentation. Switching between these modes is instantaneous, effectively offering three subtly different amplifier characters within a single chassis.

Similarly, iFi’s XBass Pro and XSpace Pro analogue processing circuits offer more listening options. XBass Pro restores low-frequency weight lost when listening to the system on open-back headphones, while XSpace Pro introduces a more speaker-like sense of scale and depth.

During my inaugural audition, the unit wowed with its ability to sound either surgically precise, thanks to that solid state circuitry, and warm and rounded, when its tube outputs were chosen. I like that you can jump between these modes, perhaps settling for one or the other based on your content choice (tube for soft jazz, and solid state for EDM?).

A no-compromise home audio centrepiece

Spatiality and resolution from the iDSD Phantom is akin to what you might hear in a professional recording studio. 

To ram home that point, Maddison Claridge, engineer at Decoy Sound Studios, was on hand to endorse the iDSD Phantom, confirming that the unit has indeed found a role in his own workflow. 

“We use it in our studio as a separate digital to analogue converter, which allows our clients to be able to reference systems like Spotify, Apple Music, that kind of thing – and it sounds fantastic,” he said.

“The most notable thing that we identified was bass response. It’s very premium product that our clients would expect from a studio such as ourselves.”

Legendary music producer Steve Levine, has also been using the iDSD Phantom at his studio. He concurred. “From a sonic point of view, it’s breathtaking,” he said. “For me, as a preference, I use the solid state mode for mixing. But to listen back in the tube domain, it’s like putting on a wool blanket, there is a definite audio difference, and it’s very pleasurable…”

My favourite inclusion? K2 technology, developed with JVCKenwood, and popular with Japanese audiophiles back in the late eighties and through the nineties. Its role here is to restore harmonic content lost during recording, mastering or digital encoding, and it can be applied either without altering the original file resolution or by upscaling to 192kHz/24-bit.  

Headphone listening has rarely felt so luxurious.

The iFi iDSD Phantom is available now, priced at £4,499 ( $4,499 USD, €4,695).