iFi iPower X - hifi bargain?

I'm going to give it a try

Thanks

I have one shipping to me right now. I do have other audiophile LPS but needed an extra 12v power supply and thought to give this iFi X a try. If it gives any improvement over a stock SMPS then its a bargain considering the price.

I had exactly the same experience when swapping out the wall wart power supply on my fiber media converter boxes. It had an immediate and very noticeable positive improvement. I was shocked 

When I had the ifi zen, I upgraded to the X and the difference was night and day. I bought another one for my modem/router and that made another large improvement. I traded the ifi zen in for the ifi stream and the stream comes with the X. I think ifi makes some amazing products at a fair price. My stream is connected to a denafrips hermes ddc then to a pontus ii dac and I’m very happy with the sound quality. Has anyone tried ifi power cords? 

I have several aftermarket linear power supplies from MCRU and Swagman Labs powering my Chord DAC, Project phono pre, and even my Amazon Fire TV Box, and I am very happy with them all.  They allow experimenting with different power cords which also make a big difference.  I generally try to keep switching power supplies out of my system as much as possible to reduce noise, and the lps’s I have definitely improve the performance of the devices they are connected to.  But I am not sure any of the linear power supplies had as big of an impact as the iPower X had on the SDIF iPurifier 2.  And it’s a switcher, go figure.  Well done iFi.

All, thanks for the input.  Interesting and so far consistently positive results.  For fun I may try getting one for either my DAC and/or my phono pre and swapping with my linear supplies to see what that does.

Does anyone compared iPower X vs Sbooster with Chord DACs?

I tried MSRU LPS with 2qute. This combination sounded horrible. 

@stevebohnii 

I traded the ifi zen in for the ifi stream and the stream comes with the X

The initial releases did, but not the later. I purchased an iFi Zen Stream this past year, and it did not come with the X. Thus, I found a used one, luckily, and very happy with it.

@alexberger interesting.  With a Chord QuteHD, I am now using a modified MRCU power supply (Furutech rhodium IEC socket, upgraded fuse and silver DC lead) that I had been using with an Arcam irDAC, and it sounds great - much better than the stock switching supply that comes with the Chord.  I am also using a nice PC assembled with Furutech parts with the MCRU, and that makes a big positive difference.  If you do try the iPower X with the Chord DAC, I would like to hear about how that works out for you.  

@alexberger - I used an SBooster with my Chord Qutest and loved it. I also upgraded the fuse with a QSA Yellow which made it sound even better. I never hooked up an ifi X with the Qutest but I’m sure it would make it sound better than the stock wall wart. 

I am using a previous version power adapter from iFi power supply with my EtherREGEN. So, based on this post I went ahead and ordered the new X version.

ozzy

So, just tried the new iFi X power plug with my EtherRegen.

Let's just say, I should have just burned a $100 bill...

ozzy

@ozzy thanks for the feedback.  So the iPower X doesn’t walk on water in every instance - good to know.  It is possible the power circuits on the EtherRegen are fairly sophisticated and capable in their own right.  From the product website:

”

• To support its performance, the power networks of the EtherREGEN are as sophisticated and costly as the rest of the design. We use 12 of the world’s lowest-noise, lowest-impedance integrated voltage regulators—the famous Linear Technology LT3045 and LT3042. Supporting both the voltage regulators and the data chips are 195 low-inductance, X7R and X5R capacitors sized and selected by their derating curves.”

And that could very well be true.

Perhaps I need to let it work for a few days before sending it back. You never know about the final outcome when trying different power supplies/filters etc. 

ozzy

So, I'm going to retract my previous statement.

I think now after 24 hours of usage, I am liking the iFi X power plug.

Good call knownothing! You know something!

ozzy

@ozzy 😊

I used the IFI X on my modem/router and it improved things downstream and was well worth the cheap cost. 

In similar fashion I'm using the iFi iPower Elite on my streamer. Noticed a subtle difference, maybe a little bit darker background which seems to allow slightly more detail and accuracy for things off in the distance on certain audio tracks, fwiw.  

Hi @decooney ,

Is it worth investment to iPower Elite vs iPower X for my Chord Qutest DAC?  The difference is between 400CAD and 160CAD. Now I using a basic switched power supply from Chord.

Regards,

Alex.

Anyone use the iFi X to power an external powered hardrive?

ozzy

Alex: Replacing the Power X with a Power Elite improved the sound of my Chord Qutest. 

Hi @map,

Thank you for the info.

Regards,

Alex

I have an IFI Power X on an Xfinity  XB7 cable/modem and definitely a little bump.

Well, I just installed a 12V iFi X on my external hard drive that is connected to my Lumin X1 and I think it was a very nice improvement. Even better than a linear power supply that I was using!

ozzy

I now have my 3rd iFi X on order. Now powering all my cable modems, switches and wifi access points with them. At that price you can’t go wrong. Each one entered into the network chain has improved things.

In the dedicated listening room I use a Farad Super 3 LPS, but cannot afford 3 of them for the external network setup. Yet. So for now the X is perfect.

I plan on getting one because a LPS plus a decent PC and DC cable is expensive, especially when you need a few.

Huge complaint however on this product is that it should fit a US power strip at 90 degrees. It's inline design means you can only use two.

@alexberger here’s another experience with the iPower X. I have replaced my Chord QuteHD with a Chord Qutest which requires a 5V power supply. I didn’t have any 5V lps on hand but do have a 5V iFi iPower and a 5V iPower X. Both of the iFi switching supplies sound inferior to the stock switching supply that comes bundled with the Qutest from Chord. It is not even close. Plus one to Rob Watts and Chord.

I am currently looking for linear supplies for the Qutest and for my Bluesound Node. If anyone hear has some suggestions, that would be appreciated.

Interestingly, I also recently got a Chord Mojo2 for a desktop system. The Mojo2 has a power management feature that takes the battery out of the power loop when plugged in for extended periods to protect the battery from overcharging. With the Mojo2, the iPower X sounds way better than a generic 5V supply, and on a par with the Internal battery for playback. Very happy with that combination.

kn

I also found the iFi X/Elite power supplies were great but did not work in all cases.

For example the iFi Elite was killer on all my network gear, but when powering the Qnap NAS was worse than the stock Qnap smps. Always test.