Ideon Audio Absolute DAC - anyone heard it?

[Alrainbow]

The ideon at axpona to me and this is just my view was not the best showing of it. The speakers used are very good too. But the sound to me lacked a solid clarity
the hallmark of the ideon is what I did not hear
at last years capital there room with I think tidal speakers was a wow sound.
i use there master reclocker I think they make a solid product.
what I try to do is walk into a room and try not to know what’s inside. Then judge the sound and be dazzled with the looks.
it was a solid room to me. They had a full stack of them.
they are a brand to listen to in a mind field of digital.
one thing I do feel is if Your digital is really good don’t play analog. Even if both are good it’s still opposing sounds sometimes.
but this maybe is just me
another part of this product is an extremely low apparent noise floor maybe this adds to there clarity to me.

 

[ChrisTaiwan]

Hello everybody! Greetings from sunny Athens! This is George (Giorgos in Greek), co-founder and CEO of Ideon Audio. Thank you for your interest in our sound. We all are in synch, being music lovers first of all. We will be in Munich show (in both shows actually) and I will be very happy to meet in-person anyone visiting.

Thank you and welcome here,

 

[matthias]

The Ayazi will remain in production, being a great sounding DAC for many people.
By successor I mean a new DAC that we are in the process of designing which will be placed between the Ayazi and the I?N. Together we will introduce a new Streamer (same league) and a re-clocker (which will be an enhancement of the Master Time).
Our aim is to come up with another trio (DAC, Stream & re-clocker) in a price level attainable for many people.
The new Stream and the re-clocker) will be the first to be introduced (I hope in 2-3 months) and the DAC will follow before end of this year. That's what we can tell at the moment.
Thanks!

Hi Giorgos,

the Absolute Stream offers two USB output ports, one with 5V supply the other without.

The Absolute Time offers only one USB output port with a switchable 5V supply.

I can imagine that the TWO USB port solution is superior since there is no switch for the 5V involved. I found in my system that the removing of switches is beneficial.

My question:
Wouldn't it makes sense to offer all your existing and upcoming re-clockers with TWO USB outputs?

Thank you

Matt

 

[geoli]

Hi Giorgos,

the Absolute Stream offers two USB output ports, one with 5V supply the other without.

The Absolute Time offers only one USB output port with a switchable 5V supply.

I can imagine that the TWO USB port solution is superior since there is no switch for the 5V involved. I found in my system that the removing of switches is beneficial.

My question:
Wouldn't it makes sense to offer all your existing and upcoming re-clockers with TWO USB outputs?

Thank you

Matt

Hi Mat,
That's why we have the 5v switch there to cut off the power. Practically it works as you suggest. We cannot have two different USB outs for this according to our design. Thanks.

 

[Markus87]

Hi @geoli,

Thanks a lot for registering and contributing to WBF!

In a former Greece press release there was supposedly some information about a - to be released - Absolute pre amp. Could you possibly give some more information on this?

Thanks a lot,
Markus

 

[geoli]

Hi @geoli,

Thanks a lot for registering and contributing to WBF!

In a former Greece press release there was supposedly some information about a - to be released - Absolute pre amp. Could you possibly give some more information on this?

Thanks a lot,
Markus

Hello Markus!
Yes the Absolute pre-Amp is under design at the moment. We deviated a bit from our plans as we just finished a true reference USB re-clocker that we believe is the ultimate for any top-notch system system. Before the end of the year we are going to also announce our new Suite (DAC, Streamer, Re-Clocker) that will cover the gap between the Ayazi DAC and the I?N DAC. So the Absolute Pre-Amp will be announced somewhere during 2023. Thanks !!!

 

[Markus87]

Hi Giorgos,
Thanks a lot for the update! I'm really looking forward for you to release some more details on the pre-amp - as soon as you can of course!
Best of luck for your developments!
Markus

 

[ChrisTaiwan]

Hello Markus!
Yes the Absolute pre-Amp is under design at the moment. We deviated a bit from our plans as we just finished a true reference USB re-clocker that we believe is the ultimate for any top-notch system system. Before the end of the year we are going to also announce our new Suite (DAC, Streamer, Re-Clocker) that will cover the gap between the Ayazi DAC and the I?N DAC. So the Absolute Pre-Amp will be announced somewhere during 2023. Thanks !!!

As an Ideon absolute streamer & time& Dac user, I am very satisfied with the sound provided by the Ideon system and look forward to the arrival of Absolute Pre-Amp.

 

[matthias]

We deviated a bit from our plans as we just finished a true reference USB re-clocker that we believe is the ultimate for any top-notch system system.

https://www.facebook.com/ideonaudio/posts/2995289224095959

Matt

 

[thomask]

I am doing home audition of Ideon Ion now.

Very favorable.impression so far.

I will give more detailed opinion next week.

Aurender N20 is also impressive.

Margules pre amp that I picked up after Pacific Audiofest also give very musical sound after tube rolling with Amperex Nos tubes.

http://margules.com/en/sf-220/

 

[matthias]

Sounds very nice
Please give some info about the music played.
Thx

Matt

 

[thomask]

Sounds very nice
Please give some info about the music played.
Thx

Matt

 

[matthias]

I am doing home audition of Ideon Ion now.

Very favorable.impression so far.

I will give more detailed opinion next week.

What do you think about ION in comparison to ABSOLUTE?
Thx

Matt

 

[thomask]

What do you think about ION in comparison to ABSOLUTE?
Thx

Matt

Ion sounds very nice.

When I auditioneded Ion, I use Aurender N20.

But when I auditoned Absolute a month ago, I used Cocktail Audio X50d server which is prettty good but no match with Aurender N20 or N30.

I will try to audition Absolute again with N30 pretty soon.

Then I will give more reliable opinion between Ion and Absolute.

 

[matthias]

When I auditioneded Ion, I use Aurender N20.
But when I auditoned Absolute a month ago, I used Cocktail Audio X50d server which is prettty good but no match with Aurender N20 or N30.
I will try to audition Absolute again with N30 pretty soon.

I mean when comparing N20/Ion (on memory) vs. N30/Absolute the outcome seems to be pretty clear in favor of the latter combo.
More interesting would be N30/Ion vs. N20/Absolute or both DACs with the same server

Matt

 

[thomask]

I mean when comparing N20/Ion (on memory) vs. N30/Absolute the outcome seems to be pretty clear in favor of the latter combo.
More interesting would be N30/Ion vs. N20/Absolute or both with the same server

Matt

Upon further listening I found out that N20 is a very nice value.

Unless you go for the best sound regardless of price, you can settle on N20 instead of N30.

N 30 give slightly sharper focus and clarity but overall they sound close.

I found out that Ion sounds similar to Dave and Mscaler but with slightly fuller body and deeper bass.

Thus Ion and N20 combination could be best value for most folks.

 

[matthias]

Thus Ion and N20 combination could be best value for most folks.

Thx
How much is ION (DAC only, no preamp) in the US?

 

[thomask]

Thx
How much is ION (DAC only, no preamp) in the US?

17k$ for Ion and 12k$ for N20.

Thus Ion and N20 combo under 30k$.
If you are interested, you can contact Ed of Audio Ultra who is member of WBF.

 

[thomask]

I started auditioning Absolute again with Aurender N30 and Margules tube pre.

So far impression is very positive.

I may give more detailed opinion about Absolute and Ion next weekend.

 

[ChrisTaiwan]

Ideon Audio provides customers with very professional and enthusiastic after-sales service. I had the Ideon absolute DAC, and I really like the sound details and high transparency it presents. So at the beginning of this year, I upgraded to the fifth anniversary version of the most flagship dac. The sound field and details rise at the same time to a higher class. This audio company from Greece has enthusiastic partners, has been patiently replying to my emails, In order to upgrade Native DSD, And sent the latest firmware PCB to My place to update. Now my Ideon absolute DAC sigma makes me very satisfied. It provides very advanced analog signals of the system with my goldmun 22H NG