In this video I review the iFi xDSD Gryphon, a portable DAC/amp that you can also use in a desktop setup. Big thanks to iFi for sending it in, but everything you hear is my own opinion. At $599, yes—it’s damn expensive, so I go through what you actually get in the box (and what I feel is missing), then I break down the key features without turning it into a one-hour spec reading. I also show the physical overview, the ports (3.5, 4.4, S/PDIF, line out), the iEMatch button, and the settings menu because there’s definitely a learning curve here. I talk about the little Easter egg animation, the filter options (including bit-perfect/GTO/minimum phase), Bluetooth codecs, and the XBass/XPresence hardware tuning that works even on line out. Power is a highlight: up to 1W on 4.4mm at 32 ohms is no joke, and it can basically drive anything I threw at it. Sound-wise, the Gryphon is neutral but still has that iFi “naturalness,” especially on vocals like Chris Connor or Bill Withers. Then I compare it against my daily iFi picks: Go blu, hip-dac 3, and Go bar kensei. It does sound better than Go blu and hip-dac 3, but not “twice the price” better purely on sound—what you’re paying for is the feature set and flexibility. I also cover my two main cons: battery longevity/replaceability concerns, and the way it always uses internal battery even when connected to a PC (plus the pop when toggling XBass/XPresence).