I will never understand why so many choose to deal with MQA's complexity and headaches for any reason when a true open standard already exists with support nearly across the board and none of the headaches or vagaries.

If they didn't, they'd be 4x the price. Still my most-used IEM by far, much more often than more expensive pairs both for total SQ and simply the worry-free feeling taking them anywhere.

Re: the box image above. Ahhhhhhh... well that's good. So, yes the audio is tuned by Meridian and the G8S does have a DTS virtual surround feature (as well as an amp output boost option that shows up when you plug something into the 3.5mm jack). But it lacks the Quad DAC (if it did have it, it...

As per my above comment, I'm not so sure that's the case. But in terms of configuring mobile devices for MQA playback, I'm afraid I'm not any help (I avoid MQA completely). :wink: edit: check out post #301 on page #21 here.

Are you certain of this? The G8S does NOT have a the ESS Sabre Quad DAC (Meridian tuned in all flavors as far as I know). I own a G8 and avoided the "S" model specifically for that reason. Though I've no idea if the regular DAC supports MQA unfolds; I'd be surprised if it did.

Yes, I notice it slightly on my more sensitive IEMs, on others not so much if at all. With very sensitive IEMs the noise floor isn't low enough with the kind of power the balanced jack provides to be noise free. Make sure you don't have the gain switch turned on when using them with balanced...

This is normal. It's just the power-match and xbass buttons and the way they're attached - there isn't really any damping to the button action so they're slightly loose. Touch one and you'll see. It bothered me a little at first, but whatever. Battery life is my only other complaint, but I will...

This is the portion of info floating about that initially confused me at first as well, and is also the portion that has been addressed/clarified by iFI. This is not possible with the Hip-Dac. It was possible with several iFi products that proceeded it, but the Hip-Dac cannot run off of...

Again, pretty please... Price range and ETA on release?

I've got two pair in the house now. And just joined that drop for 2 more - one to give to my dad and one to keep around for "gift emergencies". :D

Well, I won't add much to this thread beyond the short bit I've mentioned other than to echo quite a bit of praise many have lobbed at this things sound delivery. Unfortunately, the only other thing I will add, after using it extensively for near to a week now, is that the battery life is rather...

That's too bad. Glad it was eventually sorted for you at least. Just wanted to add that, no mine (when I had them) didn't have finish imperfections anything of that sort. Not whatsoever.

That's great. Thanks - though it looks like your link didn't make it. I ought run mine down and see how much life that batt really has left. Mine's BK version - I was never entirely clear on which was which but IIRC that was the first/earlier version yeah?

Been listening to mine which arrived 24 hours ago, pretty much non-stop except for 6 hours of sleep. Late yesterday I flashed FW 3.5c and it got even better. This thing is a keeper. Incidentally, all the MQA troubles I read here, there and everywhere (in various contexts) continually make me...

Know of anyone around these parts that has opened it and sourced/replaced the batt cell? I've never gone inside the thing but don't imagine it's complicated. For several years I even used this thing as a jack-of-all-trades, putting wherever I needed in-line gain control and simple shaping in...

Mine arrived today. I've been thoroughly enjoying it all day and getting to know how/where it fits with my other equipment/music. Ten hours of listening with a few breaks. (Nice day off.) Entirely musical in it's delivery... I would say a fair number of time I was thinking something to myself...

I assume it drastically slows the discharge if power is connected to USB? On the whole, a wall-connected charger isn't a problem in my case, but there will certainly be instances (I go on show-sites occasionally for hours with limited AC drops) where dual-bus'ing it will be needed.

A bit of necro-posting on my part here for no other reason than to agree with everything you mentioned. Mine's the older "BK" version, and it has been used for all sorts of purposes over the years, even lived in the car (below-freezing to far-too-hot for 3 or so years). The 6 months or so I...

Thanks for that clarification. One data bus port, one power bus port as I understood. So that's a huge relief --- I can return to eagerly awaiting the arrival of mine. :)

I'm clearly missing something or misunderstanding something - if that's case my apologies. Can you elaborate for a moment on the above (from page 17)? Cheers.

I'm sorry to dredge this from a couple months back, but I was just perusing this thread in it's entirety to familiarize myself a bit more. I'd skimmed it a couple times and this morning I placed an order for the Hip Dac... I've been considering options to replace a combo desktop-mobile rig for a...

You've not made a bad choice whatsoever. If these fit my big old head better, I'd have kept mine. There's little to complain about in terms of their sound.

I was just speaking to the thread as a whole. But, funnily enough, I just re-read my larger review posted elsewhere, not here, and I absolutely *did* refer to them as "fun". :) Hahah. So, there you have it, though I never imagined that being a negative descriptor necessarily. But I can see how...

FWIW, I believe only a single commenter in this entire thread referred to the Phoenix as a "fun" headphone. I personally did not (I used that word referencing Fidelio X2HR specifically), but more, I don't think I agree with your interpretation of the word. I think both of the aforementioned cans...