Preamble:
Before I start with my actual review, I want to thank Nick from HiFime for providing me with a sample of the 9018D in exchange for my honest evaluation. Please note that I am not affiliated with HiFime or HiFimeDIY in any way.
At HiFime, all started with the production of the Tripath TK2050 speaker amplification chip. Nowadays they are mostly known for their portable DACs that use valuable electronics, but remain a good price-performance ratio.
With the 9018D, the team of Chinese and Europeans has developed a semi-portable DAC that uses the highly appreciated Sabre ES9018K2M chip.
Technical Specifications:
Volume attenuation: lossless digital with 0.5 dB steps (overall 255 steps)
DAC: ESS Sabre ES9018K2M
Sample Rates/Bit Depth: up to 384 kHz/32 bit
USB: asynchronous
Output: 3.5 mm stereo & optical SPDIF
SNR: 112.5dB @ 1kohm, 109dB @ 600ohm
THD: 0.0035% @32ohm, 20mW
Crosstalk: 1kHz, 10kOhm: -125dB, 1kHz, 32ohm -125dB
Output Power: 3Vrms@1kHz. 2Vrms / 125mW @ 32ohm
Output Impedance: 2ohm
Power Consumption: stand-by 180-200 mA, max. 280 mA
Dimensions: 90mm x 60mm x 13mm
Delivery Content:
There’s not much to say here, as the air cushion envelope contains solely the 9018D and a micro USB cable. A quick-start guide on paper, rubber feet or traveling pouch are not included, but I can’t blame HiFime for it due to the very fair retail price and the good amount of features.
Looks, Feels, Build Quality:
The relatively small and lightweight DAC has got the form factor of a cigarette box, but is just half as high (I am a non-smoker, but had a cigarette box at hand during evaluation). The actual enclosure is made of black metal and has got the HiFime logo on top; front and rear are made of semi-transparent black plastic and have got white labels above the buttons and connectors.
Build quality is pretty decent for the price; solely the buttons’ pressure point is somewhat undefined and feels loose. Headphone plugs snap into the 3.5 mm port with a rich sound and sit very securely and tight, which is pretty nice.
Features, Connectors:
For use with Windows computers, drivers have to be downloaded and installed from the HiFime website prior to using the DAC, but installation is pretty easy and self-explanatory. After a reboot, the 9018D can be selected in the Windows control panel’s audio settings.
On the front, there’s an orange illuminated LC-display with large digits, as well as two buttons for controlling the volume, which operates lossless with 0.5 attenuation steps from -127.5 to 0 dB. The 3.5 mm headphone output (that practically also features an optical digital output) is located on the rear’s left; a micro USB input and a switch for USB Full Speed (12 MPps) and Hi Speed mode (480 MBps) are located on the right.
When connecting the DAC, one can chose between two digital filters by pressing the left (“Volume down”) button and select between seven levels of display brightness by pressing the right (“Volume up”) button.
When in use, the LC-display shows the current volume when pressing the buttons and then goes back to showing the played sampling rate, which is very handy. After just a few seconds, the display’s brightness is being automatically dimmed. A little sad is that digital filters and brightness can only be selected when powering on and not when in use, however filter settings, brightness and volume are stored when the 9018D is disconnected, which I find very useful.
Sound:
I used the 9018D with my Windows 7 laptop and Foobar as audio playback software. In-Ears I mainly tested with were the Ultimate Ears Triple.Fi 10, Shure SE846 and Sennheiser IE 800, along with MP3, regular FLAC and Hi-Res files.
Output Impedance, Frequency Response:
Let’s take a look at my measurements of both digital filters below (unloaded):
Frequency response is commendably flat and the slow roll-off filter is rather gently implemented, which I find nice.
HiFime on its website claims the output impedance to be 2 Ohms – which is not true, as it is joyfully much lower and even lower than 1 Ohm, as my measurements with the Ultimate Ears Triple.Fi 10 as load show, which obtains a drastically altered frequency response due to its non-linear impedance response the higher the source’s output impedance gets, but not with the HiFime:
These are excellent measured values which show that the DAC’s output impedance is in reality around tiny 0.1 Ohms and lacks decoupling capacitors in the signal path as there is no bass roll-off with low-impedance IEMs.
Hiss:
This is the only little criticism I have regarding sound. With very sensitive IEMs like the Triple.Fi 10 or the extremely sensitive SE846, there is audible hiss from the 9018D, which is around the level of my BlackBerry Q10 (just in case if anybody else has already connected his/her sensitive IEMs to one of those smartphones), but slightly below, which means that it is audible in quiet passages of the music and also at low to moderate listening levels. With IEMs that have got dynamic transducers, which are generally less sensitive, there’s only very slight audible hiss with empty audio files and logically none even in rather quiet passages of the music. With full-sized headphones, there is as expected no hiss, as those are less sensitive and the 9018D’s hiss is far from being extremely high.
Therefore it isn’t fully recommendable for people that are very hiss-sensitive and use IEMs with high sensitivity for listening to music that also contains quiet passages.
Even with the enormously sensitive SE846 hiss isn’t very loud, though still audible when music is being played.
Resolution, Precision, Soundstage:
Now to the more subjective part of my review. My opinion and experience regarding the sound signature of source devices and amplifiers goes like this: there is an existing audible difference between various devices, but it shouldn’t be overrated – as the basic character of a headphone won’t be completely changed (if the circuit follows a clean design philosophy), but sometimes rather “shaped” a bit and in many cases is extremely subtle.
Now let’s continue with my subjective impressions (the comparisons were made volume-matched but not blinded):
In short, I would describe the 9018D’s sound as a mixture of the iBasso DX90 and LH Labs Geek Out IEM 100 with a closer tendency to the iBasso.
Resolution is on a high level and has got an excellent clarity. Sound signature is, typically for the Sabre chip, on the analytical side and the soundstage’s lateral expansion is wide, but with a balanced depth and well instrument separation. Compared to the Geek Out, 9018D’s treble is brighter and also faster, but not harsh, therefore comparable to the iBasso’s. Soundstage is bigger than the Geek Out’s and in my ears pretty much identical with the iBasso’s.
I really like this analytical and high-resolving sound character.
With the slow roll-off filter, treble sounds a tad smoother, but isn’t noticeably recessed, therefore just like the Geek Out with the slow roll-off filter, wherefore it is a good choice for old and bad recordings with sharp or distorting treble.
With the slow roll-off filter, soundstage gains some more spatial depth in my ears.
Overall resolution and coherency isn’t as good as with the superb Geek Out, but on a very high level and much better than I’d expected for the price.
Conclusion:
The 9018 actually doesn’t make any mistake – it features a gorgeous fine-grained volume control with a good display, an extremely low output impedance, a very detailed, precise and analytical sound, premium components, an optical S/PDIF output and a small size.
My only criticism is the lack of rubber feet, the somewhat undefined pressure point of the buttons and the in comparison to some other devices rather high hiss with very sensitive IEMs – but these are just some small criticism details compared to the otherwise perfect overall package.
For its price, the HiFime 9018D is a little insiders’ tip and gets a big thumbs up from me.
