[IryxBRO]

HIDIZS Sonata HD is absolutely worth it in my opinion. It is their best product to date and a really solid one at that



Hm... Interesting!

I didn't quite find that AP80 sounded quite that different from M0, besides a slightly warmer sound, but that could indeed cause the sensation that AP80 has better extension, especially with the right IEMs or Headphones.

As for the UI, AP80 is better becaue it tends to record my fingers more, M0 misses about 30% of my touches, and AP80 has buttons, which I found quite good. M0's song navigation without buttons means you need to touch the right touch spot, which doesn't register my fingers every single time, so again, I do this while driving, and here AP80 is indeed better.

To me, the display is not better on either objectively. They are different, and AP80 has better color, but M0 has better brightness, more easily readable when there's a lot of light. Both displays are too small to display band names - song names, so you can only pick songs, if you have formated it right, on both

Correct: 01 - The River, The Woods

Incorrect: 01 - Astronautalis - The River, The Woods

Basically, both displays are a bit small to display band names - song names, so this should be taken into account when considering either.

I think both are amazing little things for their price, and I think I'd be happy with both really, just different flavors of what they do and how.

1. In fact, I hear the same warmer sound from M0 but I also hear that AP80 has more resolution and details. Anyway, lat's wait for other people evaluations...
2. I am talking about the physical attributes of display such as: resolution, viewing angles, color range and size. M0 picture is barely seen in sharp angles, colors are bleached, lack of resolution creates "ladder edges",.. and as you have mentioned - touch-sensitive layer together with small physical size and dimensions of UI elements are far worse combination that used in AP80.
Eventually, all of these differences influence the impression and product satisfaction in everyday use.... for me, at least. M0 is collecting dust on the shelf and AP80 is used regularly

PS: the only thing that I like more in M0 is its jog dial feel... But as we know Hidizs changed their design as well since the first samples we have.

 

[Dobrescu George]

1. In fact, I hear the same warmer sound from M0 but I also hear that AP80 has more resolution and details. Anyway, lat's wait for other people evaluations...
2. I am talking about the physical attributes of display such as: resolution, viewing angles, color range and size. M0 picture is barely seen in sharp angles, colors are bleached, lack of resolution creates "ladder edges",.. and as you have mentioned - touch-sensitive layer together with small physical size and dimensions of UI elements are far worse combination that used in AP80.
Eventually, all of these differences influence the impression and product satisfaction in everyday use.... for me, at least. M0 is collecting dust on the shelf and AP80 is used regularly

PS: the only thing that I like more in M0 is its jog dial feel... But as we know Hidizs changed their design as well since the first samples we have.

I'm really happy that HIDIZS adopted the wheel with the ridges, it makes things much better now!

 

[Galeonero]

1. A C D are different versions of firmware for Sonata HD (for the chip inside it). Let's say - the different profiles with different abilities and sound quality. Either one can be pushed inside. A and C are for using with other sounds and accepting calls while the music is playing, D is a pure music with max quality that takes the full control and won't let other sounds rather than music
2. Firmware to place inside Sonata HD chip
3. It would work out of the box with A mode as a default flashed to chip which would allow you to listen to music and hear other sounds and even to talk. But the sound quality would not be limited. If you'd still want to stay with this mode - you'd have to flash V2 firmware cause it addresses the issues of V1 mode A. But in order to get the max sound quality (forgetting about other sounds and calls) - you should flash mode D to Sonata HD (24bit|192kHz). As for the application you bought - you'd have to try. I am using Hiby music as one of the most capable app on Android in terms of sound quality and which has the mode of bit-perfect stream to USB OTG devices.

Great, you explained it to me perfect. Then I'll leave it in mode D since I do not have any headphones with a microphone.

 

[Navanod]

Great, you explained it to me perfect. Then I'll leave it in mode D since I do not have any headphones with a microphone.

Would just like to point out that even in firmware D mode, the microphones and other functions on my phone still works through the headphones, although some of my callers have problems hearing me clearly if the background is noisy, which may be the result of lower call quality due to the D mode.

Otherwise, there is no loss of functionalities and mode D is perfect

 

[Qazi Shehryar]

Did you order from aliexpress? I have heard about tech products disappearing during shipping in local post office.

In this case i've ordered it directly from hidizs website .... however, i've ordered so many things from aliexpress and not one was lost... always received what i ordered .... post office is responsible to deliver the items

 

[d0mini0n]

Hello, after flashing the adapter with the mode D software are there any other steps after that? The OP mentioned going to 'device properties' to set to 24bit/192kHZ. Should I be changing something in device manager on Windows or just in the HiBy Music app or whichever app I use to play the music? Thanks in advance. And great write-up OP.

 

[IryxBRO]

Hello, after flashing the adapter with the mode D software are there any other steps after that? The OP mentioned going to 'device properties' to set to 24bit/192kHZ. Should I be changing something in device manager on Windows or just in the HiBy Music app or whichever app I use to play the music? Thanks in advance. And great write-up OP.

yes - under Windows just check that 24|192 is selected in system sound manager for this device. Thatn you can setup you music app to pass the streamt through Wasapi
On a smatphone - just try a bit perfect stream option in apps like Hiby Music

 

[d0mini0n]

yes - under Windows just check that 24|192 is selected in system sound manager for this device. Thatn you can setup you music app to pass the streamt through Wasapi
On a smatphone - just try a bit perfect stream option in apps like Hiby Music

Thank you for the reply. Problem with that is when I look at the device in device manager I couldn't find that kind of information anywhere. If you can show a screenshot or direct me to which tab that's under I would really appreciate it. TIA.

 

[Qazi Shehryar]

Received my Sonata DAC yesterday..... I flashed the "D Pure mode" Firmware but it failed to work with my Huawei Honor Play having Kirin 970 Chipset ..... so i flashed the V2.0 Firmware which has the "A" mode as default .... now it is working with my phone .... sound quality wise i compared it with Steel Series USB Sound Card which i have been using with all of my Android Phone and can be found here https://www.amazon.com/SteelSeries-Siberia-Sound-Card-White/dp/B000WJCM9G .... in terms of clarity Sonata is a little bit better than the steel series sound card .... however, in terms of absolute driving power, fullness in sound and even sound stage, Steel Series Siberia Sound Card is really really great... i also compared Sonata with the LG B&O USB Dac (LG G5 one) ..... Sonata DAC is vastly better sounding to my ears compared to LG B&O DAC which has ESS Sabre Dac ... This tiny thing is great in terms of portability and every day use however i'll be mostly using my Siberia USB Sound Card .... Don't know if "D" mode could rival Steel Series Sound Card ....

 

[IryxBRO]

Thank you for the reply. Problem with that is when I look at the device in device manager I couldn't find that kind of information anywhere. If you can show a screenshot or direct me to which tab that's under I would really appreciate it. TIA.

right click at volume indicator at system tray (down right part of the Windows desktop). Select Sounds->Left tab at top->select your Sonata->properties->3rd or 4th tab (additional)->select 24|192 as default format

 

[d0mini0n]

right click at volume indicator at system tray (down right part of the Windows desktop). Select Sounds->Left tab at top->select your Sonata->properties->3rd or 4th tab (additional)->select 24|192 as default format

I was able to find it and verified it's using 24|192. Thanks for the help!

 

[DAW1d]

Thank you for review and for help with firmaware update. I wouldnt be able to find this complicated procedure by myself. Now I have D firmware and it is working greate. I compared it with my main home setup (iFi iUSB3.0 + iFi iDSD Mirco) and the sound from this small device isnt much worse! There is diference but not that huge. This is hard to belive when you consider that iFi setup cost about 850$ and Sonata 25$

 

[Leo-rume]

I noticed the sonata hd cable by tempotec is exactly the same physically with the hidizs version 1, apart from branding of course. And I remember the op mentioned in his review that the hidizs v1 and v2 cables sound exactly same. So my question is, are the tempotec and hidizs v2 cables exactly the same in sound quality? same chip and implementation?, just different branding?. I want to get the tempotec cable

 

[Galeonero]

I noticed the sonata hd cable by tempotec is exactly the same physically with the hidizs version 1, apart from branding of course. And I remember the op mentioned in his review that the hidizs v1 and v2 cables sound exactly same. So my question is, are the tempotec and hidizs v2 cables exactly the same in sound quality? same chip and implementation?, just different branding?. I want to get the tempotec cable

Hello, if I remember correctly, the only change was physical in the 3.5 mm connector. Nothing else.

 

[dimmockg]

Hi all, any other confirmed reports of this working on the Huawei p20 pro?

Seen carlymarts post in page 3 however was hopeful there'd be more confirmed success as this solution would be perfect for me instead of getting a dedicated dap