[Duncan]

Hi, I've gotten the HD sonata after reading this thread, and with firmware D, it is excellent for music.

Just checking if any of you guys find that the HD sonata gets quite warm after using it for about half an hour? Is that normal?

A little warm, yes - but, if to achieve goodness, heat is caused, i'm happy with that

 

[baskingshark]

A little warm, yes - but, if to achieve goodness, heat is caused, i'm happy with that

Thanks for the reply. Definitely to achieve a good sound takes priority haha. I am just worried the internals of the DAC will get fried!

 

[billbishere]

Thanks for the reply. Definitely to achieve a good sound takes priority haha. I am just worried the internals of the DAC will get fried!

I would worry about it. I have a Cavelli Liquid Spark amp and it get HOT. It actually runs pretty hot all the time. Making the 1s and 0s sound so good produces some heat! Ha

My tempotec DAC also gets a little warm at full go.

 

[Mellowship]

My Sonata is on heavy rotation, still worried about the durability of the cable. Made some extra protection.

 

[The Socialist Nerd]

I received three of these today in the post and man, these are killer!
Driving my iSine LX's tonight but going to test my larger headphones tomorrow.

 

[Duncan]

I received three of these today in the post and man, these are killer!
Driving my iSine LX's tonight but going to test my larger headphones tomorrow.

The Sonata is brilliant to me for one specific reason - the OnePlus 7 Pro 5G doesn’t come with a dongle, and the standard Apple / Pixel dongle’s are way way too quiet, the Sonata tricks the system or whatever it does to make the volume usable...

I would not care if it sounded rubbish so long as there was some Oomph behind it, the fact it sounds great (only ever used on D firmware, don’t care about it handling phone calls) is an added bonus

 

[susman]

Hi all,
I bought this device yesterday for my Huawei P20 Pro, was surprised to experience weird behavior this DAC exhibits on Huawei devices.
After few re-flashes I figured "D" mode isn't gonna work with P20, so I tried a firmware from this page http://www.tempotec.com.cn/en/2-Product/Sonata/SonataHD/firmware.htm and it worked...kinda. PC recognizes 24/192k DAC, no inputs, P20 also recognizes outputs only, Tidal/System sounds work just fine ( something that didn't work with "D" firmware from Hidizs' google drive ), but HiRes players don't behave as expected. While Hibymusic does play ( again, that didn't work with Hidizs' firmware ) it cannot force SR above 48k, says "not supported by peripheral". USB Audio Player Pro - doesn't work, Neutron Music Player shows AudioTrack driver in use.
Tempotec firmware gets the DAC into "pure music" state which is working on P20 pro, but it's no use, P20 insists on using internal android audio frameworks, something that does not happen with other external DACs.

The DAC/Amp does sound significantly better than built-in amp, even on stock firmware, works out of the box on Huawei P20 Pro, and generally speaking all this firmware trickery is quite redundant

 

[billbishere]

Not sure the difference but I know Hidizs has a firmware on their page and then Tempotec has one on theirs. Depending on the brand you bought (because there are 2 exact same under different company name) I think you are supposed to use the firmware from the actual company who supplied it. At least they seemed serious about that part when I read the instructions. I have the Tempotec version and was able to flash the D with no issue on One Plus 6.

You may already know this and I am redundant, in that case enjoy your new purchase! I love mine for what it cost. It was also my first purchase from Aliexpress!

 

[susman]

I think you are supposed to use the firmware from the actual company who supplied it. At least they seemed serious about that part when I read the instructions.

It says "Hidizs" on mine, I tested my luck with Tempotec's firmware. I tired that "Hidizs" with Tempotec firmware on Galaxy S8 - everything works perfectly fine, sample rates up to 192k. Huawei seems to be the problem.

 

[The Socialist Nerd]

Apparently this dongle can drive the HIFIMAN Ananda rather well.

 

[baskingshark]

I received three of these today in the post and man, these are killer!
Driving my iSine LX's tonight but going to test my larger headphones tomorrow.

I actually bought two of these as I found them good value money, but you have trumped me with 3!!

 

[The Socialist Nerd]

I actually bought two of these as I found them good value money, but you have trumped me with 3!!

I have a lot of headphones so I can switch in and out...

I just switched from my Moto G7 Power to the Samsung Note 9 and wow, quite an improvement!

 

[susman]

so I tried a firmware from this page http://www.tempotec.com.cn/en/2-Product/Sonata/SonataHD/firmware.htm and it worked...kinda.

Don't do that, it messes with the sound

 

[The Socialist Nerd]

Don't do that, it messes with the sound

Messes up in which fashion?

 

[Earbones]

So what exactly does the Sonata offer over any other “active adaptor” USB-C/3.5mm dongle with hi-rez capability? The Sonata tops out at 24/192, btw. Plenty of much cheaper active adaptor dongles on the market that can handle 32/384.

Like this one, which costs a whopping $7.99:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07MJW6BZ4/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_tai_QIblDbE0FF20D

I think some folks might be just a little blinded by the audiophile-esque twisted cables and knurled aluminum bits of the Sonata. It certainly looks the business, I’ll give it that...

Don’t mean to offend anybody. If you’re happy with your Sonata, awesome. Just seems a bit pricy for what it is...