[MarkSubsonik]

MarkSubsonik "experiment with different filters"
This probably means the 3 different firmware's you can run on iFi , (5.2B) (5.30) (5.3c) that give 3 slightly different sound profiles.
The (5.3c) has a GTO filter and gives a dryer sound like a Sabre Dac (example Topping NX4).
The (5.2B) is more neutral but has a little less detail. These new ifi Amp/Dac's handle the treble ess's (Sibilant Sounds) very well.

Ah ok! I saw those but didn't know you could run those on the hip dac. Under "compatible devices," the hip dac isn't listed so I was unsure. I've definitely experimented with them on my Zen dac and love 5.3c. Thanks so much for the info!

 

[captblaze]

@iFi audio - had my first listen to the Hip DAC and like how it sounds, but have concerns about your battery life estimate. can you give some insight into how to achieve more than 7 hours?

 

[MarkSubsonik]

I'm probably doing something wrong here but,

Anybody having issues with the 4.4 Jack by chance? I'd love to hear from you.

A little background:

I bought the Zen Dac when it came out and have been absolutely loving it with IEM's and my 6XX's. I noticed however, that when I plugged in via the 4.4 Jack I would get either static, right channel only or I would get a crappy connection sound where everything sounds like it's being run through a high pass filter. It would also exacerbate things if I twisted the male end of the cable.I thought maybe I had a bad unit since 3 out of 4 of my 4.4 cables suffered this problem. One cable worked just great though.

So fast forward to today. I finally got to sit down and take my new hip dac for a spin. I'm having the exact same issue, with the same exact cables.

Advice, anyone? I'm wondering if the way each cable is made is what's causing the issue. Kinda bummed to be honest. It's important to note that when I use the 4.4 on my fiio AM3D, I don't experience the issue and ALL of my cables work perfectly.

Is this perhaps a known issue with this particular termination maybe? I'm relatively new to the audiophile game and still learning.

Thanks in advance for any help!

All that said, when I use that one 4.4 cable or anything terminated in 3.5, both the Zen and the hip dac sound plain amazing. Great job, ifi.

 

[inexactscience]

I'm probably doing something wrong here but,

Anybody having issues with the 4.4 Jack by chance? I'd love to hear from you.

A little background:

I bought the Zen Dac when it came out and have been absolutely loving it with IEM's and my 6XX's. I noticed however, that when I plugged in via the 4.4 Jack I would get either static, right channel only or I would get a crappy connection sound where everything sounds like it's being run through a high pass filter. It would also exacerbate things if I twisted the male end of the cable.I thought maybe I had a bad unit since 3 out of 4 of my 4.4 cables suffered this problem. One cable worked just great though.

So fast forward to today. I finally got to sit down and take my new hip dac for a spin. I'm having the exact same issue, with the same exact cables.

Advice, anyone? I'm wondering if the way each cable is made is what's causing the issue. Kinda bummed to be honest. It's important to note that when I use the 4.4 on my fiio AM3D, I don't experience the issue and ALL of my cables work perfectly.

Is this perhaps a known issue with this particular termination maybe? I'm relatively new to the audiophile game and still learning.

Thanks in advance for any help!

All that said, when I use that one 4.4 cable or anything terminated in 3.5, both the Zen and the hip dac sound plain amazing. Great job, ifi.

Yes, I can confirm that on my 4.4mm adapter, I can replicate the audio loss. If I turn the adapter, I can get audio loss out of the left channel. There is one position with the adapter where the loss remains. If I wiggle the adapter, I can also lose connection out of the left channel.

I cannot replicate the same out of the 3.5mm jack.

@iFi audio - had my first listen to the Hip DAC and like how it sounds, but have concerns about your battery life estimate. can you give some insight into how to achieve more than 7 hours?

I noticed the same. I was testing to see if battery life improved when used with a source other than an iPod Touch. Today's test is cancelled, because I changed listening method to see if I could replicate the 4.4mm jack issue mentioned by @MarkSubsonik. I can give a small approximation, but I'll need at least two to three days to get a good idea of battery life on the unit.
Test 1: iPod Touch (Max USB output, low Hip-DAC volume) complete, < 7 hours continuous playback
Test 2: Pixel 4 (low USB volume output, high Hip-DAC volume) (Pending ~02/25/2020)
Test 3: Pixel 4 (Max USB volume output, low Hip-DAC volume) (Pending ~02/26/2020)
Test 4: Pixel 4 (UAPP max volume output, low Hip-DAC volume) (Pending ~02/27/2020)

All from single ended, after a full charge, with the stock firmware. I can't do these tests over the weekend, but if anyone's already done one of these tests - intentionally or not - I'd love to know.

 

[MarkSubsonik]

Yes, I can confirm that on my 4.4mm adapter, I can replicate the audio loss. If I turn the adapter, I can get audio loss out of the left channel. There is one position with the adapter where the loss remains. If I wiggle the adapter, I can also lose connection out of the left channel.

I cannot replicate the same out of the 3.5mm jack.


I noticed the same. I was testing to see if battery life improved when used with a source other than an iPod Touch. Today's test is cancelled, because I changed listening method to see if I could replicate the 4.4mm jack issue mentioned by @MarkSubsonik. I can give a small approximation, but I'll need at least two to three days to get a good idea of battery life on the unit.
Test 1: iPod Touch (Max USB output, low Hip-DAC volume) complete, < 7 hours continuous playback
Test 2: Pixel 4 (low USB volume output, high Hip-DAC volume) (Pending ~02/25/2020)
Test 3: Pixel 4 (Max USB volume output, low Hip-DAC volume) (Pending ~02/26/2020)
Test 4: Pixel 4 (UAPP max volume output, low Hip-DAC volume) (Pending ~02/27/2020)

All from single ended, after a full charge, with the stock firmware. I can't do these tests over the weekend, but if anyone's already done one of these tests - intentionally or not - I'd love to know.

Ok, interesting. I was under the impression lately that I had the worst luck in receiving faulty units. Will be anxiously awaiting the results of your tests

 

[jsmiller58]

I'm probably doing something wrong here but,

Anybody having issues with the 4.4 Jack by chance? I'd love to hear from you.

A little background:

I bought the Zen Dac when it came out and have been absolutely loving it with IEM's and my 6XX's. I noticed however, that when I plugged in via the 4.4 Jack I would get either static, right channel only or I would get a crappy connection sound where everything sounds like it's being run through a high pass filter. It would also exacerbate things if I twisted the male end of the cable.I thought maybe I had a bad unit since 3 out of 4 of my 4.4 cables suffered this problem. One cable worked just great though.

So fast forward to today. I finally got to sit down and take my new hip dac for a spin. I'm having the exact same issue, with the same exact cables.

Advice, anyone? I'm wondering if the way each cable is made is what's causing the issue. Kinda bummed to be honest. It's important to note that when I use the 4.4 on my fiio AM3D, I don't experience the issue and ALL of my cables work perfectly.

Is this perhaps a known issue with this particular termination maybe? I'm relatively new to the audiophile game and still learning.

Thanks in advance for any help!

All that said, when I use that one 4.4 cable or anything terminated in 3.5, both the Zen and the hip dac sound plain amazing. Great job, ifi.

I don't have the Hip DAC, but I experience similar issues with my LG v30... Some connectors will experience sound loss in one channel if I rotate the connector, but other connectors seem to provide a rock solid audio connection. The only thing I can think of is that possibly there are slight variations either in the dimensions of different connectors or jacks - while these are standard, there are always some variations.

 

[gikigill]

Which is... where exactly ?

Its where Kangaroos roam and the dust is red.

 

[iFi audio]

It's immediately apparent that the Hip-DAC creates a wider soundstage and has better imaging. The 'professor's' drum solo is a much more 360 experience from the Hip-DAC, where I felt like I was a microphone right above the drum kit. Even without the XBass enabled, the bass seems a bit fuller as well, and I could notice this in the track intro. I also preferred the way I perceived transients out of the Hip-DAC as well.

Much appreciated for your feedback!

This probably means the 3 different firmware's you can run on iFi , (5.2B) (5.30) (5.3c) that give 3 slightly different sound profiles.

Yup!

Also folks, how do you know if your headphones match your DAC/Amp? iFi's Headphone Calculator is here to help!

The hip-dac is now available on the Headphone Calculator! (CLICK ME)

 

[iFi audio]

had my first listen to the Hip DAC and like how it sounds, but have concerns about your battery life estimate. can you give some insight into how to achieve more than 7 hours?

What are your headphones? Battery life depends on a connected load and volume level.

 

[captblaze]

What are your headphones? Battery life depends on a connected load and volume level.

Primarily Moondrop S8 - 16 ohm 122db

no powermatch or Xbass on 4.4mm

 

[iFi audio]

I bought the Zen Dac when it came out and have been absolutely loving it with IEM's and my 6XX's. I noticed however, that when I plugged in via the 4.4 Jack I would get either static, right channel only or I would get a crappy connection sound where everything sounds like it's being run through a high pass filter. It would also exacerbate things if I twisted the male end of the cable.I thought maybe I had a bad unit since 3 out of 4 of my 4.4 cables suffered this problem. One cable worked just great though.

So fast forward to today. I finally got to sit down and take my new hip dac for a spin. I'm having the exact same issue, with the same exact cables.

Advice, anyone? I'm wondering if the way each cable is made is what's causing the issue. Kinda bummed to be honest. It's important to note that when I use the 4.4 on my fiio AM3D, I don't experience the issue and ALL of my cables work perfectly.

Is this perhaps a known issue with this particular termination maybe? I'm relatively new to the audiophile game and still learning.

Thanks in advance for any help!

I'll ask about this and will get back to you shortly.

All that said, when I use that one 4.4 cable or anything terminated in 3.5, both the Zen and the hip dac sound plain amazing. Great job, ifi.

Thank you very much!

 

[inexactscience]

Ok, interesting. I was under the impression lately that I had the worst luck in receiving faulty units. Will be anxiously awaiting the results of your tests

I've gotten home and done some 4.4mm jack tests.

I have 3 different 4.4mm balanced cables (2x MMCX, 1x .78 2-pin via MMCX adapter), which I've tested out of my MMCX Monolith M1060. I also have a Massdrop 4.4mm to 2.5mm balanced adapter (I used the MEE audio version earlier at work).

The bad news: the MEE audio and Massdrop 4.4mm to 2.5mm balanced adapters replicate the issue 100% of the time. Swiveling the plug in the Hip-DAC jack causes loss of audio in the left channel. Wiggling the adapter causes audio loss in the left channel. This is repeatable.

The good news: every one of three cables I tested could not replicate the issue. What makes this more significant is that I could have gotten a false positive because my left MMCX socket on the Monolith M1060 is slightly broken and will lose sound at times. Swiveling the cables had no effect and wigging the cables had no effect.

What does this behavior tell us?

Because some cables work, but other don't, it is highly unlikely that our units are defective. I hope that's clear. What is much more likely is that our cables/cable adapters are either not built to precise specifications, or have some manufacturing variation that's affecting the connection inside the socket. What we're noticing is that the TRRRS sections of the plug aren't aligning perfectly with the Hip-DAC's internal connectors. Yours misaligns and shorts out the right audio; mine the left.

So, I looked at the adapter and visually compared the plug to two working cables. What I noticed is that the width is so close that this can't be cause. The TRRRS segment divisions were also so close to identical that it also shouldn't impact the signal. And then, I noticed one difference: the tip of my adapter is longer than those of the working cables. So, when my adapter sits in the socket, it's actually misaligned. When we're rotating the plug or wiggling it, we're moving the plug just enough that contact is lost, and the signal is disrupted.

Can you take a look at your plugs and compare the working one to the non-working ones? I'm willing to bet that, since you're losing signal out of the right side, the sleeve on your working cable is different than those on the non-working cables.

Why do they work in the AM3D and not the Hip-DAC? I'm betting FiiO's connectors inside the jack are aligned closer to perfect center for the rings, while iFi's uh... aren't. I'm making an educated guess here, but looking inside the sockets, that's the simplest answer which explains both our experiences.

The other bad news: I'm starting to suspect that the battery life claims are spurious, based on my experience so far. But what do I know? I'm just a guy on the internet, after all. A guy who hasn't utilized iFi's testing conditions in any way shape or form. So take that with a massive grain of salt.

The other good news: while switching cables, I accidentally triggered XBass. I listened to some Ozzy at home for these tests, and I absolutely loved the experience with XBass on for "No More Tears". It made that wonderful bassline a little more prominent, and it turned out so well on that track, it'll be difficult to experience that song without wanting to get that emphasis again. It won't work like that for every song ("Mama, I'm Coming Home" doesn't have the same impact with XBass on, for example), but I'm glad I accidentally triggered XBass this time!

 

[MarkSubsonik]

I've gotten home and done some 4.4mm jack tests.

I have 3 different 4.4mm balanced cables (2x MMCX, 1x .78 2-pin via MMCX adapter), which I've tested out of my MMCX Monolith M1060. I also have a Massdrop 4.4mm to 2.5mm balanced adapter (I used the MEE audio version earlier at work).

The bad news: the MEE audio and Massdrop 4.4mm to 2.5mm balanced adapters replicate the issue 100% of the time. Swiveling the plug in the Hip-DAC jack causes loss of audio in the left channel. Wiggling the adapter causes audio loss in the left channel. This is repeatable.

The good news: every one of three cables I tested could not replicate the issue. What makes this more significant is that I could have gotten a false positive because my left MMCX socket on the Monolith M1060 is slightly broken and will lose sound at times. Swiveling the cables had no effect and wigging the cables had no effect.

What does this behavior tell us?

Because some cables work, but other don't, it is highly unlikely that our units are defective. I hope that's clear. What is much more likely is that our cables/cable adapters are either not built to precise specifications, or have some manufacturing variation that's affecting the connection inside the socket. What we're noticing is that the TRRRS sections of the plug aren't aligning perfectly with the Hip-DAC's internal connectors. Yours misaligns and shorts out the right audio; mine the left.

So, I looked at the adapter and visually compared the plug to two working cables. What I noticed is that the width is so close that this can't be cause. The TRRRS segment divisions were also so close to identical that it also shouldn't impact the signal. And then, I noticed one difference: the tip of my adapter is longer than those of the working cables. So, when my adapter sits in the socket, it's actually misaligned. When we're rotating the plug or wiggling it, we're moving the plug just enough that contact is lost, and the signal is disrupted.

Can you take a look at your plugs and compare the working one to the non-working ones? I'm willing to bet that, since you're losing signal out of the right side, the sleeve on your working cable is different than those on the non-working cables.

Why do they work in the AM3D and not the Hip-DAC? I'm betting FiiO's connectors inside the jack are aligned closer to perfect center for the rings, while iFi's uh... aren't. I'm making an educated guess here, but looking inside the sockets, that's the simplest answer which explains both our experiences.

The other bad news: I'm starting to suspect that the battery life claims are spurious, based on my experience so far. But what do I know? I'm just a guy on the internet, after all. A guy who hasn't utilized iFi's testing conditions in any way shape or form. So take that with a massive grain of salt.

The other good news: while switching cables, I accidentally triggered XBass. I listened to some Ozzy at home for these tests, and I absolutely loved the experience with XBass on for "No More Tears". It made that wonderful bassline a little more prominent, and it turned out so well on that track, it'll be difficult to experience that song without wanting to get that emphasis again. It won't work like that for every song ("Mama, I'm Coming Home" doesn't have the same impact with XBass on, for example), but I'm glad I accidentally triggered XBass this time!

Thank you for taking the time to investigate! I think you're on to something here with the plug size. The differences in length vary cable to cable even if it's just slightly so I can see where they wouldn't align perfectly while one of mine does. I think it should be noted that, I also used A DD HiFi 2.5 TO 4.4 adapter and it was the worst offender by far. You couldn't even touch it - it would crackle and pop really bad. If I held my thumb on it snugly whilst music was playing, it maintained A good connection but only if.

I kind of figured it would be the 3RD party parts that would end up being the culprit here VS the AMPS/DACS. I had no idea they weren't all the exact same in size, which is odd to me. You would think that there's A blueprint of sorts to follow at manufacturing to ensure the perfect connection Everytime but then I remember this is CHIFI and cutting cost is A major factor.

Thanks again for your help and time!

 

[MarkSubsonik]

I've gotten home and done some 4.4mm jack tests.

I have 3 different 4.4mm balanced cables (2x MMCX, 1x .78 2-pin via MMCX adapter), which I've tested out of my MMCX Monolith M1060. I also have a Massdrop 4.4mm to 2.5mm balanced adapter (I used the MEE audio version earlier at work).

The bad news: the MEE audio and Massdrop 4.4mm to 2.5mm balanced adapters replicate the issue 100% of the time. Swiveling the plug in the Hip-DAC jack causes loss of audio in the left channel. Wiggling the adapter causes audio loss in the left channel. This is repeatable.

The good news: every one of three cables I tested could not replicate the issue. What makes this more significant is that I could have gotten a false positive because my left MMCX socket on the Monolith M1060 is slightly broken and will lose sound at times. Swiveling the cables had no effect and wigging the cables had no effect.

What does this behavior tell us?

Because some cables work, but other don't, it is highly unlikely that our units are defective. I hope that's clear. What is much more likely is that our cables/cable adapters are either not built to precise specifications, or have some manufacturing variation that's affecting the connection inside the socket. What we're noticing is that the TRRRS sections of the plug aren't aligning perfectly with the Hip-DAC's internal connectors. Yours misaligns and shorts out the right audio; mine the left.

So, I looked at the adapter and visually compared the plug to two working cables. What I noticed is that the width is so close that this can't be cause. The TRRRS segment divisions were also so close to identical that it also shouldn't impact the signal. And then, I noticed one difference: the tip of my adapter is longer than those of the working cables. So, when my adapter sits in the socket, it's actually misaligned. When we're rotating the plug or wiggling it, we're moving the plug just enough that contact is lost, and the signal is disrupted.

Can you take a look at your plugs and compare the working one to the non-working ones? I'm willing to bet that, since you're losing signal out of the right side, the sleeve on your working cable is different than those on the non-working cables.

Why do they work in the AM3D and not the Hip-DAC? I'm betting FiiO's connectors inside the jack are aligned closer to perfect center for the rings, while iFi's uh... aren't. I'm making an educated guess here, but looking inside the sockets, that's the simplest answer which explains both our experiences.

The other bad news: I'm starting to suspect that the battery life claims are spurious, based on my experience so far. But what do I know? I'm just a guy on the internet, after all. A guy who hasn't utilized iFi's testing conditions in any way shape or form. So take that with a massive grain of salt.

The other good news: while switching cables, I accidentally triggered XBass. I listened to some Ozzy at home for these tests, and I absolutely loved the experience with XBass on for "No More Tears". It made that wonderful bassline a little more prominent, and it turned out so well on that track, it'll be difficult to experience that song without wanting to get that emphasis again. It won't work like that for every song ("Mama, I'm Coming Home" doesn't have the same impact with XBass on, for example), but I'm glad I accidentally triggered XBass this time!

One more thing,

If I pull the 4.4 adapters out from the devices ever so slightly, and I mean 0.000009 of a millimeter, I sometimes catch the perfect spot where I "think" the plug and female end align where they're supposed to and I get a good signal but, it will never stay in place that way, obviously. I just wanted to add that little piece of info to the conversation. It seems all too clear what the issue is now.

Now I'm wondering if I should now go out and purchase all new cables of the same brand that worked well so I can be absolutely sure all of my earphones / headphones work without issue, 100% of the time. Kind of frustrating if I'm honest but knowing for sure that the audio is going to come through perfectly each and every time I plug in will be amazing.

 

[svenz]

Hi there, does it work with the PS4 Pro?
Thank you