[Ultrainferno]

Our full review of the iFi audio hip-dac is now online. Berkhan has even awarded it with our recommended buy award.
https://www.headfonia.com/ifi-audio-hip-dac-review/

 

[iFi audio]

Our full review of the iFi audio hip-dac is now online. Berkhan has even awarded it with our recommended buy award.
https://www.headfonia.com/ifi-audio-hip-dac-review/

Thank you very much, what a lovely surprise!

 

[disastermouse]

My Hip-DAC just got so hot it could have burned me or started a fire. It was plugged in to charge on a car cigarette plug charger that's never given me trouble before on anything. It then output bad audio before dying. I purchased it mid-June and it's already dead.

Before it died, it kept getting hot, even after it was unplugged from all power. I feared the battery might burst and had to hold it against the air conditioned air coming out of my dashboard just to keep it from heating back up again.

I'll never buy anything from iFi again. This is a dangerously faulty product.

 

[Taz777]

My Hip-DAC just got so hot it could have burned me or started a fire. It was plugged in to charge on a car cigarette plug charger that's never given me trouble before on anything. It then output bad audio before dying. I purchased it mid-June and it's already dead.

Before it died, it kept getting hot, even after it was unplugged from all power. I feared the battery might burst and had to hold it against the air conditioned air coming out of my dashboard just to keep it from heating back up again.

I'll never buy anything from iFi again. This is a dangerously faulty product.

Were you charging and playing at the same time? It might have been a faulty battery.

 

[disastermouse]

Were you charging and playing at the same time? It might have been a faulty battery.

Just charging. But the worrisome thing was that when I unplugged it, it continued to heat up after I cooled it down three times. It finally stayed cool after it completely died. I'd JUST used it this morning and was charging it on my way to an outdoor park. Luckily, I accidentally touched it when I reached for something else and noticed it was so hot I couldn't even hold it.

 

[technobear]

My Hip-DAC just got so hot it could have burned me or started a fire. It was plugged in to charge on a car cigarette plug charger that's never given me trouble before on anything. It then output bad audio before dying. I purchased it mid-June and it's already dead.

Before it died, it kept getting hot, even after it was unplugged from all power. I feared the battery might burst and had to hold it against the air conditioned air coming out of my dashboard just to keep it from heating back up again.

I'll never buy anything from iFi again. This is a dangerously faulty product.

Arizona huh? Get's pretty hot this time of year. Did you by any chance leave your hip-dac charging in a car left baking in the desert sun?

It's not only dogs that die in hot cars.

 

[disastermouse]

Arizona huh? Get's pretty hot this time of year. Did you by any chance leave your hip-dac charging in a car left baking in the desert sun?

It's not only dogs that die in hot cars.

I'm in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan now. It hit a high of 77, and I was in the car with the air conditioning on when it happened. I didn't have it in the car before I entered the car, either.

So, you made a ton of assumptions that turned out wrong. Gonna make more?

 

[vonbonds]

Have you reached out to their support yet?

 

[gikigill]

Seems like a freak accident. Have you got pictures of the hip dac.

 

[Redyellowone]

Newbie here. I have just bought a hip dac, and it sounds great with Tidal and recognises MQA with the purple lights.

I also have Spotify Premium account, how do I get it to indicate anything other than "green" when playing Spotify / get Spotify to feed it higher res? I would have thought Spotify should be feeding it files at 320 - so should that be yellow?

I have streaming quality to "Very High". This is all from a MacBook Pro, as my CKK cord doesn't arrive until tomorrow.

 

[technobear]

So, you made a ton of assumptions that turned out wrong. Gonna make more?

I don't think it unreasonable to believe you are in Arizona when that is what you have posted as your Location

If it wasn't the heat then I guess it's a duff battery. It happens. Doesn't mean this is a dangerously faulty product. Overreaction much?

 

[Poganin]

To be honest, with the false information that iFi released together with the first batch of the devices (12 hours' battery life and operation in USB power mode) I don't blame disastermouse for being leery of the whole brand. Each Samsung device I've had was somehow faulty, so I avoid their products like the plague now.

 

[technobear]

I also have Spotify Premium account, how do I get it to indicate anything other than "green" when playing Spotify / get Spotify to feed it higher res? I would have thought Spotify should be feeding it files at 320 - so should that be yellow?

You might be confusing bitrate and sample rate.

'320' is a number usually associated with bitrate. 320kbps is one of the bitrates available using MP3 compression which would be typical for Spotify content.

Sample rate is the number of sound samples per second. For Red Book CD Audio, it is 44,100sps or 44.1ksps. Most of the music on Spotify will be at this sample rate.

Red Book CD Audio has 16 bits per sample, hence 44,100 x 16 = approx. 1400kbps. The 320kbps of MP3 is quite severely compressed (and that's the best that MP3 has to offer) but will be uncompressed by your player and sent as 44.1ksps/16bit to the DAC.

 

[Redyellowone]

You might be confusing bitrate and sample rate.

'320' is a number usually associated with bitrate. 320kbps is one of the bitrates available using MP3 compression which would be typical for Spotify content.

Sample rate is the number of sound samples per second. For Red Book CD Audio, it is 44,100sps or 44.1ksps. Most of the music on Spotify will be at this sample rate.

Red Book CD Audio has 16 bits per sample, hence 44,100 x 16 = approx. 1400kbps. The 320kbps of MP3 is quite severely compressed (and that's the best that MP3 has to offer) but will be uncompressed by your player and sent as 44.1ksps/16bit to the DAC.

I was absolutely confusing the two. Thanks for the patient explanation, it's very much appreciated. I'm now both relieved the device is working fine and much more educated with regard to bitrate & sample rate. Thanks so much from a very appreciative newbie!

 

[vonbonds]

I was absolutely confusing the two. Thanks for the patient explanation, it's very much appreciated. I'm now both relieved the device is working fine and much more educated with regard to bitrate & sample rate. Thanks so much from a very appreciative newbie!

Do you think the difference is audible between Tidal and Spotify? I really like Spotify and am hesitant to change but I would consider it if it’s genuinely worth it.