[Poganin]

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.

Some people claim they can hear a difference. I couldn't, so I stayed with Spotify.

 

[vonbonds]

Some people claim they can hear a difference. I couldn't, so I stayed with Spotify.

That’s what I figured I’d have happen as well. I mostly listen to 60s & 70s Rock/Classic Rock so I know MQA compatibly is irrelevant for my preferred music.

 

[Taz777]

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.

It all depends on your audio chain and your hearing.

 

[iFi audio]

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.

I'm sorry to hear that this happened to you. Quite a few hip-dacs were sold since the release (a lot, actually), but your case is the first I'm aware of that included this type of damage. Clearly something bad had to happen to a battery inside your device, and we'd like to know more if possible. I'll contact you via PM, and big apologies.

Some people claim they can hear a difference.

Yup, some people do.

Have you reached out to their support yet?

That's what I'd suggest

 

[chickentender]

I also wanted to share something that I found that is causing me to return mine:

Question: The user manual says USB or battery power, but it only uses battery power?

Answer: We apologise for any inconvenience caused but the Hip Dac always runs off battery power.

http://support.ifi-audio.com/kb/faq.php?id=1035

I purchased this to be a combination portable/desktop unit for my tablet but if it is unable to run bus-powered *as marketed* then I have no use for it. That’s a pretty sizable difference to me, and not something I feel that Ifi should have swept halfway under the rug.

I hear you, however we were vocal multiple times about this mistake in our manual. And yes, our hip-dac does run off battery power

I'm sorry to dredge this from a couple months back, but I was just perusing this thread in it's entirety to familiarize myself a bit more. I'd skimmed it a couple times and this morning I placed an order for the Hip Dac... I've been considering options to replace a combo desktop-mobile rig for a while and my understanding, even in the past week reflected jestercow's above. In fact there is even a specific product Q&A section post on the Amazon page for the hip-dac that poses this question implicitly and that question received four responses to the affirmative saying that charging whilst operating was indeed possible, with the top response incidentally coming from iFi (seller).

This messaging needs to get sorted out, perhaps beginning with adjusting the answer to that Q&A on Amazon.
https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B0842W67F1/

For my part, this is an issue because I thought it met my needs and I now discover (by sheer luck of cruising Head-Fi post-purchase) that's not the case and I'm back to the drawing board with Hip Dac already enroute. Respectfully, this is an irritating "discovery" I've made tonight.

 

[Redyellowone]

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.

Planning to do some back to back listening on the weekend, I'll post any thoughts on this afterwards. I will say I too really like Spotify so for now I've just taken one of Tidal's seemingly very frequent intro offers - for me it was "$4 for 3 months of their highest plan with access to MQA" options for now.

That’s what I figured I’d have happen as well. I mostly listen to 60s & 70s Rock/Classic Rock so I know MQA compatibly is irrelevant for my preferred music.

There seems to be some "remastering" efforts of major artists back-catalogues to MQA based on me looking at Tidal? I definitely don't know about it to know if that's a genuine improvement or "badge-engineering" though.

 

[zolom]

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.

I had both for a while. Chose Tidal hifi for its supreme sound quality.
Streaming bit perfect via S10 and PC, Usb Audio Player Pro, Audirvana.
Tried both with: Chord Mojo, iFi Hip DAC, es100, Qudelix 5K, Dragonfly Cobalt, Beyerdynamics T5p, FH7, and SE846.

 

[disastermouse]

Yeah, I reached out to support.

Two days later, nothing. As expected.

 

[disastermouse]

I should keep a running tally of my experience with iFi's ticket and warranty system. If the experience isn't frustrating and exhausting, I'm completely willing to change my mind about them. I had a powerful reaction because the unit continued to overheat even after I unplugged it, which scared me. I've read too many stories about exploding phones, maybe.

Now that I'm calmer, I'm much less likely to overreact.

 

[iFi audio]

For my part, this is an issue because I thought it met my needs and I now discover (by sheer luck of cruising Head-Fi post-purchase) that's not the case and I'm back to the drawing board with Hip Dac already enroute. Respectfully, this is an irritating "discovery" I've made tonight.

It can charge and run at the same time, yes

Now that I'm calmer, I'm much less likely to overreact.

It's all good. As far as I'm aware, we don't have a single battery incident in our record that would result in it blowing up, but I understand that many people would see significant overheating as potentially dangerous.

As I wrote in my PM to you, we'll get this sorted

 

[chickentender]

Can it charge and play at the same time or that is not possible?

Nope. Once its battery is drained, it has to be recharged.

It can charge and run at the same time, yes

I'm clearly missing something or misunderstanding something - if that's case my apologies. Can you elaborate for a moment on the above (from page 17)?
Cheers.

 

[iFi audio]

I'm clearly missing something or misunderstanding something - if that's case my apologies. Can you elaborate for a moment on the above (from page 17)?
Cheers.

Your confusion is understandable. When I replied that hip-dac can't charge&play, I apprently didn't have my coffee that day

I probably thought that someone asked whether hip-dac can charge&play from just one socket as it is with micro iDSD BL, and it can't.

But if both hip-dac's USB ports are connected, then it can do both things you asked.

 

[chickentender]

Your confusion is understandable. When I replied that hip-dac can't charge&play, I apprently didn't have my coffee that day

I probably thought that someone asked whether hip-dac can charge&play from just one socket as it is with micro iDSD BL, and it can't.

But if both hip-dac's USB ports are connected, then it can do both things you asked.

Thanks for that clarification. One data bus port, one power bus port as I understood.
So that's a huge relief --- I can return to eagerly awaiting the arrival of mine.

 

[iFi audio]

Thanks for that clarification. One data bus port, one power bus port as I understood.
So that's a huge relief --- I can return to eagerly awaiting the arrival of mine.

Sure, anytime!

 

[Rogod]

I've been though the exact same process: First thinking this was the ideal desktop + OTG combo solution, only to realise the original manual was inaccurate.

Since discussing on this forum I've successfully charged while listening. No notable change in noise floor with the charger plugged in (hd6xxs). This has led me to keep the unit as I was considering returning and getting the ZEN dac.

Note. I can only do this with a phone charger plugged in. The USB 3.1 (gen 1) ports on my laptop do not deliver enough power for it to charge while listening. I. e. It drains faster than it goes in.