[Bazaar]

And I think you have to have it plugged in (AC power) before you turn it on...I do it occasionally, although I also run it down to about 20% and then recharge...supposed to be better for lithium-ion batteries.

 

[chickentender]

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.

I assume it drastically slows the discharge if power is connected to USB? On the whole, a wall-connected charger isn't a problem in my case, but there will certainly be instances (I go on show-sites occasionally for hours with limited AC drops) where dual-bus'ing it will be needed.

 

[iFi audio]

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.

This background noise might be audible in case of higly sensitive IEMs, but regular cans are all good!

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.

Yes, that's correct, hip-dac has to get more power than it uses

 

[chickentender]

Mine arrived today. I've been thoroughly enjoying it all day and getting to know how/where it fits with my other equipment/music.
Ten hours of listening with a few breaks. (Nice day off.)
Entirely musical in it's delivery... I would say a fair number of time I was thinking something to myself that I have very, very rarely thought: "this is a little too dark sounding".
An odd thing because I lean heavily that direction. It wasn't enough to make me dislike much of anything about the sound it's delivering (my K712 Pros love it).
Then, about 45 minutes ago I installed FW 3.5c....... and everything changed for the extreme better. Just a the smallest additional separation and upper sparkle transformed it's sound for me completely. And now I'm afraid I'm going to stay up far, far too late.

 

[Sanjay Jos]

Will Hip DAC be able to power and receive data, if connected to a usb bluetooth dongle/receiver.? I believe a USB Type-A female to Type A female cable can be used to connect both the devices.

The USB Bluetooth Receiver (sample link below) will only need a tiny bit of charge from Hip DAC to power itself and pair with mobile phone.

https://www.amazon.in/Wireless-Blue...d-search-10&pf_rd_t=BROWSE&pf_rd_i=1375429031

 

[technobear]

Will Hip DAC be able to power and receive data, if connected to a usb bluetooth dongle/receiver.? I believe a USB Type-A female to Type A female cable can be used to connect both the devices.

The USB Bluetooth Receiver (sample link below) will only need a tiny bit of charge from Hip DAC to power itself and pair with mobile phone.

https://www.amazon.in/Wireless-Blue...d-search-10&pf_rd_t=BROWSE&pf_rd_i=1375429031

No. Hip-DAC is a client, not a host.

 

[iFi audio]

No. Hip-DAC is a client, not a host.

Correct!

 

[nosauce]

It's possible indeed, however it's advised to not charge and listen at the same time.

Why? Can you please elaborate? What happens if we charge and listen at the same time? Will it damage the headphone, Hip Dac, phone, or computer? Is it bad for the battery?

If we want to use it while we're on the computer and then take it with us on the go seems like the most sensible thing to do (charge and use at the same time). Also if we want to use it with our computer for longer periods of time.

 

[nosauce]

So, based on what I read. The Hip Dac can charge and operate (convert, amplify, and output signal) at the same time IF and only if the USB-C charging port is provided with sufficient power. A USB port from a dock or computer will not suffice.
1. It must be plugged into a wall socket via a charger (not provided)?
2. How much power is necessary to charge and operate at the same time. Amps? Volts?

3. We can do this, but we shouldn't be doing this?

And I think you have to have it plugged in (AC power) before you turn it on...I do it occasionally, although I also run it down to about 20% and then recharge...supposed to be better for lithium-ion batteries.

There's something going on with the settings when plugging in the device before or after turning on the device. Can someone please clarify? It says this in the following review:

" In addition to the battery, the hip-dac can be powered directly from the USB port on a computer. The manual recommends using battery power with iOS and Android devices, which don’t have enough juice to power the unit. To use USB power, connect the hip-dac to the source first, then turn on its power; to use battery power, turn it on before connecting it to the source device. "

https://www.techhive.com/article/3534718/ifi-hip-dac-review.html#:~:text=The iFi hip-dac is smaller than most smartphones%2C,which might be the inspiration for its name.

4. Is the first sentence outright wrong? Is the rest of the statement true adjusting for a situation where both USB ports for the Hip Dac is "plugged in" (usb-c wall socket using charger, and usb-a male to your or phone)?

5. So if I have the Hip Dac already plugged into the phone with the power off, if I then turn on the device and start listening to music then the device will drain the phone's battery by trying to charge itself? So EVERY TIME I use the Hip Dac with my phone I must disconnect it from my phone, turn on the power, then reconnect it to my phone? (in order to ensure that the Hip Dac uses its own battery and doesn't drain my phone?)

6. Where is this manual that the review refers to? I got a very short manual with my Hip Dac, on the iFi website the same short manual is posted.

 

[chickentender]

There's something going on with the settings when plugging in the device before or after turning on the device. Can someone please clarify? It says this in the following review:

" In addition to the battery, the hip-dac can be powered directly from the USB port on a computer. The manual recommends using battery power with iOS and Android devices, which don’t have enough juice to power the unit. To use USB power, connect the hip-dac to the source first, then turn on its power; to use battery power, turn it on before connecting it to the source device. "

This is the portion of info floating about that initially confused me at first as well, and is also the portion that has been addressed/clarified by iFI. This is not possible with the Hip-Dac. It was possible with several iFi products that proceeded it, but the Hip-Dac cannot run off of bus-supplied power via the data port, not in any way. So, yes, that portion of that review is incorrect. As to the rest of your post, you can run the Hip-Dac whilst a USB power source is connected to the charing port simultaneous (which obviously precludes smartphones, etc, unless a wall adapter is nearby). I have ran the Hip-Dac connected to lower amperage sources, including a 2nd PC USB output.... I have not ran any tests but can anecdotally say that I think the power drains far more slowly.
Additional clarification from iFi about all things charge and power related would be grand. Would love to see a comprehensive outline on this topic as opposed to the short answers given so far in this thread (and nowhere else that I'm aware of), just so there is a one-stop definitive answer here... Or, if it exists elsewhere, a sticky link would be great as well.
Two big questions remain here:
1. How much power does Hip_Dac require to be fed and adequate (even if slowly) charge the battery whilst operating at full power?
2. Is this not advised for some reason alluded to earlier? If so, what is that reason??

Cheers.

 

[nosauce]

For desktop use that would be our ZEN DAC.

Does the Zen Dac sound exactly the same as the Hip Dac?

 

[nosauce]

...By my understanding, the three (Zen, Hip, Nano) have the same level of sound quality and similar power output. The Hip's sound is reportedly too warm for certain headphones such as the Massdrop HD 6XX. Do the Zen and Nano sound noticeably cooler? Will the Zen, being a larger unit, theoretically have better sound quality? The Nano can play an charge at the same time, or bypass the battery. The Hip relies on the battery full time. Is one way better than the other? Nano doesn't have balanced out, but many people report they can't hear the difference. Nano doesn't have the bass boost button, which I don't think I will miss. But it is older and doesn't have the new filter in Firmware 5.3c, which seems to be real disadvantage.

*Bump* These are all questions that I have as I contemplate my decision.

 

[nosauce]

If I plug and play Hip Dac to my computer I get to choose 32bit, 384kHz in the sound control panel (Windows 10). After I install iFi (by AMR) HD USB Audio Driver 3.20.exe I can only choose up to 32bit, 182 (highest one I can choose). Anyone experiencing this? How may I remedy this. The iFi software has the option to change buffer size and it tells which firmware version is installed. So, I would like to keep it installed. But if I uninstall it, I can choose up to 32bit 384kHz

 

[nosauce]

This is the portion of info floating about that initially confused me at first as well, and is also the portion that has been addressed/clarified by iFI. This is not possible with the Hip-Dac. It was possible with several iFi products that proceeded it, but the Hip-Dac cannot run off of bus-supplied power via the data port, not in any way. So, yes, that portion of that review is incorrect. As to the rest of your post, you can run the Hip-Dac whilst a USB power source is connected to the charing port simultaneous (which obviously precludes smartphones, etc, unless a wall adapter is nearby). I have ran the Hip-Dac connected to lower amperage sources, including a 2nd PC USB output.... I have not ran any tests but can anecdotally say that I think the power drains far more slowly.
Additional clarification from iFi about all things charge and power related would be grand. Would love to see a comprehensive outline on this topic as opposed to the short answers given so far in this thread (and nowhere else that I'm aware of), just so there is a one-stop definitive answer here... Or, if it exists elsewhere, a sticky link would be great as well.
Two big questions remain here:
1. How much power does Hip_Dac require to be fed and adequate (even if slowly) charge the battery whilst operating at full power?
2. Is this not advised for some reason alluded to earlier? If so, what is that reason??

Cheers.

Thank you for the clarification! I cannot agree with you more that iFi should further clarify the charging as it is a huge decision factor. There's false information being spread in review sites and a definitive clarification should be made by iFi.

I would like to add and reiterate that the following question should also be clarified: Is there a way to preferentially choose where the device draws power from when it's being used (battery vs usb c charging port). I've read in 2 different places that if you plug in the charging cable before turning on the device that it will preferentially draw power from the charging cable, and not the battery. This would be ideal when using it for long periods of time with your computer.

Is the data usb port (A male) capable of drawing power (draining the batter) from your phone?

 

[technobear]

Thank you for the clarification! I cannot agree with you more that iFi should further clarify the charging as it is a huge decision factor. There's false information being spread in review sites and a definitive clarification should be made by iFi.

I would like to add and reiterate that the following question should also be clarified: Is there a way to preferentially choose where the device draws power from when it's being used (battery vs usb c charging port). I've read in 2 different places that if you plug in the charging cable before turning on the device that it will preferentially draw power from the charging cable, and not the battery. This would be ideal when using it for long periods of time with your computer.

Is the data usb port (A male) capable of drawing power (draining the batter) from your phone?

This topic has been addressed many times already in this very thread. You did read it, right?