[Sebastien Chiu]

See above, post 674...talking about revisions, not originating from me or distributor! The poster indicated significant differences between his original and replacement, hence my question.

Thanks for the clarification. I double-checked with that post in mind with the team again.

 

[jsamuelson]

Thanks for the clarification. I double-checked with that post in mind with the team again.

Thanks Seb, assume you're the same person posting on Reddit too?

Just FYI I ordered my HipDac and the guys said that there was Rev1.6 on the back of the box!

 

[Sebastien Chiu]

Thanks Seb, assume you're the same person posting on Reddit too?

Just FYI I ordered my HipDac and the guys said that there was Rev1.6 on the back of the box!

Yes that's mainly me!

 

[judmarc]

Just posting to say I got this as a gift from my brother who knows I've been an audiophile for 50+ years, and I'm really enjoying it. Using it with IEMs and balanced cable and it sounds great.

 

[Sebastien Chiu]

Come join iFi audio on our newly soft-launched Discord server!

Here’s an invite link, let me know if you need a new one: iFi audio

Let me know if you have any questions or suggestions, and drop an introduction once you join!

Thanks,

-Seb

 

[Sebastien Chiu]

Just posting to say I got this as a gift from my brother who knows I've been an audiophile for 50+ years, and I'm really enjoying it. Using it with IEMs and balanced cable and it sounds great.

So glad you are loving it! Give our thanks to your brother for buying it for you!

 

[Deltaflash]

New to the Hip DAC but no matter what I do, I can't get it to turn from Green to any other colour. I've used it on PC, several Android phones and iPhone and iPad Pro. I mostly use Qobus and also AM. I've downloaded large sample files to see if I could get it to change from the green light using AIMP player. On Android, I've tried using USBPP too but still nothing. I'm loving the sound on my Sundaras and would be happy with just CD quality but the green is bugging me now and I just want to know is my Hip DAC faulty?

 

[cybergalaxy]

Is the sound quality supposed to be better with PowerMatch turned off?
I have a sony Z7M2, the volume is loud enough for me without PowerMatch on so I am wondering if I should just turn PowerMatch off even though it is a headphone which I am connecting to. Thanks!

 

[Sebastien Chiu]

New to the Hip DAC but no matter what I do, I can't get it to turn from Green to any other colour. I've used it on PC, several Android phones and iPhone and iPad Pro. I mostly use Qobus and also AM. I've downloaded large sample files to see if I could get it to change from the green light using AIMP player. On Android, I've tried using USBPP too but still nothing. I'm loving the sound on my Sundaras and would be happy with just CD quality but the green is bugging me now and I just want to know is my Hip DAC faulty?

Hi mate,

We are aware of this issue and are working on it. Doing research on our end but I currently don't have any more updates than that.

Is the sound quality supposed to be better with PowerMatch turned off?
I have a sony Z7M2, the volume is loud enough for me without PowerMatch on so I am wondering if I should just turn PowerMatch off even though it is a headphone which I am connecting to. Thanks!

No, it is not better or worse with power match on or off.

If the volume is loud enough for you, leave it off!

 

[cybergalaxy]

Hi mate,

We are aware of this issue and are working on it. Doing research on our end but I currently don't have any more updates than that.



No, it is not better or worse with power match on or off.

If the volume is loud enough for you, leave it off!

Thanks. If powermatch is off, I need to turn it to about 60%, if powermatch is on, I need to turn it to about 30% for the right level of loudness for me. Which one should have the better sound? I am very nice to DAC/Hifi etc so wanted to make sure I am doing the right things here.

 

[Sebastien Chiu]

Thanks. If powermatch is off, I need to turn it to about 60%, if powermatch is on, I need to turn it to about 30% for the right level of loudness for me. Which one should have the better sound? I am very nice to DAC/Hifi etc so wanted to make sure I am doing the right things here.

Again, powermatch does not affect the sound quality. It only affects the volume.

You are doing the right thing, no need to worry!

 

[cybergalaxy]

Again, powermatch does not affect the sound quality. It only affects the volume.

You are doing the right thing, no need to worry!

Sorry to keep drilling on this. I have been reading online for the last hour and most people say if the volume is the same, choose the low gain setting (because lower noise) in the Amp, which I assume is to turn off PowerMatch.

As such, it seems strange to say the PowerMatch doesn't affect sound quality.

A few people also say for some amp the higher gain may actually have better sound because of the design of the Gain. So would be great if Ifi can provide a clearer explanation on how PowerMatch is actually implemented.

Nonetheless, I am loving this. And I just hope the above will give me more confidence to pursuade others to join the camp!

 

[Sebastien Chiu]

Sorry to keep drilling on this. I have been reading online for the last hour and most people say if the volume is the same, choose the low gain setting (because lower noise) in the Amp, which I assume is to turn off PowerMatch.

As such, it seems strange to say the PowerMatch doesn't affect sound quality.

A few people also say for some amp the higher gain may actually have better sound because of the design of the Gain. So would be great if Ifi can provide a clearer explanation on how PowerMatch is actually implemented.

Nonetheless, I am loving this. And I just hope the above will give me more confidence to pursuade others to join the camp!

Our word for word explanation: This button cycles through an amplifier’s gain and the higher its setting in dB is, the louder sound level will be the result.

Again, it does not affect sound quality. There is a difference between sound 'quality' and sound 'level'.

If you think it does, it's likely in your head due to some factor related to headroom or loudness, in general, playing tricks on your brain to thinks such.

 

[cybergalaxy]

Pls ignore

 

[srkbear]

I just checked with our team and we aren't aware of any hardware revisions/1.2 units of the hip-dac.

Can you double-check with your distributor on what they meant?

Sebastien, I’m definitely confused on this, because per the iFi-audio website there are undoubtably two very different hardware versions of the Hip-Dac.

When attempting to download Hip-Dac firmware, you are promoted to enter one of two lots of serial numbers—beginning with either 54010 or 54040. When entering 54010xxxxx you are offered the old 5.x Limoncello, Cookies and Cream and GTO options from 2018. Alternatively, when entering 54040xxxxx, you are offered five recent 7.x firmware versions released in 2021—and attempts to flash the 7.x firmware versions on a 54010xxxxx device do not work.

So I am very curious about the poster above who observed louder volumes on his replacement Hip-Dac. And I’d really appreciate some clarity on the differences between the 5.x and 7.x firmware releases—especially because the 5.x firmwares haven’t been refreshed in almost four years, and the 7.x firmwares were just updated a couple of months ago (!). Thanks!