[davehutch]

@iFi audio Apologies for asking as I know it has certainly been touched on a few times in this thread, but I wondered if you could confirm if I can use the HipDac in the following way please:

1. Mostly as a desktop unit to replace my current mains-powered amp/dac. Plugged into my Mac (USB-A) and at the same time, plugged into a USB-C charger to prevent me from using the battery whilst at my desk.
2. Secondly, I can take my laptop around the houseetc. and then use the unit just on battery, which should be fully charged as it's been plugged into the USB-C charger.
3. Using it this way, would it be detrimental to the battery health and is the battery replaceable in several years time?

Lastly, completely unconnected but is the HipDac case going to be available to buy separately at some point or is it just for the gift set here in the UK?

Thanks for you help.

 

[iFi audio]

@iFi audio Apologies for asking as I know it has certainly been touched on a few times in this thread, but I wondered if you could confirm if I can use the HipDac in the following way please:

1. Mostly as a desktop unit to replace my current mains-powered amp/dac. Plugged into my Mac (USB-A) and at the same time, plugged into a USB-C charger to prevent me from using the battery whilst at my desk.
2. Secondly, I can take my laptop around the houseetc. and then use the unit just on battery, which should be fully charged as it's been plugged into the USB-C charger.
3. Using it this way, would it be detrimental to the battery health and is the battery replaceable in several years time?

Lastly, completely unconnected but is the HipDac case going to be available to buy separately at some point or is it just for the gift set here in the UK?

Thanks for you help.

1. Although this is possible, your hip-dac might pick up some noise audible on sensitive cans/IEMs and for desktop use we strongly suggest our ZEN DAC, which is a hip-dac... but for dektop
2. hip-dac was designed to constantly use its battery, so as long as your cans demand less than hip-dac receives from your charger, you should be OK.
3. Battery capacity drops in time and that's unavoidable. We do our best to keep spare parts in stock and replace batteries even in our long discontinued products, so the same will be with hip-dac.

At this time I have no info about hi-dac's case outside the gift set in UK.

 

[davehutch]

1. Although this is possible, your hip-dac might pick up some noise audible on sensitive cans/IEMs and for desktop use we strongly suggest our ZEN DAC, which is a hip-dac... but for dektop
2. hip-dac was designed to constantly use its battery, so as long as your cans demand less than hip-dac receives from your charger, you should be OK.
3. Battery capacity drops in time and that's unavoidable. We do our best to keep spare parts in stock and replace batteries even in our long discontinued products, so the same will be with hip-dac.

At this time I have no info about hi-dac's case outside the gift set in UK.

Thanks for all the answers. Much appreciated

 

[iFi audio]

Thanks for all the answers. Much appreciated

Sure, anytime!

 

[Audioecstasy]

Hi Guys,

Just want to share my experience with the Hip Dac and an issue I’ve come across. I use an iPhone 12 Pro Max normally with the Hip Dac to power my Hifiman Sundara and Sony MDR 1AM2 both in balanced Which worked beautifully.
I recently bought a Sony Xperia XA2 (2016) from Music Magpie for about £90 as a cheap android phone instead of my iPhone essentially creating kind of DAP set up instead of being tethered to my main phone. Bear in mind that this was a very high end phone in its day.

I was astonished to find that the volume level had more than halved and sounded very muffled by comparison! I was under the impression that the Hip Dac did all of the leg work when playing audio because going between my MacBook Air, IPad Pro and IPhone there was absolutely no difference in sound quality or volume.

I’m wondering if I have a faulty unit or is this a known thing that the quality of your device has a big influence on the sound the Hip Dac can produce?

Thanks in advance

 

[Mr Vicarious]

Hi Guys,

Just want to share my experience with the Hip Dac and an issue I’ve come across. I use an iPhone 12 Pro Max normally with the Hip Dac to power my Hifiman Sundara and Sony MDR 1AM2 both in balanced Which worked beautifully.
I recently bought a Sony Xperia XA2 (2016) from Music Magpie for about £90 as a cheap android phone instead of my iPhone essentially creating kind of DAP set up instead of being tethered to my main phone. Bear in mind that this was a very high end phone in its day.

I was astonished to find that the volume level had more than halved and sounded very muffled by comparison! I was under the impression that the Hip Dac did all of the leg work when playing audio because going between my MacBook Air, IPad Pro and IPhone there was absolutely no difference in sound quality or volume.

I’m wondering if I have a faulty unit or is this a known thing that the quality of your device has a big influence on the sound the Hip Dac can produce?

Thanks in advance

1. It may be a software issue with the XA2 phone. I recommend getting the USB Audio Pro app which tends to sort out problems with native android audio drivers. Also, do you have the same volume problem when the Hip DAC is connected to a PC?

2. Have you engaged the power match button (on the far left hand side) of the Hip DAC? That changes the gain setting and once turned on, the power output significantly increases.

 

[iFi audio]

Hi Guys,

Just want to share my experience with the Hip Dac and an issue I’ve come across. I use an iPhone 12 Pro Max normally with the Hip Dac to power my Hifiman Sundara and Sony MDR 1AM2 both in balanced Which worked beautifully.
I recently bought a Sony Xperia XA2 (2016) from Music Magpie for about £90 as a cheap android phone instead of my iPhone essentially creating kind of DAP set up instead of being tethered to my main phone. Bear in mind that this was a very high end phone in its day.

I was astonished to find that the volume level had more than halved and sounded very muffled by comparison! I was under the impression that the Hip Dac did all of the leg work when playing audio because going between my MacBook Air, IPad Pro and IPhone there was absolutely no difference in sound quality or volume.

I’m wondering if I have a faulty unit or is this a known thing that the quality of your device has a big influence on the sound the Hip Dac can produce?

Thanks in advance

I'd do what @Mr Vicarious suggested. hip-dac essentially works on what it gets from a transport, so if sound quality plunged after changing your smartphone, I'd take a closer look at what your new device sends out and how. Maybe there's some digital processing going on that impacts digital audio sent out to hip-dac.

 

[Audioecstasy]

1. It may be a software issue with the XA2 phone. I recommend getting the USB Audio Pro app which tends to sort out problems with native android audio drivers. Also, do you have the same volume problem when the Hip DAC is connected to a PC?

2. Have you engaged the power match button (on the far left hand side) of the Hip DAC? That changes the gain setting and once turned on, the power output significantly increases.

I'd do what @Mr Vicarious suggested. hip-dac essentially works on what it gets from a transport, so if sound quality plunged after changing your smartphone, I'd take a closer look at what your new device sends out and how. Maybe there's some digital processing going on that impacts digital audio sent out to hip-dac.

Thanks for the help guys. It’s sorted now. I’ve messed around with the settings and it turns out there was some digital processing settings on that need to be set to off. Also there was a volume limiter set on the device. Setting changes and run like a dream now

 

[iFi audio]

Thanks for the help guys. It’s sorted now. I’ve messed around with the settings and it turns out there was some digital processing settings on that need to be set to off. Also there was a volume limiter set on the device. Setting changes and run like a dream now

Fabulous, enjoy

 

[ckvp]

hip-dac (5.3c GTO filter) + Blessing 2: Dusk sound better than any sub-$500 mobile setup ought to.

 

[iFi audio]

hip-dac (5.3c GTO filter) + Blessing 2: Dusk sound better than any sub-$500 mobile setup ought to.

Thanks! Suffice to say, we're extremely happy how our hip-dac turned out given its price.

 

[doctorstrobe]

Question for iPhone users:

Have the hip dac for about a week now. Is anyone else getting a 1 or 2 second pause in music when doing various things on the phone; switching between apps, typing in this message it paused for a few seconds...

Im using an iPhone XR, lightning camera connect cable and the blue usb cable that cable with the hip dac. Playing music from Spotify or Music app does same thing.

If I put the phone down and just let the music play it’s fine. Have tried different cables, checked various iPhone settings; background refresh, etc. Closed all background apps. Rebooted...

Maybe the phone just doesn’t multitask well and its time for an upgrade.

Thanks

 

[utdeep]

Does the same pause happen when the phone is not connected to the Hip-Dac?

 

[doctorstrobe]

No, I’ve been using it on a laptop for a few hours without problems so it can’t be the hip dac...

 

[Sebastien Chiu]

No, I’ve been using it on a laptop for a few hours without problems so it can’t be the hip dac...

That's very interesting. Can you please keep us posted as you try different solutions if anything works?

It doesn't sound like a hip-dac problem!