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HIDIZS S8 USB-C Headphone Adapter Review

Zarniwoop

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I have a mysterious driverless device called "iAP Interface" now, any suggestions?

There's a guy posting youtube videos about this DAC, and he has provided a solution to the iAP Interface problem: you need to install a separate driver for it. Worked for me. The download is in the comments section, all in Spanish so you'll need to translate. Or below is the link on google drive for the driver he provided. After installing, the "iAP Interface" disappears from device manager and "SONATA-HD Device Control" appears in USB controllers.


https://drive.google.com/file/d/1btcry9mfvAoEhCtfnU3ganW9tZcqyrac/view
 
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elnan14

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TLDR; Works, happy with it, but have a mysterious driverless device called "iAP Interface" now, any suggestions?

To get rid of that message, you have to install the driver located under the section "Sonada HD" (yes, without the "PRO" at the end). I used the "Setup.exe" installer inside the zip file, btw.

Drivers link:
http://www.tempotec.com.cn/en/3-Support/index.htm

Direct link to the "Sonata HD" driver:
http://www.tempotec.com.cn/download/SONATA_HD_DRIVER.zip
 

User52

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There's a guy posting youtube videos about this DAC, and he has provided a solution to the iAP Interface problem: you need to install a separate driver for it. Worked for me. The download is in the comments section, all in Spanish so you'll need to translate. Or below is the link on google drive for the driver he provided. After installing, the "iAP Interface" disappears from device manager and "SONATA-HD Device Control" appears in USB controllers.


https://drive.google.com/file/d/1btcry9mfvAoEhCtfnU3ganW9tZcqyrac/view


To get rid of that message, you have to install the driver located under the section "Sonada HD" (yes, without the "PRO" at the end). I used the "Setup.exe" installer inside the zip file, btw.

Drivers link:
http://www.tempotec.com.cn/en/3-Support/index.htm

Direct link to the "Sonata HD" driver:
http://www.tempotec.com.cn/download/SONATA_HD_DRIVER.zip


Thank you both, installing the Sonata HD driver fixed the issue. Really liking this dongle so far, especially for the price of $40.
 

userchiken

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I have installed tempotec driver and firmware 1.0 for sonata hd pro but the click is still there. Any suggestions? The clicks start appearing after weeks of use.
 

Charles_b

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how often was your dropped out?

After installing the hd driver, it is still giving random drop outs, but seems like less often, but still very randomly. maybe once or twice a few mins or so..

Hello,

Ive not long received my Hidizs S8 DAC. It works fine for me on my android phone, however, when connected to my laptop, I was also having random dropouts so I googled the fault and found this forum post.
I think I solved the problem for me at least-I simpy connected the DAC to a different USB port (note: my windows 10 laptop has USB C outputs).
The difference between the two usb-c ports?-the one which works flawlessly with the DAC has an "SS" and the USB symbol printed next to it-I had no idea what this meant so I had to google it! (https://www.majorgeeks.com/content/page/what_is_an_ss_usb_port.html) SS refers to superspeed-a transfer rate of 5 GB/second (wow, thats fast!).
Perhalps the Hidizs S8 has a minimum recommended USB speed?
Hope that helps,

Charles
 

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Killingbeans

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The difference between the two usb-c ports?

Is the other port the one with the lightning symbol next to it? It's only a guess, but I would assume that port is meant for power delivery. Like for charging a smartphone and whatnot. Maybe it only has the USB 2.0 data pins connected. Shouldn't be a problem for audio though. Perhaps the Hidizs S8 is designed to make use of a full set of USB 3.X pins for some other reason than data transfer.

On a side note, I'm thinking about getting this dongle and use it as a dedicated DAC connected to a Topping L30 and a pair of Genelec G Threes. Would be nice to avoid RCA jumpers :)
 
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raistlin65

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Anyone know offhand at what impedance the S8 switches over to high gain?

I often suggest the Sonata HD Pro over on Reddit, and I realized it would be good to warn people with low impedance, lower sensitivity headphones that they should first plug in an extension.
 

Jimbob54

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Anyone know offhand at what impedance the S8 switches over to high gain?

I often suggest the Sonata HD Pro over on Reddit, and I realized it would be good to warn people with low impedance, lower sensitivity headphones that they should first plug in an extension.
Anyone know offhand at what impedance the S8 switches over to high gain?

I often suggest the Sonata HD Pro over on Reddit, and I realized it would be good to warn people with low impedance, lower sensitivity headphones that they should first plug in an extension.

Good question. Not sure how you'd find out if not specced. It's got to be at one of the common levels. Let's assume 250/300 are definitely "high", 32 is "low". What are the beyer versions? 32, 80, 250 and 600?
 

raistlin65

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Good question. Not sure how you'd find out if not specced. It's got to be at one of the common levels. Let's assume 250/300 are definitely "high", 32 is "low". What are the beyer versions? 32, 80, 250 and 600?

With my Focal Elear, which have a nominal impedance rating of 80 ohms, they do go into low gain mode without first plugging in an extension cable.
 

madugo

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That's not the unbalanced version. In fact, that's the one I own. It has some differences and improvements from gen 1 and 2, but it is still a balanced device.

The unbalanced version, which is still in the works, will be called the 9038D.

Did you also get the hidizs s8 or the tempotec? If so do you like the E1DA better? is your fdx1 running on balanced cable? which cable?

Thanks.
 

charleski

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I haven't seen any mention so far of the filter this thing uses. Since I got my TempoTec a couple of days ago (6 days from AliX!) I thought I'd do some crude tests. These are recorded into Audition using the very basic ADC on my motherboard running at 192kHz.

44.1kHz white noise:
View attachment 77127
Looks like there's a nice sharp cutoff at fs/2. I have no idea what's going on with the hump around 26kHz, which may be an artifact of my motherboard's sound input, so I wouldn't worry about it unless someone measures the same thing with better equipment.

1kHz square wave (fs 44.1kHz):
View attachment 77126
Unfortunately it looks like it's using a minimum-phase filter rather than a linear version, which is disappointing. But I can't hear any difference between minimum and linear phase as long as they're sharp-cutoff, so it's not a big deal.

My DAC has the firmware it came with, which I assume is v1.0, since it exhibits the same problems on Android that have been described previously. Since I'm using it hanging off an old MacBookPro I'm not in a big rush to reflash it to the new version.
On looking through the data sheet posted previously, it seems that they’re actually using the slow filter here, and that would explain the hump seen at 26kHz.
Slow filter cutoff from datasheet:
6C53F454-22D3-4073-B8E3-4D435BE4A9D8.jpeg
Fast filter:
347F1F8D-0A55-4445-ADD1-8C949295FF84.jpeg
Obviously the fast filter would be preferable (the difference in in-band ringing is microscopic), but it still provides 100dB attenuation in the stop-band, which is respectable.

For ultimate performance, however, it would be nice if TempoTec released a firmware with the proper fast linear filter engaged.
 

vcalvarese

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Has anyone had issues connecting the TempoTec HD Pro to an iPhone? It was working great for me for a couple weeks and now won’t connect to the phone. It is working on my PC though via usb.
 

User52

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Has anyone had issues connecting the TempoTec HD Pro to an iPhone? It was working great for me for a couple weeks and now won’t connect to the phone. It is working on my PC though via usb.

Could it be an issue with your lightning connector adapter then? Have you tried using another one if you have one?
 

vcalvarese

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Possibly. I don’t have another lightening to micro usb cable laying around unfortunately. In fact, I ordered a spare from TempoTec right before the device stopped working. Can’t say that I’m excited about a cable only lasting 2 weeks under minimal strain. A bit disappointing considering I did enjoy the sound and device quite a bit before it just stopped working.
 

RedCometZero

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For ultimate performance, however, it would be nice if TempoTec released a firmware with the proper fast linear filter engaged.
Agreed, I feel I will eventually replace this with the e1da 9038D when it's released, just to get a linear phase filter.
 

jameswilson

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DosThou

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For anybody that's wants to know, the tempotec works great with the s20. I'm using neutron player. For those who want to charge and listen to music at the same time. Make sure you buy a dongle that mentions it works with digital headphones. NOT ANOLOG.

Again anyone with access to taobao here's a link. It's confirmed working with external dacs:
https://m.intl.taobao.com/detail/de...507&spm=a21202.11768517.tborderdetaiitem_1.i0

Again make sure you get the one that says "support digital headphones"

Supports quick charge too so that's a bonus.
Hi thanks for this, found a local seller with the exact same model, need to plug them in specific order (dac and charger first before plugging the splitter in the phone) but otherwise it's working perfectly and no hiss or anything.

Can't believe we still don't have a phone with dual USB C ports...
 

somy

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Can this thing a good match of hd660s which is more efficient than hd650?
 

somy

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Yeah, as long as device powering it can do maximum output, this will drive a 660.
Thanks, so it needs a laptop for the power (assume iPhone wouldn’t have enough power)?
 
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