HIDIZS S8 USB-C Headphone Adapter Review

[Asylum Seeker]

The AliExpress store gives a nice discount. I managed to send an order for around USD65 including shipping to Singapore

The Tempotec analogue is USD44 on Tokopedia in Indonesia with immediate shipping. Singapore's just across the Strait.

 

[Asylum Seeker]

Despite the very good numbers on SINAD if I wanted to question the duration of the battery on the mobile phone ..... how long will it last draining the dongle at 2V voltage even with efficient IEM .... 45 minutes with headphones, 2-3 hrs with an IEM I guess?? .... At the end, the real use of this dongle (dongles in general) is at least questionable.

Valid question but one that progressively is being made moot by the increasingly big batteries and chargers on smartphones. None of my two mobile Android devices have batteries smaller than 5,000mAh or charge slower than 15W. A Samsung A71 with a 4,500mAh battery and 25W charger will set you back $445. A Realms X2 Pro with a 4,000mAh battery and 50W charger will set you back about $500.

The other perspective is that with a big battery phone these tiny battery-less DAC/Amps make sense because instead of having to charge two devices--the phone and the DAC/Amp--one only has to charge the phone which, with a big watt charger, will charge up quickly.

 

[Nango]

Or Veclan's for 10$: https://www.veclan.com/engappliance_sel?eng_ApplianceLabelVo.eal_id=7

 

[vitalii427]

Or Veclan's for 10$: https://www.veclan.com/engappliance_sel?eng_ApplianceLabelVo.eal_id=7

Why not Apple USB-C for $9?

 

[typericey]

Usage update: My Galaxy Note 10 reboots when I disconnect the Hidizs S8. Happened twice already. Will observe some more and report back.

Usage update 2: seems this does not happen when I disconnect the headphones from the Hidizs before pulling out the USB cable from the phone.

 

[typericey]

I've received my Hidizs S8 a few days ago. My subjective thoughts are that it sounds great . But to be honest it's pretty close to my Apple dongle DAC and more inconvenient to attach to my iphone.

I agree that the Hidizs S8 is not the most convenient, especially when moving about. It's fine when sitting in a cafe or at the office hooked to a laptop.

For android users who want a dongle, perhaps the Meizu Pro is a better option. Based on Amir's measurements Hidizs S8 > Meizu Pro but in terms of convenience while on the move Meizu Pro > Hidizs S8. For this reason I'm thinking of getting a Meizu Pro too and maybe do some subjective comparisons.

 

[Irwanayob07]

How's the power consumption like on this thing?

Edit: Nvm. Found it.

 

[JohnYang1997]

I agree that the Hidizs S8 is not the most convenient, especially when moving about. It's fine when sitting in a cafe or at the office hooked to a laptop.

For android users who want a dongle, perhaps the Meizu Pro is a better option. Based on Amir's measurements Hidizs S8 > Meizu Pro but in terms of convenience while on the move Meizu Pro > Hidizs S8. For this reason I'm thinking of getting a Meizu Pro too and maybe do some subjective comparisons.

Meizu pro will measure much better if you run with phones. Lower noise and lower distortion.

 

[cryptout]

Meizu pro will measure much better if you run with phones. Lower noise and lower distortion.

Got some measurements to back that up?

 

[JohnYang1997]

Got some measurements to back that up?

Go to Meizu pro's thread. Or I'll link a few here.
My measurements: https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...ne-dongle-dac-review.10423/page-4#post-291942
There seem to be something wrong with this unit namely the jitter.
Another source: He tested both pro and non-pro versions
https://zhuanlan.zhihu.com/p/94991395

 

[cryptout]

106db vs 113db of the S8? I don't get how this is better

 

[JohnYang1997]

106db vs 113db of the S8? I don't get how this is better

Go to the other source. He measured 0.000159% thd+n which is 116db of sinad. The jitter in ny measurement is counted as noise. The distortion harmonics are -130db vs -120db here.

 

[JohnYang1997]

Also in the original post I didn't mean Meizu pro is much better than s8 but much better than Amir's dashboard which got a lot of noise in. Even though Meizu pro should measure better.

 

[cryptout]

Also in the original post I didn't mean Meizu pro is much better than s8 but much better than Amir's dashboard which got a lot of noise in. Even though Meizu pro should measure better.

Thanks for explaining that. I do like the form factor of the the Meizu much better for mobile use so I might pick one up soon. I have the S8 connected to my laptop now pretty much all the time so it can stay there.

 

[ZolaIII]

Go to Meizu pro's thread. Or I'll link a few here.
My measurements: https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...ne-dongle-dac-review.10423/page-4#post-291942
There seem to be something wrong with this unit namely the jitter.
Another source: He tested both pro and non-pro versions
https://zhuanlan.zhihu.com/p/94991395

Somehow each & every CS43131 design so far is suffering from USB power supply issues (that includes S8/Sonata HD Pro as well). Me by best example for digging out more & getting to the bottom of this is Creative Sound BlasterX G6. OPA1622 ain't all that great apm.
Best regards.

 

[JohnYang1997]

Somehow each & every CS43131 design so far is suffering from USB power supply issues (that includes S8/Sonata HD Pro as well). Me by best example for digging out more & getting to the bottom of this is Creative Sound BlasterX G6. OPA1622 ain't all that great apm.
Best regards.

This form factor doesn't allow extensive power supply filtering or regulations. I'm seeing that s8 does have better rejection as Amir's measurements shown. For the size opa1622/INA1620 is probably the best implementation for performance. For larger devices depending on the design needs some still like using these chips and much better performance can be achieved using different designs. I just bought another new Meizu pro it's working quite well (previous one is supplied by my friend).

 

[ZolaIII]

This form factor doesn't allow extensive power supply filtering or regulations. I'm seeing that s8 does have better rejection as Amir's measurements shown. For the size opa1622/INA1620 is probably the best implementation for performance. For larger devices depending on the design needs some still like using these chips and much better performance can be achieved using different designs. I just bought another new Meizu pro it's working quite well (previous one is supplied by my friend).

The Sabre9601K is better all do it has weaker output power. I already told every CS43131 design so far suffers from it. Sound BlasterX G6 is interesting for examination as it has toslink input & same CS DAC.
https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...w-and-measurements-of-sound-blasterx-g6.7016/

 

[Asylum Seeker]

Is that objectionable noise coming from the computer's USB port? Can we assume that a battery operated device will be less noisy?

 

[JohnYang1997]

Is that objectionable noise coming from the computer's USB port? Can we assume that a battery operated device will be less noisy?

I think so. I have never measured any excessive noise with battery power devices, including laptop running on battery. Oh one exception is when the usb port is connected with some other devices as well which may pollute the power supply or gnd.

 

[ZolaIII]

Is that objectionable noise coming from the computer's USB port? Can we assume that a battery operated device will be less noisy?

Yes but those won't be a dongle sized.