Partially related to the current topic a fellow audiophile has confirmed that the smart adaptive function (via CS43131's auto-impedance detection) of the
ddHiFi TC44B can be defeated via the "headphone adapter trick" forcing it into high-gain mode. I am waiting to physically-personally see this myself and will report back once I confirm it.
The mentioned trick is similar to that used on the
Meizu HiFi DAC HeadAMP / PRO and
Sonata HD Pro (also using Cirrus Logic's CS43131 DAC chip) as follows:
- Firstly. plug the adapter into the output jack of the device
- Secondly, plug the device into phone/pc (at which point device will recognize as if headphones are plugged in and switch to high-gain mode)
- Thirdly, plug headphones into the adapter
The device "sees" the empty adapter as
∞ (infinity) impedance and therefore "activates" high-gain/high-impedance mode.
Foolishly, I had thought the incorporation of two (2) CS43131 DAC chips meant that each output path, 2.5TRRS Balanced and 4.4 TRRS Balanced, had their own dedicated DAC chip. The "Balanced" part had slipped out of my equation completely. LOL! Therefore using a DAC chip per channel the sum of the paths of each chip would surely result in 120mW total output power as mentioned.