HIDIZS S8 USB-C Headphone Adapter Review

[Palex]

Hidizs S8 - DSD 256 doesn't support.

 

[ZolaIII]

Hidizs S8 - DSD 256 doesn't support.

Try with something else, primarily with HiBy app on iOS/Android & yes it's Sonata all right.

 

[tifune]

anyway for me all four are bad products; Meizus lacking volume control and TempoTec's having to big volume steps, neither of them having proper drivers or suport.

I think I've seen you mention this in other threads? Just curious, what do you recommend in the dongle/highly portable space? In my room I replaced my Benchmark DAC2 with a 9038S, can't even tell the difference, and with these low cost dongles I don't mind buying a few to experiment with.

 

[ZolaIII]

I think I've seen you mention this in other threads? Just curious, what do you recommend in the dongle/highly portable space? In my room I replaced my Benchmark DAC2 with a 9038S, can't even tell the difference, and with these low cost dongles I don't mind buying a few to experiment with.

Well you can try the TempoTec Sonata iDSD regarding me, it's not a dongle nor ultra portable as it's a size of smaller smartphone from the past. It's a ES9018K2M + Sabre9601k combo. I wouldn't exactly recommend it's bigger full balanced brother Sonata iDSD Plus thanks to various production defects (which are supposedly resolved but then again). They have separate USB power input lines and LiPo batteries while volume steps are deacent (could still be to big with very efficient lo impedance EMI's 16 Ohm's or less). First one is ideal for 32~40 Ohm's EMI's while Plus goes twice that much with balanced line & 40~64 Ohm's will unbalanced. They actually can drive most cans with higher impedance than I mentioned (64,128 Ohm's) but that's what is optimal to be driven with them. On the down side the USB cables for mobile use aren't exactly great. I can recommend their (TempoTec) Serenade iDSD as a desktop part that's not very hard to transport which will sound rather polite & can drive big can's (up to 200~250 Ohm's) while it's not bad either for EMI's. It's AK4490 DAC and JRC45580dd should be OP amplifier but it's expandable anyway. It has analogue volume control, and cetera. Also like it's design as it can also be used as headphone stand. But now it's not exactly the best time for buying those, they had discounted prices for Chinese new year and will probably have it again for spring festival & besides you have to take into consideration & current epidemiology situation for anything made or shipped from China or at least rub & scrub it when it arrives with some disinfectant.

Best regards.

 

[tifune]

Well you can try the TempoTec Sonata iDSD regarding me, it's not a dongle nor ultra portable as it's a size of smaller smartphone from the past. It's a ES9018K2M + Sabre9601k combo.

I can recommend their (TempoTec) Serenade iDSD as a desktop part that's not very hard to transport which will sound rather polite & can drive big can's (up to 200~250 Ohm's) while it's not bad either for EMI's. It's AK4490 DAC and JRC45580dd should be OP amplifier but it's expandable anyway.
Best regards.

Thanks! Sorry, I should've been more specific, I typically use these devices on-the-go (biking, lifting weights, etc) so the Serenade wouldn't work. The Sonata could work, but in the past I had an Oppo HA2 and it was really inconvenient. That's what fascinates me about these little "thumb drive" dongles - what cost me $1700 3 years ago (DAC2) now costs $90 shipped halfway across the world and I don't even notice they're in my pocket! Do you have any favorites in that format?

 

[ZolaIII]

Thanks! Sorry, I should've been more specific, I typically use these devices on-the-go (biking, lifting weights, etc) so the Serenade wouldn't work. The Sonata could work, but in the past I had an Oppo HA2 and it was really inconvenient. That's what fascinates me about these little "thumb drive" dongles - what cost me $1700 3 years ago (DAC2) now costs $90 shipped halfway across the world and I don't even notice they're in my pocket! Do you have any favorites in that format?

I have Sonata iDSD and while it's not exactly elegant solution (as it's the size of Nokia N808) but I am pretty much satisfied with it (on the go at least) tend to use it over the DSD line as much as I can. It first in the most pockets (including inter jacket one & top shirt one) combined with smartphone but you will notice it all right. Currently I use those "magic" synthetic tapes to stick it up to the phone (it works & looks better than ribbons while not interfering with display of the phone). Worst down side of Sonata is that you will have to buy a decent USB C cable for it (that is if you already don't have one, I ended buying Shanling L2). Unfortunately no i don't really know any dongle alike tiny one which I could truly recommend. That's why it whose so much fuss around hire about Meizus & S8/Sonata HD Pro in the first place as they ware close to that (at least measured performance wise) but they lack a lot in other fronts. It seems cutting corners won't ever get us there so it needs separate autended power in USB line or separate power line & battery (which ain't gonna ever fit in tiny dongle design but it's cheaper than proper pured power line in).

Edit:
@tifune in your case I would consider a nice mid range DAP for your typical use case at least & in that category not much thing's beat Shanling M2X for now (at least not to my knowledge). For me as I insisted on real time converting of everything on the go to DSD, DAP's are a no go (as even flagship new ones don't have enough CPU power for that task).

P's what I can recommend you is perfect earbuds (at least for me) for workouts and casual listening on the go. The Creative Aurvana Air & if you like them try to snatch them on discount I bought mine almost two years ago on Amazon prime day for 45£.
Best regards.

 

[cryptout]

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.

 

[Milesian]

I prefer hard adapters to usb cables, especially attaching to my ultrarendu. I’ve one coming from ebay but this arrived quicker from Amazon and works a charm With the S8. Meant as a multiformat card reader but has connectivity end to end.

 

[tifune]

Edit:
@tifune in your case I would consider a nice mid range DAP for your typical use case at least & in that category not much thing's beat Shanling M2X for now (at least not to my knowledge). For me as I insisted on real time converting of everything on the go to DSD, DAP's are a no go (as even flagship new ones don't have enough CPU power for that task).

P's what I can recommend you is perfect earbuds (at least for me) for workouts and casual listening on the go. The Creative Aurvana Air & if you like them try to snatch them on discount I bought mine almost two years ago on Amazon prime day for 45£.
Best regards.

Thank you!!! I'll check into all that

 

[SljivovitzDino]

Noob question on the S8.

Given the specs state microphone is supported (with the right S8 firmware uploaded) - does that mean if I use my in-ear 1More buds, I can answer calls and use the buttons as per standard Adroid functionality (skip, pause, answer calls, etc.)? How do the physical volume buttons on the S8 work with the ones one the in-ear buds?

(https://usa.1more.com/products/1more-quad-driver-in-ear-headphones)

Thanks!

 

[Milesian]

Definitely seems to be a problem trying to play this through a raspberry-pi set up, even attaching headphones first as suggested. Cannot get it recognized by any ROON bridge software, such as Ropieee, Dietpi or Volumio. Oddly, it works fine plugged into a Sonore Ultrarendu, and an ipad. First time I’ve ever had an issue with a usb dac on a Pi.

 

[The Lazy Geek]

I recently tried using the Apple Lightning to 3.5 mm adapter with my iPhone Xr with these changes:
- Airplane mode (but Wifi On)
- Disabled Face ID, Location, Vibration, Motion, Ringer, Tape to Wake
- Low Power Mode selected

I can hear some difference in the sound. Sounds less bright. Can @amirm or @IVX or someone else please measure whether such changes on phones lead to measurable differences with dongles like the Apple one, Hidizs S8 and Meizu Pro which are sensitive to noise on USB. These dongles are meant to be connected to phones and hence, we need more measurements under those conditions. Please, please !

 

[cryptout]

Update, after a bit more than a week of using the s8 on a daily basis. I'm liking it more and more. I use it in the metro to work with my Tin HiFi IEM's and also with my Macbook and HD600s at home. It's super clean sounding (no hiss), easy to use and my HD600s get plenty of power. It kinda makes me wonder if seperate amps are needed at all these days. One "weird" thing though, I've tried a few shorter usb to micro usb cables I had laying around, but only the one that comes with the s8 works. The other cables won't let it show up on my mac.

 

[vitalii427]

I recently tried using the Apple Lightning to 3.5 mm adapter with my iPhone Xr with these changes:
- Airplane mode (but Wifi On)
- Disabled Face ID, Location, Vibration, Motion, Ringer, Tape to Wake
- Low Power Mode selected

I can hear some difference in the sound. Sounds less bright. Can @amirm or @IVX or someone else please measure whether such changes on phones lead to measurable differences with dongles like the Apple one, Hidizs S8 and Meizu Pro which are sensitive to noise on USB. These dongles are meant to be connected to phones and hence, we need more measurements under those conditions. Please, please !

Quick test for you:


HIDIZS S8 - iPhone 11 - LTE_on/WiFi_on/BT_on/Fullpower/Screen_on - 35 Ohm load - Full volume - 0.977 Vrms

HIDIZS S8 - iPhone 11 - Airplane/WiFi_off/BT_off/Lowpower/Screen_off - 35 Ohm load - Full volume - 0.977 Vrms

EDIT:
Run to run variations:
Noise +/- 0.3 dB
THD +/- 0.1 dB

Conclusion: I see no difference at all

EDIT2:
measured with RME ADI-2 Pro Fs
+4 dBFS Ref Level

 

[sejarzo]

One "weird" thing though, I've tried a few shorter usb to micro usb cables I had laying around, but only the one that comes with the s8 works. The other cables won't let it show up on my mac.

That is odd. I can use any of my USB A to micro B cables and A-to-A extenders with the Tempotec version on Win 10 and there are no issues.

I previously posted that it seemed picky about being plugged into a USB3.0 hub or with one of my cables, but I then discovered that the external power to that hub had been inadvertently disconnected. Now it seems to be totally agnostic as to both cable and port.

 

[cryptout]

I'm afraid this was a user error on my side. Apparently the S8 only shows up on a Mac when you plug a pair of headphones in. The other cables also work.

 

[DarrylG]

I'm afraid this was a user error on my side. Apparently the S8 only shows up on a Mac when you plug a pair of headphones in. The other cables also work.

That seems to be the case no matter which OS it's used with. From the Hidizs website:

Please note: you have to plug-in the headphone into the S8 first, then connect S8 to the audio devices, otherwise the S8 cannot be recognized by audio devices.

 

[sejarzo]

That seems to be the case no matter which OS it's used with. From the Hidizs website:

Please note: you have to plug-in the headphone into the S8 first, then connect S8 to the audio devices, otherwise the S8 cannot be recognized by audio devices.

I discovered something odd about the Tempotec when I have used it to feed a couple different headamps and an AV receiver. I have connected it to the USB ports on my Win10 PC or notebook with a 3.5mm to dual RCA cable connected to the Tempotec 3.5mm jack, before the RCAs are connected to the headamp or receiver. Even with no load connected to the RCAs, the Tempotec is immediately recognized. However, if nothing is inserted in the 3.5mm jack, it is not recognized.

I thought that the requirement to connect a headphone to the output before the input is connected to a USB port might have to do with sensing the impedance presented by the load before the unit fully powers up and establishes a connection over USB. However, that's obviously not the case.

 

[chi2]

Puzzling. Sounds like a mechanical switch. While its purpose may exactly be the one you have stated (allowing the adaptation of the dac to the connected phones' impedance) it may be easier/cheaper/whatever this way than doing it properly in software.

 

[Jimbob54]

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

Read a post on here somewhere (Think on Meizu review thread) enable USB debugging in dev options. Member had same reboot issue on an Android device.