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HIDIZS S8 USB-C Headphone Adapter Review

DarrylG

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Based on this review, I just got one of these S8 dongles. I'm surprised at the quality, this is a little gem. Very happy to have all the extra cables around.

I'm not surprised to hear that there are many re-branded clones of the same device going around. There are also a lot of USB video capture dongles on Amazon and elsewhere, some companies are buying them, stamping their names on them, and then marking them up incredibly high.
I don't know what the relationship between Hidizs and Tempotec is, but they do seem to have one.
 

Tokyo_John

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I’ve listened on a few other headphones and sources to compare, it is coming across a tad bright-sounding on some. My Ultrasone 8’s are V-shaped and definitely brighter with this dongle. I don’t know if this has to do with a roll-off filter that is less aggressive than others I’m more accustomed to...could be so. Still the bass is tight and the over all sound quality is good. I consider this to be a very good value for what it is and what it costs.

I don't know what the relationship between Hidizs and Tempotec is, but they do seem to have one.

Yes the video capture dongles were produced very cheap by some generic components manufacturer in China, and then others were buying them up and either selling them again wholesale and/or retail. They could be found for as cheap as $10 on Amazon, or over $100 when re-branded and sold by companies such as Atomos (a YouTuber sniffed this out). The details and chain of transactions in this business are a bit murky.
 

notabenem

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Can anyone please give a heads up as of the microphone support on the Hidizs S8? Will it work with my headphone with a 3.5 TRRS connector? Do answering calls/volume buttons work with Android?
 

Tokyo_John

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Can anyone please give a heads up as of the microphone support on the Hidizs S8? Will it work with my headphone with a 3.5 TRRS connector? Do answering calls/volume buttons work with Android?

As far as I can tell, this is just a 2-channel stereo headphone out.
 

Jimbob54

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Thanks for the info. Is there anything quality/price wise comparable that would also support a mic?
The meizu hifi Pro did. It's been superseded by the hifi (non pro) that I don't think does but others may correct me. Some apparently have still found the pro on some sites. It has the fabric connecting cable rather than the plastic of the non pro.

EDIT- see post below, Zarniwoop is correct- the hifi (non pro) supports mic in https://www.meizu.com/en/accessory/hifi.html
 
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Zarniwoop

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notabenem

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If the majority of the USB dongles are just a DAC (and not ADC), what do ppl use to connect their existing wired headsets?
 

DavidS

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I’ve got an S8 which worked well with an old nexus phone as a transport. The phone broke and I’ve replaced it with a Redmi Note 9T and running a similar configuration with UAPP. However my S8 doesn’t give any sound out, even though the DAC is initialised by UAPP. An S9 and E9038D work as expected.

I’ve turned USB debugging on after enabling developer mode. I’ve tried with and without an adaptor to ‘trick’ to high gain mode. I’ve tried different headphones. I’ve tested with different cables, tried a second S8 and also a Sonato HD Pro which also fail to work. Suggestions very welcome please.

Oh and the S8 continues to work fine with an iPhone.
David
 

Jimbob54

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If the majority of the USB dongles are just a DAC (and not ADC), what do ppl use to connect their existing wired headsets?
Whatever came with the phone
 

Sieniek

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Hello everyone,

I have just bought and received my HIDIZS S8 and I have tested it already but before I will let you know what do I think about it I will explain why I was into the dac market looking after new portable dac.

In the past I’ve had many different dedicated audio players, smartphones and phones (do anyone remember Siemens SL45i ? ) with an extra portable dac and amp. In short from what I remember it was SL45i, Sony Ericsson Walkman, Samsung Galaxy S2 with very good Woodson DAC, Galaxy S3, Galaxy S4 and S5 (all the Galaxy phones been rooted with some extra modifications for audio, Ibasso DX80 with optical, Fiio X3, sansa clip with modifications, Chord Hugo, Fiio E12, Fiio A5 and an amazing LG V30. I believe there are many other which I just do not remember. Anyway, my last and current which I was using as a portable player was my LG V30 with its amazing quad dac. I was using LG as a player together with Fiio A5 as an portable amplifier and it was beautiful and powerful sounding experience which I was in love till audio jack on LG V30 got broken

After reading Amir reviews I have decided to buy HIDIZS S8 as an portable dac and plugged it to my LG V30. Firstly I have checked how it can play sound “just” as an LG V30 + HIDIZS S8 combo and with this combination I was already very impressed but of course I was very curious on how good the performance will be after I will add an dedicated amplifier - Fiio A5.
Already been very impressed with my LG V30 quad DAC and Fiio A5 combo but what I have heard from this little gem - HIDIZS S8 is out of this world. The sound which I have now from LG V30 + Fiio A5 + HIDIZS S8 is the most analog and the closest to the real sound I have ever had. It is very precise, clean, powerful and dynamic. Seriously I have never heard anything better than this on headphones.

Thank you Amir for your review. Without your great work I would never decide to buy anything like HIDIZS S8 - this little beauty is a real beast. Hands down the best portable dac I have ever had. It looks like it is even better than my minidsp SHD in my main system and now after couple of hours of listening today I can understand why it is better.
 

martin900

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I have the Tempotec Sonata HD PRO repack of the HIDIZS S8 and cannot recommend it. Whilst it's a significant improvement over the stock output of my Galaxy S10 and is able to drive DT990 600 and HD650's to satisfactory levels, the clicking is driving me nuts! It just makes random pops/clicks no matter what.
For the first 2 days it worked just fine with Roon on my S10 and then the nightmare started...it pops randomly, not just on switching tracks.

It's acting weird, like it stops clicking when it has to drive a big HP but clicks when in line-out.
 
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urfaust

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I have the Tempotec Sonata HD PRO repack of the HIDIZS S8 and cannot recommend it. Whilst it's a significant improvement over the stock output of my Galaxy S10 and is able to drive DT990 600 and HD650's to satisfactory levels, the clicking is driving me nuts! It just makes random pops/clicks no matter what.
For the first 2 days it worked just fine with Roon on my S10 and then the nightmare started...it pops randomly, not just on switching tracks.

It's acting weird, like it stops clicking when it has to drive a big HP but clicks when in line-out.
Yes it's a nightmare, very frustrating especially as i think it sounds amazing otherwise. Im wondering if anybody has the same issue with the Hidizs because it's the same hardware apparently, but the software might be different.
 

raistlin65

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I have the Tempotec Sonata HD PRO repack of the HIDIZS S8 and cannot recommend it. Whilst it's a significant improvement over the stock output of my Galaxy S10 and is able to drive DT990 600 and HD650's to satisfactory levels, the clicking is driving me nuts! It just makes random pops/clicks no matter what.
For the first 2 days it worked just fine with Roon on my S10 and then the nightmare started...it pops randomly, not just on switching tracks.

It's acting weird, like it stops clicking when it has to drive a big HP but clicks when in line-out.

Sounds like you have a bad unit. I've been using one first with an S9+, and now with and S21+, no problems.

I would suggest exchanging it.
 

Sieniek

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Sorry to hear guys some of you have problems with Sonata, I would say that a better choice would be the Hidizs S8 anyway as the SINAD is better in the end. At least for me the SINAD and Amir review was the most important factor when I was choosing this dac.

I can only say that after couple of days of using it the hype didn’t go away. The sound is outstanding but to truly let shine this dac and check how capable it is you need a proper amplifier like Fiio A5 or JDS Labs Atom.
 

chi2

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I appreciate the S8 for its sound quality, adequate output power, and low current draw (50mA compared to 140mA (!) of the S9 when streaming content from Spotify or Tidal). There is one issue however, that I don't like at all: Under iOS, the S8 does autostart streaming in Spotify as soon as the app is started (or the app is running and the S8 is attached). No other of my dongles does that and it doesn't happen in other streaming or player apps. Moreover, it only happens under iOS. No such problem on my Samnsung S10 5G. Hidizs support meant that nothing could be done about it. They don't plan any firmware revision.

Has anyone else encountered that problem and/or knows a solution? It's not nice to be greeted by a >100dB signal on a sensitive in-ear when before an insensitive full size headphone was attached. (I only remember reducing the level beforehand nine out of ten times ;).)
 

Matias

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Hi, sorry for the noob question but how do I play something using ASIO output? I have the same problem as the person you responded to.
What software player are you using? Usually they have ASIO output option.
 

ironnie25

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What software player are you using? Usually, they have an ASIO output option.
Got it to work! I'm using Foobar 2000. I have another noob question, is it possible to use ASIO output for the whole of windows and not individual players? If yes, is there any benefit to it?
 
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