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HIDIZS S8 USB-C Headphone Adapter Review

ZolaIII

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@wsdc TempoTec is OEM, other Hidizs are mostly the same thing...
Sonata iDSD Pro = Hidizs HD1000
Sonata HD = Hidizs Sonata I & II.
But there are also differential products for better & worse.
 

Lucco

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In terms of sound quality, is it possible to compare the Hidizs S8 (Tempotec Sonata HD Pro) with the Fiio BTR5 (connected via USB cable)?
*disregarding the difference in price and features
**I have a Kz KSX and a Sennheiser HD 600
 

Asylum Seeker

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In terms of sound quality, is it possible to compare the Hidizs S8 (Tempotec Sonata HD Pro) with the Fiio BTR5 (connected via USB cable)?
*disregarding the difference in price and features
**I have a Kz KSX and a Sennheiser HD 600

Connected via USB cable from battery-powered mobile device.
 

zandm7

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So is it 100% confirmed that the Tempotec Sonata HD Pro and Hidizs S8 are the same product (i.e. perform the same)? Are there any significant feature/performance differences between the two?
 

Veri

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So is it 100% confirmed that the Tempotec Sonata HD Pro and Hidizs S8 are the same product (i.e. perform the same)? Are there any significant feature/performance differences between the two?
iirc there was a teardown earlier in the thread. should be the exact same thing.
 

Jimbob54

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So is it 100% confirmed that the Tempotec Sonata HD Pro and Hidizs S8 are the same product (i.e. perform the same)? Are there any significant feature/performance differences between the two?
Like @Veri said. You are unlikely to ever get any OEM confirming that a product they make for another brand is the same as one they sell directly for half the price. By all means buy both and compare. Or buy the Tempotec and if it meets your expectations, take it on trust that the S8 is no different. If you dont like it, you're out of pocket by half as much ;-)
 

ZolaIII

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So is it 100% confirmed that the Tempotec Sonata HD Pro and Hidizs S8 are the same product (i.e. perform the same)? Are there any significant feature/performance differences between the two?
They are not "the same product", yet they are the same thing. Same PCB with everything identical on it.
 

amanieux

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All three are DAC/Amps and the Meizu in particular has often been described as sounding super narrow.
excuse the newbie question : when there is a dac(cs43131) and an amp (opa1622) what is causing the "super narrow sound" the dac or the amp ? or the combination of both ? do meizu non pro (analog signal straight out of cs43131) have the same soundstage as meizu pro (analog signal coming out of opa1622) ? thanks
 

Veri

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excuse the newbie question : when there is a dac(cs43131) and an amp (opa1622) what is causing the "super narrow sound" the dac or the amp ? or the combination of both ? do meizu non pro (analog signal straight out of cs43131) have the same soundstage as meizu pro (analog signal coming out of opa1622) ? thanks
I have no 'narrow sound' on meizu non pro...
 

ZolaIII

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don't it depends on the iem/headphone power requirements, some require more power even at similar impedance and sensitivity
It depends on lots of things, on DAC Amp side EMI the most on headphones side top & bottom end reproduction.
Data sheet clearly says that the integrated "H" class amp top's 30.8 mV at max voltage to 32 Ohm's load.
 

staticV3

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When used as intended, then it sounds weirdly V-shaped. Two other guys have confirmed this, so it's not just me or my unit.
If you can wait, then get the 9038D once that's out.
 

DosThou

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Nothing V-shaped about this. That's the sound sig of whatever earphones you're using to test, which is a very popular sound sig in the headphone world.

Would this be a reasonable "upgrade" (heh) from a Modi 2?
Should be if you're using an amp. Probably can't power some of the more power-hungry full size without one though.
 

ZolaIII

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I'm not stupid.
& how do you imagine that DAC can be V shaped? If their is DSP inside it actually could but it would be insane to adjust it like that for anyone. Besides DSP's aren't exactly easy to program so OEM's choose either to entity skip their implementation or use what ever vendor provided or simply even disable that. What it can be is lossy in the bottom end & in upper highs which is related to noise it picks up.
 

Zarniwoop

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Ok, I've ordered the TempoTec Sonata HD Pro on the basis of the glowing review of the Hidizs S8 by the OP, and the fact they are fundamentally the same thing. This was before I read the whole thread and noted several people saying the distortion and noise under load are much worse than intially suggested. Have I made a mistake and should have gone for the Meizu Pro/non-Pro?
 

digititus

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When used as intended, then it sounds weirdly V-shaped. Two other guys have confirmed this, so it's not just me or my unit.
If you can wait, then get the 9038D once that's out.
V shaped DAC's? :facepalm: Please show me the frequency response plot of any DAC which shows this so called V-Shape response. A DAC should always measure ruler flat across all frequencies, otherwise it is broken. Transducers on the otherhand can show a "V-shaped" plot, which is then frequently used (mainly by headfiers) to describe the sound signature of certain headphones.
The Tempotec sounds different with different headphones. It doesn't have anything missing in terms of middle frequencies.
 
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Ok, I've ordered the TempoTec Sonata HD Pro on the basis of the glowing review of the Hidizs S8 by the OP, and the fact they are fundamentally the same thing. This was before I read the whole thread and noted several people saying the distortion and noise under load are much worse than intially suggested. Have I made a mistake and should have gone for the Meizu Pro/non-Pro?

Hi here. Ive been cruising this site for a while but never felt the need to chime in on the forum (i do enough of that on reddit and over at head fi). I own the Tempotec Sonata HD Pro and the Meizu Hifi Pro and...

...you made the right choice. They do sound similar (though I'd give the edge to the Sonata in almost all aspects) but the Meizu has one glaring problem that depends on your usage, and could actually be two problems. While it works fine over wifi, over cellular connection it suffers from bad interference that essentially renders it unusable over cellular. I am unsure of whether or not this is the case with all Hifi Pros because (problem number two) their customer service is absolutely non existant. I've sent more than one email about the issue because to send mine back to hifigo would cost nearly as much as I paid for it and, with other equipment, I just use it over wifi where it works right.

Anyway, even taking that out of the mix, I think the Tempotec is the better dongle. It appears more sturdy, has a replaceable cable, and sounds better (somehow, it also gets louder with UAPP than the Meizu, which puzzles me looking at the hardware.) In addition, again, it sounds better to my ears, with more texture and weight to the bass, and a wider stage.

Rest easy friend, you made the right call.
 
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