HIDIZS S8 USB-C Headphone Adapter Review

[Veri]

I think the unbalanced has been available for a little while now... I see it on Linsoul and Aliexpress as "9038S gen 3" ...
https://e1dashz.wixsite.com/index/9038s

S is Symmetric version. Balanced.

 

[Kanonengedonner]

Definitely contact them; their support is actually quite good.

Actually they didn't answer ...it has been 3 days.

 

[OpiateSkittles]

Actually they didn't answer ...it has been 3 days.

That's a shame. They got back to me very quickly when I had an issue with a Sonata S3.

 

[AlterEcho]

I received my Tempotec Sonata HD Pro a couple of days ago. It took Ali 6 weeks to get it to me (amazed I got it at all, considering Covid and the like). Great price for what it is ($49.68 U.S). First problem: Plugged into a Google Pixel 4XL, if you pause Spotify for a few minutes, resume will result in no sound. When this happens, re-pause Spotify, shut down Spotify (completely) unplug. At that point, video goes into slow motion (user video and YouTube) with no sound. Only a reboot will solve the problem.
I am hoping that finding a real music player will help solve this issue (at the least, help in diagnosing the issue).

Any suggestions for a proper hidef Android software (Pixel 4XL) music player (with local streaming)? Paid or free, not an issue.

-=AE=-

 

[RedCometZero]

I received my Tempotec Sonata HD Pro a couple of days ago. It took Ali 6 weeks to get it to me (amazed I got it at all, considering Covid and the like). Great price for what it is ($49.68 U.S). First problem: Plugged into a Google Pixel 4XL, if you pause Spotify for a few minutes, resume will result in no sound. When this happens, re-pause Spotify, shut down Spotify (completely) unplug. At that point, video goes into slow motion (user video and YouTube) with no sound. Only a reboot will solve the problem.
I am hoping that finding a real music player will help solve this issue (at the least, help in diagnosing the issue).

Any suggestions for a proper hidef Android software (Pixel 4XL) music player (with local streaming)? Paid or free, not an issue.

-=AE=-

Mine shipped on April 20th, and I still haven't gotten it. As far as Android music player, Neutron has the most features.

 

[AlterEcho]

Mine shipped on April 20th, and I still haven't gotten it. As far as Android music player, Neutron has the most features.

Mine was shipped on April 8th. Hopefully, that will give you an idea on how long.
Thanks for the software suggestion. I am downloading it now.

-=AE=-

 

[OpiateSkittles]

Mine was shipped on April 8th. Hopefully, that will give you an idea on how long.
Thanks for the software suggestion. I am downloading it now.

-=AE=-

Neutron is feature-rich but has a terrible UI. Personally, I find UAPP to be much more tolerable, and you can use it to stream Tidal/Qobuz as well.

 

[Zarniwoop]

Hiby player great too, it's free and has the amazing MSEB equaliser.

 

[ZgSTar]

HIDISZ S8 appeared on Amazon.it recently and because I am still waiting for my 9038s to be delivered (stuck at customs for a month now...) I bought it to see if I could make it through summer with it. The first impression was horrible, voices sounded off... dynamic range seemed very reduced. This is when I realised how sensitive this dongle is to usb noise, I was using it on a laptop while charging it. The best results I got are with an Android phone with UAPP however I am not fully satisfied with it. With a pair of Ananda I have enough power to drive them to very loud volumes and it sounds good... however not great. I then tested it on a Allo USBridge Sig and... finally I got the result I was expecting from the measures we've all seen. Needless to say that this is not my intended use so I will be returning it and potentially buy a sonata pro which is half the price or even a meizu just to have something on the go to pair with my Etymotic er2xr. To me it was too good to be true... and indeed it wasnt entirely true!

 

[Jimbob54]

HIDISZ S8 appeared on Amazon.it recently and because I am still waiting for my 9038s to be delivered (stuck at customs for a month now...) I bought it to see if I could make it through summer with it. The first impression was horrible, voices sounded off... dynamic range seemed very reduced. This is when I realised how sensitive this dongle is to usb noise, I was using it on a laptop while charging it. The best results I got are with an Android phone with UAPP however I am not fully satisfied with it. With a pair of Ananda I have enough power to drive them to very loud volumes and it sounds good... however not great. I then tested it on a Allo USBridge Sig and... finally I got the result I was expecting from the measures we've all seen. Needless to say that this is not my intended use so I will be returning it and potentially buy a sonata pro which is half the price or even a meizu just to have something on the go to pair with my Etymotic er2xr. To me it was too good to be true... and indeed it wasnt entirely true!

The Sonata HD pro is identical internals to the S8. Or do you mean a different device?

I can recommend the Meizu Hifi Pro- £30 or so from the Meizu Aliexpress store.

 

[Zarniwoop]

The only worry I'd have with the Meizus is once the cable goes that's it.

 

[Jimbob54]

The only worry I'd have with the Meizus is once the cable goes that's it.

Pretty rugged- as with everything, treat well and you're fine. Not that much different than if the usb socket goes on the Hidisz . No issues with mine with months of use. But yes, snag the cable / pet chews it etc, its a point of failure for sure.

 

[ZgSTar]

The Sonata HD pro is identical internals to the S8. Or do you mean a different device?

I can recommend the Meizu Hifi Pro- £30 or so from the Meizu Aliexpress store.

I mean the Sonata HD Pro indeed but it's half the price compared to the Hidisz on Amazon (120e!). I might indeed try the Meizu instead or simply wait a bit longer for my 9038s or order one on Audiophonics who has it available in Europe.

 

[brandall10]

Picked up a Sonata HD Pro from Amazon about a month back - if you're in the US you can get it shipped 1 day w/ Prime for $40.

Running from my Macbook Pro w/ Roon, to my KSE1200s (Harman corrected EQ, slightly modified) I can't believe my ears. This is amongst the best rigs I've ever heard, and I've been to a couple LA canjams and various smaller regional meets, so I've heard plenty of $10k+ rigs.

 

[Veri]

Picked up a Sonata HD Pro from Amazon about a month back - if you're in the US you can get it shipped 1 day w/ Prime for $40.

Running from my Macbook Pro w/ Roon, to my KSE1200s (Harman corrected EQ, slightly modified) I can't believe my ears. This is amongst the best rigs I've ever heard, and I've been to a couple LA canjams and various smaller regional meets, so I've heard plenty of $10k+ rigs.

That's high praise but yes I agree

 

[Zarniwoop]

It's currently $26/£21 on taobao.com. Anyone ever used this site?

https://item.taobao.com/item.htm?spm=a1z09.2.0.0.6c192e8dpxUAmY&id=606258425485&_u=2208p2u1f04acb

BTW, love the description... "Rhythm Tank/Sonata HDPRO Real Hard Solution"

 

[brandall10]

That's high praise but yes I agree

Let's be real here... this thing slaughters *any* hifi DAC that's more than five years old. We all owe Amirm a debt of gratitude as the existence of this site put everyone on high notice of how to properly measure audio equipment. Once you know what to measure and how to engineer to get a specific measurement, then we get the benefit of economies of scale - the DAC chips themselves hit a high water mark not too long ago, so it's all up to the implementations around them to not screw that up. I did the ODAC/O2 taste test about a decade ago and was not convinced it sounded all that great. This here is different.

The fact that this $40 DAC (or $26 through taobao!) + a $100 JDS Atom is pretty much like the 99 percentile is insane. For headphones themselves, we're still not anywhere near that pricepoint and they're responsible for perhaps 80% of the sound, but it's nice that the rest of the chain can cost near nothing to get summit-fi performance. The general rule of thumb on head-fi was to break spending into 1/3s... so for a $1500 headphone, get a $1500 DAC and a $1500 amp. That's just wasteful now, and often times for the things at those pricepoints, suboptimal performance compared to things like these that are 3 orders of magnitude cheaper. I say this as someone who rocked a $5k setup circa 2005-2008 on my desk at work. The tube amp I used (a Woo Audio 6-SE maxxed) weighed over 20 lbs alone. Heck the rectifier tube I ran in that amp cost 8x as much as this DAC.

 

[seamon]

E1DA 9038S > Nextdrive Spectra X > HIDIZS S8 = Meizu Hifi Pro

 

[Jimbob54]

E1DA 9038S > Nextdrive Spectra X > HIDIZS S8 = Meizu Hifi Pro

Based on what criteria , or personal experience ?

 

[seamon]

Based on what criteria , or personal experience ?

Sound Quality and Transparency.