Hidizs S9 Review (Headphone Adapter)

[Rottmannash]

Why don't you simply ask Amir if he is paid for any of the reviews he does? That would cement it for most of us but probably not you if he said "no".

 

[Nango]

Pls stop putting words in my mouth that I never said. Everything has been said here to. Bye.

 

[Jet Black]

Ohh hold your s9 dongles guys. Relax

 

[Jimbob54]

Pls stop putting words in my mouth that I never said. Everything has been said here to. Bye.

Then please put proper sentences in your own words spelling out your concerns.

What about hidizs posting the review of the s9 on their site concerns you?

 

[BDWoody]

Pls stop putting words in my mouth that I never said. Everything has been said here to. Bye.

How about if you stop making vague accusations without anything to back it up.

That'd be great...

 

[ReinhardS]

Is there an mobile app to change settings like samplingrate and pegel? And is it free?

 

[ZolaIII]

Is there an mobile app to change settings like samplingrate and pegel? And is it free?

Don't know what you ment with pegel? Level of what?
And yes there is a same one they advertise to use with it, HiBy Music.

 

[Jimbob54]

@Jimbob54 please read the thread name, that's only for E1DA devices.

Crikey- I thought this was the 9038D thread. Idiot!

 

[Felippe]

what adapter are you using to connect to the iPhone lightning input? I have a USB-C to Lightening adapter that does not work with this unit and cables (tried both directions)! Frustrating!!

I bought the Hidizs Lightning -> USB-C cable. Works fine.

 

[ctakim]

I bought the Hidizs Lightning -> USB-C cable. Works fine.

I have the official version on order, but the cheap Lighting to USB-C adapter I got on Amazon did not. Lightning adapters can be a bit tricky. I'm worried that this will be an expensive replacement for the $9 Apple dongle. But until it arrives, I won't be able to compare.

 

[lordhumungous]

I have the official version on order, but the cheap Lighting to USB-C adapter I got on Amazon did not. Lightning adapters can be a bit tricky. I'm worried that this will be an expensive replacement for the $9 Apple dongle. But until it arrives, I won't be able to compare.

I find it better than Apple dongle

 

[atmfrank]

Better: "What measures great isn't necessarily perceived as sounding great."

I don't disagree. Perception is in important factor in deciding if a piece of gear is the right choice and ready to be consumed. I have an appreciation of the measuring work being done here. But in the end, accurate measurement reports are one (just one) criteria when selecting gear. The other are the perceptive reports of experienced ears....and cost.

 

[atmfrank]

Actually it does if it measures great it will sound great for its intended purpose. If colored sound is what your after only look more towards tube amps.

Nope. Sorry. You can have great measuring gear with a completely flat soundstage or no imaging. SINAD will not tell you anything about certain important audio properties. How does one measure soundstage levels or imaging capabilities of audio gear? Do we use SINAD for that? Has nothing to do with distortion or tube-amp characteristics.

The Hidizs S9 sounds ....ok... to my ears. And it's not fair to compare to $1,000 DAC implementations. Being on the move, needing to improve the sound of my Apple laptop, I will pug it in without hesitation. But by no means does it sound "better" than my trusted old DF Red. It sounds different. What bother me about all the of these consumer-grade dongle is that they cannot be customized. By and large even the most "accurate measuring" DAC dongle can still be manipulated but things like impulse phase response, the inner working of any DAC. And that is dictated by what the manufacturer decides is the "right" sound. For some it is minimal phase, for the other linear impulse response. Both could measure the same SINAD, but sound differently.

 

[ZolaIII]

@atmfrank gone fly fishing did you?
Every electronic component has it's purpose. DAC's purposes is to be transparent, linear without introducing anything what whosent there. If it fails to do that or do it badly then it doesn't serve its purpose and it's called broken. You do want a transparent DAC as that's one less thing to worry about. DSP or general purpose core's are used for processing and adding effects. There are reassempling filters where you can adopt response to what ever you want it to look (on OSX, Windows...), legacy pletorija of VTS plugin's to play with and make it sound as ever you wish (and when you wish it) in controlled manner. What ever you add in will degrade SINAD and that's why it's important that it's high in the first place so that it has room to put up with deliberately or by error circumstantial added distortion (IMD).
Imagining and sound stage are nothing else than separation or cross talk. You have a lot to learn! I suggest you start with watching video about understanding measurements (you really need it).

 

[Bullwinkle J Moose]

I think it's something to do with the usb-c

For those of you who had a stuttering and audio dropout problem with the S9 >

USB-C is Fine!
Hardware is Fine, but this is the problem....

Hidizs S9 Works fine on USB3 ports in a fresh install of Windows 10 without any MS updates
HOWEVER,.....Hidizs S9 does not work on USB3 ports in Windows 10 after downloading the MS updates

Works Fine on any USB3 port Windows 8.1 that has not had MS updates but stops working once you get Microsoft updates

The easy fix >
It runs fine on any USB2 port whether or not you have Microsoft updates (on any driver supported version of Windows) and only stutters on USB3 ports

The same problem exists in Linux Mint (works on USB2 ports but not USB3)

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Not sure if this was answered or not, but YES, it works great with the Hifiman Sundara

If you need a warmer sound than the neutral Sundara gives you, try an EQ cut at the right freq

If you need a wider soundstage, you can get plugins to adjust phase differential or reduce the mono content or use delay + EQ or a zillion other tweaks if you give it enough thought and get whatever sound staging you want

You can bend a great pair of headphones with a flat/neutral response into whatever sound you want, but you cannot bend distorted, non-linear garbage headphones into the pristine flat/neutral sound you should have started with

 

[jannek]

The easy fix using USB 2 ports only works if there are any. After firmware update the complicated way everything is fine with USB 3.x / usb-c.

 

[BDWoody]

How does one measure soundstage levels or imaging capabilities of audio gear?

Those aren't really part of the electronics, but more about your source material, your room and your speakers.

With electronics, you've got frequency, amplitude and phase. That's it. If output matches original input, there is nothing left for it to do. Has nothing to do with price.

 

[grauskala]

How does the S9 compare to the Luxury & Precision W1 in terms of driving inefficient cans?
I mean the S9 has higher voltage for both single-ended and balanced, so...

 

[atmfrank]

@atmfrank gone fly fishing did you?

Imagining and sound stage are nothing else than separation or cross talk. You have a lot to learn! I suggest you start with watching video about understanding measurements (you really need it).

I happen to like fly fishing and that comment made me smile. Your next comments are condescending and make me tune out.

What makes you think that I haven't watched the measurement videos? Are you the only person understanding the subject matter? Have you studied acoustical engineering and understand the science behind it?

Living in a bubble is never a good thing...and it sounds terrible.

 

[ZolaIII]

@atmfrank sure thing, bubble bobble.

I think you need to watch those again.