Hidizs S9 Review (Headphone Adapter)

[18000rpm]

Hi!

Could you kindly advice:

The device seems to be working and turn on green light, but:

1. Unable to find on Mac outputs.
2. Doesn't work with iPhone and otg cable.

Thank you.

1. It works fine for me on Mac. Just plug it in and it works, and can change sample rate in Audio MIDI Setup.
2. I tried a lightning to USB-C cable and it didn't work for me either. But it was a very basic cheap cable.

 

[JamesYeomans]

1. It works fine for me on Mac. Just plug it in and it works, and can change sample rate in Audio MIDI Setup.
2. I tried a lightning to USB-C cable and it didn't work for me either. But it was a very basic cheap cable.

The Apple Camera kit is needed to connect this to a device with a Lightning port. That works for me

 

[LongKick64]

Hello. I have a question. I bought a DAC Hidizs S9 Pro. I have Windows 11. I know that on this OS, the driver can not be installed, but for the sake of experiment, I still downloaded (link) it from the official Hidizs website and installed it. After listening to the dac with and without a driver for some time, I heard a big difference in sound and would like to understand what this difference is due to. This difference is audible even if you watch videos on YouTube. It seems that when the driver is installed, the bass becomes punchier and more detailed, and when not installed, the bass is a little blurred. It also seems that everything sounds clearer and more transparent when the driver is installed. I asked this question directly to Hidizs, but they could not answer me anything intelligible. Maybe you can explain to me why installing the driver on Windows 11 changes the sound of the dac so much. Thank you in advance.

 

[Booker]

Has anyone upgraded from AQ DragonFly Red, and heard a noticeable difference in sound?
I can sell the DragonFly for a higher price than the cost of the S9 Pro.

 

[Wicky]

Has anyone upgraded from AQ DragonFly Red, and heard a noticeable difference in sound?
I can sell the DragonFly for a higher price than the cost of the S9 Pro.

I've got the S9 which I can recommend but not compared to the Red. However, measurements from ASR for DragonFly Red are here
S9 has much more power and scores better on SINAD etc...

 

[Spocko]

Has anyone upgraded from AQ DragonFly Red, and heard a noticeable difference in sound?
I can sell the DragonFly for a higher price than the cost of the S9 Pro.

the additional power of the S9 Pro allows you to enjoy hard to drive headphones like the DCA Aeon 2

 

[JanesJr1]

the additional power of the S9 Pro allows you to enjoy hard to drive headphones like the DCA Aeon 2

Agree. The Red I tried and returned could not handle the DCA Aeon RT/Closed X or noire. Follow the reviews on ASR, and Dragonfly is much overrated, particularly the amp section. S9 Pro handles low impedance phones like DCA well ... I have used it daily for almost 2 years and am very happy.

 

[Mulder]

the additional power of the S9 Pro allows you to enjoy hard to drive headphones like the DCA Aeon 2

But it drains the battery, so more or less useless with an smartphone.

 

[JanesJr1]

But it drains the battery, so more or less useless with an smartphone.

Not the dongle's fault. The DCA headphone needs current, and the S9 Pro delivers it. But it's not a battery power source; it's better with a PC. I never use smartphones for music anyway, so it's ideal for me.

 

[Mulder]

Not the dongle's fault. The DCA headphone needs current, and the S9 Pro delivers it. But it's not a battery power source; it's better with a PC. I never use smartphones for music anyway, so it's ideal for me

No, it is not just the headphone. It drains the battery even with a less hard to drive headphone. My guess is that it has to do with its over the top 32bit768kHz. The thing for me is that I just use the dongle to drive another headphone amplifier, so I would like a dongle usable with a phone. If anybody know about a less power-hungry high quality dongle, I am all ears.

 

[Mulder]

I have also noted that I have audio drop-outs when I feed the dongle with a Raspberry Pi. Not so with an ordinary PC.

 

[Brilliant Things]

There's a lot of qualitative talk about smartphone battery drain. Here are some numbers:
S9 Pro with iPhone SE 2020 with new genuine Apple battery, streaming at 44kHz drains 27% of phone battery per hour.

 

[Brilliant Things]

2. I tried a lightning to USB-C cable and it didn't work for me either. But it was a very basic cheap cable.

Usb-c to lightning cables are unidirectional. A standard one won't work. You need a lightning to usb-c that treats the iPhone as the host.
Apple branded cables treat the charger or laptop as the host.
You need an OTG lightning to usb-c cable eg.
FiiO LT-LT1 Lightning to Type C Data Cable

 

[Brilliant Things]

But it drains the battery, so more or less useless with an smartphone.

I listen to music for 90 minutes at a time at the most. So using this with a smartphone is terrific for my use case.

 

[Spocko]

I listen to music for 90 minutes at a time at the most. So using this with a smartphone is terrific for my use case.

Also, the S9 is a relatively a high powered head phone amp compared to other dongles, so it's definitely use case specific and unnecessary if you have an easy to drive IEM.

 

[Brilliant Things]

Also, the S9 is a relatively a high powered head phone amp compared to other dongles, so it's definitely use case specific and unnecessary if you have an easy to drive IEM.

Which dongle would you suggest for such use?

 

[Spocko]

Which dongle would you suggest for such use?

DDHiFi TC44B is what I use for my IEM and love it - I bought it after reading the review on ASR https://www.audiosciencereview.com/.../ddhifi-tc44b-review-headphone-adapter.22623/
but unfortunately, it appears to be no longer available.

 

[Brilliant Things]

There's a lot of qualitative talk about smartphone battery drain. Here are some numbers:
S9 Pro with iPhone SE 2020 with new genuine Apple battery, streaming at 44kHz drains 27% of phone battery per hour.

Update:

On iOS Low Power Mode, the S9 Pro draws 16% of the iPhone SE battery per hour. Much more reasonable.

 

[ZolaIII]

Update:

On iOS Low Power Mode, the S9 Pro draws 16% of the iPhone SE battery per hour. Much more reasonable.

The CS43131 is still most power efficient DAC with proper 2V unbalanced output (and very EMI immune). We will hardly see future improvements regarding efficiency without implementation of USB audio 3.0 specification.

 

[Brilliant Things]

The CS43131 is still most power efficient DAC with proper 2V unbalanced output (and very EMI immune). We will hardly see future improvements regarding efficiency without implementation of USB audio 3.0 specification.

Can you recommend a particular product?