Hidizs S9 Review (Headphone Adapter)

[ZolaIII]

Can you recommend a particular product?

Any with such DAC will do good regarding power consumption but if I must I sow old Tempotec Sonata HD Pro (Hidizs S8) back in stocks with full cable bulk (including for iPhone) simply because it's still not too pricey and works good. Which ever you can find from those two (as it's really the same with different shell and better on Hidizs S8) for less money. Implementaed volume steps on dongle are too big but it works in combination with smartphone controls good enough.

 

[Brilliant Things]

Thanks. With the phone on Low Power Mode the S9 Pro battery drain is very tolerable for me. Micro USB on the ones you recommend is a bit of a step backwards but I guess it doesn't really matter.

 

[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.

There are some very cheap no-name brands on Ali Express that use this chip. Would it be a mistake to buy one of them?

 

[ZolaIII]

There are some very cheap no name brands in Ali Express that use this chip. Would it be a mistake buying one of them?

Probably not it's very resilient chip (EMI rejection rate and all in one IC DAC and amp) and I am not aware of any really bad implementations of it (there were some cases of bad firmware iBasso as much as I recall that they didn't ever corrected for some dongles). On the other hand aim for one's with detachable USB (OTG) cables as that is in generally greatest problem regarding all of dongle DAC's.

 

[Brilliant Things]

Probably not it's very resilient chip (EMI rejection rate and all in one IC DAC and amp) and I am not aware of any really bad implementations of it (there were some cases of bad firmware iBasso as much as I recall that they didn't ever corrected for some dongles). On the other hand aim for one's with detachable USB (OTG) cables as that is in generally greatest problem regarding all of dongle DAC's.

Thanks very much

 

[totti1965]

Perhaps this was asked earlier, but I ask myself if it is possible to use it also with an iPhone with an Lightning to USB-C Adapter. Or is it Just for Windows / Android Ecosystem and perhaps Apple Desktop Computers?

 

[Mulder]

Perhaps this was asked earlier, but I ask myself if it is possible to use it also with an iPhone with an Lightning to USB-C Adapter. Or is it Just for Windows / Android Ecosystem and perhaps Apple Desktop Computers?

I use it with a an iPhone and a Lightning to USB-C adapter. No problem. Well, there is a problem, but it has nothing to do with the adapter. I think it drains the battery to much to be really usable with a cell-phone.

 

[totti1965]

I use it with a an iPhone and a Lightning to USB-C adapter. No problem. Well, there is a problem, but it has nothing to do with the adapter. I think it drains the battery to much to be really usable with a cell-phone.

Thank you!

Good to know!

 

[Mulder]

Thank you!

Good to know!

I use this https://www.audiophonics.fr/en/usb-...ning-to-female-usb-c-adapter-otg-p-14855.html

 

[Sonic-Wall]

Dosen‘t work with the Fiio LT-LT1 Type-C to Lightning OTG cable!
Even my S9 pro is recognized by the Qobuz app and the colors are changing according to the sampling frequency of the songs no music comes out of this thing! The same cable on my Qudelix works like a charm With my iPhone 13.
Obviously there is a bug in the Hidizs S9 Pro!

 

[JamesYeomans]

My original S9 worked fine with iPhone 13 Pro Max using the official Apple camera kit.

 

[GatorZ]

Dosen‘t work with the Fiio LT-LT1 Type-C to Lightning OTG cable!
Even my S9 pro is recognized by the Qobuz app and the colors are changing according to the sampling frequency of the songs no music comes out of this thing! The same cable on my Qudelix works like a charm With my iPhone 13.
Obviously there is a bug in the Hidizs S9 Pro!

I have the same issue. I also own a Fiio USB-C/USB-C cable and this one every works fine (on android phone). Then why does the Fiio Lightning/USB-C not work properly ? No enought power ? Works with my BTR5 but this dongle has a battery.

 

[Sonic-Wall]

After the Fiio cable didn‘t work, I‘ve bought the Hidizs LT02 USB-C to Lightning Cable, which of course worked with my S9 Pro fine.
Then I tried the Hidizs cable with my Qudelix and it also worked. BTW: Qudelix does also have its own battery.
Obviously either Fiio or Hidizs deviate from the spec…

 

[john11]

Would the s9 work well with a streamer? I have a zidoo z9x pro media player and am using the s9 via the usb port for the audio. Stereo files sound okay, but when using the zidoo to downmix multichannel to stereo the sound quality is poor. Do you think this is a problem with the zidoo more than the s9, have you heard anything

 

[staticV3]

Would the s9 work well with a streamer? I have a zidoo z9x pro media player and am using the s9 via the usb port for the audio. Stereo files sound okay, but when using the zidoo to downmix multichannel to stereo the sound quality is poor. Do you think this is a problem with the zidoo more than the s9, have you heard anything

The zidoo is doing the downmixing.

If stereo content sounds good, but downmixed content doesn't, then the zidoo is at fault.

 

[john11]

The zidoo is doing the downmixing.

If stereo content sounds good, but downmixed content doesn't, then the zidoo is at fault.

Is there a problem within the menus, perhaps one of the settings is wrong. Does the zidoo need anything installed, some kind of codec or software

 

[staticV3]

Is there a problem within the menus, perhaps one of the settings is wrong. Does the zidoo need anything installed, some kind of codec or software

I don't know, sorry.

 

[john11]

I have the S8 and S9, both very good but i need more power output. The s9 is 100mv unbalanced power output.
The S9 balanced output is 200mv, which i would like to try with my topping pa5 II, but do you know which cable i would need to hook up the S9 to the topping as the balanced connections are different, can you tell me which cable i will need.
Also, if i can't get enough power out of the S9, which usb dac would you recommend with good sound quality like the S9, up to approximatly £200, that puts out more power, something like one volt or two volts.
Thanks

 

[staticV3]

I have the S8 and S9, both very good but i need more power output. The s9 is 100mv unbalanced power output.
The S9 balanced output is 200mv
if i can't get enough power out of the S9, which usb dac would you recommend with good sound quality like the S9, up to approximatly £200, that puts out more power, something like one volt or two volts.

FYI, the S9 puts out 2.1V unbalanced and 4.2V balanced. I think you confused volts with watts.

i would like to try with my topping pa5 II, but do you know which cable i would need to hook up the S9 to the topping as the balanced connections are different, can you tell me which cable i will need.

The S9's balanced connector is a pure headphone connector and should not be plugged into external Amps.
If you want to use an external Amp with it, then I strongly recommend you stick to the 3.5mm unbalanced output.

 

[ZolaIII]

I have the S8 and S9, both very good but i need more power output. The s9 is 100mv unbalanced power output.
The S9 balanced output is 200mv, which i would like to try with my topping pa5 II, but do you know which cable i would need to hook up the S9 to the topping as the balanced connections are different, can you tell me which cable i will need.
Also, if i can't get enough power out of the S9, which usb dac would you recommend with good sound quality like the S9, up to approximatly £200, that puts out more power, something like one volt or two volts.
Thanks

How much more output power do you need (2x mV=+6 dB, 2x mW=+3 db)? How crucial is the multichannel deciding to you? With Toslink you will be stuck with older lossy Dolby's anyhow and only thing that does down mix proper is Creative G6.

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It does have more power but not much (about 2 dB more unbalanced than S9 on balanced output). Downside is that you need PC connection to configure it, DAC is good old CS43131 same as in S8 and with similar performance. Take a more look at it and try to figure out would that work for you and if it would try to find it cheap.