Hidizs S9 Review (Headphone Adapter)

[john11]

Thanks. I did get it all mixed up. According to google the S9 is : 3.5mm PO:100mW@32Ω 2.5mm BAL:200mW@32Ω

I have an old hrt music streamer pro dac, which is balanced output only. Can you tell me what kind of balanced connector the topping pa5 II requires so i can connect the two together. The hrt uses a untypical output – miniature balanced sockets TiniQ

 

[Wunderphones]

I have the S9, and most of the time I wish I had less power. With most of my IEMs, I have to run at about 20% volume.

 

[Jimbob54]

I have the S9, and most of the time I wish I had less power. With most of my IEMs, I have to run at about 20% volume.

Do you use any kind of EQ? If so- add a larger preamp reduction. Will give you more usability in the hardware volume

 

[john11]

Thanks! I'm using the S9 plugged into the usb port of a zidoo media player, then using the 3.5mm stereo jack of the S9 to the unbalanced input of a topping pa5 II, so there is no EQ..

Would love to know which type of balanced connector the topping PA5 II uses so i can buy a cable to hook up to a balanced only dac

 

[JamesYeomans]

Thanks! I'm using the S9 plugged into the usb port of a zidoo media player, then using the 3.5mm stereo jack of the S9 to the unbalanced input of a topping pa5 II, so there is no EQ..

Would love to know which type of balanced connector the topping PA5 II uses so i can buy a cable to hook up to a balanced only dac

As StaticV said:
"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."

 

[Jimbob54]

Thanks! I'm using the S9 plugged into the usb port of a zidoo media player, then using the 3.5mm stereo jack of the S9 to the unbalanced input of a topping pa5 II, so there is no EQ..

Would love to know which type of balanced connector the topping PA5 II uses so i can buy a cable to hook up to a balanced only dac

As long as you're connecting to a balanced desktop dac (not a portable) you'd want something like this assuming the balanced dac has xlr outputs

2 x Male XLR to 2 x 6.35mm 1/4' Stereo TRS Jack Balanced Twin Lead / Patch Cable - 3 Colours

Product Overview: 2 x Male XLR to 2 x Stereo 1/4" TRS Jack Balanced twin lead Ideal for use as signal cables for studio and stage applications, connecting mixers and controllers to other pieces of audio equipment, as well as effects patching Lengths: 0.5 / 1.5 / 3 / 5 m Colours: Black / Red /...

www.visiosound.co.uk

 

[john11]

As StaticV said:
"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."

Thanks. I'm not using the S9 with the topping pa5 II amp anymore, I'm trying to use the HRT music streamer pro dac which has balanced output only

 

[john11]

As long as you're connecting to a balanced desktop dac (not a portable) you'd want something like this assuming the balanced dac has xlr outputs

2 x Male XLR to 2 x 6.35mm 1/4' Stereo TRS Jack Balanced Twin Lead / Patch Cable - 3 Colours

Product Overview: 2 x Male XLR to 2 x Stereo 1/4" TRS Jack Balanced twin lead Ideal for use as signal cables for studio and stage applications, connecting mixers and controllers to other pieces of audio equipment, as well as effects patching Lengths: 0.5 / 1.5 / 3 / 5 m Colours: Black / Red /...

www.visiosound.co.uk

Thanks! What do you mean by portable ? This is the dac i want to use with the topping pa5 II :

 

[john11]

Any chance of a reply. By portable do you mean the hrt streamer i am going to be using, is that no good for the job
By desktop do you mean a mains powered unit
Thanks

 

[Jimbob54]

Any chance of a reply. By portable do you mean the hrt streamer i am going to be using, is that no good for the job
By desktop do you mean a mains powered unit
Thanks

I meant a mains powered unit. Not sure about the one you are proposing.

Edit - looked it up, should be fine. Make sure you get the right cables though. Not sure what the termination is at the dac end. It's 1/4 inch trs on the amp end.

 

[john11]

Thanks! I'm going to make a cable to connect the hrt streamer dac to the topping pas5 II amp, using Mogami 2549 cable, but a lot of cables like the mogami i have seen are actually labelled as microphone cables, is there a difference between interconnect cable and microphone cable, and is mogami 2529 a good choice for cable in this application

 

[Jimbob54]

Thanks! I'm going to make a cable to connect the hrt streamer dac to the topping pas5 II amp, using Mogami 2549 cable, but a lot of cables like the mogami i have seen are actually labelled as microphone cables, is there a difference between interconnect cable and microphone cable, and is mogami 2529 a good choice for cable in this application

No idea, sorry. I'm technically inept.

 

[staticV3]

is there a difference between interconnect cable and microphone cable

Not for this use case.

is mogami 2529 a good choice for cable in this application

For differential mono cables, I don't see the point in a shielded wire with four conductors inside..

 

[marauder64]

Hello, I bought the Hidizs S9 Pro Plus Martha for my DT990 Pro 250omh headphones, I initially thought the "bigger" output was 6.35mm (the DT990 Pro comes with an 3,5mm and a 3,5mm to 6,35mm adaptor) but in reality it is a 4.4mm balanced output.

seeing that the 4.4mm has better Separation and Output power i bought a cheap 3.5mm to 4.4mm adapter from Aliexpress but today I stumbled upon a video on youtube that's stating you can't plug unbalanced headphones to balanced output. I'm worried I'm going to ruin the headphones so I would want to know if using the adapter is goint to be a mistake.

Thank you

 

[staticV3]

Hello, I bought the Hidizs S9 Pro Plus Martha for my DT990 Pro 250omh headphones, I initially thought the "bigger" output was 6.35mm (the DT990 Pro comes with an 3,5mm and a 3,5mm to 6,35mm adaptor) but in reality it is a 4.4mm balanced output.
View attachment 390995
seeing that the 4.4mm has better Separation and Output power i bought a cheap 3.5mm to 4.4mm adapter from Aliexpress but today I stumbled upon a video on youtube that's stating you can't plug unbalanced headphones to balanced output. I'm worried I'm going to ruin the headphones so I would want to know if using the adapter is goint to be a mistake.

View attachment 390996
Thank you

That video is correct.

Do not use Balanced->Single-ended headphone adapters. They can kill your Headphone Amp (in this case, the Hidizs S9)

If you want to use the balanced output, you'd have to modify (solder) your DT990 to make it compatible with balanced output.

 

[marauder64]

That video is correct.

Do not use Balanced->Single-ended headphone adapters. They can kill your Headphone Amp (in this case, the Hidizs S9)

If you want to use the balanced output, you'd have to modify (solder) your DT990 to make it compatible with balanced output.

Thank you for your quick response!
Luckily I was still in time to cancel the order (it was only 8 euros, but l still prefer to not trow money down the drain and the "adapter" down the bin).

Also I'm gonna give my impression on the Hidizs S9 Pro Plus Martha once it arrives, it was ordered from the official website so maybe someone could find my experience interesting.

 

[john11]

Not for this use case.


For differential mono cables, I don't see the point in a shielded wire with four conductors inside..

Thanks ! Can you please expand. What would you do differently ?

 

[staticV3]

Thanks ! Can you please expand. What would you do differently ?

I would use regular old, balanced microphone cable:

MOGAMI® - High Quality Balanced Microphone Cables

Mogami Bulk High Quality Balanced Bulk Cables are recommended when extended high frequencies are important or where long cable runs may be needed.

mogamicable.com

MOGAMI® - Low Cost High Performance Superflexible Balanced Microphone Cables

Mogami Polar Flex Cables are a superior quality, extremely durable microphone cable for demanding live and remote broadcast applications.

mogamicable.com

 

[marauder64]

Thank you for your quick response!
Luckily I was still in time to cancel the order (it was only 8 euros, but l still prefer to not trow money down the drain and the "adapter" down the bin).

Also I'm gonna give my impression on the Hidizs S9 Pro Plus Martha once it arrives, it was ordered from the official website so maybe someone could find my experience interesting.

So it did finally come. Paid 81€ (90$) on the original site, this is definitely the cheapest option, it costs 99€ on Aliexpress and a whopping €170 on my local Amazon!
Really nothing to report, the product was sealed and it did take 6 business days to arrive in my european country from the order day, the package was sealed and it looks new so I assume it is.
I didn't have to pay any additional customs fees but your milage may vary ofcourse.

The package contains the product, a short USB-C to USB-C cable, a USB-A to USB-C adaptor and the manual.
There's no actual rating on max recommended impedance but I can say that it gets really loud with my 250ohm DT 990 PRO at 50% volume, I use it around 22/24%.
I initially thought it had two knobs but they just two physical buttons, volume up and volume down, it barely heats up, maybe they really improved this aspect with this new model, basically a non issue.

The led on the logo changes color based on the windows audio settings and it can't be turned off, if you don't like it there's a simple solution: just turn it around.
Sadly I cannot really speaks about sound quality, I don't have much reference or any equipment and experience to test it. In my ears it sounds really good, it's the only thing I can say.

Hope someone found this usefull.

 

[john11]

I’ve got my S9 hooked up to a zidoo media player for use as an external usb dac. The zidoo states that it has several output modes: DoP, D2P and Native.​

Which is the best mode to select, which is most compatible with the S9
Thanks !