MEIZU Hifi Pro USB-C Phone Dongle DAC Review

[Jimbob54]

I'm sure it is a teensy tiny bit better.

3 letters and £10 to £30 better. For sure.

 

[Jimbob54]

I bet you bought the xDuoo XD05 because it said 'Plus'.

Goes up to 11, see?

 

[WoodyLuvr]

I bet you bought the xDuoo XD05 because it said 'Plus'.

Nope, even more pathetic than that... special "Black" version.

 

[amanieux]

when you do the cable hack to force meizu hifi to in high impedance on a low impedance iem, is the sound different compared to low impedance mode ( volme adjusted to be equal) ? i bought this dac for 43 ohms spring1 that was supposed to need power to shine but in the end this dac in low impedance mode spits half the power of my macbook internal dac , so this seems kind of useless for my need

 

[vkvedam]

when you do the cable hack to force meizu hifi to in high impedance on a low impedance iem, is the sound different compared to low impedance mode ( volme adjusted to be equal) ? i bought this dac for 43 ohms spring1 that was supposed to need power to shine but in the end this dac in low impedance mode spits half the power of my macbook internal dac , so this seems kind of useless for my need

I shall give it a go and let you know. Interestingly that's how I started off, need to do a back to back

 

[vkvedam]

No change apart from the added resistance which would require you to increase the volume by few steps

 

[akuro7]

between Meizu hifi pro vs Tempotec sonata hd pro which better ?
what's the difference ?

 

[amanieux]

between Meizu hifi pro vs Tempotec sonata hd pro which better ?
what's the difference ?

sonata hd pro has hardware volume buttons and dsd256 (native but not dop) that meizu does not have but meizu hifi pro is smaller and support a mic or inline remote as it is trrs jack vs trs only jack for tempotec

tempotec measures a bit better (114db/20 bits vs 101db/17 bits)

no clear winner for power as meizu has second stage amp but power varies depending on your headphone impedance : 87mW/33 ohms and 10mW/300 ohms for meizu hifi pro vs 63mW/33 ohms and 14mW/300 ohms for tempotec sonata hd pro,

as far as subjective perceived sound quality you must ask golden ears because for my normal ears i hear insignificant difference even compared to my sony phone internal dac or macbook internal dac, investing in silicon tips for a few bucks change the sound more than investing in a $40 external usb dac.

 

[th0m]

How come the maximum possible volume is much lower on my AKG N5005's than my Sony XBA-N3's with the Hifi Pro? Looking at the specs, shouldn't it be the other way around? The 5005's goes quite loud at max volume, but the N3's would deafen me.

 

[amanieux]

for those interested in buying on paris without waiting 3-4 week shipment delay from china , i am selling my meizu hifi pro for 30 euros, barely used condition as new in the box

 

[Jimbob54]

How come the maximum possible volume is much lower on my AKG N5005's than my Sony XBA-N3's with the Hifi Pro? Looking at the specs, shouldn't it be the other way around? The 5005's goes quite loud at max volume, but the N3's would deafen me.

N5005 way less sensitive . Sonys 114 /mw, AKG more like 99/mw (I used the RAA calculator, 116/v at 18 ohm ). Neither would kick the Meizu intio high impedance mode.

 

[amanieux]

Neither would kick the Meizu intio high impedance mode.

what is the exact condition to switch to high impedance mode ?(my 43 ohms spring1 is in low imp but my 150 ohms hd58x is in high imp )

 

[Jimbob54]

what is the exact condition to switch to high impedance mode ?(my 43 ohms spring1 is in low imp but my 150 ohms hd58x is in high imp )

No idea ! If you search the thread you might find some talk about it. I know you can trick it into high mode by attaching an extension lead to the dongle (no headphones connected other end) then connecting to the phone / pc , then connecting headphones

 

[Sinquito]

I just got the Meizu Pro. It has a lot more power than the apple dongle. For my tin t2s running on my oneplus 7t, I lowered my volume by probably more than 25%. I was able to easily run my Focal Elex which fixed my general Android low volume problem. The Sennheiser 6XX is very near maxed out to get a decently loud volume. So if some songs are very quiet or mastered with low volume, it might be an issue for the 6XX still, but most everything was playing plenty loud. The Meizu does get a little warm vs the apple dongle which doesn't seem to get warm at all.

It does seem to drain the battery more quickly. If I need to last on one charge all day, I will probably use the apple dongle with my t2s since it can power them fine with a higher volume. But for listening to my full sized headphones, the Meizu Pro is really good. The sound is great. The Elex is still punchy and feels powerful.

What app are you using for playback/USB control? I own the Apple dongle, and sounds perfectly fine with PC, but I'm waiting for my new phone without jack to see how bad it performs on Android, thus thinking of getting the Meizu Pro.

Thanks for the info. I was just looking to see if it could crank out some extra volume compared to headphone ports on laptops, as well as the improved fidelity.

Had a look and it seems to be the real deal. [Edit: non-Pro Meizu is off the table] Considering the 9038S is £63 and the Meizu Pro £30 that becomes a tougher choice. If "approaching endgame" sound quality is only £67 as one review describes it, perhaps it's worth investing in the 9038S.

I have to return the used HD25s I got, as one ear has a lower volume. Thinking of exchanging for something else like Beyerdynamic DT1350 or Koss SP330/Pro4S. What's your take on the HD25s - best reasonably portable over-ear cans you've found as of yet?

I have the Beyer DT51i which is closer to the DT150 and owned for a time the HD-25 II (split headband). To my ears the Sennheiser sounded better, a bit dark, but overall better, really liked the punchy bass and I am not a bass head by any means. I didn't keep them and kept the Beyer because the fit and finish is light years better on the Beyer, I couldn't get a comfortable fit with the Sennheisers, the only real physical thing I liked more about them was the removable cable, which is great length for portable use, and thick, but flexible. The Beyer sound 90% as good and are more comfortable and better built besides the cable. Neither are harder to drive, so I assume that the Meizu will rock them hard (based on the measurements).

They're not really my favorite, but they are built to last no doubt. Unfortunately a byproduct of that design is you can't replace the cables, so no 9038S in our future. I got them for my wife after she killed off a set 2 sets of W40's and a pair of SE535's with her 2 hour gym routine (sweat/moisture) but the HD25 is still running strong.

They seem quite bright to me, but I'm not a prolific headphone researcher like many here so it's probable my frame of reference is skewed given I only use IEMs. What did you go with in the end?

You must really love your wife a lot, and I mean a lot or be really wealthy. Both pairs are on the pricey side of things to me. I own a pair of SE535 and I wouldn't take them to the gym ever, I have already broken a cheap pair of Sony XBA-1 and Brainwavz B2 (knowles twfk based IEMs) to know better about bringing hifi wired IEMs to the gym. I don't think I can appreciate my better sounding pair of AKG K3003i in the gym vs my PowerBeats Pro, which are IPX4 water resistant and doesn't have any wires to break. The Beats MSRP are $249 and the AKG were $999. Just my experience. No offense to you.

For Android? USB Audio Player Pro (UAPP)- free trial and around $5 paid. Brilliant app. Bit perfect, supports MQA, Tidal and lossless. Overcomes Android volume limits and resampling.

Can I use USB Android Player Pro with Spotify? I want to use my Apple dongle with my new Galaxy phone (is not with me yet), but I'm 99% sure it won't give me good volume and rooting is out of the question for me. I'm thinking that maybe UAPP can fix it, but I don't listen to local music, only Spotify.

 

[vkvedam]

You must really love your wife a lot, and I mean a lot or be really wealthy.

, felt the same

 

[tifune]

.

You must really love your wife a lot, and I mean a lot or be really wealthy. Both pairs are on the pricey side of things to me

Quite a bit of both by most standards. However, Westone was kind enough to replace both under warranty and even upgraded me to W50's on the 3rd go-around. At that point she wasn't allowed to use them anymore so we switched her to the Se535's, but they also only lasted a few weeks against her training regimen. Since they were a gift to us I wasn't too upset about the $99 repair price from Shure, but again she wasn't allowed to use them anymore just in case.

She used the HD25 for awhile but switched to Momentum 2's, caught on closeout sale, when phones lost the headphone jack. It's been a few years now and I don't have that issue with IEMs - I guess I don't work nearly as hard as she does in the gym?

She doesn't really know much about audio, so she thinks the Momentum 2's sound really good because of the MSRP to be fair I haven't played with them much; Sennheiser has a good reputation so I'm sure theyre great for streaming but I play FLAC straight from my phone so no LDAC would be a deal breaker for me.

 

[ZolaIII]

@Sinquito @tifune you should try with Tin T2 EMI's paird with cheap KZ BT neckband (seconds gen) for workout seasons. They sound overly nice a bit bass tiny & are affordable. Both those for a friend on his wild montan biking sessions so far those are only ones that survived more than a session for him. Regarding player try HiBy music which is free all do streaming options are limited. Also try Wavelet (on Android) for EQ.

Best regards.

 

[ClosDeLaRoche]

Hey all, I bought a Meizu Hifi Pro and noticed a weird quirk: If I plug the dongle into my laptop first, then the headphones, the audio sounds horrid. Very crackly and obviously wrong.

But if I plug the headphones into the dongle first, then the dongle into my laptop, all is fine.

Is this normal or do I have a broken unit?

 

[keepit100]

Hi,

I can see it was questioned a couple of posts up and wasnt sure if there is an answer, 'can I use USB Android Player Pro with Spotify' ?' on Android ?

All my listening on my Redmi note 8 is done through Spotify and the headphone jack is quite poor. If I buy a dongle (any dongle) can I use UAPP with Spotify ? According to the links below, you can't (I think). Does that mean my audio won't be that much better than the headphone jack I am using ? Or just that I won't get the full potential ? Note that my phone is rooted



https://www.head-fi.org/threads/using-dac-with-spotify-on-android.908205/
https://forum.xda-developers.com/oneplus-3/help/external-dac-spotify-root-solution-t3886722

 

[Jimbob54]

Hi,

I can see it was questioned a couple of posts up and wasnt sure if there is an answer, 'can I use USB Android Player Pro with Spotify' ?' on Android ?

All my listening on my Redmi note 8 is done through Spotify and the headphone jack is quite poor. If I buy a dongle (any dongle) can I use UAPP with Spotify ? According to the links below, you can't (I think). Does that mean my audio won't be that much better than the headphone jack I am using ? Or just that I won't get the full potential ? Note that my phone is rooted



https://www.head-fi.org/threads/using-dac-with-spotify-on-android.908205/
https://forum.xda-developers.com/oneplus-3/help/external-dac-spotify-root-solution-t3886722

No, you cant. UAPP handles Google Music, Qobuz and Tidal. You can use the dongle with Spotify, just not get the bit perfect benefits of UAPP and avoid Android's own volume limiters.