TempoTec Sonata BHD Pro Portable DAC & Amp Review

[totti1965]

Here are a few solutions that can prevent battery drain with power hungry USB accessories:

https://www.apple.com/shop/product/MK0W2AM/A/lightning-to-usb-3-camera-adapter
https://www.ddhifi.com/productinfo/1350761.html
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/3256804532779810.html

They all require you to plug in an external power source (Powerbank/USB charger).

If your iPhone supports wireless charging, then that could be a solution as well.

Wow! Thanks for your quick answer!

 

[nike1212]

They sent me a broken one, I was really exicited, that was really disappointing for me.

 

[Dovydas]

Hi community,

long time reader, but first time posting. Amazing forum, did some clever decisions based on your opinions.

Is there a reason to choose Cayin RU7 or L&P W4 over TempoTec or Tanchjim if the price is not a deciding factor? I will be pairing it with Thieaudio Monarch mk3 and will be considering ditching HIFIMAN HM1000 Red if I won't be able to tell the difference in sound or even more if the sound will be better for my ears. Monarch mk3 has elevated bass and a bit sparkling trebles, so I definitely don't want to boost it even more with dac/amp combo. I will be connecting it to iPhone 15 Pro once it arrives. The reason for replacing HIFIMAN is that I want to be even more mobile as I use my IEM everywhere, from office, to planes, etc.

 

[Matias]

@Dovydas welcome to ASR. As far as resolution there is nothing better, and even if it were, hardly audible. In you place I would chose one of both and settle down, as I did with the Space.

 

[totti1965]

I would chose one of both and settle down

I think you want to say: TempoTec or Tanchjim!
The Cayin is 4 times and the L&P W 4 is 8 times more expensive………
Acoustically transparent is acoustically transparent. Even for USD 70,—.

 

[Matias]

I think you want to say: TempoTec or Tanchjim!
The L&P W 4 is 8 times more expensive………

Yes, sorry, TempoTec Sonata BHD Pro or Tanchjim Space. It was ambiguous. Add Truthear Shio to the list.

 

[totti1965]

Hi community,

long time reader, but first time posting. Amazing forum, did some clever decisions based on your opinions.

Is there a reason to choose Cayin RU7 or L&P W4 over TempoTec or Tanchjim if the price is not a deciding factor? I will be pairing it with Thieaudio Monarch mk3 and will be considering ditching HIFIMAN HM1000 Red if I won't be able to tell the difference in sound or even more if the sound will be better for my ears. Monarch mk3 has elevated bass and a bit sparkling trebles, so I definitely don't want to boost it even more with dac/amp combo. I will be connecting it to iPhone 15 Pro once it arrives. The reason for replacing HIFIMAN is that I want to be even more mobile as I use my IEM everywhere, from office, to planes, etc.

Yeah - the Thieaudio Monarch is one of the best IEMs in the World - but: you have to tell us, if it beats the Crinacle Zero Red with slight equalization as from Crinacles database suggested……
I have my doubts. You have to add the USD 55,— to the USD 1.000,— to be shure!

In-Ear Fidelity – IEM Graph Comparison Tool

Easily compare industry-standard frequency response measurements of hundreds and hundreds of IEMs.

crinacle.com

 

[Dovydas]

Yeah - the Thieaudio Monarch is one of the best IEMs in the World - but: you have to tell us, if it beats the Crinacle Zero Red with slight equalization as from Crinacles database suggested……
I have my doubts. You have to add the USD 55,— to the USD 1.000,— to be shure!

In-Ear Fidelity – IEM Graph Comparison Tool

Easily compare industry-standard frequency response measurements of hundreds and hundreds of IEMs.

crinacle.com

Before your post I didn't even know Zero Red existed, so unfortunately I can't do any comparisons But thank you guys for advices. Just ordered Space from audiofonics, should arrive until the end of next week.

 

[amanieux]

137mw@33 is far from 280mw@32, did they meant 140mw per channel = 280mw total ? or is it flat out lies ?

 

[Matias]

137mw@33 is far from 280mw@32, did they meant 140mw per channel = 280mw total ? or is it flat out lies ?

Amir measures at the knee, while industry standard is at 1% THD+N = -40 dB, which is higher power.

 

[SplitTime]

Initially I could not get the device to work with iPhone 14 + ONKYO HF_Player App and a standard Lightning <—> USB-C cable (I tried several). However, if I use a Lightning <—> USB-A + Lightning (camera) adapter and then used the supplied USB-A to USB-C adapters it works perfectly and the color of the light on the DAC matches the data type/rate in ONKYO HF_Player. Note that the Lighning to USB camera adapter does NOT need to be separately powered… but it is a bit of a cabling mess.

Would appreciate it if someone can clarify a simpler cabling solution. But I do not want to change from the ONKYO HF_player app.

@amirm thanks again for another great review!

 

[Call me Ali]

I was extremely disappointed with this unit. The combination of good measurements, 4.4 balanced out, and reasonable price looked great on paper and I had very high hopes.

When the unit arrived, I plugged it into my phone and it lit up, as it should. I didn't have a headphone handy and had to leave, so I didn't get a chance to try it. After I came back, I plugged it into my phone (Galaxy S23 Ultra) and nothing was detected and the light didn't come on. I thought maybe the cable was directional like the Hidizs cable so I flipped the ends and still got nothing. I tried the Hidizs cable and even a Galaxy S23, but couldn't the unit to power up.

I booted up Windows and plugged it in and it lit up. I tried a few songs and they sounded good. I switched to Linux and again it worked just fine. I tried my phone again and again I got nothing.

There is no support email so I left a message on their chat system and waited and waited. While waiting for a response, I kept messing with the unit and my phone and somehow I got it to work. I unplugged and replugged it several times and it worked fine. I thought the issue was solved, but the next day my phone wouldn't connect to it again.

I few days later, I received a response from Tempotec. Their solution was to enable USB Debugging mode. This suggestion did not make any sense to me. None of my other dongles require USB Debugging. In terms of security, I did not feel comfortable giving elevated access to a no-name vendor.

I returned the unit back to Amazon.

 

[ReaderZ]

I was extremely disappointed with this unit. The combination of good measurements, 4.4 balanced out, and reasonable price looked great on paper and I had very high hopes.

When the unit arrived, I plugged it into my phone and it lit up, as it should. I didn't have a headphone handy and had to leave, so I didn't get a chance to try it. After I came back, I plugged it into my phone (Galaxy S23 Ultra) and nothing was detected and the light didn't come on. I thought maybe the cable was directional like the Hidizs cable so I flipped the ends and still got nothing. I tried the Hidizs cable and even a Galaxy S23, but couldn't the unit to power up.

I booted up Windows and plugged it in and it lit up. I tried a few songs and they sounded good. I switched to Linux and again it worked just fine. I tried my phone again and again I got nothing.

There is no support email so I left a message on their chat system and waited and waited. While waiting for a response, I kept messing with the unit and my phone and somehow I got it to work. I unplugged and replugged it several times and it worked fine. I thought the issue was solved, but the next day my phone wouldn't connect to it again.

I few days later, I received a response from Tempotec. Their solution was to enable USB Debugging mode. This suggestion did not make any sense to me. None of my other dongles require USB Debugging. In terms of security, I did not feel comfortable giving elevated access to a no-name vendor.

I returned the unit back to Amazon.

Yeah, this thing seems only works on PC but not phones. On S23 Ultra it needs lots of work to connect it and it doesn't work on 13 pro max at all.

DO NOT BUY THIS

 

[ReaderZ]

I think you want to say: TempoTec or Tanchjim!
The Cayin is 4 times and the L&P W 4 is 8 times more expensive………
Acoustically transparent is acoustically transparent. Even for USD 70,—.

Wolf measured W4 to be 400mw to 32 ohm, which is 3 times the power. Plus it works wonderfully well on any device I plug it in... This one doesn't work. So I would say it's not that bad of a value compare to BHD Pro. Space is overall No.1 when it come to price/performance.

 

[chi2]

Yeah, this thing seems only works on PC but not phones. On S23 Ultra it needs lots of work to connect it and it doesn't work on 13 pro max at all.

DO NOT BUY THIS

For me it works well on iPhone 6s, 11 pro max and 15 pro max. However, the volume steps are so small and each change takes so much time that using this dongle with in-ears and headphones with different sensitivity/power requirements is very impractical and even dangerous due to the memory function of the volume settings and no support for the phones volume setting.

 

[totti1965]

Wolf measured W4 to be 400mw to 32 ohm, which is 3 times the power. Plus it works wonderfully well on any device I plug it in... This one doesn't work. So I would say it's not that bad of a value compare to BHD Pro. Space is overall No.1 when it come to price/performance.

Hm, I put my Crinacle Zero Red DIRECTLY into my iPad Gen 6 (2018). I put Roon at minus 4 dB to make some very minor corrections…. And even with this settings I never have to pull up the volume more than 75% !

So I presume, that IEM technically speaking every separate DAC / Amp is enough.

Complete other thing regarding to Headphones with lower sensitivity than let’s say the Sennheiser HD 600 and the need for more correction………

 

[nike1212]

I was extremely disappointed with this unit. The combination of good measurements, 4.4 balanced out, and reasonable price looked great on paper and I had very high hopes.

When the unit arrived, I plugged it into my phone and it lit up, as it should. I didn't have a headphone handy and had to leave, so I didn't get a chance to try it. After I came back, I plugged it into my phone (Galaxy S23 Ultra) and nothing was detected and the light didn't come on. I thought maybe the cable was directional like the Hidizs cable so I flipped the ends and still got nothing. I tried the Hidizs cable and even a Galaxy S23, but couldn't the unit to power up.

I booted up Windows and plugged it in and it lit up. I tried a few songs and they sounded good. I switched to Linux and again it worked just fine. I tried my phone again and again I got nothing.

There is no support email so I left a message on their chat system and waited and waited. While waiting for a response, I kept messing with the unit and my phone and somehow I got it to work. I unplugged and replugged it several times and it worked fine. I thought the issue was solved, but the next day my phone wouldn't connect to it again.

I few days later, I received a response from Tempotec. Their solution was to enable USB Debugging mode. This suggestion did not make any sense to me. None of my other dongles require USB Debugging. In terms of security, I did not feel comfortable giving elevated access to a no-name vendor.

I returned the unit back to Amazon.

I also had a bad experience, when I got mine it doesn't work at all. I tried all possible solutions. Also got that tip to enable usb debug but no sound at all. My device is broken and their customer service is terrible. Not fun when you pay money and get a broken device.

 

[staticV3]

Initially I could not get the device to work with iPhone 14 + ONKYO HF_Player App and a standard Lightning <—> USB-C cable (I tried several). However, if I use a Lightning <—> USB-A + Lightning (camera) adapter and then used the supplied USB-A to USB-C adapters it works perfectly and the color of the light on the DAC matches the data type/rate in ONKYO HF_Player. Note that the Lighning to USB camera adapter does NOT need to be separately powered… but it is a bit of a cabling mess.

Would appreciate it if someone can clarify a simpler cabling solution. But I do not want to change from the ONKYO HF_player app.

Standard Lightning->Type-C cables don't have the required Apple ID chip inside that tells the iPhone to supply power to USB accessories (like the BHD Pro).

There are lots and lots of such cables with the right chip inside. This one for example (the 15cm version).
Here's a list with some more of these: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1_Yqd7lpt3N2B0kVwzqzHoRmCTO7ZTe32p_xhjuGluh8/edit?usp=sharing

There are even more if you search for "Lightning to USB C OTG cable".
Please note though that different cables will unlock different amounts of max current draw out of the iPhone before a warning pops up and the phone disconnects, plus it seems like some iPhone models will behave differently with some cables, plus some iOS updates may brick certain combinations.

Welcome to the wonderful world of Apple Lightning

 

[ReaderZ]

Hm, I put my Crinacle Zero Red DIRECTLY into my iPad Gen 6 (2018). I put Roon at minus 4 dB to make some very minor corrections…. And even with this settings I never have to pull up the volume more than 75% !

So I presume, that IEM technically speaking every separate DAC / Amp is enough.

Complete other thing regarding to Headphones with lower sensitivity than let’s say the Sennheiser HD 600 and the need for more correction………

I am using my HD800s and HEK Stealth on my W4 and they sound great and most I have ever need to balanced high gain, vol 70. Only set that feels a bit lacking is HE6 SE V2.

 

[starfly]

I received this unit today and did a quick test on my iPhone 15 Pro. It works, but I don't appear to be able to adjust the volume? On the phone I can't, and on the unit itself I'm not noticing any change in volume?

It was just a quick test, though and will try again later.