Tempotec Sonata HD Pro Review (headphone Adapter)

[Peaky]

looks like SonataHD ain't for gaming or gamers...get ALC1220...

I don't know. It worked perfectly so far with the 2060 playing all types of games.
I'll test with the onboard audio and see if the problem still happens, but I bought the Sonata because the onboard audio wasnt strong enough to power my TYGR300R. Volume was too low. The chipset is an ALC1220 but still isnt enough.

Edit: Tested it with the onboard audio and the latency problem still persists. So I guess it isnt SonataHD's problem afterall.

 

[Saidera]

I used to dream about getting ALC1220 just for playing and recording DSD audio, but that changed thanks to SonataHD Pro. Beyond audio, I don't think many members here can help troubleshoot graphics cards and stuff...

 

[Chowchilla]

Would this work with my HD599 and PC37x for mainly gaming and music listening on my pc?

Edit: Looks like I wasn't on the right page, just seen the above responses!

 

[Katrulzin]

I don't know. It worked perfectly so far with the 2060 playing all types of games.
I'll test with the onboard audio and see if the problem still happens, but I bought the Sonata because the onboard audio wasnt strong enough to power my TYGR300R. Volume was too low. The chipset is an ALC1220 but still isnt enough.

Edit: Tested it with the onboard audio and the latency problem still persists. So I guess it isnt SonataHD's problem afterall.

It's hard to pin point the issue, but there's a few things you can try. Is your GPU driver up-to-date? If so, does it support HDMI audio like Nvidia cards via GPU control panel? If so, disable it in device manager and restart your rig. Also, check your Mobo manufacturer for an onboard audio driver update and that might help with any potential bugs.

Usually updating BIOS should expand hardware compatibility, but I'm sure not every device is compatible, so your hardware switch might not play nicely with your recent BIOS flash. Obviously windows updates as well. If there isn't a new onboard audio driver, try just reinstalling it.

If windows says the current driver is "newer" than the manufacturer driver, then simply uninstall it in device manager, restart, and windows should reinstall the driver automatically since that message means windows automatically downloaded the driver for you online and installed it.

Hopefully it's not a hardware issue and just software.

EDIT: I don't really recommend it, but you could try flashing to your original BIOS version and see if the issue goes away by doing that. Nowadays with the ease of BIOS flashing without the use of a FAT32 thumb drive and dual BIOS, it's harder to brick your board. Lastly, you could try your old hardware and see what happens as I assume you held on to your old GPU with the current GPU shortage of late with all the crypto mining. Just some ideas there.

 

[Peaky]

It's hard to pin point the issue, but there's a few things you can try. Is your GPU driver up-to-date? If so, does it support HDMI audio like Nvidia cards via GPU control panel? If so, disable it in device manager and restart your rig. Also, check your Mobo manufacturer for an onboard audio driver update and that might help with any potential bugs.

Usually updating BIOS should expand hardware compatibility, but I'm sure not every device is compatible, so your hardware switch might not play nicely with your recent BIOS flash. Obviously windows updates as well. If there isn't a new onboard audio driver, try just reinstalling it.

If windows says the current driver is "newer" than the manufacturer driver, then simply uninstall it in device manager, restart, and windows should reinstall the driver automatically since that message means windows automatically downloaded the driver for you online and installed it.

Hopefully it's not a hardware issue and just software.

EDIT: I don't really recommend it, but you could try flashing to your original BIOS version and see if the issue goes away by doing that. Nowadays with the ease of BIOS flashing without the use of a FAT32 thumb drive and dual BIOS, it's harder to brick your board. Lastly, you could try your old hardware and see what happens as I assume you held on to your old GPU with the current GPU shortage of late with all the crypto mining. Just some ideas there.

Yes, I tried every thing you suggest and more.
I'm pretty sure its a software related issue, either AMD drivers or something with Windows. The GPU works perfectly on games, no blackscreens, crashes or performance issues. So it has to be some driver conflicting causing the latency issues.
I found a workaround and the problem seems to be related to rendering something or using the second monitor while gaming.
I've posted the issue on reddit if you want to have a look: https://www.reddit.com/r/techsupport/comments/nsu1e0
I dont want to derail the thread as I dont think my problems are directly conected to the Sonata. But thanks for trying to help!

 

[Katrulzin]

Yes, I tried every thing you suggest and more.
I'm pretty sure its a software related issue, either AMD drivers or something with Windows. The GPU works perfectly on games, no blackscreens, crashes or performance issues. So it has to be some driver conflicting causing the latency issues.
I found a workaround and the problem seems to be related to rendering something or using the second monitor while gaming.
I've posted the issue on reddit if you want to have a look: https://www.reddit.com/r/techsupport/comments/nsu1e0
I dont want to derail the thread as I dont think my problems are directly conected to the Sonata. But thanks for trying to help!

Hmm... Did you use the same secondary display with your other GPU when you didn't have any issues? If so, then it might be the drivers as you mentioned. I was thinking if your USB controller host is over burdened if you have devices that demand a lot of data transfer or power, but I guess that isn't it. I'm assuming it is the GPU drivers issue since I don't see how the display would cause that kind of interference with USB devices. Try a different GPU driver, even if it's a couple months old, I don't think it would impact performance much until a newer driver comes out.

Also if you have a USB expansion device that splits 1 into 4 etc and try using that since those kinds of devices has its own USB controller host built in. Wouldn't hurt to look for any USB drivers for your motherboard unless it's connected to the case USB rather than the motherboard, as it's possible that the cable that connects to your motherboard from the case can have a shielding issue from interference. Try and see if you still get the issue if you plug it directly to the motherboard if it isn't currently.

Other than that, I'm out of ideas. I can't blame the Sonata since it works fine everywhere else and with your former hardware and can only think of USB driver or port, interference, or GPU driver.

Good luck! We can return to our normal Sonata broadcast day lol.

 

[Peaky]

. Did you use the same secondary display with your other GPU when you didn't have any issues?

Yup, the only thing I changed is the GPU.

I have no issues with USB, all other peripherals work perfectly so I dont think its a BIOS problem.
I also tried with onboard sound chipset, connecting the headphones directly to the motherboard jack but the problems were still there.

Also just tried with 21.12.1 from November and its still happening so yeah.. I cant think of any other thing to try haha, at this point I feel I cant do anything about it but stop using the second screen while playing.

Anyways, Sonata is great and if someone is facing issues just like me I encourage them to test multiple options and make sure the problem isnt other thing.

 

[crystal6tak]

Been using mine for a bit over a year (24/7 plugged in to my desktop via USB) and am sad to report it has developed severe popping issues.

Currently it pops when:
-During a track and there's silent portions. Such as a podcast. It pops once when they stop talking, and again when they start speaking.
-Stopping and resuming tracks.
-Switching between tracks of different bit rate (same bit rate tracks is fine)
-Continuously playing tracks for over 4 hours (this issue I had since day 1. Only the top 3 developed recently)

I've updated firmware, installed drivers, tried their ASIO drivers, no luck.

The pop issue occurs on my phone too, so it's not a Windows 10 thing. I've tried my brother's set (he rarely uses his) and his unit has none of the top 3 popping issues (his still has the 4th issue though). Confirming it's my unit that has gone faulty.

I absolutely love the sound of these. It's disappointing to see it degraded this quickly. IMO if you need a small USB dac, save up for the E1DA 9038D. I've never used one, but I'm assuming it's made better and will last longer. Personally I'm saving up for the D90/A90 stack to hopefully reach an end game.

 

[Saidera]

E1DA 9038D. A legendary device.

I guess 24/7 use is not recommended for dongles. I use mine almost never, since Apple dongle suffices most of the time!

 

[raistlin65]

E1DA 9038D. A legendary device.

You mean the same device that comes with this warning?

"9038D contains a high-sensitive I/V stage that may cause audible noise when your phone uses LTE 4G, 5g. Some newest hardware may have issues like "stuttering" with USB3(Macbook pro 2020, MS Suface 2020, Lenovo Carbone 2020, Acer SF313-52-71Y7 2020). USB audio-bridge manufacturer was informed about that and we expecting the FW solution"

https://www.linsoul.com/products/e1da-9038d

So it has its own problems.

 

[Saidera]

'legendary', only because it's not a dongle from a big company, nor a medium one.

 

[Sinquito]

I got one and the extra headroom over the Apple dongle was just enough to make HD6X0s and ZMFs comfortable to use. It's nice for lounging around the home!

For the Sennheiser, how much difference you notice respect to the apple dongle? How is the lightning to micro USB cable holding?

 

[Jimbob54]

Been using mine for a bit over a year (24/7 plugged in to my desktop via USB) and am sad to report it has developed severe popping issues.

Currently it pops when:
-During a track and there's silent portions. Such as a podcast. It pops once when they stop talking, and again when they start speaking.
-Stopping and resuming tracks.
-Switching between tracks of different bit rate (same bit rate tracks is fine)
-Continuously playing tracks for over 4 hours (this issue I had since day 1. Only the top 3 developed recently)

I've updated firmware, installed drivers, tried their ASIO drivers, no luck.

The pop issue occurs on my phone too, so it's not a Windows 10 thing. I've tried my brother's set (he rarely uses his) and his unit has none of the top 3 popping issues (his still has the 4th issue though). Confirming it's my unit that has gone faulty.

I absolutely love the sound of these. It's disappointing to see it degraded this quickly. IMO if you need a small USB dac, save up for the E1DA 9038D. I've never used one, but I'm assuming it's made better and will last longer. Personally I'm saving up for the D90/A90 stack to hopefully reach an end game.

I had one that died. Pops first, then died. At its current price , buy 2 and with a bit of luck you'll get another 2 or more years from them.

 

[Drakosss]

Bought this DAC back in December 2020, from aliexpress, based on Hidisz S8 review. It got lost and got a new one after refund. Five months later I finally had it. I plugged it in my PC and the output to my Superlux HD-681, which always sounded a little bright to me. And then the magic happened, on the first bass note I knew this is the s%@t. This is a golden combination. The highs calmed down and the bass....it got to the basement, low and tight. I know this is a cliché, but the new details I hear on old songs are unbelievable to me. Until now, my only sources for these headphones, were some souncards, never thought this could make such a difference, and these cheap headphones can sound so good. I had some problems using it with my Xiaomi K20PRO until I updated the firmware. Now it works flawlessly. This raises the bar a lot, as expectations, for my diy speakers (in the making). Thanks for these reviews Amirm!

 

[phoenixsong]

Anything that beats this in power vs distortion for super-sensitive IEMs yet?

 

[mshenay]

I've got one of these and it's pretty dandy! I'll mention tho I purchased 2 one for my self and a friend. Sadly twice she either got a defective unit OR it was simply unstable with her LG G7... so while I've not had issues with my Dell Laptop nor my OnePlus cell I will mention these units don't seem to be a 100% guarantee plug n play for everything

Still for $54 it's great

 

[Matias]

More info on the Sonata line here.

“Sonata E35 and Sonata E44 follow our Sonata HD PRO and Sonata BHD products. Starting with Sonata HD PRO, we have developed a series of products based on SA9312 master [USB] chip and CS43131 [DAC] chip.

Sonata HD PRO (SA9312 + single CS43131 + 3.5mm)
Sonata BHD (SA9312 + double CS43131 + 2.5mm)
Sonata E35 (SA9312 + double CS43131 + 3.5mm)
Sonata E44 (SA9312 + double CS43131 + 4.4mm)
iBasso DC03 and DC04 use SA9302 and double CS43131. "

Sonata BHD should have been named "Sonata E25" to keep the naming scheme following the output jack size.

Sonata E44 starts selling today: 90 usd.
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005002723420122.html

Example of appropriate cable for my IEMs: 15 usd.
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/32918220523.html

I just bought both.

(PS: I really wanted the hardware volume buttons, but if you don't need them, the iBasso DC04 is the same for only 60 usd).

 

[Saidera]

All things considered, nothing can rival SHDP.

 

[Matias]

Sonata E44 starts selling today: 90 usd.
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005002723420122.html

Example of appropriate cable for my IEMs: 15 usd.
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/32918220523.html

I just bought both.

(PS: I really wanted the hardware volume buttons, but if you don't need them, the iBasso DC04 is the same for only 60 usd).

View attachment 139639

With the included adapters it works on PC or phone (USB-C), and on 4.4 mm balanced cable or regular 3.5 mm. Very versatile.

 

[Rottmannash]

You mean the same device that comes with this warning?

"9038D contains a high-sensitive I/V stage that may cause audible noise when your phone uses LTE 4G, 5g. Some newest hardware may have issues like "stuttering" with USB3(Macbook pro 2020, MS Suface 2020, Lenovo Carbone 2020, Acer SF313-52-71Y7 2020). USB audio-bridge manufacturer was informed about that and we expecting the FW solution"

https://www.linsoul.com/products/e1da-9038d

So it has its own problems.

I have had no issue with noise. Not sure many have actually.