Tempotec Sonata HD Pro Review (headphone Adapter)

[DarrylG]

Did you fool it into high gain?

Otherwise, it's going to sense the K712 Pro as low impedance and go into to low mode.

And I use it as a dac. It has plenty of output. Did you turn the volume up on it?

Do you have to fool it into high gain when you use it with an external dac?

 

[thyristor]

Then there's something else going on. Amir's measurements show it can put out 2V. And that replicates my experience when it is used as a DAC

What amp are you connecting it to? And how do you know it's not putting out enough voltage?

As for fooling it into high gain, if you are not doing that, it is definitely affecting the output when used with the K712 Pro.

When I use it as a DAC I connected it to my Whammy headphone amp. Volume is about 50% lower than Topping D10 connected to the same amp. Based on how much I have to turn the volume knob on the amp.

 

[raistlin65]

When I use it as a DAC I connected it to my Whammy headphone amp. Volume is about 50% lower than Topping D10 connected to the same amp. Based on how much I have to turn the volume knob on the amp.

I don't know. Maybe you have a bad unit. I replaced my Topping D50S with the Sonata HD Pro because it worked just as well.

 

[raistlin65]

Do you have to fool it into high gain when you use it with an external dac?

You can't use it with an external DAC.

If you mean use it as a DAC connected to some kind of amp, then no.

 

[DarrylG]

You can't use it with an external DAC.

If you mean use it as a DAC connected to some kind of amp, then no.

Ugh. I meant external amp.

 

[mkawa]

in my experience with an a50s, i didn't have to pull any wiring tricks. it just worked, and beautifully too.

 

[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.

 

[Matias]

I am just waiting for the Sonata E44 to be released to upgrade to it, along with a 4.4 mm 2 pin cable for my Audeze LCDi3. THD+N and SNR should be about the same as my Hidizs S8 (= TempoTec Sonata HD Pro), but hopefully the extra power and improved crosstalk should be worth it.

 

[Saidera]

Thanks for that info!

The Sonata lineup is very comprehensive now.

But for most users, there is no getting past Sonata HD PRO (SA9312 + single CS43131 + 3.5mm).

It's convenient for its USB micro B cable ability on a PC as well.

See here https://zhuanlan.zhihu.com/p/206709234
Unsure about accuracy but this is a quote: 'Unlike Meizu Line/Meizu Line Pro, it does not use the Cirrus Logic family bucket CS46L41 solution, because the CS46L41 interface is 32bit/384kHz. , But in fact it will turn to 24bit internally, which makes it impossible to achieve DSD256 (requires an actual data throughput equivalent to 32bit/352.8kHz). For consumer products, users may not care, but in the niche market of HiFi, this may be a big deal. (emphasis added)

This explains why Savitech's ASIO driver GUI shows PCM equivalents of DSD playback...

'The Sonata HD Pro follows the plan of the previous generation of Sonata HD, the Taiwanese manufacturer Savitech, but uses the more advanced SA9312, which supports a complete 32bit/384kHz PCM stream, so it can transmit DSD256 data'

'Since Sonata HD Pro did not add an amp chip to the CS43131, but directly used the internal H-type amp output, so the index under the 33Ω load, the mono-channel driving is significantly lower than the dual-channel distortion. About 0.00041%, and about 0.00075% for dual-channel drive, which is the limit of the output power of the Class H amplifier. The channel separation can reach 111dB, which is a very surprising number for single-ended output devices. Many devices with balanced output may not be able to achieve 110dB separation '

'Combining low crosstalk and the difference between DNR and SNR, we can infer that there is a noise gate inside Sonata HD Pro, which will trigger when there is no input signal, so DNR is more than 3dB lower than SNR. Fortunately, even without triggering the noise gate (DNR test), the performance of the Sonata HD Pro is sufficient to achieve an A-weighted dynamic range of 119.6dB.'

'The CS43131 without a separate headphone amplifier has a similar arched curve when THD+N sweeps, but the highest point is lower than 0.001%, which is much better than the Meizu line.'

and more Audio Precision screenshots for other devices here for Meizu https://zhuanlan.zhihu.com/p/94991395 and Apple Lightning https://zhuanlan.zhihu.com/p/114847944
and as IVX found here for Meizu: https://www.0db.co.kr/REVIEW_0DB/1005449

 

[Saidera]

Some companies undertake pre-tests so that those PCBs which are underperforming are sold cheaper. The issue is whether Hidizs S8 is simply the better one while those boards which are bad somehow are relegated to SHDP? Photo evidence at the time showed the soldering to be somewhat cloudy and more copious compared to the shiny and lesser amount on S8. It is likely that ASR measured SINAD to be less on SHDP for a reason unrelated to measuring equipment perhaps? Not every DAC device will perform the same – this at least is clear?

 

[urfaust]

I still can't for the life of me avoid this dongle to click and pop. I ve tried everything with firmwares and drivers. It's a shame because besides that i think it sounds great, also has good enough power for my use, perfect on the go to me, especially with the laptop that has a very anemic headphone output and i can't be bothered to transport a full sized dac/amp around.
With the lastest firmware it's even worse, i get some weird echo harmonics on low levels of a track or video for example.

Do some people have experienced the same with the Hidizs S8, S9 or the Sonata BHD?

About the BHD i can also confirm, flashing its firmware on the HD pro, you get about double the output for no discernable drop of quality (but still clicks/pops). Switching to 384Khz/32Bits reduces slightly the issue, unfortunately still very annoying.

 

[Matias]

I still can't for the life of me avoid this dongle to click and pop. I ve tried everything with firmwares and drivers. It's a shame because besides that i think it sounds great, also has good enough power for my use, perfect on the go to me, especially with the laptop that has a very anemic headphone output and i can't be bothered to transport a full sized dac around.
With the lastest firmware it's even worse, i get some weird echo harmonics on low levels of a track or video for example.

Do some people have experienced the same with the Hidizs S8, S9 or the Sonata BHD?

About the BHD i can also confirm, flashing its firmware on the HD pro, you get about double the output for no discernable drop of quality (but still clicks/pops). Switching to 384Khz/32Bits reduces slightly the issue, unfortunately still very annoying.

Did you try using ASIO and large buffer size?

 

[urfaust]

Did you try using ASIO and large buffer size?

Yes, i would say in ASIO mode it reduces the clicks related to seeking on a track or a video but still does it when i stop or swap application.

Buffer size in ASIO offline settings? I tried many combinations there, i didn't feel any improvement.

 

[Matias]

This here.

 

[Saidera]

I put the settings to their highest buffer. I don't care about lag. Hopefully it helps with the hardware longevity

 

[urfaust]

It doesn't change anything for me. Im assuming it's the dashboard of your Hidizs S8, im wondering if the issue is only with the Sonata.

 

[Saidera]

Not unexpected.

 

[michman66]

I have high interest in this thread. I'd like to pull the trigger on one. The Linsoul E1A for 119.00 on Amazon looks like it would be a step up all the way around? Or are you all holding pat on Sonata Pro pound for pound best buy.

 

[Peaky]

I bought the Sonata HD pro almost a year ago and it worked fine until a week ago that I replaced my GPU(2060) with a new AMD one (6800). Since I installed the new card and updated the BIOS, I started to experience poping and cutout issues while playing games.

I used LatencyMon for several hours to test it, and while browsing or using multimedia it spikes sometimes but its a low latency peak and the sound cutting out is not noticiable.
But while playing games is atrocious, depending on the game the poping can happen every minute, reaching 27277ms on LatencyMon.

I tried so many things since then, updating firmware, drivers, testing multiple BIOS versions, disabling some parameters, changing the PCIE lanes, changing power options on windows, etc.. But nothing. Its gotten to a point that its really annoying and I dont know what else to do.
I know that it may be a BIOS/GPUdriver problem and not SonataHD's fault, cant say for sure as I dont have other PC to test it. But I'm posting in case any of you have any idea on how to fix it.

 

[Saidera]

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