Tempotec Sonata HD Pro Review (headphone Adapter)

[raistlin65]

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

People have reported it here at ASR and at Head-Fi. But I didn't keep a count because I haven't had any problems with my two Sonata HD Pros (no need to replace them), so I can't tell you how many people.

 

[Saidera]

I'll add that I have no issue with noise. But I think the post was referring to 9038D?

 

[Rottmannash]

I'll add that I have no issue with noise. But I think the post was referring to 9038D?

Yes.

 

[Saidera]

The Black version bought in 2020 had a shorter cable, with the audio jack recessed and the DSD logo printed.
The Silver unpainted version bought in 2021 had a longer cable, with the audio jack extruding and the larger DSD logo etched.
Who doesn't prefer the Silver version? Unfortunately its minus volume button is less tactile. It skips sound less too.
Sony Music had DSD equipment K-1326 and K-1327 and that K-132x series had a nickname 'ginbako', 'silver box'.

Forgive me for pointing out an odd fact that the internal PCB board seems to have been flipped, or at least the USB micro B has flipped anyway:

 

[Saidera]

A general subjective review of SHDP ranks it very highly: https://andyaudiovault.com/donglemadness/tempotec-sonata-hd-pro/

 

[phoenixsong]

Will firmware updates help with the volume steps or is it a hardware limited thing?

 

[Jimbob54]

Will firmware updates help with the volume steps or is it a hardware limited thing?

I've not seen any reports saying firmware helps- whether it could if they wanted to, who knows! I doubt its a full on hardware issue, just probably not one they want to address with firmware.

 

[LHAudio]

I bought the Tempotec Sonata HD Pro (non-iOS) version a couple of days back. And I must say, I'm literally blown away. Maybe this is an understatement.
My audio source is Apple Music Lossless/Hi-Res Lossless running on an iPhone/iPad. I mostly listen to music on my Audio-Technica ATH-M40x and Blon BL-03s, being previously connected via the Apple Lightning to 3.5mm dongle. Although I could have gone with the iOS version, I read the lightning cable provided is too fragile and the lightning jack breaks easily. So I just went ahead and bought the non-iOS version and am using it with the Apple Camera Connection Kit(Lighting to USB adapter).
Upon my first listen, I wondered whether the HD Pro was any different from the Apple dongle. However after spending a bunch of consecutive hours with this device, the differences only became clearer. I thought the apple dongle was pretty well balanced in sound signature, but boy was I wrong. The sound from the Tempotec is one of the most balanced I've ever heard, making sure you experience every frequency range in it's entirety, delivering the music as it is. It expands the soundstage, gives you more instrument separation and doesn't hold back on it's delivery of music. After this, my apple dongle sounded very constricted with a narrower soundstage, and as if it was holding back my music. The difference only became clearer when I connected it to my Bose Acoustic Wave System II. Man did it start to sing.
I only wonder if it get's any better than this. If it does, then I'm gladly open to any upgrade suggestions by y'all xD. But at this price point, it's truly a heck of a steal deal. Think i'm gonna keep myself away from this rabbit-hole of Audiophilia for some time now haha

 

[Saidera]

A member asked me, 'do you think there is anything different between silver and black version, soundwise?'

I considered this and replied: My black version is older (early 2020), so if you get new ones (2021) both colours will be the same I assume. Comparing my 'old' black vs new silver, the new silver has better buffer capacity perhaps (doesn't seem to get overloaded with data as easily or one could say that it has lower latency?). No difference in sound so far.

I also remember the disparity between S8 measurements (same internals as 2020 model) and 2021 measurements of the 2021 model (?) Black SHDP both on ASR. Without more info, you could guess that the internals are responsible for the difference, or that S8 had better quality boards while SHDP was variable/lesser quality and hence lower price.

Comparing the black vs silver design, the member found that 'silver ... looks better with white buttons'.

Indeed S8 looked better than SHDP Black, so SHDP Silver is a welcome addition for those who missed out on the S8 design!

 

[Jet Black]

Is this dongle better than my ibasso dc03 dongle in terms of sound quality?

 

[charleski]

I'm posting this just for reference if anyone's interested.
Before I upgraded the firmware on my 2020 SDHP to version 3.0 I grabbed the USB descriptors using Thesycon USB Descriptor Dumper. The images below show the differences found before (left) and after the FW update. It looks like the wTotalLength field is an easy way to see which firmware you have on your device. Other than that, the update seems to have filled in a whole section of fields that were missing in the original FW. Note that the transfer type is isochronous adaptive, which indicates that the clock is determined by USB data flow. Amirm found it to have very low jitter, though this was when being fed from his APx555, but clock integrity may be dependent on your USB port and connection.

I splashed out on one of those premium USB cables (over £2!!) to hook it up to mt MBP, and it does seem to have reduced the occasional skipping, though this still happens occasionally, which is a bit annoying.

 

[phoenixsong]

Is this dongle better than my ibasso dc03 dongle in terms of sound quality?

Measurement's report iBasso DC03 test and graphs - Reference Audio Analyzer (reference-audio-analyzer.pro)
Measurement's report iBasso DC03 test and graphs - Reference Audio Analyzer (reference-audio-analyzer.pro)
Some measurements for you haha

 

[Jet Black]

Measurement's report iBasso DC03 test and graphs - Reference Audio Analyzer (reference-audio-analyzer.pro)
Measurement's report iBasso DC03 test and graphs - Reference Audio Analyzer (reference-audio-analyzer.pro)
Some measurements for you haha

What does it all mean tho? Not all can be described by graphs. It's still the ear that will do the judging...

 

[tmtomh]

What does it all mean tho? Not all can be described by graphs. It's still the ear that will do the judging...

The fact that you don’t know what the graphs mean does not mean that no one does.

 

[Jet Black]

The fact that you don’t know what the graphs mean does not mean that no one does.

I didn't said no one does, tho..

 

[zvukofor]

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.

Same thing on Hidizs s8, both on iOS and Macbook - does not matter...
Like an echo after every sound in quiet music or movie, not to mention clicks on start/stop/seeking... looks like it goes to power saving state when the sound level drops below some threshold.

 

[danilism]

This performed well with the HD 650 so this means I could use the Sonata HD Pro with the HD 6XX as a daily driver, right?

 

[vipdragonkien]

A member asked me, 'do you think there is anything different between silver and black version, soundwise?'

I considered this and replied: My black version is older (early 2020), so if you get new ones (2021) both colours will be the same I assume. Comparing my 'old' black vs new silver, the new silver has better buffer capacity perhaps (doesn't seem to get overloaded with data as easily or one could say that it has lower latency?). No difference in sound so far.

I also remember the disparity between S8 measurements (same internals as 2020 model) and 2021 measurements of the 2021 model (?) Black SHDP both on ASR. Without more info, you could guess that the internals are responsible for the difference, or that S8 had better quality boards while SHDP was variable/lesser quality and hence lower price.

Comparing the black vs silver design, the member found that 'silver ... looks better with white buttons'.

Indeed S8 looked better than SHDP Black, so SHDP Silver is a welcome addition for those who missed out on the S8 design!

hi, can you help me how to -0.5 -1 dbfs on SHDP? Hardware button or window control or anythings?

 

[Saidera]

You want to get -0.5 -1 dbfs on SHDP - I recall someone here measured the intervals between the volume button presses, but I can't find it. It may be possible.

 

[mr.popo]

I bought the Tempotec Sonata HD Pro (non-iOS) version a couple of days back. And I must say, I'm literally blown away. Maybe this is an understatement.
My audio source is Apple Music Lossless/Hi-Res Lossless running on an iPhone/iPad. I mostly listen to music on my Audio-Technica ATH-M40x and Blon BL-03s, being previously connec......

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 no

What is up with people making alt accounts to positive rate their favorite products, then never to be seen again?

I'm new, is this kind of stuff normal here?