iFi hip-dac Portable Balanced DAC Headphone Amplifier for Android, iPhone with USB Input Only/Outputs: 3.5mm Unbalanced / 4.4mm Balanced (Unit Only)

A portable, battery-powered equivalent to the same manufacturer's Zen DAC one of which was recently purchased for use with a desktop PC, not to replace its internal audio facilities but to better provide for headphone use. This "iFi hip-dac - Portable Balanced DAC Headphone Amplifier for Android, iPhone with USB Input Only/Outputs: 3.5mm Unbalanced / 4.4mm Balanced (Unit only)" provides very similar facilities and connectability to the Zen DAC with minor reconfiguration. Its shape suggests a hip flask, supposedly the reasoning behind the product's name. As the description indicates, there is only USB input, space constraints being the probable reason.Sound quality is very high and also similar to that of the Zen DAC from which it borrows most components, all of high quality. It has outputs for 3.5mm jack-equipped headphones and in-ear 'phones as well as a 4.4mm balanced jack socket for some professional level headphones. The major visible control is for volume which is linear rather than logarithmic, smooth and easy to adjust and a similar Japanese Alps unit to those used on its desktop devices (where relevant).It has a function to boost the bass capabilities of any 'phones where there may be a deficiency - there are many! Its effects are smooth and subtle rather than dramatic but its purpose is sometimes under-appreciated and not well understood. It isn't always needed and need not always be used but its benefits when playing modern bass-heavy music will soon become apparent. Another control 'auto-matches' the connected phones to a suitable impedance and amplification level. Usage time will vary for different 'phones, volume levels and other factors, at least 6 hours but up to 8-9.Build quality is to iFi's expected high standards and based upon a fairly thick aluminium shell that incorporates a lithium-polymer battery as well as its complex circuitry. A short USB-C charge lead (smooth plastic covering) and only slightly longer OTG cable are included - it is non-standard as iFI have opted to fit a male Type-A connector rather than the usual female - to connect with most DAPs but not all. The cloth-covered cable is a USB-A to USB-C adapter and a recent unannounced addition. Apple users will need a suitable Lightning cable as one is not included (licensing restrictions apply).The hip-dac is to replace a headphone amplifier well-reviewed in its day and owned for several years, and a broadly similar size and weight but a poor match for the headphones then used. Most importantly, its amplification was barely more than the DAP alone could provide and consequently was rarely used; it was also double the price of this. The hip-dac is not just for in-ear 'phones but offers a sufficiently high output to support full-sized headphones up to 300-ohm impedance and not solely on maximum volume.It is pocket-sized and not too heavy. Once connected by OTG cable, the player only needs to be used to change album, artist etc. iFi has not provided a means by which the amp and DAP can be attached to each other although some competing brands supply elasticated straps or similar. iFi also do not offer a case; there are expensive third-party versions.It may not be the least expensive headphone amplifier available or that with the absolutely best performance possible but it offers an excellent range of features for its price, excellent performance, is affordable and a similar price to its larger desktop equivalent. Last, but by no means least, it is British designed with excellent UK support if needed!

I spent a long time looking at headphones, DAP's and other options and eventually decided to get the if Hip Dac to use with my iPhone XS MAX, TIDAL music streaming and either Shure se425's or Sennheiser momentum 3 (which are surprisingly good wired headphones too). I also got a KBear Balanced 4.4mm connection.The Hip Dac sounds great either in single ended (S balanced mode with 3.5mm connection with my Sennheisers) and especially using the fully balanced 4.4mm output with the Shure se425 earphones which seem to suit the Hip Dac really well (some reports say the Shure se425's a re bit Bass light but with the hipDac to my ears they are justa bout perfect and that without X BAss engaged).I updated the Firmware to get the GTO filter which in my opinion is well worth the little effort it took. With full MQA decoding and the GTO filter for everything else combined with either S Balanced or fully balanced output the Hip DAc sound phenomenal. I really think it's worth investing in a Blaned connection if your Headphones can be used that way, the improvement in dynamics, seperation, sound stage and detail resolution are all individually quite subtle but add up to a marked improvement in enjoyment and sound quality. The ie match (useful if you have more than one set of headphones with different impedance and sensitivity) and X Bass are good to have and for some tracks that lack a little low end I do use this but in general the pure sound output with my headphones is just wonderful as it is.One cautionary note though especially if you listen to high quality uncompressed Classical music with a big dynamic range is watch out for the loud passages. You really do get the quietest of tiny almost inaudible sounds right through to the thunderous cacophony of the orchestra in full swing just like you would on a high quality set of hiFi speakers with the right kit. Fortunately both my headphones have great noise isolation so I can set the volume just right to enjoy the quiet moments and not get defeaned by the loud passages.All in all a fabulous bit of kit my advice would be don't go crazy on spending a fortune on iems or headphones. Get a good set and the hip dac and for probably less money you will have fantastic combination that sounds just as good if not better.

Update 18/08/2021 - Disconnections are now infuriating, quite literally can’t touch the DAC without it disconnecting. I’ve tried several lead options and three different phones and all have the same results, looking elsewhere now for a suitable stable DAC.Update 26/07/2021 - Connection issues are increasingly inconvenient, I quite literally only have to touch the DAC and it cuts out and this happens with three different leads and three different phones including an iPhone so it's definitely an issue with the DAC. Extremely temperamental.This a great DAC for sound quality especially using KZ ZS10 Pro IEM's with a balanced 4.4mm connector, can't fault the neutral reproduction at all especially streaming Amazon Music HD , however portable it aint despite the small size and intentions. I've had the DAC a few months now and often the slightest movement kills the playback, I've tried three separate connectors including the one supplied but the results are all the same. I do tend to use it more as a static DAC either chilling in bed or on the couch but frequently when I lift my mobile to change the playback it cuts out, can be annoying if i'm just browsing tunes so it prevents me trying out its portability to be honest. Shame really because the music quality is quite superb, not a deal breaker though so I'll live with it.

Excelente para relajarse y satisfacer el gusto culposo de las frecuencias bajas resaltadas, noté beneficios a utilizar la salida 4.4. todo excelente, buen match con mis hd660s que a veces me parecían muy brillantes.

I love this little gem! It works well with both my iPhone 12 Pro Max and my iPad Pro 2019 version. Bought the Apple CCK to lightning and the ifi USB -C connector to female USB-A connector at the same time as I bought the hipdac. The connections are quite secure on both and the sound is absolutely top notch. I have used and tested Tidal, Qobuz, Amazon HD, and Apple Music. All worked wonderfully with the appropriate colors showing up on either side of the ifi hipdac’s volume which is wonderful to the touch. Two caveats, The volume knob can be quite sensitive, especially in a pocket. I use a hair tie to hold the hipdac to the back of my iPhone case and this seems to eliminate the issue but just be forewarned. The other is there is only a slight difference between the color Green which covers PCM up to 24/96, and Yellow which is PCM 24/192 and above. Just a very small difference and if you try you can see a slight dimming which I suppose is Yellow. MQA does light up Magenta as it should.More about the sound. I’ve used three headphones with the hipdac so far; Oppo PM-3, Beyer Dt-990 Pro (250 ohms), and my favorites, the small $75 emu purpleheart wood cans from Drop. I have a balanced 4.4 mm cable on the way to use with my reference open back Senn HD600s, I’ll update on that later. First of all this little jewel has a lot of power. It drove the Beyers to insane levels, albeit with the high gain switch deployed. And it was quite a joy to utilize the bass boost as well, but only on certain songs as it could bloat quickly if there was too much bass in the original mix. But useful nonetheless. With the Oppos I had to use the ifi ematch+, which I already had on hand, to get the best results. High gain and occasionally the bass boost, helped me really enjoy the PM-3s a great deal and at the moment this is my favorite pairing while stationary. But I move around the house a good deal and here is where the little emus are outstanding. For the last 4 years, though I own too many headphones, I have relied on the emus and two LG V20s, in airplane mode with WiFi reengaged, running UAPP to play music from Tidal and Qobuz. Alas, my V20s both started to reboot quite regularly whilst playing music. As they are both four years old and T-Mobile hasn’t updated Android in over two years, I finally gave up the ghost. Sooo, I had to resort to my iPhone for mobility. Hence the purchase of the hipdac. Sometimes things really do seem to work out. On low gain at about half volume the sound from the emus is outstanding! I never knew the emus could be so detailed. Highs and lows sound far better than I would imagine from past experience. Anyways, I am one happy camper these days. And the hipdac even makes lossy music sound good. I use the Live Music app to access the Grateful Dead’s concerts and more from Archive.org. Listening to Matrix recordings the music does not sound compressed at all. Frankly I am stunned at the quality. I have over 2 TBs of legally downloaded music that I have accumulated over the last twenty years but who wants to pay the premium for larger storage on a new iPad when this DAC/amp streaming from the iPhone sounds just as good as the 24/96 downloaded files playing through the Onkyo HiFi player even as good as that app is. Sound in one word, impeccable!I’ve seen some folks complain about battery life, but I have not any issue with the hipdac in this respect. Now I’m not trying to play music for 8 hours at a time, though I respect those who try to do so during a full work day. I usually max out at 3 hours, then place the hipdac in standby, and come back for another 2-3 hours later on, and then finally another 1-2 hours before bedtime. So 6-8 hours of usage a day with roughly 2 standby periods in between, and I’ve never seen anything but green on the battery indicator at the rear of the unit. It takes about 2 and a half hours to charge to white and then for the light to turn off.In summary, this little hipdac floats my boat. As someone who plays in both the shallow end and the deep end in the pool of headphones I couldn’t be any happier. I have tried other dongles that did okay including one that did MQA. But this piece of kit is a home run IMHO! Highly recommended!UPDATE: 7/10Received balanced cables to use with Senn HD 600s and Meze 99 Classics. The Sennheiser cable upgraded the 600s to the point of quite enjoyable listening on the go. For well recorded music in Hi-Rez this is a wonderful pairing and let’s the HipDac really shine.It was the Meze cable that turned my world upside down. I’ve always liked the 99 Classics but would more than occasionally find them bloated on the low end. Not any more! Using Meze’s own balanced cable with the HipDac took the 99s to levels of incredible clarity with deep taut bass that I wouldn’t have imagined from past use. Love, love, love this combo with both the iPhone 12 Pro Max and the iPad Pro 2019 version. As the Meze’s I have are beautiful to look at, as well as touch, having their sound elevated to beyond reference level is a blessing. With the Meze 99 Classics, HipDac , balanced cable, and USB connector, you’ll spend around $700. But if you want beautiful music from your phone or tablet, this combo will keep a smile on your face!

Amazing sound. I'm no audiophile so please excuse my fumbly attempt of explaining what I hear:All the little details can be heard, bass is punchy, tight but also detailed, in a way I didn't expect was possible from a portable amp. Mids and Highs are equally good, detailed, accurate, no distortions.Sound is very balanced and thus not hurting my ears like some cheap amps can do.The sound makes me just want to keep listening to all my songs again. It is very enjoyable.Cons: The connections for headphones and also the volume knob are directly soldered to the motherboard and they all flex a bit so I think if you flex it too much/many times/strongly then they can break off from the motherboard. So you need to be careful.Also, the USB-C cable that goes into the mobile phone has to be pushed very hard, I'm a bit worried it could damage my phone, hopefully it won't. Also if I touch the cable or phone it often pauses the music or losses connection. So It has to lay still. If the cable was better and the front knobs were not flexing against the motherboard I would give 5 start. I'm sorry to give 4. Wish there was an option for 4.5 stars.

This is my first real foray into proper amp/dac usage not to mention it being a portable one. I did extensive research. Videos, articles from both "experts" and amateur alike. I even found a video of a guy, (electrical/sound engineer) that had all the proper gear to test and take apart. And based on all that I made the purchase. Why? This item has parts in it that would normally be found in pricier products and the engineering is very well done too. Great, how does it sound? Well in many of the reviews they mention a warmth. I now know what that means. It has a fullness to the sound without muddying it. The "xbass" and "power match" work very well. I think this would greatly help a more analytical/monitor style headphone by giving a yep warmer depth. But again this is going vary with so many options available. I paired this with the 1MORE Triple Driver Over Ear, (really hybrid over/on ear) headphones and it's crazy how they sound together. Sorry for the length I just wanted to touch on some of the questions I was asking.

Dès les premières écoutes, avec des morceaux que je connais depuis plus de 20 ans, la qualité du son a été excellente, je dois dire que ce petit DAC permet une belle amélioration du son, le rendant plus chaleureux, les basses sonnent bien, les aigus sont précis et les médiums présents sans être ni étouffés ni trop mis en avant.La puissance du DAC est impressionnante, si on veut garder ses oreilles en bon état, il convient de ne pas pousser le volume. Il élargit quelque peu la scène sonore de mon Focal Elegia, je l'ai également testé sur un Audio Technica MSR7, certifié hi res, le résultat est tout aussi excellent.Pour le prix, c'est un très bon produit, à condition de faire la mise à jour du firmware dans sa dernière version.