[passie42]

It is time you made a decent Dap on level of xdsd gryphon or diablo, that would be amazing.

What would be the size of that thing?

 

[jjazzy]

What would be the size of that thing?

Okay diablo might be a little too much, but anything between a xdsd gryphon and diablo in a DAP would be amazing, for me would he a instant buy.

I am quite annoyed by many other brands only using ess ess ess, it’s like buying 10 different car brands with exactly the same engine. Yes they all might drive a little different, but essentially they are almost the same sounding and performing car, at least the character of the performance.

Ifi is at least a little stubborn and choose there own path with burr brown, and brands like cayin with there own dap with dac/amp implemantion. The rest ess, well most of them

 

[jjazzy]

I ordered this bad boy yesterday to replace my Fiio Q3 MQA which isn’t a bad DAC at all. I really hope it will be a upgrade. Delivery is scheduled in 2 to 3 weeks. Besides the way it sounds I am curious about 3 things. Number one is it’s size. I never saw one in real life but I hope it is about the size as the Q3 so I can use the Q3’s strap kit which is really good. Second, all the previews say there will also be a usb-c to lightning cable supplied but ifi’s website says only a usb-c to usb-c and a usb-c to usb-a cable is supplied. Third, will it be powerfull enough to drive some headphones I send back because the Q3 wasn’t.
I wasn’t really planning to replace the Q3 but it had gotten some problems where it would stop giving sound on my iPhone 14. Sometimes after aprox. 1 hour and other times it stopped 4 times in 15 minutes where I had to power it off and on again for it to work. The company I bought it from was being difficult stating it was Apple’s fault because iOS17 caused the problems. After a long discussion they agreed to send it to Fiio to be checked out letting me pay for the shipping cost and stating it could take a while for me to get it back. I bought the damn thing in January so it’s not even a year old. Needless to say I bought the hip dac 3 from another company.
The reason I send back some headphone I tried (eg HiFiMan Sundara, Deva Pro Wired, BD DT990 Pro and others) was because the Q3 was not powerful enough to get the cans to the volume level I wanted. Maybe after receiving the hip dac 3 I should give some headphones a second try… Will the difference between 280mW and 400mW be enough to drive power hungry headphones?
In short. I can’t wait to get my hands on the hip dac 3.

Well sounding good is a nobrainer, the hip dac 2 sounds already better. And it is quite small. If you really want a upgrade get the xdsd gryphon (not much bigger but amazing)

The new hip dac 3, is new so have not heared it, but guessing will end somewhere between the hip dac 2
And xdsd gryphon in performance

 

[Deleeh]

Would have liked a screen with more info like battery status, tracks etc....
Bluetooth would also have been nice for more flexibility.
Otherwise, the design is very timeless and beautiful.
Purely on paper I don't know if it makes sense to go from the 2 to the 3, from 1 to 3 for sure.
Since I have the 2, I think it makes sense to wait for the 4.

Otherwise I can only praise their work, I hope all devices will still be delivered with software updates.
Also the option to flash away Mqa hopefully.

 

[passie42]

Would have liked a screen with more info like battery status, tracks etc....
Bluetooth would also have been nice for more flexibility.
Otherwise, the design is very timeless and beautiful.
Purely on paper I don't know if it makes sense to go from the 2 to the 3, from 1 to 3 for sure.
Since I have the 2, I think it makes sense to wait for the 4.

Otherwise I can only praise their work, I hope all devices will still be delivered with software updates.
Also the option to flash away Mqa hopefully.

Adding a screen and bluetooth would make it more expensive and out of reach for some people. Bluetooth is not for the audiophile user but for the mainstream user and they usually don’t need a dedicated amp/amplifier. Most of the time they buy crappy headsets which already have bluetooth. Battery status is shown by the color of a led. Much cheaper and also effective. For the mainstream consumer there are other options so I think this the wise way to go.
And why would you need to flash MQA away? If you don’t like it just don’t use it. It won’t be in your way. We all know MQA is snake oil but some people with a Tidal premium tier will use it.
The only thing I can think off not to use MQA is they don’t have to pay commission. But then what. The device will be 5,- dollar cheaper?
No…like I said. If you don’t like it, don’t use it.

 

[ClieOS]

If only it is not that Burr-Brown DAC chip anymore. Sometimes I think it is that legacy that hinders innovation.

 

[passie42]

I thought the burr-brown chip is one of the best chips around. Better than the AK4452 and CS43198 that Fiio use. Am I wrong?

 

[ClieOS]

I thought the burr-brown chip is one of the best chips around. Better than the AK4452 and CS43198 that Fiio use. Am I wrong?

Perhaps 20 years ago, maybe. But any recent upper mid range DAC chips can outperform it easily these days. There is a reason why iFi generally doesn't like to advertises pure measurement numbers because Burr-Brown is a limiting factor. But if you don't believe in measurement numbers, then I guess it doesn't matter.

 

[stenog]

Adding a screen and bluetooth would make it more expensive and out of reach for some people. Bluetooth is not for the audiophile user but for the mainstream user and they usually don’t need a dedicated amp/amplifier. Most of the time they buy crappy headsets which already have bluetooth. Battery status is shown by the color of a led. Much cheaper and also effective. For the mainstream consumer there are other options so I think this the wise way to go.
And why would you need to flash MQA away? If you don’t like it just don’t use it. It won’t be in your way. We all know MQA is snake oil but some people with a Tidal premium tier will use it.
The only thing I can think off not to use MQA is they don’t have to pay commission. But then what. The device will be 5,- dollar cheaper?
No…like I said. If you don’t like it, don’t use it.

I use Bluetooth, but ok I don't think I consider myself an audiophile. I buy gear because I enjoy music not the other way around.

Topping G5 or Xduoo XP-2 pro are both excellent via Bluetooth and does not cost a fortune. XP-2 pro with Focal Radiance is G5 with Sony MDR-Z1R is heavenly bliss for an audiophile Both wireless from my smartphone!

 

[gooberbm]

I’m a Q5K portable and hip-dac 1 “desktop” guy.

Hip-dac 3 looks like a perfectly fine upgrade for me if/when h-d 1 gives out

 

[passie42]

Well, IEM/headphone + bluetooth
=
no hi-res/lossless

 

[Rackhour]

I take it that using only one USB cable - source to DAC - is not enough to power it?

 

[jjazzy]

If only it is not that Burr-Brown DAC chip anymore. Sometimes I think it is that legacy that hinders innovation.

Well ess 9038 is not everything either, a lot of crapy implementations

 

[jjazzy]

I take it that using only one USB cable - source to DAC - is not enough to power it?

I think they use power and signal seperately, like the xdsd gryphon. Seperate connection for both.

 

[rmsanger]