hip-dac

What’s not to like: looks beautiful and sounds marvellous. Everyone should have one: use mine with my Sennheiser over ear momentum 2 headphones.

A great product. Superb sound quality, lots of power, great for driving iems and headphones. Both outputs are good but the 4.4 balanced output produces excellent clear and rich sound – dac and amp working well together!! As usual, great ifi bass boost if needed and effective power match function that does its job well.

I was pleasantly surprised at the sound quality for such a small dac

Watch the full review here…

This thing is awesome if you have seen my other reviews you know I use my tin p1 which don’t work to well with a lot of mobile dac amp set ups. I use them with my dragonfly colbolt a lot until I got this thing….
Omg the bass boost on this makes the p1 in my opinion perfect it lacked the lows but now the are outstanding
Just not as portable but very good

Me encanta la amplificación y su limpieza.
Puede que se tarde por los envios por usps, se están tardando.

This is a great portable device. Audio quality was a significant improvement compared to a direct smartphone/laptop connection. It has really made my IME’s shine, especially the TRI I3’s. An excellent piece of audio gear, especially for the price. I would highly recommend!

Brilliant little headphone dac – very nicely made and MQA compatible with balanced 4.4mm output

I bought this to use with Tidal Hifi. It unfolds MQA audio great and the difference between using my Sony WH1000XM4’s Bluetooth vs wired with the hip dac is night and day. It made good sounding headphones great sounding headphones. I highly recommend these especially if you have a MQA music source.

Preforms amazing for the price. Built well too. Highly recommend. But it is usb only input.

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.

Read the full review here…

Bought these for my Hifiman Sundaras. Just about enough power at 1 o’clock on high gain. Sound quality wise they are decent but the main reason to get these is the xbass feature. They bring my sundaras and any flat audiophile headphones to life without affecting any of the other frequencies negatively and that alone is worth the price.

Really impressed with the hip-dac. The sound quality is impressive for a compact headphone amp, nearly on a par with a much more expensive desktop headphone amp that I have. I’ve used it mainly with Beyerdynamic T5p headphones the combo works well. It’s not the cheapest portable headphone amp out there but the build quality (like most Ifi products) is great and overall I think worth the money.

I use them to drive a pair of $400 headphones and the sound quality is great. Imaging is good and clarity excellent especially for the money. Very portable!

IFi provided another winner. This unit with the Bur Brown DAC chip out performs my $299 AQ Red Dev and $5000 McIntosh DAC / Headphone amplifier in power and musical sound quality. AQ Red with the ESS chip rounds edgy and a bit rough in comparison. The McIntosh does not come with a balanced headphone jack, and easily out powered by IFi Hip. What a steal at $149 ! Plus it decodes Tidal HiFi MQA up to 24/352 resolution.

Sound quality is amazing. Great clarity and detail with great soundstage. It even improves soundstage on IEMs that are usually lacking this feature; I experienced this with FiiO FH7 IEMs which are great headphones but really come to life with the iFi Hip-DAC. I mainly use iFi Hip-DAC though to drive my Sennheiser HD800S open headphones and it does an amazing job.

The xBassII does an amazing job of making the HD800S sound fuller with a great low end. Kick drums sound tighter and louder and you get a great accurate/detailed low frequency rumble. The only complaint is the battery life could be better but that is part of the trade off with a very portable device (small battery). At this price, you can’t go wrong – highly recommend!!!

Watch the full review here…

Watch the full review here…

Watch the full review here…

Ease of use (I use my iphone with a dongle), design (it just looks and feels great and importantly, sturdy), and excellent sound control. It improves the output to my audiophile headphones (Senn 58xm Hifiman 400i, et. al) and the overall sound. Well worth the very reasonable price. You’ll have no regrets if you decide to purchase the hipdac.

“Press that xBass button and you’re going to get what I believe to be a true to life, bass enhanced experience… It doesn’t interfere with any of the highs or mids… it’s just processed perfectly.”

Watch the full review here…

Watch the full review here…

The iFi hip-dac ($149.99) is, indeed, a smooth, musical operator and though not the last word in transparency, it will not embarrass itself in any genre or over any piece of music and that is, indeed saying a lot! And at its price point the iFi hip-dac represents a rather amazing opportunity for those exploring better sound from smartphone and computer alike.

I listen to on line HD/master music tracks using this DAC along with a quality pair of headphones. The positioning and musical definition of instruments provided by this DAC is excellent, so satisfying. I have 2 other portable Dacs but this one leaves the others wanting.

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“I was shocked by the possibilities of separation, I thought it would be much more difficult to distinguish a large number of sound sources, but wow. iFi Hip Dac is doing this very great”

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I’m no audiophile so I can’t really comment on specifics when it comes to how the sound is compared to other devices. But, I can tell you that turning on the bass boost turns my HD280 pros into a bass heads dream come true. I would buy this just for that feature alone.

This little DAC amplifier for headphones was is the best purchase I made for long time
very pounding sound the bass is awesome I don’t even use the equalizer that comes with iPhone I just checkbon none and iFi machine does all the job very good

Well built amp pretty heavy for its size..what I like most is that I can turn my volume almost to zero and still hear all the musical detail plus deep bass without being boomy..without the amp I have to turn volume almost to max to get the same effect..the power match and bass boost buttons are clean sounding.. on most amps I would get a shrill sound from the highs and overtones bass but this amp gets it right.. will buy another one…

I was hunting for a compact DAC for my iPad Pro with balanced output, hoping to use with my Audio-Technica over-ear headphones that have a really great sound profile with their optional balanced cable (2.5 mm connector). I also have other balanced headphones with 2.5mm balanced cable fro Etymotics.

I kept coming back to this iFi DAC, but was not sure about the 4.4 mm output and what adapter to use. This stuff is not exactly common in the retail audio world. And all I could find at first was a lot of junky looking adapters.

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I use this product with my iPod touch. Great sound from this pocket rocket using sennheiser 660s headphones. Would recommend.charging cable could be longer.

“…the hip-dac really ticks off pretty much every box that I’d look for in a portable DAC and headphone amplifier.”

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“As a mini DAC with a lot of power, the Hip DAC is certainly the first choice.”

“…it is an absolutely useful addition for anyone who wants to occasionally enjoy music in decent quality with their notebook or smartphone, regardless of location.”

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Awesome product

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Click the link to watch the full review.

Watch the full review here…

“The iFi hip-dac, is simply put, the best-looking portable DAC we’ve ever seen – and it performs pretty well too. ”

“We were impressed by just how much of a difference the hip-dac made to the sound of our headphones; even when using some of the best headphones we’ve ever tested”

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Tidal Hifi (UAPP) + Hip DAC Perfect sound!!

“The Hip-Dac has become a very demanding, vibrant, fun-sounding portable DAC”

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It’s working good and I’m glad I ordered it

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).

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excellent product

Based in the UK iFi is one of the most renowned portable DAC/Amp makers in the world. They have some of the best portable devices along with desktop DAC/Amps in a lot of price ranges.

Few years ago they were not really bothered about balanced outputs like 2.5mm and 4.4mm but now they have a handful of DACs and AMPs which support balanced output catering to a wider range of users.

Along with their in house optimizations they have recently launched a plethora of portable DACs and amps like Hip DAC, xCAN, xDSD and ZEN CAN.

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Extraordinary DAC amp with Tidal HiRes streaming files (but with any source even Spotify or YouTube you can feel the difference) sound never tiring very balanced tending to warm but rich in information and detail. Very high volume obtainable, with my in ear monitors.

Explosive dynamics. I state that my smartphone is already compatible by default for streaming Tidal MQA files but there is no comparison with the IFI. I have the feeling that it tends to improve the sound over time (perhaps a break-in period).

Battery can be improved but can also be heard while it is charging (even with a Power bank). Robust construction. No defect found object higher than expected. Amazon delivery ahead of time. Super satisfied for the moment. And I have a very picky ear.

I have long been looking for a good driver for my 1MORE triple driver Over-Ear headphones.
The 1MORE have a low impedance (32 Ohm) and a high sensitivity (104 dB).
The ifi hip doc DAC drives them smoothly.

I connected the ifi to my S10 +, crossed my fingers and turned everything on and started listening to a series of songs with good audio resolution (24 bit / 96kHz).
Well this petroleum flask works wonders.

The 1MORE sounds best with the Gain and X-bass ON (these are the two buttons to the left of the volume knob).

I have listened to different musical genres, I am speechless: the bass is very present and well restrained, the acoustic guitar and the harp have an impressive naturalness, the voices are crazy.

Money well spent on this exceptional DAC!

Good product

I just want to say this DAC does improve the audio quality. My first portable phone DAC was an EarStudio; looking back, the EarStudio only made a little improvement to the quality. Because the moment I used the Hip Dac, I could actually tell the difference. Currently streaming from Deezer (HiFi) using Meze Rai Solo, it gave more clarity and could hear the little details, and a bumped in bass. Speaking of bass, I like the xBass feature. One YouTuber who reviewed this DAC mentioned how it didn’t sound like it was just a gimmick, like an afterthought, generic sounding. Xbass actually sounds proper.

Also, glad I found this company, I always support/buy products owned by Americans, Europeans, and Japanese. Pioneers when it comes to audio hardware. In all honestly, I would pay more if it was actually made in Britain. Anyways, I would recommend this to anyone looking for an affordable product that actually works.

Just a little disclaimer, I am not an audiophile, tried my best describing my audio experience, and this only a quick review.

Very good device. Has more than enough to run any iem I have. Clean clear and the xbass is addictive. Doesn’t bloat out the bass, just seems to enhance the overall range. Turn on the power match and x bass, and this makes my 4xx planar headphones sound awesome.

“The iFi hip-dac has only one goal; improving your sound quality compared to the direct outputs of laptops and smartphones. After the time I’ve had with this device, I can smoothly say that it reaches that goal perfectly.”

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It’s a unique little thing that brings a full size DAC experience on the go. It really gave the bump up that I needed to play loss less audio through my AKG N30 earphone. Highly recommend even for any casual user that wants to improve their mobile device audio source.

Before trying hip DAC my main concern was, what are the compromises Ifi has made to make Hip DAC so affordable? But it turns out Hip DAC still being the most affordable offering from Ifi packed with lots of premium features with excellent close to the neutral sound. Ifi Hip DAC is like a complete meal for a new audiophile. Once you have it, you don’t need another premium DAC/AMP unless you want to drive deep further.

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Fantastic bit of kit, really brings out the best of an iPhone, even use it with my workshop amp and speakers and the sound is so much better.

For the price it’s worth every bit, would recommend.

Pros — Super haptic; appealing design; thin/portable; very powerful, even drives the least sensitive headphones well; value.

Cons — warm signature not optimal for warm earphones/headphones; slight hiss with very sensitive earphones; sharp metal edges.

Read the full review here…

I am not a big reviewer, but have to do it here!
Quod erat demonstrandum: Great sound does not have to cost hundreds or even thousands!
I have them both, the IFI Hip DAC and the IFI Zen DAC.
Superb design, great build, premium sound! Any more questions?
The guys at IFI do not let any room for complaints!
Highly recommended!

I am very picky about my music. The ifi Hip Dac is outstanding for the money. I would recommend it to anyone.

Man, this is awesome! This is my first DAC, but I tested a few others at a local store and this fit my portable needs perfectly! This also can be used as a desktop DAC if needed/wanted. I highly recommend Bass-X for most headphones. I’m trying them with my Shure 215 IEM right now with a compressed mp4 version of Lord of the Rings and, with the Bass-X on, I’m hearing stuff I haven’t heard since watching it in the theater! Really makes that low end from the orchestra drums stand out 😀

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The cable is too stiff and needs to be more flexible. I replaced with a short Amazon basics cable, removed the Amazon brand buddle sticker and it’s much better now.

As for sound quality from Tidal, its excellent value for money for their Master’s tracks.

Click this link to read the full review

Watch the full review here…

Watch the full review here…

“Wow! My phone, with no reinforcement, couldn’t satisfy me the way the Hip-dac did.”

“iFi Audio’s Hip-dac is perfect for those looking to improve on the typical smartphone / tablet / laptop listening experience, especially if they have harder-to-drive, high-impedance headphones… the Hip-dac will decode just about every digital format, including MQA…their xBass can breathe new life into bass-shy headphones. If these sorts of features interest you, the iFi Hip-dac, at $149, is a no-brainer buy.”

The discovery of the mobile phone as an audiophile experience, at a really very good price, with a high quality finish. Class. Rather not for jogging or walking, but for enjoying while traveling.

Wow who knew such a small device could improve the sound quality when using your smart device to listen to music.
It’s one of the best purchases I’ve made & I can’t recommend it highly enough.
If your tempted to dip in you toe in the water you wont be disappointed.

If you also want to listen to music at a high sound level or even in Highres audio with your smartphone, you can’t avoid a mobile headphone amplifier like the iFi Audio Hip-Dac.

“If you’re looking for a high-quality portable DAC the iFi hip-dac has to go on your shortlist…The hip-dac’s combination of battery power, fine build and easy-going sound quality makes it one of the front-runners at this level.”

The new iFi Hip-Dac is a stunning device. It is a fresh renovation in their line-up in terms of portable DAC/Amps. It’s very flashy, eye-catching and cool…The color scheme is beautiful with a petrol blue and black combination. The design is finished nicely with a copper volume pot and it gives the device a certain character.

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“It has a warm, transparent sound, the highs are not loud anywhere… Quality materials have been incorporated. The quality of production and assembly is impeccable. Using it couldn’t be easier… For those who like warm sound its an easy decision, choose this from similar instruments. Worth the price!”

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The music is great. Today you can enjoy it anywhere and in high quality. The basis of the penetration of music into general consumption in high quality is the availability of smartphones, headphones and streaming music sources. But you can take it to the next level, say, to professional quality. 

You need to replace your regular music amplifier with something from the high-octane fuel area. For something from a manufacturer who really knows what he’s doing. We are talking about the British brand ifi and its hip-dac product.

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Very good DAC for mobile use. The hip-dac looks very cool and modern, a real eye-catcher. The performance and sound quality is great. Use it on IEMs (Fiio FH5) and over-ear headphones (Dan Clark Aeon 2 Closed and Audioquest Nighthawk) and it sounds good on all combinations. In particular, the hip-dac has enough power to drive the Aeon 2. Other mobile DACs without additional power supply cannot do this.

Absolutely brilliant performance and bass amplification. All existing headphones, including Teufel, Bose and Bang & Olufsen, sound much better. Endless bass pressure.
Too much fiddling for on the way. Enjoy music at home, operate the wonderful rotary control and experience music; the noble part is perfect for that.

The use of all headphones has significantly improved the sound even without IFI DAC. The membranes were literally blown free.

After wasting a lot of time over the years, and even more £’s on dedicated android based Hi-Res DAP’s, to only experience the “buggy” and frustrating world of the Android OS used, I got fed up and bought an Apple iPod Touch 7th Gen 256gb and this amazing little iFi hip-dac. The iPod is still poo-pooed in the Audiophile world with no justification, it sounds great, plays FLAC and other hi-Res files, and is so reliable.

But add the iFi hip-dac to the Apple reliability and useability and you have an amazing little duo that drives all my headphones and iem’s with no problem at all, even high impedance Beyerdynamic Pro’s. It opens up the sound stage to let me hear things in my favourite songs I’ve never heard before. British engineering at its best, and amazing value for money compared to Dragonfly and Chord alternatives. I can’t recommend the hip-dac enough.

“At least it offers a lot for a very reasonable price. The iFi Audio hip-dac plays almost all hi-resaudio and that in an excellent quality.”

“You’ve never heard of your cell phone like this, this device raises the sound quality of any portable source.”

Watch here:

Discreet, intelligent, cunning, kicks, beautiful, understated, timely, trim.

Intro: I am an iFi fan. I own the xDSD, Pro iDSD and the iTubes2/iDAC2/micro iDSD Black Label stack. I use them all (mostly Pro iDSD). I like them all. The stack was my first “foray” into an upper-end DAC/Amp set-up. The BL was my very first review. I liked it then. I still like it. I’ve also reviewed the Pro iCAN and xCAN, but do not own them. Do you see where this is going?

I could be considered a fanboy. Or maybe, I just like the way iFi products sound and perform. Regardless of how you want to look at that, I do believe this gives me the position to be more critical (when warranted) than others because I have so much experience with the brand.

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Since 2012 iFi has been making excellent award-winning audio gear. The hip-dac is one of iFi’s latest offerings. It is a small, portable battery-powered USB Dac and headphone Amp combo that works with OTG compatible Android phones, Apple products, laptops, and even on a home PC.

The hip-dac has lots of technology that is borrowed from iFi’s more expensive units but at a lower price and in a smaller form factor.

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“the hip-dac is an affordable and exceptional sounding choice…”

“If you care about portable sound, the IFI HIP-DAC is one of the easiest, affordable and most surefire ways to improve your listening experience.”

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After reading enthusiastic reviews from respected audiophiles I chose the ifi Hip Dac over of the Dragonfly Cobalt.

I wasn’t sure if the reported warmth of the Burr Brown DAC would be revealing enough compared to the open and neutral ESS DAC in the Cobalt but the price difference and endless reports of rattling innards in the Cobalt flipped me over to the Hip.

From having only modest expectations I’m delighted to be really enjoying the sound; it took a few hours to loosen up but there is a smooth, enticing weight which has surprised me. I hadn’t banked on how much benefit my headphones would get from the Hip Dac’s power and extra grip which has transformed the enjoyment from my B&W P7’s and Hifiman Sundara’s.

Along with a richer, more involving sound I haven’t found the results at all fatiguing which has resulted in hours of enraptured listening. I now realise that for the first time, I’m listening to the music rather than the headphones; how much is that worth!

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With this very original name iFi Audio continues in its climb to offer products that adapt to the most contemporary needs, with a lot of functions and all under an attractive design.

The hip dac is, as its name suggests, a portable dac with a headphone amplifier, including the increasingly common 4.4mm balanced output.

Best of all, the price is most attractive, standing at just € 165 for the Spanish market.

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So, somewhat frustratingly, the unit does not come with a micro USB-B to female USB A cable. Not to worry these are available from amazon. word of caution, it’s tempting to buy a nice gold plated quality one (which I did) but the male socket on the Hip DAC is sized such that not all will fit.

If you need a micro USB OTG cable. seek out a version with a small female end else you will need to connect it to the blue cable that came with the unit. I’m not a fan of connecting multiple cables together to make stuff work.

Once this was fixed I had some trouble getting this unit to work with my phone. We all have Samsung phones, A6 J6, A10 and the unit worked as expected with the J6 and A10 but not the A6. Samsung were about as helpful as a chocolate tea pot, essentially using the Samsung music app only worked when on full volume, I guess 0.0db. else the sound was garbled and distorted with no ability to control the volume thru the phone.

Oddly audio from chosen ring tone could be adjusted with the phone volume control. This appears to be a issue specific to the Samsung Music app. All was fixed however with installing the eXtream Software USB Audio player Pro. The Hip DAC sounds great thru my Grado and Bose headphones .

Can’t comment on the battery life, it’s not needed recharging yet.

“Looking more like a dapper hip flask, this colourful offering delivers superb sound per pound.”

“The result is a highly resolved performance that’s bristling with detail, yet it has great power and speed too. It’s naturally bubbly nature seems to make everything you play come alive.”

Click this link to read the full review

“Impossible to fault at the price, iFi’s new hip-dac does a lot of what the pricier designs do while costing a lot less… fast, punchy and dynamic… it really is good enough to stand in the company of far pricier products”

“Sublime sound from a tiny, well-built package… the iFi hip-dac is a no-brainer”

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I love the sound signature of the hip-dac. A touch on the warm-analogue type, not the typical over analytic shrill sound. It goes perfectly with my Grado GS1000e. I was considering purchasing a much more expensive tube dac-amp but now I am wondering if I really need one.
This is the kind of sound signature that I like. Smooth, analogue like sound that I can listen for hours and not get fatigued.
I dont know how iFi did this at this price point, but this tells you how much the other products are over priced. Pretty much covers all types of files including hi-rez from 24/192, dsd, mqa etc.

What can be improved. Well I would still prefer a slightly more fuller sound. It is still a good bit full midrange sound but my personal preference is to have a bit more midrange full sound. The x-bass kind of helps in that area but then its a little too much bass to my liking. So I leave it off most of the time.

My future suggestion to iFi would be use the same button to apply different effects/functions. e.g. press it once for x-bass, press it again for x-midrange, press it again for off etc

Another suggestion for future is to add a bluetooth option. I see the future of these portable dac/headphone amps as a wireless device that connects to the phone wirelessly. This way I can leave the dac-amp in my pocket connected to my headphone and then use my phone to control and send music files from my phone to this dac wirelessly. Less cables to carry around.

Great little dac, beautifully made with a great sound. Certainly a step up from my previous dac, would happily recommend.

Bought this to use primarily with my iPhone which has a lot of HiRes music and mostly in conjunction with mt Shure 846 IEM’s. Initial results are really good. Much clearer than simply taking the analogue sound directly out of the lightning connector to my Shure’s and the Burr Brown DAC in the iFi Hip Dac is clearly much, much better than the onboard iPhone one. I’ll play around at home taking the digital out from my iMac and see how that goes but as a well priced portable DAC/amp it’s great!

Waited to see customer feedback before purchasing and I’m impressed with it straight out of the box.

Fairly weighty so can’t see it leaving the house, as dread to think of the damage dropping it would cause.

Quality build and the sound amazing thanks

A Sony WMC -NWH 10 adaptor cable is required to output digital audio from the Sony Walkman NW-45 to the hip dac.
The connection method will bypass the Sony Walkman’s internal DAC and headphone amplification circuit.
The adaptor cable is not available in Europe ,and i had to order from Japan.

Works well with my android phone whilst out and about

Has a balanced output which is perfect as I use this with my sennheiser HD660S that has a balnced cable, sound from the portable dac amp really is great for the price range and the build is also very good for portable use!

Excellent DAC, opens up the soundstage and the detail retrieval is amazing. I have owned a hrt micro streamer and a meridian. This is the beat so far

Good sounding dac for price , good soud quality ( HiFi p4 and audio Technica solid bass

Definite upgrade from my Fiio Q1 mark II. Better detail and instrument separation than the Fiio. More power than the Fiio also, drives all my my headsphones and in ears without any problems. Power out of the balanced output is substantial, definitely use the balanced output whenever possible. The bass boost on the unit is easily the best I have ever used, just enough boost in the bass without being overbearing and bleeding into the mids.

Battery life is average, Fiio was slightly better here. For the money I don’t think there is a better unit at the moment. I highly recommended this DAC/amp to anyone looking for an upgrade or just to get better sound to your headphones.

I purchased this dac to use while at the gym. I was previously using the Topping NX4 DSD, which I enjoyed, however, I was started to get bored with the sound.

Both dac/amps are amazing, but I like the Hipdac more. The sound is less clinical than the NX4, which makes songs sound more lively. Both dacs feature a bass boost, but I feel the Hipdac’s bass boost (called Xbass) is better. It sounds so good, I leave it on permanently.

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I was trying out 1000+ over ear closed headphones in a NYC audio shop and the proprietor plopped this down to use when trying the different headphones with my phone. The “bass” switch on it’s own is worth 150.

I assumed this little package was 300-500 while listening and I was thinking wow that would be very tempting to use for my mobile setup with any headphones and they made the Audeze LCD 2 closed sound amazing and yes mostly just louder coming from my phone.

When I found out they were only 150 it was no brainer – I would have bought this even if I had not also bought the Audezes. Love this little thing and use it all the time.

Build is good. Sound is great (though on the warmer side, not neutral), not fatiguing, gets really loud. A good steal!

Excellent product! Great price and value, would totally recommend!

Just a heads up, I’ve only had this for a week but since there isn’t that many reviews I figured this one might provide a little more info.

Headphones used were Mr. Speakers Open Alphas and Audeze LCD-XC.

Size, portability and looks: it’s about the size of a cigarette pack but substantially thinner. Of the top of my head it’s about the thickness of the tip of my pointer finger or a little thicker than an iPhone XR and I’m guessing most modern phones. It’s extremely lightweight and if you plan on using it with any modern smart phone, it’s definitely small enough to stack it with your phone and slide em both in your pocket ( I forget what they’re called but I found these rubber type webbings that attaches to the corners of your phone and any amp/dacs are held in place by the webbing in the back of your phon so no rubber bands across your screen.

Definitely recommend. I think I searched “silicone rubber bands for phones” or something similar on Amazon). It got a cool blueish/greenish ocean teal type color with a pretty cool gold/brass knob that is used to turn on the amp/dac as well as control the volume.

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This is very small.. Smaller than the pictures make it seem. Fair amount of power.. Easy to adapt headphones from xlr to 4.4 bal or get a cable for your headphones, two different gain stages is great to see for more sensitive headphones and IEMs.. More than 12 hour battery life depending on the headphone. Very clean.. great build and excellent volume knob. Metal construction

Ifi is now increasingly becoming a consolidated brand within the headphone market thanks to its positioning in every price range. After the attack on the middle range with the xDSD and the xCAN, IFI decided to attack the last segment of the range left uncovered thanks to the Hip DAC, a small portable dac amplifier with an aggressive price.

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So good I feel Guilty

“It’s almost an audio miracle”

“The Hip DAC is a fantastic portable amp/DAC. One of the best on the market (in my opinion) at one of the best prices in the market.”

“I‌ was first amazed at how smooth and crisp the hip-dac sounded. There was no harshness on the top end like you get with a lot of inexpensive DAC/Amps.”

“The hip-dac is iFi smallest DAC/Amp to date, and it’s also their cheapest to date with the array of features the hip-dac has. I love its ability to drive full-size headphones with enthusiasm, and I‌ also love the crisp, wide-open, transparent sound. If you’re looking for a lightweight DAC/Amp to improve the audio from your laptop or smartphone, this is a no-brainer. Especially if you already love the iFi sound signature.”

“Perfect for the desk at work, or your local coffee shop. Highly Recommended!”

4,5 stars.
When it comes to sound quality, it’s almost as good as fantastic desktop ifi Zen DAC.
What’s holding it from 5 stars is limited input socket only accepting USB plug (which is very slim and wouldn’t physically accept Sony WMA adapter. I had to shave off some plastic to fit it in Hip dac slot).

There is no analogue 3.5mm line in socket which is a shame.
Another thing is analogue volume knob which is way too loose for portable use.
It’s meant to be carried around in your pocket (hip?). Come on ifi how could you miss that detail? Accidentally changing volume could be an issue.
Otherwise it’s an excellent product.

relatively simple to set up and use

“iFi has employed the Burr-Brown chipset, which is used in my favorite and much higher priced iFi DAC, the Black Label Micro.” “…for 150 bucks, the iFi hip-dac is a pretty solid deal.”

After purchasing the amazing iFi Zen for my work AMP/DAC I found myself wanting to carry it around to use when I was hotdesking or working in a cafe etc. I was so delighted to learn they were about to launch the Hip-Dac which is tiny!!!

This thing makes for the perfect portable solution for me. It has balanced output and the same sonic qualities of the Zen!

Being able to use the Hip-Dac on my iPhone then switch it over to my iPad Pro with just the change of a small cable is amazing!

This thing makes by old Chord Mojo even more redundant!

“Wherever you’re listening to music in its digital form, the hip-dac can take you there.”

“I’m getting goosebumps just thinking about how well that combination of the hip-dac and the (Audeze) LCD-1 was rocking my world.”

“From the first minutes of listening, the device captivates with its charming musicality, charm and correct, I would even say, “professional-oriented” sound supply, performed in a neutral-warm manner, which contributes to long-term listening to your favorite compositions.”

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The iFi Audio is a fantastic compact headphone amp dac and highly recommended and one of my favourite amp/dacs!