HIDIZS S8 Pro Headphone DAC Serves Hi-Res Music Anywhere

The audio market is currently full of DAC dongles. It seems we can’t get enough of these little devices that plug into the USB or Lightning port on our smartphones and stream hi-fi quality audio streamed from services like Tidal, Qobuz, and Spotify. They also allow you to use a pair of old-fashioned wired headphones with your phone. What’s not to like?

The latest headphone DAC to appear on my desk for review comes from Chinese brand HIDIZS. The S8 Pro is also known as Robin, although it looks nothing like the little red-breasted bird featured on countless Christmas cards.

The S8 Pro is no bigger than a cigarette lighter and has two copper-colored buttons for adjusting volume levels and a knurled copper button that functions as a play/pause control. There are no controls for skipping or repeating tracks, so if you want to skip to the next song or repeat the one you’re listening to, you’ll have to do it with the controls on your phone and whatever the streaming app is. that you use.

The S8 Pro has a choice of outputs. You can either connect your headphones with a traditional unbalanced 3.5mm stereo jack, or with a balanced 4.4mm connector, sometimes called a Pentaconn. Which one you choose will depend on the headphones you own, but if you have headphones with a balanced 4.4mm cable, use that as the sound will be slightly better and louder.

The device is reasonably well built, although the button seems a little out of scale compared to the other buttons. The front of the case features an illuminated HIDIZS logo that changes color depending on the type and resolution of the audio file being decoded.

To connect the S8 Pro to a smartphone, HIDIZS provides a short USB-C to USB-C OTG cable. One end goes to the S8 Pro and the other goes to your Android phone, tablet or laptop. For iPhone users, a USB-C to Lighting adapter is included as well as a USB-A adapter for use with older devices.

To start music, simply plug the S8 Pro into your phone and it will be recognized as audio output. Then plug a pair of headphones into the S8 Pro and start music with something like Tidal or Deezer, whatever streaming service you’re using.

The S8 Pro can handle digital audio files up to 32-bit/384kHz PCM and DSD256. There’s no support for MQA, so if you’re a Tidal subscriber, you’ll want to use the FLAC option on your streaming app instead of Tidal Masters.

At the heart of the S8 Pro are two Cirrus Logic CS43131 DAC chips. There is one chip for the left channel and another for the right channel. Using two discrete DACs makes channel separation easier and produces a more focused soundstage.

The S8 Pro’s 3.5mm unbalanced headphone output has an impedance of 32Ω and can output up to 80mW. If you use the balanced 4.4mm output, the power transmitted to the headphones increases up to 160mW, resulting in more volume. In general, the output is good although I found that I had to push the limits with the 3.5mm output.

To put the S8 Pro through its paces, I fired up Tidal and started listening to the high-resolution version of Eliane Elias’ new album. Quietude. There’s nothing like a bit of sweet bossa nova to test the nuances of a DAC amp. I plugged in a pair of Sennheiser’s new HD 620S, a superb pair of affordable closed-back headphones that deliver some of the most neutral, detailed sound you can find at a reasonable price.

The S8 Pro produces detailed, nuanced sound that isn’t too bass-heavy but is certainly never harsh or digitally tinny. The DAC incorporates several digital filters which can be changed by pressing the two volume buttons simultaneously. Available filters are high pass, NOS (no oversampling), de-emphasis, fast and slow, low latency and phase compensation, and wideband flatness mode.

As with many digital filters, the noticeable effect is very subtle and depends on how the music was recorded. Give them a try and if you find one you like, stick with it but don’t get too hung up on the filters as they are quite marginal. The way the music sounds will be affected much more by the recording than by the filter setting.

The S8 Pro’s sound is polished and low in distortion. For the price, the S8 Pro offers a lot and it’s ideal for listening to music for long periods of time. Choose your headphones carefully, as this will also make the biggest difference in the sound you hear. If you have headphones that are difficult to drive, the limited power of a USB-powered DAC amp will impact volume levels.

Verdict: If you want a high-quality headphone DAC for listening to hi-res music on the go and don’t need MQA support, the HIDISZ S8 Pro is a good deal. It has 3.5mm and 4.4mm outputs, as well as a range of digital filters to try. The build quality, especially the button, bothered me a bit and I would like to see the design changed for the next version. However, if you like listening to music with wired headphones and want something that can deliver much better sound than most smartphones, the HIDISZ S8 Pro is a solid buy for headphone lovers.

Price and availability: The HIDISZ S8 Pro is available now and costs £79 / €79 / $99.

More information: www.hidizs.net

Technical specifications:

• DAC: Dual CS43131 32-bit.
• PCM support: up to 32-bit/384kHz.
• Native DSD support: up to DSD256.
• Outputs: 3.5 mm unbalanced and 4.4 mm balanced.
• Chassis: CNC aluminum alloy integrated casting.
• Physical buttons: Power, Volume +/-, filter selection.
• Sampling rate indicator: Colorful LED.
• Frequency response: 20 Hz – 45 kHz.
• Distortion: 3.5mm: 0.0005% /4.4mm: 0.0006%
• SNR: 3.5mm: 125dB / 4.4mm: 125dB.
• Separation: 3.5mm: -74dB / 4.4mm: -110dB.
• Output power: 3.5mm: 80mW+80mW at 32Ω / 4.4mm: 160mW+160Mw at 32Ω.
• Selectable digital filters: high pass, NOS (no oversampling), de-emphasis, fast and slow, low latency and phase compensation, wideband flatness mode.
• Compatible platforms: Windows/MacOS/iPad OS/Android/iOS/Harmony OS.