iFi hip-dac Merges Classic Design with High-Res Audio Tech
iFi has announced the 'hip-dac' headphone amplifier / DAC designed to be supremely pocketable.
StereoNET met the neat-looking iFi hip-dac in December 2019 and sworn to secrecy. The petrol blue and copper colour scheme of the hip-dac's 102x70x14mm, extruded aluminium enclosure gives the latest offering from Southport's finest a very classy appearance. It is also remarkably tactile.
The £149 hip-dac features iFi's goto Burr-Brown DAC chip at its heart chosen, in part, for its True Native architecture. Hi-res PCM and DXD audio data are supported up to 384kHz, alongside DSD from 2.8MHz to 12.4MHz (DSD64, 128 and 256). That previously mentioned Burr-Brown True Native design means that PCM and DSD take separate pathways. The upshot here is that both PCM and DSD remain 'bit-perfect' in their native form right through to analogue conversion. MQA is also supported by the hip flask-esque DAC / amp.
Furthermore, thanks to extensive clock-locking, jitter (digital distortion) is removed using iFi's GMT femto-precision clocking system. Additionally, the hip-dac's XMOS USB audio data processor is programmed in-house instead of relying on off-the-shelf firmware.
Over in the analogue section, the hip-dac's amp circuitry is of balanced (differential) design. It is the result of the work of the renowned engineer, John Curl and iFi's in-house technical team, led by Thorsten Loesch. The circuitry features a custom iFi OV op-amp, TDK C0G class 1 ceramic capacitors, a precision low-noise power supply IC from Texas Instruments and a high-quality analogue volume pot.
The headphone amp has a nominal power rating of 400mW and is capable of delivering over 700mW from the balanced output, depending on the impedance of the attached headphones. Naturally, the hip-dac features iFi's XBass and PowerMatch, the latter matches the level of drive to the load presented by the headphones, by adjusting input sensitivity and so signal strength.
The hip-dac's asynchronous USB Type-A input handles audio data up to 32-bit/384kHz. The USB-C port supports the 'SuperSpeed' USB 3.0 standard, as well as USB 2.0 for backwards compatibility.
Outputs are a 3.5mm socket for headphones with a single-ended cable/connector, and a Pentaconn 4.4mm output. Additionally, the 3.5mm output gets iFi's proprietary S-Balanced circuitry, cutting crosstalk and related distortion in half when used with regular, single-ended headphone connections.
Finally, the hip-dac's 2200mAh battery lasts up to 12 hours of playing time, depending on volume level and how power-hungry the connected headphones are.
Price and availability
The hip-dac is available now at an RRP of £149 and will be first showcased at CanJam NYC 2020.
For more information, head on over to iFi Audio.
Jay Garrett
StereoNET’s resident rock star, bass player, and gadget junkie. Jay heads up StereoNET as Editor for the United Kingdom and Europe regions. His passion for gadgets and Hi-Fi is second only to being a touring musician.
Posted in: Headphones
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