Hidizs S8 - Little Wonder

Hidizs is a Hong Cong based audio company known for delivering quality portable audiophile equipment like DAP, DAC, Amps and IEMs. 

S8 is an offering by Hidizs that surprises us with its features, size and price. It is a USB DAC-AMP that comes with 4 types of connector and is super useful for all types of sources we use, be it an android phone, an  iPhone or any laptop. With most of the phones getting away with the headphone jack, USB dongles solve a dire need of the hour. This does not need any kind of app installation even on laptop. Just connect it with the device and you are good to go.

In just an inch square of size S8 packs so many capabilities that it mind blowing. Its design is minimalistic and simple. CNC machined aluminum case makes it sturdy and strong. It's extremely lightweight so super easy to carry. It comes in two colors, white and black. The front side has just 2 buttons on them, the top side has  a headphone jack and bottom side has a micro-USB port. The design has an elegant simplicity and classiness.

It also comes with a nice feature of intelligent detection for headphone/IEM impedance as given in marketing manual which maybe be used for balancing the power consumption of the device, or could be just a marketing gimmick am not sure about that. Also it has an exclusive support for hiby app control giving one nice eq tweaking freedom using MSEB features. 

Along with the device, the package also has 

• 2.0 USB to micro cable

• Micro to lightening cable.

• Micro to Micro OTG

• Micro to Type-C OTG

• Silicon case

• User Manual

Features:

• DAC Chip : CS43131

• Supported sampling rate : PCM up to 32bit 384kHz, DSD up to DSD256

• Compatibility : Universal

• Output : Single-ended stereo output (3.5mm)

• Single-ended output power 2x 30mW @ 32Ω

• Single-ended output frequency response 20Hz - 50kHz

• Single-ended output THD+N 0.002% (1kHz)

• Single-ended output SNR 120dB

• Single-ended output channel separation 78dB @ 32Ω

• Single-ended output impedance < 1Ω

About Product:

• Case material CNC machined Aluminum, Rear panel material Glass

• Physical buttons Volume +, Volume -

• Dimensions : 47 x 18.8 x 7.8mm

• Weight : 9g

Sources:

For this review the unit has been paired with my phone Vivo X50 Pro and Samsung tab S6 lite without any other amplification on setup. 

Disclaimer: 

I have received  as part of review circle sent from Hifinage in exchange of honest reviews. All impressions of sound are subjective to my own listening and my sources and is based on my experience with DAC/AMP of similar hardware configurations and price range. One can purchase it from the following link. 

Pros:

1) Natural to slight warmish sound tonality

2) Plug and play (Universal Compatibility)

3) Minimalistic design and handy size.

4) Low power consumption.

5) Lavishly accessorized

6) Hardware Volume Control

Cons:

1) Does not pair well with power hungry IEM/headphones.

Highs: 

The treble is well extended with nice micro-contrast. I did not find any kind of unwanted peaks or harshness. Treble felt slightly boosted to bring out all the micro details, with bright IEMs it tends to get little tiring with time.

Mids: 

In terms of Mids, S8 sounds bit forward and aggressive. The instruments are nicely separated and have an airy effect. The vocals, both male and female are clean sounding. 

Lows:  

This has above average thumping base for such a small device. The subbase is clean without any bleeding effect. Mid-base complements the subbase very well.  It does the job perfectly. Although low power impact can be seen in bass with some of IEMs making them less punchy.  But overall as a budget device it does the job perfectly. 

Technicalities: 

Soundstage has decent depth and width with good separation between instruments. This does not have the best resolution one can find in USB DAC Amps but it's definitely of among the good ones but overall environment effect is quite airy and has a feel good factor to it.

Final Verdict: 

Hidizs S8 pairs well with power efficient IEMs, and is perfect for day to day listening. It is a kind of device that significantly improve the quality of sound when connected to a casual source thanks to the very good implementation of CS43131. I have not faced any kind of pairing issues with this and it's very easy to carry around as of its low form factor. The power consumption also felt minimalistic so need not to worry much about the battery life of the source. For the price range this gives a decent listening experience and recommended for headphone/IEM  impedance upto 150ohm.