The third era of iFi’s line of flask-shaped DACs has quite a bit to reside as much as. The unique hip-dac earned our full five-star haul in 2019, successful us over with an aesthetic, refined efficiency to match its equally tasteful exterior. Any doubts that 2021’s much-anticipated sequel couldn’t match this moderately spectacular marker have been quickly assuaged, because the hip-dac 2 bowled us over with its zealous, agile sound housed inside a good slicker exterior.
This, then, leaves the iFi hip-dac 3 with quite a bit to reside as much as. The identical flask-shaped physique stays, albeit with a brand new “Titanium Shadow” gray end, so that you’ll as soon as once more must endure the occasional look of a bemused commuter while you pull out what seems to be your personal private provide of whisky out of your jacket pocket on the morning tube commute.
What issues, after all, is how the hip-dac 3 pushes the mannequin line ahead by way of boosting your listening pleasure. There are numerous transportable DACs available in the market in the intervening time designed to provide your headphones a lift, together with the Award-winning AudioQuest DragonFly Cobalt and even iFi’s tiny, five-star Go Hyperlink, that means that appears alone actually aren’t going to chop it this time round.
Time to search out out, then, if the hip-dac 3 is a timeless classic, or whether or not it simply leaves you with a moderately nasty hangover.
Value
We thought the worth of the earlier hip-dac 2 (£189 / $189 /AU$279) to have been moderately wonderful worth, particularly when you think about the truth that the sophomore effort changed the unique’s 8-core XMOS chip with a much more highly effective 16-core model. The 2023 threepeat mannequin prices £199 / $199 / AU$449, so costs have gone up slightly, particularly for the Australian market.
To place that into context, AudioQuest DragonFly Cobalt, a a number of What Hi-Fi? Awards 2023 winner, was initially examined at £259 / $300, though costs have dropped to round £200 / $200 on the time of writing. Whereas not battery-powered, the DragonFly’s USB-stick kind makes it a extra transportable design than the iFi mannequin. Sticking with iFi, the Zen DAC V2 mannequin is one other repeat Award-winner, coming in barely cheaper at £159 / $159 / AU$229.
Construct & design
When you’re accustomed to its predecessors, it gained’t shock you to study that the hip-dac 3 is certainly a well-made unit. As with each the unique and the second-gen mannequin, that textured aluminium case has a reassuring solidity and weight to it, and whereas it might be a tad huge for some (across the measurement of a pack of playing cards), it is going to match into most palms and luggage with out a lot fuss. We’ve taken the hip-dac 3 on fairly a couple of in-bag adventures to and from our workplaces, and it’s survived all of them with out a lot as a nick or scratch throughout that fetching floor.
iFi hip-dac 3 tech specs
Enter USB-C
Outputs N/A
Headphone output 3.5mm (single-ended), 4.4mm balanced
Bluetooth No
Max file help 32-bit/384kHz, DSD256, MQA
Battery-powered Sure (as much as 12 hours of playtime)
Dimensions (hwd) 102 x 70 x 14mm
Weight 135g
The precise structure of the unit hasn’t actually modified in any respect, in fact. Lay the DAC on its facet dealing with in direction of you and also you’ll discover that the ports and switches appear the identical, with a silver rotational knob on the centre of the highest panel flanked by headphone inputs in addition to buttons for PowerMatch switchable acquire alongside the Xbass increase characteristic. Subsequent to the facility knob are the 2 headphone jacks – one for 3.5mm and one for 4.4mm – and whereas it’s good to have the latter, we marvel what number of high-end 4.4mm headphone house owners will purchase a DAC at this value level.
Flip the unit over and take a look at the underside and also you’ll discover two USB-C ports – one for audio and one for charging – which exchange the outgoing USB-A choices supplied by the second-gen mannequin. That’s not an insignificant addition, because the inclusion of a USB-C “On The Go” Charging Cable means you possibly can plug within the newest iPhone 15 in the event you’ve already nabbed one. That stated, a USB-A to USB-C cable and a USB-C to Lightning cable are additionally supplied for many who haven’t made the swap.
Options
Most of the options which outlined the hip-dac 2 return for the third iteration. Simply as earlier than, sound tailoring choices are supplied courtesy of each a PowerMatch button – which adjustments the interior amp’s acquire for simpler headphone matching – and XBass, again for a 3rd time to whack up the low-end with out muddying or blurring the sound completely.
The hip-dac 3 makes use of a differential circuit design inside its amplification stage to scale back sign distortion and protect your audio’s general purity. That amp stage is able to providing as much as 400mW right into a 32-ohm load for compatibility with a broader array of headphones, whereas the balanced output’s 6.3V into 600 ohms ought to imply that even high-impedance fashions can be utilized with out difficulty.
The hip-dac 3’s battery will, in line with the producer, lengthen to 12 hours of enjoying time, however it will very a lot rely in your listening quantity stage and the way demanding your headphones are. The unit’s exterior LED will alter its color relying on its ranges of depletion: glowing white for greater than 75 per cent battery, inexperienced for greater than 25 per cent, purple for over 10 per cent and flashing purple while you’re virtually out of juice.
File help is intensive, too. Hi-res PCM recordsdata are supported as much as 32-bit/384kHz decision, as are DSD64, 128 and 256, whereas full decoding of MQA can also be obtainable. On both facet of the satisfyingly smooth-turning quantity knob you’ll discover a pair of LEDs that alter their color to point the format and pattern price of audio being performed, one thing that’s develop into commonplace not just for the hip-dac line however for many iFi fashions, together with the current Go Hyperlink and Go Blue fashions.
Sound
When you’re questioning the place many of the actual adjustments have been constituted of the hip-dac 2 to the hip-dac 3, that is the half to which you have to be paying essentially the most consideration. iFi has promised to construct on the legacy of each its previous fashions by introducing quite a lot of circuit enhancements, together with new movie capacitors for higher frequency response and an up to date model of iFi’s International Grasp Timing circuitry to scale back section noise and induce a snappier, crisper sound. That’s an thrilling prospect.
With these aforementioned enhancements, an improved general circuit design and extra attuned sonic capabilities, this actually could possibly be the best batch of hip-dac iFi has ever devised. We dive into our testing with Tidal Masters enjoying from a laptop computer and a pair of the wonderful Austrian Audio Hi-X50 plugged into the hip-dac 3, and the ensuing concoction is intoxicating.
The general expertise is thrilling, a lot so {that a} Tidal recording of Tom Petty’s Gained’t Again Down threatens to snap our ears off, such is the kick and pep the hip-dac 3 provides to proceedings. You’d must be sporting boots of result in cease your toes tapping alongside, and whereas the AudioQuest DragonFly Cobalt betters its rival for timing and rhythmic drive, the hip-dac 3 isn’t far off. That, as our glowing assessment of the Cobalt attests, is not any imply feat.
There’s hardly ever a touch of harshness, both, and whereas the midrange simply often threatens to get slightly misplaced among the many numerous competing parts, the general impact is invigorating with out changing into tiresome. The hip-dac 3 appears to know the Audio Hi-X50’s shiny, enthusiastic tendencies, matching them whereas preserving proceedings balanced sufficient to {smooth} off any overwhelmingly tough edges. The result’s an thrilling, satisfying hear, and we’d suggest digging out Björk’s Bachelorette, Jay-Z’s No Church In The Wild or Lana Del Rey’s Born To Die as prime pickings for the hip-dac 3 to gobble up.
The DAC can also be terrific at unveiling the timbres of varied devices, including considerable features to the extent of textural perception you’ll obtain from a worthwhile recording. Whether or not it’s the calming guitar strums of Fleet Foxes’ Wading Waist-Excessive In Water, the finger snaps from Rick James’ Give It To Me Child or the screeching strings of Muse’s You Make Me Really feel Like It’s Halloween, all the things is conveyed with extra richness and expression when utilizing the hip-dac. To return to Bachelorette, these sweeping strings are far richer and extra dynamically concerned when performed via the iFi DAC (this time plugged right into a pair of five-star Røde NTH-100), with considerable peaks and troughs including to the association’s intense sense of drama and emotion.
Musical preparations really feel well curated, too. A part of this clearly owes to an honest pair of headphones (thanks Røde and Austrian Audio), however there’s an considerable distinction made when the hip-dac 3 is launched relating to the presentation of voices and devices when in comparison with merely plugging your headphones straight into your laptop computer. Musical parts ebb and circulate extra naturally inside the general sonic canvas, whereas harmonies are far richer and extra distinctive with the iFi doing its factor. A punchy guitar twang in your left earcup throughout Led Zeppelin’s Entire Lotta Loveas an example, makes a daring, assertive entrance moderately than changing into misplaced amid the overall musical clamour.
Verdict
Contemplating the five-star markers set down by its predecessors, our expectations have been actually excessive for what may have proved to have been a difficult ‘third album’.
Fortunately, this new era hasn’t allow us to down. Sensible, versatile and a pleasure to take heed to, the third-gen iFi hip-dac 3 enhances your audio expertise with a sonic profile that feels full of life and energetic with out ever changing into unrestrained or unwieldy. Like your favorite tipple, it actually hits the spot.
SCORES
MORE:
Learn our assessment of the AudioQuest DragonFly Cobalt
Additionally contemplate the AudioQuest DragonFly Pink
Learn our iFi Zen DAC V2 assessment
Finest DACs: USB, desktop and transportable digital-to-analogue converters
