iFi hip-dac 3 Portable Hi-Res DAC & Headphone Amp

I've had the Hip Dac 3 for a week now. It’s solid, well built, looks fabulous and feels lovely in the hand. I get great sound out of it streaming lossless CD quality and Hi-res audio. It’s the only DAC I’ve ever had so I can’t compare it to anything else. However before I bought it I looked at endless reviews and videos and this does seem to be well regarded. There are smaller portable DACs out there but as I will be mainly using it around the house and with over ear headphones this is ideal for my needs. It has plenty of power to feed my headphones and I don’t need a smaller DAC that might be more portable but would make some compromises. The LEDs behind the volume control indicates the quality of the music stream. This works well with Qobuz and Apple music but with Amazon music it constantly shows the white LED indicating a 24/192 streaming. This apparently isn’t a fault of the Hip Dac but with Amazon who upsample everything to 24/192. The stated max battery life is said to be up to 12 hours. I’m getting about 8 hours, but that’s driving my over ear headphones which take a bit more juice than IEMs etc. But at least it’s not draining my phone’s battery. The listing said you only got a USB C - USB C and a USB C - USB A cable so I was pleasantly surprised to find I also got a USB C - Lightning cable. The supplied Lightning cable in braided bronze looks really nice but the plug is a loose fit into my iPhone and with the cable being short and quite stiff, the slightest movement breaks the connection and stops playback. Fortunately, not expecting to get a Lightning cable, I had already bought another cable that works just fine (FiiO LT-LT3 cable). The volume knob feels good and gives reliable control over the volume but I expected the on-off click to feel a bit more pronounced. Having separate sockets for USB data and for USB charging is a good feature. The change to a USB C socket for data input would seem an improvement over the male USB A connections of the previous versions. These required a cable with a bulky USB A female socket on the end, which apparently could be difficult to fit. I bought this neat little case to store my Hip Dac along with all its cables, which should also be great for travelling ….. https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07967GR9Z?psc=1&ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details Overall, well pleased and it’s just great for my needs.

As someone who relies on his iPhone to stream music, I’ve always accepted the limitations Apple impose on users with their total commitment to AAC as their codec of choice. Unfortunately, lossy digital audio compression has its limits, so after the demise of the cellphone jack and with the joys of aptX only an option for less constrained Android users, I’ve never looked beyond mid-range BT headphones for my auditory entertainment. Enter the iFi hip-dac 3. Now, I’m no musically trained audiophile and don’t pretend to understand the physics behind this box of delights but what I do know is this sublimely constructed little beauty makes a world of difference to my listening pleasure. Once connected to my iPhone 13 and aging Bose QC35s, playlists that frankly bored me suddenly spring to life. Bland tuneless grey songs are suddenly rich, colourful, and spacious. Blended instruments and vocals now occupy distinct and precise positions in space as if on a stage that surrounds me. Previously muddied notes are crisper and clearer, resolving further as the drivers in my tired old cans have their cobwebs blown away by a tsunami of sound I’d never experienced in headphones before. It’s like sitting in the best seat of a concert hall with the added bonus of volume and base control. Without doubt, the iFi hip-dac 3 has given me somewhere I can just be still and listen to musical nuances I never realised existed outside of live performances. I realise it’s quite an investment but the sound difference it brings to a mid-range pair of discontinued headphones connected to an iPhone is incredible. I also no longer need to consider trialing alternative premium solutions that probably won’t make as much difference. The only slight downside for me is while HD3 is portable in the sense you don’t need a plug, it’s not something I plan walking around with much. But then my trusty QC35s have got BT and very effective ANC for that. In lieu of being gifted a pair of T+A Solitaire T BT headphones, it’s a compromise I’m prepared to make. Am I a happy hic? You bet I am.

Let's start by saying this DAC is awesome. The iFi Hip DAC 3 has much more control, it's easy to use and the features on it are amazing. I also feel that the volume control that IfI Hip DAC 3 uses is really nice. It's easy to turn and that makes it convenient in my eyes. The sound quality stays the same, regardless of how loud or quiet the audio is. The iFi Hip DAC 3 has a pretty wide soundstage depending on what settings you use with it. Using Power Match and IEMatch both did a great job at keeping my IEMs stable and sounding great. It widened the soundstage of my IEMs and it gave me the feeling of actually being in a live performance and the studio. The iFi Hip DAC 3 has great imaging and separation. You would be able to hear the exact locations of the instruments being played in classical and jazz music, other genres too. The great thing about this DAC is that it works with a wide range of speakers, as I have tested. I upgraded the DAC to the latest firmware and I found that it had much better control and had better sound quality overall. The instrument separation improved and the sound got louder and actually made everything more vibrant and bright. I like vibrant and bright because it really adds to the overall sound quality that this amazing DAC is packed with. MQA decoding is actually amazing, using this with Tidal and tried an MQA track. Compared to MQA renderers, full decoders like this one give you much better sound quality. I think the iFi Hip DAC 3 sounds great with both, MQA and FLAC playback.

I've paired the Hip-Dac3 with a set of Sennheiser HD599 headphones and I've honestly never enjoyed listening to music so much. The enhanced bass setting is perfect for preserving decent bottom end when listening with these open backed headphones. Battery life is more or less as advertised and it's a nice classy looking, and feeling, little unit. No complaints here.

I have been looking for a new portable DAC to play HiRes music from my iPhone. After watching loads of videos and reviews on Dacs I decided to get this unit and boy am I happy l did. It sounds amazing and has brought new life to my headphones. Highly recommended 👍

Amazing sound quality. Excellent value well worth the money. Solid build quality and a joy to use.

Purchased brand new and they sent me a clearly used customer return. Incomplete (missing one lead) and covered in fingerprints and sweat marks. Tried to make iFi aware of this but they didn’t respond. Returned immediately. No doubt they will repackage it up and sell it again to some unsuspecting person.

Just - great!!!!! Love it ❤️ Sound quality excellent as well as so handy!

si le prix ne vous fait pas peur, c'est un bon appareil

Genial atencion del vendedor Supersonido. Gracias Chema Nieto!!!. Creo que la buena atencion se demuestra cuando las cosas no salen como uno quiere. Compre el ifi dac 3 y tras varias pruebas no funcionaba. Me puse en contacto con supersonido (el vendedor) a traves del correo el jueves 27 de marzo y han atendido mi problema en seguida. El mismo dia me han contactado por correo y me han mandado un mensajero que lo ha recogido el mismo viernes 28. El lunes 31 marzo lo han recibido . Han contactado con el servicio tecnico y me han confirmado que estaba estropeado. El martes 1 me han mandado un nuevo aparato y hoy miercoles 2 abril estoy disfrutando de el. Asi que creo que mejor no se puede hacer!! . Impecable, Gracias!!!. Por cierto el ifi genial!!

Sono un 59enne audiofilo da sempre, possiedo ampli Luxman con stadio di preamplificazione a valvole, diffusori Sonus faber venere 2.0 e cuffia GRADO GH4 LIMITED EDITION, chi se ne intende sà di cosa parlo. Essendo in condominio la sera quando mia moglie guarda la tv (non abbiamo gli stessi gusti) vado in camera da letto con la mia GH4 ed il Mac ma volevo di più. Ho comprato e reso 2 DAP perché i sistemi operativi spendendo (solo 300 euro) erano pessimi e così mi sono fatto una cultura sui DAC. Be questa piccola fiaschetta da montagna è qualcosa di unico per il suo prezzo, (con cavo audio AUDIOPHILE farà ancora meglio) costruito divinamente, senza fronzoli è proprio per noi audiofili che vogliamo il suono più puro possibile. Usato con TIDAL ed il formato MQA trasforma il suono di qualsiasi Device e lo fa diventare un hi-fi di alto livello. E' a dir poco eccezionale. Una cosa: io l'ho comprato qui perché avevo i rimborsi dei resi sul mio account ma lo trovate anche a 20 euro in meno. Investite sul cavo audio è importantissimo.

This dac amp combo is very portable. It’s very small, and it has a built in battery, and has a usb-c connection to the output device. I liked that a lot since I mainly use my phone as an audio source. I’m not an expert in the hifi-audio hobby, but I can tell you that it sounds pretty great to me. I tried using the Sennheiser IE600 and the Sennheiser HD660s2 (I tried the 4.4mm cable on both), and they both sound very decent on it. My only complaint is that the power match option is pretty much useless, as the audio gets very distorted and I only hear static. I’m not sure if it’s a manufacturing issue with the one I have, but it’s my only complaint. Otherwise, I’d recommend this product to anyone who likes to listen to music for long hours on their phone.

I pair it with a “vintage” Monster Dr.Dre Pro and now the heavy bass music sounds absolutely great! I don’t have to go get a new pair of headphones.