I have this hip dac 2 with me, and I am using it since almost 3 years now. And it's such a wonderful device, what to say! I use it daily for at least 4-5 hours, sometimes even more and not less than that, still it's performing superbly by God's grace. It's 4.4 mm port is able to drive almost every kind of power hungry headphones. And it drives them very sufficiently and beautifully with just the right amount of bass. Headphone reaches to it's full potential after using this DAC. After such a long usage of this product, the only concern I can honestly admit regarding this is that it's battery life is average. Once charged, it's battery can run up to 4 hours without any problem depending on the usage.... So, I think IFI can improve on that department. Otherwise it's such a great DAC. Make no mistake about it. I will be using ot for so many years to come.....

Awesome review. I think of all the reviewers you were the only one to compare it with phone and laptop outputs which is appropriate as that will be the baseline for most people. I also love that you compare it with the zen dac 2. Nice job!

It's a shame they wouldn't let you keep it but it speaks volumes that you want to purchase it yourself. I may have to keep this one in mind myself. 🤔 It would be awesome to see some wired IEM reviews from you in the future as you always do such an outstanding job on everything you review. Thanks for another great one! 👍

Ordered one today, so I’m waiiting for delivery. I’m watching this because I am a little bit worried if I regret paying 200€ for it. I’m currently using the cheap apple lightning dongle with high end shure iems, thanks for the comparisons to builtin headphone jacks, I can now be less worried 😅

Thanks for the great review! I will be getting this.

Just got mine and loving it! Its price to performance ratio is truly off the roof, you're certainly getting more than your money's worth. I bought it primarily for its compact size as my iDSD Signature was too big and cumbersome to be used outdoors. I use it for my IEMs whereas I use the Signature for my full size cans. I actually preferred the HipDac2 to the iDSD Signature in driving my IEMs as the latter is too overwhelming in power output and XBass performance.

Your dedication is why I keep coming back to your reviews

Thank you for your video. I’m actually searching for the best portable headphone amplifier I can find as I just bought a pair of Focal Celestee. ( like you !) thank you again

very thorough review

man youtube is hard... such a good quality video, only this many subscribers, I feel for you man! hope it works out in the end!

A comparation with the Zen Dac its a helpful comparation, thank you

Great review, thanks 👍

Hi Andy, you mentioned getting in to IEMs. I recently started the journey from TWS to IEMs. Some of these wired units are in a completely different league. The sound clarity and sound stage can be truly amazing. Really hope in 2022 you can get your hands on some. Thanks as always. Tony

Nice and clear review brother. Good work

I bought this DAC to get better audio quality on my mobile. Truthfully trying it with Flac files and high-end headphones, I perceived a very good detail in the mids, neglecting the high and low frequencies. I am talking about backward frequencies on the sub bass and on the 3/4 Khz with a quality result a little lacking as regards the cymbals of the drums or the bass drum.

My Sennheiser HD600s are way to quiet with my Android. So I just bought this

Excellent review!

Awesome review. LOVE THE ACCENT!(no homo)

Thank you for the review. I might be getting one of this soon. Being in the hobby for more than a year now, ifi has been always a brand that gets mentioned and i would like to try their products. Maybe this one is for me. 😊 Nice review and video setup and b-rolls btw.

Hey! nice video, so I am also a rescent owner of the celestee, and I love the sound of it on my pc's dac (realtek audio I cant find anymore info) it sounds very natural and balanced thru the whole range,with a nice sense of separation and soundstage, not congested at all, with a nice textured and dynamic bass presentation that made the whole presentation very even in timbre, always doing the "right choices" for instruments placement in space. But i wanted to take it outside so I bought myself a dongle RU7 cayin. What a disapointment... the celestee (even in high gain on 4.4 balanced) sounded very congested, mids and highs were sibilent and the bass presence was dramaticaly lacking, also untextured and flat. Imaging and soundstage was honestly bad, and I can remember hearing the trombone playing the melody in the back of the band when the instruments suposed to be accompanying were placed forward. in two words A DISASTRE. I was wondering if you felt some sense of sibilence with celestee on other devices and if you felt it at all with the hip dac 2, I am guessing from all the reviews that presentation is overall warm but I would be glad to specialy hear from you since you heard it with the same headphones. Anyway thanks and keep it up!

EXCELLENT VIDEO.

Good and detailed review, better than most.

you sound very hungarian edit: I’ve just realized you are

I meant the Moon drop Moon River 2 TI.

Question, when connected to the pc/laptop does it draw power from it or does it still need the internal battery charged?

Great Review!!

How does the Hip Dac 2 compare to the Chord Mojo 2?

Excellent review. What was the Android app you mentioned? Many thanks.

Dear Andy! I like all your videos, I just want to ask you that do you have a possibility to review the new Sony LinkBuds. I am interested in you opinion about it. Thanks!

I’m deciding in terms of this one the dragonfly Cobalt,& the Moon drop Moon Glow 2 TI,..you have a comparative sentiment in relation to the other two? Is this my best choice in 2023? Thanks

If I use apple lossless with the Iphone set up using the lighting port to USB A, it won't downgrade the quality? I've only used BT with a btr5 & Android for Ldac. Since this is wired, I want to make sure because I have an Iphone now. Great review

it looks like one of these liquor cans the gentemen carry inside blazer.

I am going to get this dac with probably the beyerdynamic dt990 pro. Which version of dt990 do you recommend? The 250Ohm or the 600? Is the amplifier in the ifi good enough to power the 600Ohm load? Unless of course you recommend another headphone. Budget is around 500

Good review! can I ask you what’s the difference between orange Hip-dac2 and Hip-dac2 Gold Edition?? is there any upgrade?

can u use both output at the same time?

I store and listen to my my music on a portable MP3 player. The Acoustic Rabbit Hole asks, is the iFi-Headphone Amp functional as an analog amplifier for my portable MP3 player. Meaning analog-in, then boosted as it is then played through my headphones. I hope I didn:t waste money in buying something too fancy for this purpose.

Got one as a gift, is it possible to cable-connect ( using cable adapters and such) my way thru to my dap - pioneer xdp300? it only has 3.5mm & 2.5mm input output,. will it be possible? 😫😫

Hi love the review. I have a sony wh1000x m2 that i would like to use apple music on my android. Is this worth getting? Would i get a noticeable difference? Please advise

Why can't I use USB-C to lightning cable (charging cable) on iPhone?

Andy I have an s22 ultra on the way and looking for a dac to power my iem . What would you recommend under 200 bucks

Does it power Sundara enough?

Hi - Im new to this and need some advice - would this dac make any difference on my mp3 music files? Thanks and hope i dont sound too much like a noob lol

My hip dac won't charge but make a constant beeping noice. Have any clue of what's broken, and if it's fixable? Can't find anything about this issue!

Hi Andy! Thank you for your review! I beg your pardon, what is your origin?)

Can you (or anyone) help? I'm a little confused... I just bought a pair of Sundara headphones and a Hip Dac is on the way. I have subscribed to Amazon Music Unlimited. Will I not be able to listen to their Ultra HD music unless I use extra software? (like USB Audio Pro) as you mention at 7:40. My phone is a Poco F3

Can it be connected to a speaker like a soundbar jbl 5.1?

ese IFI HIP DAC 2 tiene un sonido horrible me hace doler la cabeza, despues de escuchar musica pm3 4 horas me crea una especie de fatiga auditiva y luego un dolor de cabeza, el dolor de cabeza aparecio desde que escuche musica en HIP DAC 2 IFI

Honestly it is pretty ridiculous it does not support a standard male USB connection to the phone, or include the iPhone adapter. Know your market.

Don’t they just literally increase the volume? I don’t see how an amp can change the source information

Decent product but most definitely not worth it, bought their hip dac 2 and six months later their usb cable started to malfunction and here the kicker..their 'technical support" is non existent, about 7 emails later directly through their website (only way to reach their "support") still getting some robot named jesse to no conclusion, its just a usb cable! Just ship the dam thing! You have my address! Jesus crocks!

Half the size of a phone....and much smaller than a laptop or an iPad. Kind of redundant, no?

annoying little dac, without enough power to use normal hifi cans

Subbed and liked!! I just ordered a pair of HD800s headphones and my only use it for gaming, counterstrike, which is a first person shooter. What amp or amp/DAC combo do you recommend that is strong enough to power these and allow me to get most out of headphones for my particular use. Please help. Thank you. I don’t know if I need separate DAC or one that has both amp and dac. I want something that is easy to use since I am not tech savvy and don’t have patience to mess with electronics too much. Would the one you reviewed be enough to power the hd800s?