The Hip DAC has been an iFi staple for years now, being the foundation of their portable hifi amps and DACs. The Hip DAC 3 is the most recent iteration of this mobile icon, building on everything iFi has learned over the years to create a modern highly featured classic. The Hip DAC 3 comes in at an MSRP of $199.00 U.S. putting it well within the budget of most headphone enthusiasts. I have not checked out the previous 2 editions so I can not do any direct comparisons, however, I feel as though with a thorough review you should be able to tell if this is a worthwhile upgrade or something you should add to your mobile setup so that is what we plan to do below.

Unboxing and Setup

There is not a lot to say about the setup as it is sort of ready to go right out of the box aside from some settings you may want to change based on your preferences, however, it comes packed in a decent box,dsd and inside you will find a full compliment of cables to charge and listen with regardless of your playback device. Among the cables are a USB to Lightning, USB C to USB C, as well as a USB C to A adapter.

Once you have everything out of the box I recommend getting a good charge on it to make sure the battery is topped off. With a good charge, you are ready to plug it into your playback device and start listening. There are a couple of settings options on the front and one on the bottom that can change the sound. The button on the front furthest from the left is the Power Match, which allows the Hip DAC 3 to match your headphone’s impedance to deliver power in the most efficient way, the next button is the XBass button which adds additional bass, then you have the Volume/On/Off dial. On the bottom, you will find the IEM Match which allows you to connect super-sensitive IEMs without worrying you will overpower them.

Sound

The Hip DAC three has a great clear robust sound that comes from the power it delivers. I tried it with three different pairs of headphones, the first being my Meze 99 Classics with the balanced silver Meze cable, and the other being my Meze Rai Solos with the stock cable terminated in 3.5mm. The 99 Classics are pretty warm headphones and don’t really need the XBass but that didn’t stop me from trying it out and having fun with some punchy tracks. That said the Rai Solo is not nearly as warm and I liked having the XBass turned on for them. I also tried out the Power Match but I didn’t hear much difference, likely as both of these headphones have low impedances and are easy to drive. The last set is a bit different, and they are the Beyerdynamic DT990 Pro 250Ohm version.

With: DT990 Pro 250Ω

I wanted to play FLAC files from the M9 which does limit me a bit as I only have so many of my CDs ripped to FLAC files so I chose something I am very familiar with and and went with the Album 18 by Moby. Moby is among my all-time favorite artists and I have been listening to his music for a couple of decades now. Extreme Ways is one of my favorite tracks by Moby so it was the first I played. The DT990 took full advantage of the Power Match, with it off, I had to turn up the volume to the max to get to my normal listening levels. Once I turned on the Power Match, I was able to turn the volume down to about the 2/3 mark to have a very reasonable listening level. I also used the Xbass with the DT990, as they are pretty flat, and I like a bump in the bass. Granted for reference listening it’s great to have the flat response and it’s nice that I can easily turn on and off the XBass depending on my needs. I really liked the pairing of the DT990 with the Hip Dac 3, you have a very balanced sound with good detail levels and a fairly wide stage. The Power is more than adequate for the higher resistance of the headphones and I would be interested to see how the Power Match does with even higher Ω headphones like the HD600 from Sennheiser. Back to Moby, the vocals are clear and natural tonally, the power is clean so there is no audible distortion or noticeable strain in the music. Azure Ray’s vocals in “Great Escape” were also effortless and had great depth and texture. The nuance in the background instrumentals paints a beautiful picture with rich tones and clarity.

With: Meze Rai Solo

The Meze Rai Solos are wonderful affordable IEMs by one of my favorite Headphone Companies. Meze puts in a lot of love in their designs to make each one special. They are also super easy to drive which also makes them super easy to overdrive meaning we can test out the IEM Match settings on the Hip DAC 3. I played an artist I have been listening to lately on recommendation from a friend; The Felice Brothers. The album I chose is “Valley of Abandoned Songs”. They are a folksy Americana indie band with a fairly unique sound. I particularly like “Crime Scene Queen” The Vocals as well as backing vocals are great and come across naturally as I would expect from these IEMs. The song also has some quieter background sounds like the tambourines that can easily get masked by the louder front stage but the dynamics of the Hip DAC 3 and Rai Solos mean you hear it all clearly. I will say the Hip DAC 3 would be great with the XSpace feature iFi has on some other devices as IEMs can get real heady sounding and the Xspace helps move that sound outside your head. Other than the higher stage the sound was clean and dynamic, and the IEM Match made it easier to control the volume as the max was not nearly as high as when it was turned off. The Felice Brothers play mostly acoustic instruments and the timbre and texture came across as very natural throughout the album, which is important for immersing yourself in the music.

With Meze 99 Classics

The Meze 99 Classics are my daily driver headphones, they go everywhere with me. You can not beat the confortability, and sound quality at this price. They are a warmer headphone with some extra low-end but the richness through the mids is just wonderful. That didn’t stop me from turning on XBass to see how that sounded, and I have to say while it’s not a need, it is certainly fun with electronic and hip hop/rap. I used 99 Classics with the Meze Silver Balanced cable terminated in 4.4mm and I have to say the clarity and depth of sound from the HipDAC 3’s balanced output is great. I tried it as well as with the stock 3.5mm cable and it just isn’t the same. The 99 Classics took full advantage of the balanced output. I played a variety of artists from a Spotify playlist on my Macbook Air, one of which is Manchester Orchestra, their song Capital Karma, has a dramatic low beat with distant transients making the background. The foreground is dominated by the piano and vocals, all of the layers have detail and clarity so you don’t miss any of the sonic information.

I switched gears and played Wings by Birdy, Nu:Logic Remix. It’s a fast pace but dark and airy track with loads of transients. The bass is already good but I had to turn on the XBass to get the full experience during the chorus parts and the drops. The snare and cymbals are very well presented and create the foundation of the beat. The highs of hose cymbals are crisp but not fatiguing. The bridge is airy and dreamy before breaking back for the fast chorus and adding background vocals to create this massive deep stage. I have to say the track sounded quite nice using the HipDAC 3.

Specs and Features:

Hi-Res True Native® playback of all music formats from MP3 to DSD256, PCM384 and DXD384.

The Burr-Brown True Native® chipset means file formats remain unchanged or ‘bit-perfect’. This means you are listening to music as the artist intended in the format in which it was recorded.
At iFi we use Burr Brown extensively in our products having selected it for its natural-sounding ‘musicality’ and True Native architecture. Our experience with this IC means we know how to make the most of it.

The XMOS 16-Core chip processes the audio data received via the USB digital input.
This new low-latency XMOS microcontroller has greatly enhanced processing power. Compared to the current generation of eight-core chips, this new 16-core IC delivers double the clock speed (2000MIPS) and four times the memory (512KB), as well as the latest SuperSpeed USB standard.
iFi’s in-house digital development team has programmed the XMOS firmware to optimize sound quality and ensure a perfect partnership with the Burr-Brown DAC.

MQA (Master Quality Authenticated)
MQA is an award-winning British technology that delivers the sound of the original master recording. The master MQA file is fully authenticated and is small enough to stream or download. The hip-dac2 and hip-dac 3 adopts MQA technology to receive and decode MQA audio and provide master-level sound.
Visit mqa.co.uk for more information.

It is a superior method to the traditional single-ended circuit approach. Balanced circuits reduce noise and crosstalk. Less Interference – clearer sound.

You normally find this set-up in products at the higher end of the price spectrum such as the Pro iCAN Signature but iFi is now using this across its range to produce the best quality audio for all our customers.

Sonically superior – richer, deeper.

The XBass® analogue bass correction system corrects for the missing headphone/speaker bass response.

iFi’s exclusive S-Balanced® circuit delivers maximum performance from single-ended and balanced headphones alike.

See our Tech Note to dig deeper.

Associated equipment

• Fiio M9
• iPhone 14 Pro
• Macbook Air M2
• Meze 99 Classic (Balanced silver cable)
• Meze Rai Solo
• Beyerdynamic DT990 Pro 250Ω

Pros and Cons

Pros:

• Powerful enough for high-ohm headphones
• Delicate enough for easy to drive IEMs
• Great sound quality
• Extra bass when you want it
• Great form factor

Cons:

• None at this pricepoint

Price: $199.00 U.S.

Conclusion

The Hip DAC 3 is a great product that is well in reach for nearly any headphone enthusiast at 199.00 dollars (U.S.). I love the sound quality you get from it, the form factor, and the feature set. It makes it a great package that wont leave you wanting to upgrade right away. The Hip DAC 3 can drive both demanding and delicate headphones with precision and power. I can not really find any faults at this price point, nice to haves such as Bluetooth add cost and aren’t a need in this device. It does everything it sets out to do well and I can take it just as it is. The battery life was sufficient for me and with the ability to charge and listen, it won’t die on you at the office and should be good for some longer travel sessions. The Hip DAC 3 is a perfect example of good sound doesn’t have to cost a fortune and if you’re on a budget or if headphone listening is a secondary hobby you can still get quality sound without breaking the bank.

For more info an where to buy click the link below

I want to Present iFi Audio and the Hip DAC 3 with our first product award, the Silver Feather. The Silver Feather Award represents a product that offers great performance and value at an entry-level price.

Disclaimer: iFi Audio Provided Hiffi Chicken with a Hip DAC 3 for the purpose of this review, iFi Audio nor any affiliate paid in full or part in exchange for this review.