My first dongle impressions the Hidizs XO
4.00 stars
DISCO LIGHTS ON THE GO
Pros:
1.Great build quality
2. Small
3. RGB lights
4. Neutral sound signature
5. Good soundstage
6. Decent power rating
7. Native DSD playback
Cons:
- No 4.4mm output
- RGB lights
- Battery drain on phone was quite high
- No volume buttons
- Gets quite warm
This is my first dongle to give my impressions of.
I’m approaching this from the angle of a dongle novice. I have mainly used dongles as a way of using wired iems on my phone and as such I didn’t use the HIDIZS XO with any other sources.
First I’d like to thank HIDIZfor sending my the XO for evaluation, they haven’t tried to influence my impressions in any way and as such these are my thoughts
Here’s what HIDIZS have to say about the XO
DUAL ESS SABRE ES9219C DAC & Independent Crystal Oscillators
Get double the audio performance and the most accurate clocking for both DACs, through the synergy of the Dual ESS SABRE ES9219C DAC chips, and high-precision independent crystal oscillator, for the purest audio experience, and reproduce real music with unprecedented accuracy!Outstanding DAC parameters: 32bit/384kHz PCM, DSD256, +121dB DNR, -114dB THD+N, ultra-low power consumption, high integration, and substantially better performance than previous iterations.Remarks: The above official data is provided by ESS company.
The XO MQA Dongle is only the size of a USB and weighs only 11 grams. Contains two outputs, enough to drive mobile phones, iPads, and PCs. The output power is strong but not excessive, single-ended 78mW+78mW@32Ω / balanced 195mW+195mW@32Ω. The XO MQA Dongle perfectly balances sound quality and battery performance.
The XO is not a new product and has been on the market for a couple of years I’m actually reassured by this too many products appear the disappear soon after.
The Dongle I receiveis an attractive rose gold colour, made out of aluminium. I have to say I like the RGB flashing lights a little too much. The light have many different combinations I rather like the rainbow multicolour rendition.
On initial release the dongle was $99 its now retailing for $59 which I think is a fantastic price for the functions available.
On plugging the XO into my phone (Samsung Galaxy S24Ultra) I mistakenly plugged the cable the wrong way round which meant no sound because the HIDIZS logo needs to be plugged into the phone USB-C port.
Once connected I was greated with a very ckean nuetral sound signature, organic in presentation with a rather surprising wide soundstage.
The 3.5mm se connection drive my IMR ACOUSTICS DARK Matter dual DD iems flawlessly giving a very solid bass and smooth mids the soundstage open with good layering.
Next iem I chose to pair was the Mangird Tea a very sensitive iem the delivery was so smooth and satisfying that I think this will be the pairing I will be using in future the combination was all I could wish for when on the go on public transport or out and about. The bass was dynamic with good articulation, the mids were open and sweet with the treble just about perfect for my tastes. The 3.5mm connection was so good that I don’t feel the need to use the balanced connection which for me is held back by the old 2.5mm size which would mean I have to use a converter to 4.4mm as all my balanced cables are the larger termination.
The Balanced output does deliver a substantial increase in power delivery for harder to drive iems. The sound quality didn’t really sound any different to the 3.5mm se to my ears.
There is full control of the XO via the Hiby app which takes the hassle out of stabbing at the tiny button in the dongle. The app is very easy to use to access the different sound signatures which do change the signature slightly attenuating the treble response. Which one you prefer will be subject to your personal preferences and the iem attached.
Compared to my limited collection of dongle the XO performed admirably easily matching the Hiby FC4 with a similar sound signature. I Discounted comparing the Cayin RU6 as its not a fair comparison due to its r2r configuration and much more expensive price bracket
Conclusion
Overall I was very impressed with the HIDIZS XO for its cost and will be using it as my travel companion with my phone and the Mangird Tea for quality music enjoyment on the go.