Cables not included, sold separately!
 

The Hifime S2 is an USB DAC with an additional optical (spdif) input. It's based on the Sabre DAC Chip ES9038q2m from ESS Technologies which is the latest generation of the mobile hifi DACs and succeeds the ES9023, ES9018k2m and ES9028q2m. It’s a very high-performance 32 Bit stereo DAC featuring the patented 32-bit HyperStream II DAC architecture and Time Domain Jitter Eliminator. It's more powerful with 49mW of output to 32 ohm and can drive most headphones and also line level loads (preamps and amplifiers). 

 

Exchangeable Cable We have constructed this DAC to use interchangable cables so that you can use it with any device without adaptors. The DAC has a microUSB female connector, and we have available cables to connect to:

  • Regular USB Type-A (computers any most devices)
  • Type-C (newer Android phones)
  • MicroUSB (older Android phones)
  • Lightning (iPhone) - unfortunately the lightning connection requires a proprietary Apple chip to be included inside the cable, which makes it quite expensive. Still it's a great way to be able get use this ES9038q2m DAC with iDevices.
  • The S2 also works with the original Apple Lightning cable ($29 from Apple), then you'll also need a type-A cable to connect to the lightning cable
 
 

Optical SP/DIF input The optical input can be used with devices such as TV’s, Chromecast Audio, routers like Apple Airport express, CD players and many other devices. The optical input accepts all sample rates up to 192kHz/24 bit. When the optical input is used you need to connect power through the USB port with a microUSB cable. Power can be provided from any normal USB port, a USB charger or a dedicated USB power supply. It only needs 30-50mA.

The optical input uses 3.5mm connector. We can supply a cable with 3.5mm in one end and TOSLINK in the other. Additionally a TOSLINK to 3.5mm connector can be used in case your source device also uses 3.5mm connector and you’ll need 3.5mm in both ends.

There are 2 LED lights that indicates Power and Signal lock.

USB Input USB input accept all sample rates up to 96kHz and 24 bit and works without drivers on most computer system. Android devices works but Android support depends on the actual phone model and the Android OS software version. We have tweaked the settings on this version so that iPhones doesn't (incorrectly) believes that it requires too much power. We have also tested the different cables with many phones. If both optical and usb is connected at the same time then optical input will take priority and USB is only used for power only.

Features

  • ESS Sabre ES9038q2m DAC chip and SABRE9602 output stage driver. SA9023 USB receiver chip
  • THD compensation - minimizes distortion from external components
  • USB input accepts 32kHz, 44.1kHz, 48kHz, 88.2kHz and 96kHz input files @16 and 24 bit.
  • Optical SPDIF input accepts:  32kHz, 44.1kHz, 48kHz, 88.2kHz, 96kHz, 176kHz and 196kHz inputs @16, 24 and 32 bit.
  • Adaptive asynchronous USB mode (adaptive USB transfer mode with DAC clocked by dedicated oscillator)
  • USB input volume controlled by computer vol +/- keys
  • Low power usage ideal for mobile: 30-50 mA depending on sample rate and volume
  • Dimensions:5.5 x 3.5 x 1.8 cm (without cable)
  • Weight 20g (excl. cable)

Performance

  • THD% 0.00087
  • SNR 114dB
  • THD+N = 0.001%
  • 49mW to 32ohm
  • 2V (6.7mW) to 600ohm