Continuation of Meizu's HiFi Spirit: Quick Review of Meizu HD1 and HiFi2pro Fast Charging Edition DAC Amplifier

Three Meizu portable DAC amplifiers: HiFi2pro, HiFi2pro Fast Charging Edition, and HD1. HiFi2pro is affordable and practical, improving phone audio quality; the Fast Charging Edition adds a fast charging port with a slightly warmer sound; the flagship HD1 offers pure sound, strong driving power, rich details, adapts to various music genres, and has high cost-performance.

Recently acquired three Meizu portable DAC amplifiers: HiFi2pro, HiFi2pro Fast Charging Edition, and the recently popular HD1, all supporting Type-C to wired headphone interfaces.

HiFi2pro, Affordable and Practical.

HiFi2pro uses the CX31993 DAC chip, supporting up to 32bit/384KHz high-resolution audio, with a signal-to-noise ratio greater than 124dB, dynamic range >110dB, distortion -95dB, and built-in Maxim Max 97220 secondary amplifier chip, capable of adapting to 16Ω～600Ω impedance headphones, supporting Type-C to 3.5mm headphone interface.

HiFi2pro's tuning is balanced across three frequencies, with accurate sound reproduction, almost no audible background noise or current interference, and a black background. It significantly improves the phone's dynamic response, imaging clarity, and sound detail resolution. The built-in amplifier chip can drive high-impedance headphones, enhancing driving power.

HiFi2pro's tuning style is very healthy, without strange or muffled sounds, and the sound clarity is high. However, due to pricing and material factors, it won't give you a stunning sound.

Compared to direct phone output, HiFi2pro allows you to hear a wider soundstage, more textured instrument separation, a more relaxed frequency range, more accurate timbre across different parts, and more reasonable and healthy control of three-frequency density, significantly improving phone audio quality. However, compared to the more expensive HD1, it falls short in sound detail and finesse and does not support a 4.4mm headphone interface.

HiFi2pro is more suitable for those who want to improve their phone's audio quality, dislike strange tuning, prefer clear sound, and have a low budget. It is a model that is hard to go wrong with.

HiFi2pro Fast Charging Edition

The basic parameters of the HiFi2pro Fast Charging Edition are similar to the HiFi2pro, with the difference being an additional fast charging port supporting PD60W charging performance. The two tuning styles are basically the same. If there is any difference, the HiFi2pro Fast Charging Edition's sound is slightly warmer, but otherwise, there is no difference. If you want to listen to music while charging, consider the HiFi2pro Fast Charging Edition.

Flagship HD1

HD1 uses dual CS43131 chips, supporting up to PCM 384KHz/32bit and DSD256 high-resolution audio. It has a built-in high-precision femtosecond crystal oscillator, with distortion/THD+N less than -110db (0.0003%), almost no background noise, supporting up to 132dB signal-to-noise ratio, pure sound, and clear imaging contours.

It supports Type-C interface and cable swapping, encoding light display, button operation, low/high gain modes, with a powerful 162mW driving power in high gain mode on the balanced interface, adapting to 16～600Ω impedance headphones, easily driving high-impedance headphones, and supporting Type-C to 3.5mm/4.4mm headphone interfaces.

Having tried many HiFi dongles, ranging from tens to thousands of dollars, I was surprised to find that when listening to HD1 in high gain mode with a 4.4mm interface, the sound is not inferior to some HiFi dongles costing thousands of dollars, and compared to HiFi2pro, it is a noticeable improvement.

HD1's soundstage is well-organized, grand, and relaxed, with balanced horizontal and vertical listening experiences, no sense of compression across different parts, and long listening sessions without fatigue. If you use HD1 with active speakers, you will also find its instrument positioning very accurate, with a strong sense of presence and stability.

HD1's timbre has a slight warmth on top of its neutrality, making the sound more smooth. Its three-frequency density is full, imaging contours are clear, and the sound body is cohesive. It has ultra-high sound detail resolution quality, able to resolve subtle sound details that many low-priced DAC amplifiers cannot, without being cold, thin, or harsh, and the sound details are very smooth and delicate.

HD1 handles sound details very delicately, allowing you to enjoy music for long periods without auditory fatigue. Its tuning is versatile, suitable for jazz, instrumental, love songs, pop, and classical music. Although it cannot match the dynamics and sound details of HiFi music players costing thousands or tens of thousands of dollars.