ddHiFi TC44 PRO Review
ddHiFi TC44 PRO DAC/AMP Adapter Review
Introduction:
ddHiFi (DD Electronics Technology Co.Ltd.) is specialized in designing, development and production of Audio Accessories such like Adapters, Cables, USB DAC Dongles, Storage Cases and many more.
The TC44 Pro is ddHiFi’s 3rd Generation ultra portable 4.4mm Balanced DAC/Amplifier in form of a small dongle that can be directly connected to your Android or iOS device with a USB Type-C or Lightning port (depends on your purchased version) without the need of any cable. The device is equipped with a Dual Cirrus Logic CS43131 DAC chipset that supports PCM 32 bit/384kHz and Native DSD decoding up to DSD256. Another highlight of the TC44 Pro is the main board that has been designed to be symmetrical with no openings, ensuring a stable signal-to-noise ratio & dynamic range.
Disclaimer:
I would like to thank ddHiFi for providing me TC44 Pro DAC/Amplifier sample for review purposes. I am not affiliated with ddHiFi beyond this review and these words reflect my true, unaltered opinions about the product.
Price & Availability:
The actual price of the ddHiFi TC44 Pro DAC/Amplifier dongle is 79.99 US$ that is available with Type-C and Lightning connector interface. More information’s can be found under the link below;
Package & Accessories:
The TC44 Pro comes in a small square shaped box with a white glossy surface coating that has an image of the product and some company and product related brandings on the top.
Inside the box are the following items;
- 1 x ddHiFi TC44 Pro DAC/Amplifier Dongle
- 1 x Lanyard
- 1 x Print Material
Design and Build Quality:
The ddHiFi TC44 Pro is pretty small ultra portable DAC/AMP adapter dongle that has a solid build quality. It’s a really small DAC/Amplifier with a 4.4mm Balanced Analog headphone output that has dimensions of approx 30 x 18 x 12.5 mm.
The outer shell which is the main body of the device is made from aluminum material with a rounded shape that has an anodized surface in silver color and some product related brandings on the top right corner.
The right surface of the dongle features the 4.4mm Balanced headphone Input interface, which offers a solid, tight connection.
The left surface area has two small openings, one for the lanyard that is included inside the package and a second one for the LED status indicator.
One of the main highlights of the TC44 Pro is the 1800D type carbon fiber panel located at the bottom of the device. This is a highly flexible and lightweight material with an excellent thermal conductivity and a low coefficient of thermal expansion. It does an exceptional job of shielding the internal PCB board from damage and giving the device long-lasting durability.
The TC44 Pro is available in two different digital connector options one with a Lightning and one with a Type-C interface same like my review unit. The Type-C connector of my device has a pretty robust appearance and built quality.
Technical Specifications:
- Model : TC44 Pro
- DAC : Dual Cirrus Logic CS43131
- PCM Decoding Capability : 32 bit/384kHz
- Native DSD Support : up to DSD256
- THD+N : ≤ -110dB
- SNR : 125dB
- Output Power : 120mW @ 32ohm
- Digital Input Interface : USB Type-C or Lighting
- Outputs : 4.4mm TRRRS Balanced
- Dimensions : 30 x 18 x 12.5 mm
- Weight : approx 9g
Hardware Features:
DAC & Amplifier Sections:
The ddHiFi TC44 Pro is equipped with a 32 Bit Cirrus Logic Dual CS43131 DAC chipset that is able to decode sampling rates up to PCM 384 kHz and Native DSD files up to DSD256.
The Cirrus Logic Dual CS43131 inside the TC44 Pro comes with a build in amplifier section, which shows a pretty low THD+N level of ≤ -110dB and a decent SNR (Signal to Noise Ratio) value of approx 125dB. The main board of the TC44 Pro has been designed to be symmetrical with no openings, ensuring a stable signal-to-noise ratio and dynamic range.
The TC44 Pro offers a driving power of up to 120mW @ 32ohm for each channel, which quite impressive for such an ultra portable USB DAC/Amplifier product. What I also really like about the TC44 Pro is its pretty dark and clean signal output that has been archived by manually soldering the headphone sockets and USB socket with high-quality silver solder.
Equipments used for this review:
- DAC’s : ddHiFi TC44 Pro
- Sources : Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra
- IEM’s : ddHiFi Janus 3, Moondrop Blessing3, Westone MACH60
- Headphones : SIVGA Luan
Albums & tracks used for this review:
- Adele – My Little Love (Spotify)
- Randy Crawford – On Day I Will Fly Away (Flac 16bit/44.1kHz)
- Hayley Westenra – Odyssey Album (Dezzer HiFi)
- Dionne Warwick – Walk On By (Flac 16bit/44.1kHz)
- Sarah McLachlan – Angel (Flac 24bit/48kHz)
- Sertap Erener – Aşk (Flac 16bit/44.1kHz)
- Edith Piaf – Non Je Ne Regrette Rien (Flac 16bit/44.1kHz)
- Diana Krall – So Wonderful (DSF)
- Aretha Franklin – I Say A Little Payer (Flac 24bit/96kHz)
- David Bowie – Heroes (Flac 24bit/192kHz)
- Elton John – Rocket Man ((Flac 24bit/96kHz)
- Barry White – Just The Way You Are (Flac 24bit/48kHz)
- Isaac Hayes – Walk On By (Flac 16bit/44.1kHz)
- Sting – Englishman in New York – (Flac 24bit/48kHz)
- Eric Clapton – Wonderful Tonight (Flac 24bit/96kHz)
- B.B. King – Riding With The King (Tidal Hi-Fi)
- Dave Gahan – Kingdom (Tidal Hi-Fi)
- U2 – Sunday Bloody Sunday (Flac 16bit/44.1kHz)
- Bro Safari, UFO! – Drama (Deezer HiFi)
- Armin Van Buuren – Vini Vici (Flac 16bit/44.1kHz)
- Really Slow Motion – Deadwood (Deezer HiFi)
- Jo Blankenburg – Meraki (Spotify)
- Lorde – Royal (Flac 24bit/48kHz)
- Toutant – Rebirth (Deezer HiFi)
- Gogo Penguin – Raven (Flac 24bit/192kHz)
- Portishead – It Could Be Sweet (Spotify)
- Charly Antolini – Duwadjuwandadu (Flac 24bit/192kHz)
- Michael Jackson – Billie Jean (Flac 24bit/192kHz)
- Ferit Odman – Look, Stop & Listen (Flac 24bit/192kHz)
- Chopin – Nocturn No. 20 In C-Sharp Minor (Flac 16bit/44.1kHz)
- Fazıl Say – Nazım Oratoryosu (Live) (Flac 16bit/44.1kHz)
- Vivaldi – Le QuarttroStagioni “The Four Season” (Deezer HiFi)
- Otto Liebert& Luna Negra – The River (Flac 24bit/192kHz)
- Lunatic Soul – The Passage (Flac 16bit/44.1kHz)
- Deftones – My Own Summer (Shove it) (Flac 16bit/44.1kHz)
- Photek – The Hiden Camera (Spotify)
- Muse – Hysteria (Flac 24bit/48kHz)
- Metallica – Sad but True (Flac 24bit/96kHz)
- Opeth – Windowpane (Flac 16bit/44.1kHz)
- Megadeth – Sweating Bullets (Tidal Hi-Fi)
- Rush – YYZ (Flac 16bit/44.1kHz)
- Rush – Leave That Thing Alone (Flac 16bit/44.1kHz)
- Slayer – Angel of Death (Spotify)s
- Liquid Tension Experiment 2 – Acid Rain (Spotify)
- Yosi Horikawa – Bubbles (Spotify)
The Sound:
The ddHiFi TC44 Pro has a close to neutral, pretty balanced and somewhat liquid overall presentation. The tonality is a touch warmer then neutral, which adds a nice sense of musicality to relative neutral IEM’s like the ddHiFi Janus 3 and Moondrop Blessing 3.
This review has been written after a burn-in period of approx 60 hours. I have paired the device with the Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra (source), ddHiFi Janus 3, Westone MACH60, Moondrop Blessing 3 (IEM’s) and SIVGA Luan (headphone).
Bass / Midrange / Treble / Soundstage:
The ddHiFi TC44 Pro has stands out with its pretty clean yet powerful and dynamic bass response. The TC44 Pro shows a slightly amount of coloration in the lower frequency register, which adds the overall presentation a welcome amount of body, warmth and musicality, without to overshadow the rest of the sound spectrum. Instruments such like bass and electro guitars do have a good sense of body, bottom and fullness, while percussions do sound pretty impactful yet controlled, especially when paired with the ddHiFi Janus 3, Westone Audio MACH60 or SIVGA Luan.
The ddHiFi TC44 Pro has a midrange presentation that is in general pretty natural and nicely textured with all IEM’s and Headphones I have paired the device. It only shows just a small amount of coloration that in forma of a hint of warmness, which is a common character for devices that do use a Cirrus Logic DAC chip. The lower midrange has an adequate grade of depth and fullness, while the sense of transparency is fairly decent. The upper midrange area is pretty rich in terms of clarity and resolution that was audible while listening to female voices and instruments like a violin and piano.
The TC44 Pro has pretty good control and well extending treble character, which doesn’t shows any remarkable sibilance and harshness. It is fairly neutral and uncolored, which is again a nice ability for a device at this price level. Instrument from pianos to percussions in jazz and metal music do sound quite crisp and detailed when paired with IEM’s like the ddHiFi Janus 3 and Moondrop Blessing 3.
The TC44 Pro delivers a pretty spacious soundstage presentation that has an above average depth and natural sense of expansion. The positioning of instruments and vocals is pretty good for such a compact USB DAC/Amplifier dongle. The TC44 PRO + Janus 3 combination pretty expansive soundstage atmosphere.
Conclusion:
The ddHiFi TC44 Pro is a DAC/Amplifier that surprised me in a quite positive manner, considering its compact design. I can say with confidence that the device offers a performance far above its price tag in terms of sound, hardware and build quality, despite its small size. Considering all these features, I can recommend it to those who want to experience the 4.4mm Balanced experience, which is more and more becoming the new standard for portable DAC/Amplifiers.
Pros & Cons:
- + Natural & Dynamic Sound Profile
- + Clean & Hiss Free Output
- + Compact Size
- + Excellent Built Quality
- + Plug & Play
- – No dedicated APP for Gain or Filter Adjustment
- – Not as powerful compared to full sized dongles
Thank you for the Read!
