ddHIFI TC44Grip DAC AMp Review – Cradle Of Android Musicality
ddHIFI TC44Grip is a $159 USD portable dongle DAC AMP with a USB Type-C Male input, 4.4mm balanced output and 3.5mm single ended output, and with a Dual DAC at the core, relying on a combo of CS43198 DACs with a Dual SGM8262-2 OP-AMPs for the amplification.
Introduction
Today we explore a more dedicated type of DAC AMP, one that grips your phone with attraction pads, and decorative pads, Fast Charging Port so you don’t have to take it off while charging, and with listening while charging despite occupying your tpe-c ports. ddHIFI products are popular widely available and very nice in general.
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Product Link
Amazon – https://link.amazon/B06b8a60N
Aliexpress – https://s.click.aliexpress.com/e/_c4ViN0nn
Build Quality – Design – Subjective Usage
Build Quality – TC44PRO is made reall well, full metal and high-quality cable. As the company usually makes accessories, they know how to work with metal, how to get nice matte surfaces, polishes and Grip is just the latest DAC AMP they made with an outstanding build quality.
Design – I will be honest, I am not a huge fan of smartphones in general, but listening to music portably has always been a highlgiht for my day. This means that TC44Grip actually delivers a good experience. For me, the idea that it can attach to your phone is brilliant, but the Type-C connector leaves some space between the phone and the connector, so in a tight pocket it will push on the type-c connector as much as other dongle style DAC AMPS. It even supports music playback while you’re chagrin your phone, being able to supply up to 60W of fast charge while you’re enjoying music.
DAC – At the heart, TC44Grip uses a Dual CS43198 DAC combo from Cirrus Logic. This is one of the most common dongle DAC AMP option these days, but ddHIFI pairs it with a SGM8262-2 in dual mode. Despite having a pretty standard 3.5mm connectour jack output, Grip also supports built in microphone and remote inline for earphones.
Power output – We have enough power for portable earphones and IEMS, with a power of 80mW for the 3.5mm single ended output, with a voltage of 1.7Vrms, and we have a much higher 330 mW output power for the 4.4mm balanced port, with a voltage of 3.3Vrms.
Special features / Subjective Input – TC44Grip is easily recognized by my smartphone, can play sound in real-time with no USB DAC delay, it has excellent build quality, excellent overall functionality. It is cool that ddHIFI made something different, and the attachment pad style is really brilliant. The more you use your phone for music, the more you’ll like the Grip. It gets quite hot during usage, but on the bright side, it will work with any laptop as well as smartphones.
Sound Quality
Pairings – Since TC44Grip is a fairly universal device, I have paired it with multiple earphones and headphones, the list including Faith Audio E1000, Lily Audio Genesis One, KBEar Cepheus, Crosszone CZ-10 Enhanced, TinHIFI T7, NFAudio NE4, Sivga Peng, Crosszone CZ-8a Enhanced, Soundz Flame, Dunu Vulkan 2, Moritz Aura, Hiby Digital Yume, HIFIMAN Audivina LE, Westone Mach 80,BQEYZ Winter II, Fosi Audio IM4, Aune AC55, iBasso Cookie Ti Jr.
It has a natural driving power, nothing too extraordinary and will mostly handle portable IEMS and Earphones, no big headphones. This means that Headphones like HIFIMAN Arya will not be driven quite that well, but IEMS like Moritz Audio Aura and Westone Mach 80 will sound just right.
Overall Signature – TC44 Grip sounds pretty detailed, has a sharp and airy table extension, but generally will make most IEMs and headphones sound less bright, warmer, more mid centric, more musical, with more vocal acuity, more vocal precision and better impact in the vocal range. It has a natural-neutral bass without much over-the-top quantity, but it tames all extremes, basically turning a V-Shaped sounding IEM into a natural-clean sounding one. Relaxed is the best way to describe the sound of the 44Grippy.
Bass – Starting from the low-end, TC44 Grip sounds quite natural, a bit on the conservative side, with more bass being present, being audible and better bass impact at higher volumes, and a neutral bass presentation at medium volumes. Bass is on the natural speed, towards slower, so it creates a slower moving air, more relaxed presentation.
Midrange And Vocals – Vocal range is the focus for TC44 Grip, so much so that it tends to make V-Shaped sounding IEMS warm and relaxed, a bit vocal even. It brings forward voices, pushes instruments in the back, creates a really wide and holographic soundstage, but blends things nicely for a vivid, realistic image. Width of sound is increased considerably compared to all dongle DAC AMPs, but so is the scatter rate. This being said, lead instrument and lead vocals are always pushed forward and in your face.
Treble – Top end extends safely up to 20 kHz, but it is safe, relaxed and not overly present. I like how it renders cymbal crashes, but it pairs best with bright and sharp sounding IEMS as it can relax too much those that are already dark or even natural. It does not sound aggressive even if provoked.
Dynamics And Textures – Dynamic range is relaxed, there is no audible compression, although textures are not overly expressed either. Grip is not an analytical DAC AMP and instead it goes for sounding natural, relaxed, a bit vague and scatter-prone, creating atmosphere and focusing less on sharp textures. With very fast and revealing IEMS like Artpical Blue Plnaet, it can create precise and beautiful saw waves, but in general it is conservative with textures.
Loudness Saturation Gradient – TC 44 Grip sounds best at high volumes, and gets better the louder you go. It does sound quite atmospheric and a big vague quiet, but becomes vivid, detailed and sharp loud, so it tends to make me reach for higher volumes than usual. It has very low distortion and keeps control even if reaching max power. It also gets quite warm during usage.
Soundstage – Soundstage is huge, with a slight scatter effect, but huge width, deep separation, and a dreamy imaging. This means that instrument separation is not very strong, instead instruments blending together to create a whole image and air, like listening to a real-life rather than a studio performance.
Value – Conclusion
Compared to the market, tC44Grip offers a much better performance with more driving power, better vocal acuity, richer sound and more midrange precision than most dongle DAC AMPs in the price range, along with an innovative connection idea. I find it to be a topo value.
I’m always happy with companies innovate and launch something new, something different, something special. This time, we have a nice new way of a DAC MAP attaching to a phone, and DD HIFI does not disappoint, as their TC 44 Grip is a top performer for a small dollar and a fully recommended purchase in our review today.
PROs
- Affordable and sounds really nice for the money paid
- Good driving power, enough for any earphones and in-ears
- Beautiful and innovative, better than most dongle DAC AMPS, the grip idea is great
- Real-Time playback and good connectivity with all phones
- Natural vocals with a sharp treble extension
- Warm and bloofy bass
- Perfect for a wide selection of musical styles
Cons
- Not a lot of driving power
- Still in a tight pocket, the design will put some pressure on the Type-C port of the phone
- Gets quite hot during usage
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Full Playlist used for this review
We listened to more songs than those named in this playlist, but those are excellent for identifying a sonic signature. I recommend trying most of the songs from this playlist, especially if you’re searching for new music! The playlists are different for Spotify, Tidal and Youtube, and based on the songs I enjoy and are available on each!
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL_cjBXGmwSHSdGcwuc_bKbBDGHL4QvYBu
https://open.spotify.com/playlist/5J3oloz8Riy9LxEGenOjQ0?si=979ba4f082414be7
https://tidal.com/browse/playlist/330fd544-8e5b-4839-bd35-676b2edbb3d5
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