Free Standard Shipping in the US on orders over $99

hiliDAC Audirect Beam 2

overview

details

reviews22

photos14

q&a1

discussions35

01 / 06

... / AUDIOPHILE / DACS / AUDIRECT

hiliDAC Audirect Beam 2

Name: hiliDAC Audirect Beam 2
Brand: Audirect
SKU: hilidac-audirect-beam-2
Price: 85 USD
Availability: OutOfStock
Rating: 4.227273 (22 reviews)

Where's the price?

To negotiate the best possible price for our customers, we agree to hide prices prior to logging in.

359 requests

150 Sold

Product Description

The sequel to hiliDAC’s well-received Beam, the Beam 2 is a high-performing DAC/amp that easily fits in your palm. To deliver exceptional sound and amplification that punches way above its weight class, the Beam 2 is equipped with an audiophile-grade ESS9281C Pro DAC and an amplifier capable of outputting 240 mW at 32 ohms Read More

Customer Reviews

4.2

(22 reviews)

(8)

(11)

(3)

(0)

79% would recommend to a friend

Images

Sort by: Top Reviews

FoxtechDH

101

Feb 13, 2020

Verified Buyer

Tiny dac big sound

Pairs perfect with my note 8 and 10, having a balanced and a 3.5mm is a huge plus. Noise floor was surprisingly low especially compared with my xduoo. Some features are a little lackluster, volume control specifically but all my iems fo great on it. Pushes my Elex just enough, but ideally an iem focused dac for folks looking for a super portable balanced options. For its size and iem purpose with balanced out would recommend, if your trying to push 300ohm cans look elsewhere.

Recommends this product? Yes

Was this helpful?

enrique.sotoz.66

Aug 25, 2021

Verified Buyer

Excelente opción portable

Mejora apreciablemente la amplificación y calidad del sonido, tanto en mi celular como en mi laptop, con la gran ventaja diferencial de sus dos salidas

Recommends this product? Yes

Was this helpful?

Vote

Fayne

2585

Jan 24, 2020

Verified Buyer

Cute little balanced DAC

This is a tiny yet surprisingly ok DAC. Zero setup, just plug and play. I slapped it on my iPhone 11 Pro Max (with battery case), plugged in my Shuoer Tape to the balanced port, fired up Tidal, and hit play on some MQA tracks. Zero problems. Sound quality is good enough for my mobile purposes, or just listening in any room. Loud enough to melt my eardrums. Detailed enough that the IEM did it justice. I went one step further and loaded up Roon, did the config dance to get MQA working, then hit play on some Tidal Masters. MQA still worked perfectly. Get that pretty magenta color from the LED. At this point, my primary use cases have been met. Mobile and around the house with goodish IEM and high res audio. But... I said screw it, and hooked up the Meze 99 Noir. No surprise, it drives them rather well with a lot of head-room. Lets step it up a bit I tell myself. Focal Elex take a bit of effort to make sound gooood. Well, it can do it good enough, with headroom to spare. So, now I know it handles low Ω just fine. Upping the game a bit by testing the HD6xx at 300Ω. It can barely do it, it required 82% volume to get good enough punch. Morbid curiosity had me plug in the Beyerdynamic T1 gen2, and to my surprise they come across clean and good sounding. Of course the volume is cranked to 90% to get enough impact. So, I now have a viable mobile DAC that won't take up a large amount of space. I've three complaints. First is that the cables it ships with are utter and complete trash. I expect that they will fail within a few weeks of heavy use. The second is that it gives a pop when it changes sample rates. Not as loud as some DACs, and with most cans it isn't that bad, but man it can be loud with ultra-sensitive IEM. The third? It picks up the interference from cellular beacons when used on... a... cellular phone. I'm blaming the crap cables there. As of current, I consider this is worth buying if you see it on sale. Just remember to get one of the adapters which lets you charge and use accessories at the same time otherwise this guy will completely destroy your battery. Edit: Months later I got back to this little guy. Firmware updates are a must if you plan on using the unit on a mobile. The firmware appears to have fixed some of the sample rate change clicks and pops as well as compatibility with Apple gear. Still a pop when it powers on, but nothing crazy like it used to.

(Edited)

Recommends this product? Yes

Was this helpful?

johnheb

Apr 9, 2020

FayneDid you use the balanced output for the HD6xx? That has more power. Thank you!

wovazxc824

Keyboard Club Member

Apr 5, 2022

Verified Buyer

Small but good performance

Due to its small size, it is suitable for portable use, and a converter is also included. However, a little heat is generated during use.

Recommends this product? Yes

Was this helpful?

Vote

derek.lob

Jan 21, 2020

Verified Buyer

cables are missing . . .

in the anticipation of omission of headphone jack in phones soon, i wish to have a small usb-c to headphone jack adapter to go light. the beam got mixed review but it's seldom that such a small adapter provided both 3.5mm trs and 2.5mm balanced, so i went for this drop anyway. the added benefit of MQA for my tidal subscription also seems quite appealing. yesterday i got a small package from a local courier from the mainland china. I opened up and was surprised to find it was the beam 2! i was very excited and promptly opened it up, only then i was shocked to find that there's no usb cables or any manual at all inside! i googled a bit and found in some chinese forum that the manufacturer did not provide any manual for the BEAM2! i took out my own usb A to C cable to try it on my computer. win10 recognized it as a usb2 sound device without installing additional driver. i then chose to run BEAM2 in 32bit, 384kHz (from 48kHz) and the logo turned blue (from red) indicating it running at hires or DSD sources. i tried mqa titles in tidal but there's no further color change o it seems I'm not getting mqa enabled yet. i'll try to play with the setting to see if i can get it working . . . 1st impression - there's no control whatsoever on the BEAM2. you have to rely entirely on your host device to control. the power is really ample - i've to turn the vol down to 9 out of 100 in win10 to use my drop x empire ears zeus at reasonable listening level, same for my campfire solaris. with my drop x noble k10ua running balance, i run the vol at 15. at such low vol setting, i can only heard a very tiny bit of hiss from my zeus and the solaris. k10ua has no detectable hiss. the device remembers the vol setting even i unplug and replug in to my computer but it ran quite warm just after 30mins. i've contacted DROP for the missing cables, but sadly DROP couldnt help me to get the missing cable. they only offered for partial refund or in-store credit. it's pretty bad that i'm left with the dongle but no cable to use with my mobile. i've did a bit of search and found it's quite diffcult to get a similar short length type-c to type-c cable. i read from the discussion of several products that accessories are missing from time to time. DROP should review their operation and see how they could properly support their customers. i felt really bad that as simple as sending the missing cables couldnt be done, which would be the most cost effective and easy solution to all parties. :( [Update] the color indicator was not working as it supposed to be with my s10+. It shows magneta (e.g. decoding mqa sources) while playing Spotify but blue (e.g. above 44.1khz sources) when playing tidal mqa collections. And sometimes no color was showing at all. It works as it should be in win10. Just i have to disable mqa pass thru in the win10 tidal app to get it showing magneta color (i later learnt this is the correct way of operation - BEAM2 is only a MQA renderer, but not a full decoder, and the tidal app has to do the 1st unfold so the pass thru won't work. yet the red instead of the blue light came on indicating the signal was just 44.1khz when playing master collection from tidal. i'm a bit puzzled . . . see my 2nd update below). This little dongle gives a pop round, quite loud, whenever i plug in and unplug it, which is quite annoying and maybe not that good for sensitive iems. And it's when no sound is being played! It seems not having any relay to mute the sound like dap or home hifi. And it has some emi issues. Whenever messages are coming in or seemingly some radio transmission from my s10+, even those Bluetooth ones like syncing with my smart watch, there's some not very loud but audible emi noise coming up. I don't have any other usb dongle so i have no idea if emi and the pop noise are common for this type of device. Finally, for those who wish to try, hilidac post newer firmware on their website's faq section. [2nd Update] I just read from somewhere that the dac could only be used as MQA renderer but not full MQA decoder. so the software must first decode upto 96khz, in case the title being play is of higher sampling rate (i.e. 192khz), then the BEAM2 will take up. as all MQA songs i've found in tidal are either sampled in 88.2 or 96khz, so it seems the MQA function is not particular important if using with tidal only. [3rd update] i've up my rating for 2 stars as Audirect has very kindly and helpful to reach out to me direct and resolve my missing cable problem. i also exchanged a few dialogues with them on their planning for future products. It's always nice to have chance to communicate direct with the product designer and I learnt a lot from them. [4th update] I just got the zorloo ztella MQA from a clearance sale bundle with the aeon flow open. the ztella operate exactly the same for the MQA decoding - not working on tidal on android phone. the two dongles both using the same DAC ESS9281C. The ztella is not as powerful but it's completely free from the radio interference! Also, I just learnt from zorloo that to get the MQA decoding working on android, you have to buy the usb audio player pro and the MQA plugin - but for online streaming only.

(Edited)

Recommends this product? No

Was this helpful?

View 2 More Replies

Bob3600

202

Jan 28, 2020

Hey Derek, Thanks for the heads up!!! I might have to jump yet. Now I just have to scrape it together. Now what the heck is Windows 10+?? Did I miss something ,,,,,again:)

Vote

derek.lob

Jan 29, 2020

Bob3600I meant win 10 on my computers and my mobile Samsung s10+. Both no need to install any driver

(Edited)

Vote

SuperScope96

290

Jan 18, 2022

Verified Buyer

Compact, Quirky, HOT, and Great!

I've had the Beam 2 for a long while now, and it's seen many use cases as COVID changed up my travel/commute/hybrid-WFH lifestyle. Through it all, it's been a powerful and useful little audio companion, supplementing my ifi Hip Dac V1 in most cases where I didn't see the need to lug around the ifi's heft, USB-A connection, and battery limitation especially when using the particular IEMs & headphones in my collection I tend to pull out for the purposes above. PROS: -Extremely versatile; I've used it with multiple desktop & laptop PCs and both Android & iPhone. Powerful enough for all of the IEMs and headphones I tend to travel/commute to work with in both balanced & unbalanced modes; -Website isn't very well designed but is very specification-comprehensive and does list driver & firmware updates on the "FAQ" page; -Shipped in a small display case box with excellent USB-C <-> USB-C & USB-C -> Lightning cables (I use both): nicely braided and with sculpted metal connectors, and included a USB-C <-> USB-A adapter for Laptop/PC use; -Built very nicely, with subtle printing, easy-to see LED power/bitrate light, and a slim profile that's easy to love and get used to; -Has a warm, musical sound signature reminiscent of Class A, tube/valve, and some ifi products I'm used to. CONS: -EMI is certainly audible on occasion when using with a mobile phone, but it's hardly constant nor especially annoying -Speaking of "warm sounding," this thing can run HOT. I tend to listen to music at high volumes and cranking the Beam 2 will turn it into a lovely little aluminum pocket handwarmer; not hot enough to burn you, but certainly hot enough to surprise your hand or possibly irritate people with sensitive skin in a thin pocket at high volumes/power levels -Power Consumption: A lead-in from the prior point; if you regularly listen at higher volumes, it becomes quickly clear that the Beam 2 isn't the most efficient pocket DAC/AMP in the world; it warms up quickly and significantly, and the draw on your average phone will be noticeable. On long trips where I only use the Beam 2 off my phone, I typically alternate charging my phone and using it's built-in headphone jack (LG G8) and using the Beam 2 for 6 or so hours before needing to top-up again. It's very well suited for use with a laptop, as it's compact, capable, and the power draw will be hardly noticeable. Overall, there are a great many use cases I've found the Beam 2 perfect for - I don't feel the need for an even more compact DAC/AMP, and while I do still have and use my Hip DAC when travelling with more power-hungry or 4.4mm balanced cans, the Beam 2 is too convenient not to use in most cases.

Recommends this product? Yes

Was this helpful?

rbcii

Feb 5, 2020

Verified Buyer

The latest firmware fixed the noise problem!

Edited: Upon I updated the firmware v0401, the noise issue with iPhone & Samsung S10 seemed to be fixed. Following is my original comment when I tested with firmware v1.x. “The firmware and sound quality should be tested thoroughly with different model of mobile phones before release. There is noticeable noise with my iPhone XS Max no matter I use the bundled cable or my own. Noise level with my Samsung S10 is much lower but is still noticeable. Beam 1 seems to be more stable and better comparatively.”

(Edited)

Recommends this product? Yes

Was this helpful?

View 2 More Replies

KestrelX

135

Mar 24, 2020

rbciiI see a pattern in reviews for audio devices when used with Apple products. They tend not to work as well but that should surprise no one. Apple products are engineered in their own ecosystem, i.e. you overpay for the device and then REALLY over pay for accessories.

Vote

rbcii

Mar 25, 2020

KestrelXIt depends if you disregard the quality with premium price. In fact, it even doesn’t work well with my S10. I hope that firmware upgrade can solve the noise issue. Beam 1 is still a great product.

Rowdy2026

803

Apr 17, 2021

Verified Buyer

Small but does the job.

It’s tiny...and I mean tiny. For the $’s though I doubt you’d buy better from a performance point of view. No bells and whistles but it gets the job done.

(Edited)

Was this helpful?

Hankharlem

Jan 25, 2021

Verified Buyer

Small sooo small

Great "little" DAC. Physically barely notice its there, but audibly it packs a nice punch for its size. So glad I found a portable DAC at an affordable price thats not bulky or burdensome

Recommends this product? Yes

Was this helpful?