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DAC Chip: Qualcomm WSH9415 (Single)
PCM 32bit – 384khz DSD128, SNR: -105dB, Power: 1 Vrms, USB Type-C Male, 3.5mm SE (Microphone: YES), 120mm, 5g, Aluminum Chassis with SPC Cable

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Listening Equipment: Etymotic ER4SR, ER2XR, Shure KSE1500, TIN HiFi P1, Monolith M565C

LISTENING EQUIPMENT USED IMPARTED HUGE INFLUENCE TO SOUND IMPRESSIONS & RATING

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💚PROS

• Clean organic timbre with rounded smooth neutral tonality
• Slightly Mids focused, mildly intimate presentation.
• Properly placed vocals despite being Mids focused. Neutral tonality
• Smooth clean Treble with great extensions, equally smooth decays
• Fast, tight snappy Mid-Bass with solid decays
• Impressive percussions, bells and chimes with polished tone and decays
• Impressive Macro/Micro details with audible nuances
• Smooth edged guitars, piano, and stringed instruments
• Tall soundstage with good depth
• Scalable speed, with fast single DD and BA, amazing dexterity
• Great on Lo-Fi and poor recordings, high resistance to sibilance
• Drives Tin HiFi P1 at 75/100 for full listening level (Impressive 1 Vrms Power!)
• VERY Impressive synergy with Etymotic ER2XR

💔CONS

• Speed dependent on the pairing of IEM, slow IEM will exhibit slow responses.
• Sub-Bass has slightly meek presence and somewhat soft
• Layer separation lacked sharpness.
• Spacing for layers/instruments being so close together.
• Transparency could be better.
• Spatial staging and imaging not as holographic (left/right focused)
• Sounded average with Magnetic Planars.

VERDICT

Hill Audio WSH9415. Not many Qualcomm DAC/Amp being offered in the sea of Dongles now. This is a rather odd sounding dongle in the manner of being Mids focused yet somehow the vocals are spaced back a bit, not necessarily a bad thing. The worrying part about this unit is how the stereo spatial imaging a bit too focused on Left/Right placement. The downside of this WSH9415 almost all mitigated when paired with sparkly bright IEMs/Headphones that are already fast and resolving – it is lively and vibrant with fast, tight, and punchy Mid-Bass with engaging dynamics. So, the downside is just on heavy Magnetic Planars, but it was still meaty enough not to sound thin. Details handling is great matching the capabilities of the IEMs/Headphones it paired with. I think the strength of this WSH9415 is also its weakness, which is scalability akin to a double-edged sword. With a highly technical IEM it will shine the best and with an already organic sounding unit it can be dull edged and meek. Scalable but not flexible. Definitely not a great all rounder but pair it correctly and it is stellar, nonetheless.

⭐⭐⭐ ($21.00)

Best Pairing: An already bright, resolving, and fast IEMs/Headphones (100Ω max)

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