It’s time to review ddHiFi TC35b. TC35b actually have two variants: TC35b (USB type-C) and TC35i (Lightning). This review is made possible by ddHiFi. Sincere thanks to them since they sent out TC35b unit for a honest review.
The founder of the company had working experience in both OPPO and FiiO. We can clearly see where does the amazing product designs with top notch material selections come from.
Unboxing and Build Quality
TC35b comes in beautiful wooden (probably maple) box. Shell is CNC surgical grade stainless steel with brass cap. On the brass there are product no, year (2019), and ddHifi written with laser. I must say it’s not quite cheap option to produce mass especially compared to oter molded shells. I must say build quality is amazing. The feeling is really nice.
How Useful Is TC35b?
Solid metal shell looks neat and sturdy but also it’s quite chunky. Beside that, i must say this design isn’t the most trustworthy in mobile use especially if you plug straight jack onto it. In long time use TC35b would probably damage your device’s Lightning/USB-C port. Or the worse case scenario: TC35b may break off from the connection terminal while it’s connected to your device. I highly recomend using it only for stationary use.
ddHiFi doesn’t have ADC in it. So if you connect headphone with in-line microphone you can’t use microphone. Well, not every audiophile uses in-line mic but this was not the problem. The real problem is the layout is OMTP* (?) and not CTIA. If you connect Headphone with CTIA layout, you will hear your music muffled. Do you want to use TC35? then you should say goodbye to your beloved cable/headphone with in line mic.
*-If not, ddHiFi probably used 3-pin output.
Technicalities //always take manufacturer measurements with grain of salt
DAC Chip: ALC5686 Decoding: PCM 32Bit/384kHz Output Power: 30mW dual channels @32Ω Distortion: ﹤-92dB Dynamic Range: ﹥110dB SNR: ﹥120dB Output Load: 16-200Ω, self-adaption Frequency Response : 20Hz-20kHz Weight: 6g Dimensions: 18.8 x 11.2 x 10.2mm
ddHiFi TC35b: How Does It Sounds?
Stage is wide enough, thus instrument separation is really good. TC35 colores up the sound but i am not sure that should i call this DAC warm or not, you will read the reason in my further words. Dynamism, contrast and resolution is high. Output-wise, i must say it’s lacking in both aspects: Output impedance is quite high, so if you use TC35 with sensitive headphone (like IEM) you will get audible loss in lower frequencies, also there’s a clearly audible hiss in the background. Don’t even try to use it with BA IEMs since TC35 fizzles up not only tonality but also timbre. OK then, what about high impedance headphones? Well, you can’t drive them because ddHiFi TC35 also lacks on power, period.
Conclusion:
For $40, you get amazing build quality with luxury wooden box. For this price point, experience is lunatic. But what was the drawbacks? TC35 came with practically horrible design with bad audio implementation. Do i recommend this product? It depends on you actually. First of all you should understand your true demands. Personally i wouldn’t buy it since you can get amazing DACs in even under this price range.