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NEOHIPO H1 Gaming DAC / AMP for PC/Mac/PS5 -- Review
10K views
Jun 22, 2024
Ready to step your PC, Mac, or Playstation audio setup to the next level? The NEOHIPO H1 Gaming DAC/Amp is a fun and well-designed volume knob that also improves your audio as it makes it louder too. It's compatible with a wide variety of input and output devices too! Audio fan Dave Taylor checks out the latest from NEOHIPO and finds it a great way to level up the audio on his own Dell PC... Amazon US: https://amzn.to/3X4qtAy Amazon CA+EU: https://amzn.to/4bfmHbL Aliexpress: https://s.click.aliexpress.com/e/_DlHFiXD Visit Dave's Q&A Web site at: https://www.AskDaveTaylor.com/ #neohipo #dac #amp #amplifier #headphoneamp #playstation #gaming #askdavetaylor
View Video Transcript
0:00
Headphones sounding a bit flat? This is a game changer. Let's check it out. �
0:11
Dave Taylor here, and I'm checking out this. This is the Neo Hippo Gaming DAC Amp, and it's very slick
0:18
You can see right on top is this big volume knob, which makes it really easy for you to dial in the perfect volume
0:26
for whatever you're listening to, whether it's gaming, or a movie, or some music
0:31
or even a podcast. So it is listed as being 16 to 150 ohm compatible
0:37
but I'll tell you that I used my 250 ohm Biodynamic Amaron headphones
0:43
and they worked beautifully. It sounded great. So it's a 24-bit DAC with 95 decibels of signal-to-noise ratio
0:51
and let me give you a tour. On the back, there are RCA stereo output
0:55
and optical and coax, and you can see the input is a mini USB jack
1:02
We'll get back to that. And then on the front are mostly the other outputs
1:06
So you have a quarter-inch headphone jack, you have 3.5 millimeter, you have a couple of different line-in options, and then you have this little tiny equalizer
1:16
So you can get treble boost, or neutral, or bass boost. I'll tell you, I leave it on bass boost. It's not dramatic
1:23
but it gives you a nice little bit extra on that lower end. And that's really everything. And then on the top, you can see
1:31
that there are some LEDs, but mostly it's just this big honking volume control
1:36
And I really, I think it's really easy to work with. Now, it does pass through a Dolby and DTS, so it's up there with all the modern audio specs
1:45
And what I'm going to do is I'm going to plug it into my old laptop. So this one's been around a while. If I plug in headphones, it sounds..
1:53
Okay. But when I run it through this, boy, it suddenly sounds a lot better
1:57
Now, one thing I should mention is that the Neo Hippo unit comes with this USB-A to Mini USB
2:07
Now, I just want to say for a second, I don't know why they chose Mini USB
2:11
I actually really am not a fan of this. This is a really old connector
2:15
USB-C would have been a much better choice, but they might have their reasons why they're doing it this way
2:21
I will say USB-A is great if you're going to use it with a desktop PC, like a gaming PC
2:28
So that works perfectly fine. And it's probably just about long enough that you can plug it in
2:33
leave it on your desk, and then loop behind your desk and actually plug into your computer
2:38
So what I'm going to do is I'm going to plug in the Mini USB
2:43
and then the other end I'm going to plug into my Dell. And as with all USB, oh, look at that. It connected the first time
2:52
I was going to say that like 80% of the time you go to put it in and it's oriented incorrectly
2:57
I'm not sure how that statistic works, but it's weirdly common. So then all you have to do is go into your PC
3:05
and you want to make sure you choose that USB as your output
3:09
And I'm saying PC, but I want to also say that I've used this with other devices too
3:15
including my Mac. This worked great with my MacBook Pro. And again, I did have to choose that USB output, but once I did that, it worked great
3:25
Now, on your PC, you will need to go to Settings, Sound, Properties, and choose 24-bit 96,000 hertz
3:35
The reason for that is you have a device that is more capable and can actually give you better
3:41
audio. Make sure your PC knows to feed that level of audio out. It will make a difference
3:48
And that's pretty much it. And then you just put on your headphones, you get some music going, and then I can just use the volume control here
3:59
and this gives me all the controls I need. So you can imagine having this permanently plugged in to your PC
4:06
and it's just sitting on your desk. And anytime you want to use headphones, just plug them into the front and you're good to go
4:13
You want to use your computer speakers, you just go into Settings and change the output
4:17
So super easy to work with. Now, I've been listening to Aseo Tomita, which is like the old school electronica
4:26
and he was one of the first people to go and redo traditional classic music
4:31
using Moog and other synthesizers. And it's really a little retro, but it's really fun
4:37
And what's cool is that he really used all the frequencies because it was a synthesizer
4:42
So it's a great test for a device like this, and it just gave it so much more richness
4:48
It's a much bigger soundstage, and it was the same audio source
4:52
So this does wonders for your audio. It's really pretty darn fun
4:58
And with gaming or something, it's just like now everything's even bigger and more immersive
5:04
Lots to like there. That's pretty much everything I got here for you
5:09
I think that it is a really slick device. I'm not particularly a fan of the micro USB
5:16
sorry, mini USB on the back. But other than that, it is a nice, solid, reasonably heavy unit
5:23
with little rubber feet on it. So when you put it on your desk, it's not going to go anywhere when you go to plug in your headphones
5:29
That's really everything. And then you have this super convenient way to adjust volume
5:34
regardless of what you're listening to, makes it an absolute win. And if you want to just take your audio to just a next level up
5:43
and you don't want to invest a ton of money, this is definitely one to check out
5:47
Now, we should talk about the price. It's going to be a little less expensive than you think
5:51
But before we get there, I'm going to ask you to subscribe to my channel. Click or tap on that subscribe button, hit the bell icon so you can also get notifications
6:00
And if this was a value, I appreciate the thumbs up. Always a useful thing
6:05
Cool. This is the Neo Hippo Gaming DAC Amp, and it is $34.99. But there's 10% discount
6:15
at least as I recorded this, dropping it down to $31.49 at amazon.com
6:21
For the price of two burgers nowadays, this is a really fun addition to your PC setup
6:27
whether you're a gamer or not. And honestly, I'm a big fan of wired headphones and wired
6:34
audio gear. So this just makes everything sound better. It's like everything's one level up in
6:39
quality. Definitely something to check out. I'm going to go back to my... Hang on and plug
6:45
everything in. There we go. I'm going to go back to my Tomita. So great. There we go. Okay
6:55
I'll catch you in my next video
7:15
Transcribed by https://otter.ai
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