How We Research
We compare products from their published specs and features; the verdicts below are our independent editorial opinions.
If you want a self-contained pair of hi-res over-ear headphones with active noise cancellation and multi-day battery life, choose HAYLOU S40; if you need a pocket-sized USB-C DAC/amp to unlock hi-res lossless from a phone or laptop you already own, choose joliker USB C DAC. That is the honest split. One is a complete listening system you wear; the other is the engine that upgrades the wired gear sitting in your drawer.
• HAYLOU S40, biggest strength: a full wireless package — 50dB hybrid ANC, LDAC hi-res support, 40mm+20mm dual drivers, and a claimed 90-hour battery life.
• HAYLOU S40, biggest trade-off: at 0.35 kg it is a real over-ear headphone, so it lives in a bag rather than a pocket, and its hi-res playback depends on your source supporting LDAC.
• joliker USB C DAC, biggest strength: serious wired decoding hardware — an ESS ES9028Q2M DAC with PCM 384kHz/32bit and DSD256, plus 4.4mm balanced and 3.5mm outputs.
• joliker USB C DAC, biggest trade-off: it makes no sound on its own. You must already own wired headphones or IEMs, and it is a wired-only chain.
• Pick HAYLOU S40 if you want one device that handles noise, calls, travel and long listening sessions.
• Pick joliker USB C DAC if you already own good wired headphones and want them to sound noticeably better from a phone, tablet or computer.
The S40 is built around convenience that does not sacrifice audio ambition. Its 40mm + 20mm titanium-plated dual-driver setup, paired with LDAC support and Hi-Res wireless certification, targets people who want lossless-grade detail without a cable. In my opinion that dual-driver arrangement is the most interesting part of the spec sheet — a dedicated driver for the higher frequencies is a design choice usually reserved for more premium audio gear.
The noise cancellation is the headline for commuters. HAYLOU rates it at 50dB of hybrid ANC, with adaptive cancellation that adjusts depth to your surroundings — planes, trains, traffic. Add five microphones for calls, Bluetooth 6.0, multipoint connection for switching between a laptop and a phone, a custom EQ app, and touch controls, and you have a headphone designed for a full working day. The 90-hour battery figure and 2.5-hour charge time back that up. The foldable over-ear design and 0.35 kg weight make it portable in the "throw it in your backpack" sense, not the "slip it in your jeans" sense.
Buy it if you want one pair of headphones to do everything: commute, calls, flights, desk work, and casual hi-res listening over Bluetooth. Skip it if you are chasing maximum wired fidelity, if you dislike touch controls, or if you need something that disappears into a pocket. Also note the 40Hz–20kHz frequency range — it is a wireless-first tuning, not a reference studio curve.
The joliker USB C DAC is a different kind of product entirely, and it is worth being clear about that. It contains no speakers. It is a decoder and amplifier: an ESS ES9028Q2M DAC chip feeding an ES9603Q amplifier, decoding PCM up to 384kHz/32bit and DSD256. That is the kind of hardware that turns a phone into a genuinely capable wired source.
The output stage is where it separates itself from the cheap dongles. The 4.4mm balanced jack puts out up to 522mW at 32Ω, while the 3.5mm single-ended output delivers 111mW at 32Ω. Practically, that means it can drive most IEMs and a wide range of headphones with headroom to spare — stronger dynamics, tighter bass, better channel separation from the balanced output. An OLED screen shows playback and volume in real time, and dedicated hardware volume buttons mean you are not fighting your phone's volume slider.
At 18g and roughly 66×26×12mm it is genuinely pocketable, and compatibility is broad: iPhone 15 and 16 series, Android phones, tablets, Windows PCs, laptops and MacBooks, mostly plug-and-play with no driver. Buy it if you already own wired headphones or IEMs and want more from them, or if you want hi-res lossless decoding from a laptop. Skip it if you want wireless freedom, if you own only Bluetooth headphones, or if you want a single all-in-one device to handle noise cancelling and calls.
• Best for hi-res wireless listening → HAYLOU S40. LDAC plus Hi-Res wireless certification and dual drivers, with no cable required.
• Best for wired hi-res lossless decoding → joliker USB C DAC. PCM 384kHz/32bit and DSD256 support is a wired-only proposition.
• Best for noise cancelling → HAYLOU S40. 50dB hybrid ANC with adaptive depth is something the DAC cannot offer at all.
• Best for driving demanding headphones → joliker USB C DAC. 522mW at 32Ω through the balanced jack versus a headphone that powers itself.
• Best for battery life → HAYLOU S40. A claimed 90 hours on a 2.5-hour charge, against a DAC that is battery powered and tethered to your device.
• Best for travel and calls → HAYLOU S40. Five microphones, multipoint Bluetooth 6.0, foldable over-ear build, touch controls.
• Best for upgrading gear you already own → joliker USB C DAC. It makes existing wired IEMs and headphones better rather than replacing them.
• Best for pocketability → joliker USB C DAC. 18g and 66×26×12mm beats a 0.35 kg over-ear every time.
My Verdict
what is hi res headphones
Hi-res headphones are headphones capable of reproducing audio at higher resolution than standard CD-quality or compressed Bluetooth streams. In practice this means support for codecs or decoding formats like LDAC, PCM 384kHz/32bit or DSD256 — the HAYLOU S40 covers this wirelessly via LDAC, while the joliker USB C DAC covers it over a wired connection.
what is hi res audio headphones
The term describes headphones that meet the technical bar for high-resolution audio playback, meaning they can carry more detail than a standard lossy stream. The HAYLOU S40 is certified for Hi-Res wireless audio and uses 40mm+20mm dual drivers with a 40Hz–20kHz range, so the certification refers to the wireless path rather than a wired one.
what are hi res headphones
They are simply headphones designed to handle high-resolution source material without downsampling it. The joliker USB C DAC decodes up to PCM 384kHz/32bit and DSD256, so pairing it with capable wired headphones is the most direct route into hi-res territory, while the S40 does it cable-free.
which headphones support hi res lossless
Lossless hi-res needs both a capable source and a capable endpoint. The HAYLOU S40 supports LDAC for hi-res wireless playback, and the joliker USB C DAC supports lossless decoding up to PCM 384kHz/32bit and DSD256 for wired headphones. In both cases, your music service and device must also deliver the lossless file.
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