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affordable USB-C headphone dongle for Samsung S20+ ?

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zingg

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Going back to the original post, I have like a $70 pair of earbuds and it seems crazy to spend 50 bucks or more just for an adaptor to use them with my new phone. Should I just abandon them and put the money towards a pair of usb-c buds?
 

amanieux

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Going back to the original post, I have like a $70 pair of earbuds and it seems crazy to spend 50 bucks or more just for an adaptor to use them with my new phone. Should I just abandon them and put the money towards a pair of usb-c buds?
usb-c buds do not offer a selection wide enough yet so their performance/price ratio is bad. if you had to buy a phone without audio jack then buy a $20 usb-c dac (such as meizu non pro) or a $25 bluetooth receiver (such as fiio ubtr) in order to put you money one a good iem because the driver is the most important part in any audio pipeline (i cannot tell the difference between $40 meizu pro dac,my phone dac and my laptop dac, i cannot tell the difference between compressed and uncompressed audio but i can easily tell the difference between iems.)
 
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Sinquito

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I like how many if not most of the post are just arguing about how the good ol' times were two or three years ago when most Android phones still had the jack and how it's better to buy a refurbished/used flagship or midranger with jack.

The OP asked for a dongle for his new phone. He already has the phone and the earphones. I'm in the same situation. I got a good deal on a new S20+ ($860) and sold my S10. I wish Samsung had kept the jack, like most here, but it didn't, and the newer phones have better things that older phones (battery life, faster storage, high refresh screen, better cameras, etc.) and I can't see Samsung backtracking and bringing back the jack (like Sony), plus in reality I rarely used the integrated jack anymore since getting a BTR5. I want a cheap dongle for a case where my BTR5 doesn't have battery or could be cumbersome to carry or I'm afraid to lose it.

For what I read here, the Meizu HiFi Pro seems to be the not expensive one and the the Apple/Samsung the best cheap one, but the Apple seems to not work well on Android without rooting.

@zingg if you can, I would suggest to get the Samsung dongle or the Meizu, but your earphones are not very demanding on power, so I guess the Samsung would be fine and cheaper.
 

meinhard57

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Hi looking for advice for for a headphone adaptor for a Samsung S20+, I have a set of 1More triple-driver in-ear phones, as well as some cheaper ones, I want to use with it. Would like to stay under 20, if there's something decent. Most of the time I'm not in a quiet environment, and if things get back to normal, I'll be on the train a lot, so I'm wondering about something like this CLIPTHAT adapter that claims active noise cancellation and uses the RealTek DAC ALC4042 https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B0832HHR1J/

Other recommendations would be welcome, either for particular products or just look for these chipsets or whether 24bit DACs will be better than 32bit at this price range, stay away from ANC, etc.

Thanks!
Dense Audio has a great option for you if you are willing to spend $39.00 ($59.00 less $20.00 first time customer discount) - I own the reference version of this DAC, but the standard version also performs very well. Check it out!

https://www.denseaudio.com/products/adapt-reference
 

meinhard57

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You will learn how personal opinion don't really worth much around here, just measurements.
Amir DID measure the Pro version of the DAC I mentioned and it performed very well. I see that the Pro version of the Meizu DAC did even better, but he did not measure the non-Pro version of that one either. So - I was just mentioning an option, not an opinion. You guys can be awful uptight, I guess. Thanks for being so welcoming to a newbie on your site. You represent so well.
 

ZolaIII

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Amir DID measure the Pro version of the DAC I mentioned and it performed very well. I see that the Pro version of the Meizu DAC did even better, but he did not measure the non-Pro version of that one either. So - I was just mentioning an option, not an opinion. You guys can be awful uptight, I guess. Thanks for being so welcoming to a newbie on your site. You represent so well.
Amir got critics for recommending "reference" version of it which neaded a lot of pushing to cross 16 bit barrier. This is such a place where results should matter. For 43/40 $ you can buy a pretty much transport DAC/Amp dongle it's TempoTec Sonata HD Pro.
 

Sinquito

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Amir got critics for recommending "reference" version of it which neaded a lot of pushing to cross 16 bit barrier. This is such a place where results should matter. For 43/40 $ you can buy a pretty much transport DAC/Amp dongle it's TempoTec Sonata HD Pro.

I think the Sonata HD Pro is more like a thumb memory and not a dongle, right? For me the size and portability would be better over almost inaudible audio performance. Also power consumption is important while on the go. The Apple dongle sounds terrific out of Windows 10 and works without any issue, but for Android is a different story altogether.
 

ZolaIII

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I think the Sonata HD Pro is more like a thumb memory and not a dongle, right? For me the size and portability would be better over almost inaudible audio performance. Also power consumption is important while on the go. The Apple dongle sounds terrific out of Windows 10 and works without any issue, but for Android is a different story altogether.
Meizu is a champ so far regarding power consumption, Sonata is a bit behind. Well they all are fairly portable. I prioritise more thing's I actually can fix, how good they are designed and their functionality along with proper drivers. For instance I have Sonata iDSD (flask alike) which is sized as 4" smartphone but it's battery powered & it still fits most pockets, can recharge the Android smartphone when hucked trough Hiby link with a regular USB cable plugged future into the power bank while you use it. Whose able to disassemble it fairly easy & apply additional shielding to it. There is a difference in how it acts and how it sounds (battery/USB power source). Performance which it really depends for what you will use it for. For deacent amp & speakers it's less important but with great headaphones it's more hear able.
 

Sinquito

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Just tried my NX4 DSD and Fiio Q5s via USB and there are pops and crackles. The Apple dongle works fine, though the max volume is very low as expected. The Fiio BTR5 works well via USB, so maybe the issue is with micro USB devices. I tried two Type C to micro USB and neither worked on the S20. Previously those two DACs worked fine on my S10.

Maybe USB Audio Pro and HiBy music app would solve the issue, but I only listen to Spotify. I will probably end up getting that Meizu Pro dongle.
 

ZolaIII

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Take 2

For portability, MQA readyness in order to stream Tidal and 3.5mm (watch out for first customer promo code)
https://www.zorloo.com/ztella

For the best sound and 2.5mm balanced earphones (have a look at the the review /thread for the E1DA (2.Gen.) in this forum)
https://m.de.aliexpress.com/item/4000090081514.html?trace=wwwdetail2mobilesitedetail
Honey the author of E1DA (not me) is present hire along with second gen measurements by the way third gen is out, hopefully unbalanced version will come out soon.

Best regards.
 

zikarus

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Sure sugar. Having received my G3 this Saturday at last I can only recommend buying one. It's great...
 
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