Cheap and portable USB DAC for Android.

[Fetch_Execute_Break]

Yeah, same.

I also ordered a couple of other cheapy ones, including the Luscia Fever one. It will be interesting to see if I can hear a difference.

It looks like the DAC I bought from the German electronic parts seller Conrad for 10 Euros:
https://www.conrad.com/p/speaka-professional-001489578-usb-audio-dac-96-gss-1489578

But this is not where the story ends. It sounded better than the integrated chip inside my Lenovo laptop.
Days later I found a blog post where someone found out that a Linux distro recognized that little fella
as a Dragonfly DAC

 

[vext01]

Interesting. Got a link?

The device may just pretend to be a Dragonfly.

I'll update the thread when my fever DAC arrives.

 

[Judas]

ifi hipc dac $149.

 

[vext01]

I've had some time to listen to the Samsung dongle, so thought I'd update this thread.

I tested it alongside the built-in DAC of my Nokia 8, this Lusya Fever DAC and a this Cubilux DAC. I managed to get all of the external DACs working on my phone with ATH-M50x headphones.

To my (untrained) ear, there was no difference between the sound quality of the Nokia 8, the Samsung dongle and the Cubilux. The Lusya Fever did sound a little nicer in my opinion, but it's not dramatic.

I did notice tiny pops and crackles every so often with the Samsung dongle, but only when I had nothing playing.

The Cubilux DAC suffers from noise when plugged in to a noisy USB bus (my HP microserver has one. The Dragonfly Black had the same issue on that machine).

(I just updated another thread with more info on the Lusya Fever DAC here).

 

[LikesPortables123]

If you want a good USB-C dongle, I like a lot Hidizs Sonata.

I mean, if you need to use a dongle anyway, these offer a bit better sound, in my experience.

You can find it on AliExpress.com and similar. You can change the firmware for better sound or better phone call quality.

You can find many reviews on audio forums.

https://www.theverge.com/circuitbre...dizs-sonata-hd-best-usb-c-audio-dongle-review

 

[dmac6419]

ifi hipc dac $149.View attachment 107628

I would advised against getting a hip-dac poor battery

 

[MCH]

Using DACs, you can convert digital audio to analog formats to get sound perceivable by our ears. Let's take a closer look at these wonderful devices to understand which Best Cheap Dac for you.

You have come to the right place, people here desperately need your advice, but i would suggest you to post your offer in a more popular thread, like the one of the last review

 

[BibMac]

Late to the party on the replies above but thought I would share.

I recently found my Cambridge Audio DacMAgic XS so got a usb C to micro USB cable from Amazon to give it a try.

It worked no problem with my Samsung s9+ and when I plugged an old pair of Bose QC25s in to my ears it sounds clearer and more focussed than the onboard DAC and the volume on the DAC and on the phone both work so no problem going loud enough.

 

[hjwh]

I bought this one https://nl.aliexpress.com/item/1005...1774243!sea!NL!0!A&curPageLogUid=P0lafHdsts3l for 22 eu for my Samsung Galaxy A53. It drives a Hifiman Sundara very well. Important is to disable the option "disable usb audio routing" in the developers options menu!

 

[Veri]

I bought this one https://nl.aliexpress.com/item/1005004701247084.html?spm=a2g0o.productlist.main.1.72985479UAjx2y&algo_pvid=ea2a46be-eb1f-4d69-b5eb-75eb76a7e0fd&algo_exp_id=ea2a46be-eb1f-4d69-b5eb-75eb76a7e0fd-0&pdp_npi=4@dis!EUR!21.85!21.85!!!23.46!!@21038eda16917646340112839e1345!12000030151774243!sea!NL!0!A&curPageLogUid=P0lafHdsts3l for 22 eu for my Samsung Galaxy A53. It drives a Hifiman Sundara very well. Important is to disable the option "disable usb audio routing" in the developers options menu!

ESS9018 mobile chip. Reminds me of the SMSL iDEA back in the days.. 2017! 'old and trusty' tech

MEASUREMENTS: SMSL iDEA USB DAC / Headphone Amp (ESS Sabre ES9018Q2C + XMOS XU208)

A blog for audiophiles about more objective topics. Measurements of audio gear. Reasonable, realistic, no snakeoil assessment of sound, and equipment.

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