Digital sound out of the USB C on my cell

[sophie smith]

That phone does not support Power Delivery, and therefore does not support simultaneous charging and data transfer via USB.

Edit: here's some testing I did with one of these USB hubs

I assume that hub does NOT have a built-in DAC, correct? Interestingly, I cannot find a place to buy this any more. Only ones I see for sale are with built in DAC...

 

[staticV3]

I assume that hub does NOT have a built-in DAC, correct?

Correct. It's a USB hub with PD pass-through. Nothing else.

Interestingly, I cannot find a place to buy this any more

There are still loads of similar hubs on AliExpress. Like here or here. Some on eBay as well. Try "headphone charge adapter". Also "Belkin connect"

 

[freemansteve]

What on earth was all that stuff about converters and splitters on the AliExpress links? While I fully understand what they all are for, none of those products are to do with OTG and using a USB-based DAC with a phone.... Has this thread mutated into a different discussion?

To summarize:

- AFAIK, all recent phones support OTG.
- Using a USB hub is not possible if you want to run a USB DAC off a phone
- A USB hub is totally USB only, in terms of any inputs or outputs - the term 'Hub' has nothing to do with DACs
- If you connect a phone directly to a USB DAC, using a cable with simple USB connector on each end, of the right flavours, it will power the DAC, and the DAC should work, but you may have to go into the phone's settings to enable the necessary OTG functionality.
- If you connect a USB DAC to a USB hub to any of the hub's peripheral ports (not the host port) by any possible cable, the DAC probably power up, but it won't work.

 

[staticV3]

OP wants to use a DAC with their Android phone while at the same time charging said phone.
Those hubs will enable just that, as long as the phone supports USB PD charging.

 

[sophie smith]

What on earth was all that stuff about converters and splitters on the AliExpress links? While I fully understand what they all are for, none of those products are to do with OTG and using a USB-based DAC with a phone.... Has this thread mutated into a different discussion?

To summarize:

- AFAIK, all recent phones support OTG.
- Using a USB hub is not possible if you want to run a USB DAC off a phone
- A USB hub is totally USB only, in terms of any inputs or outputs - the term 'Hub' has nothing to do with DACs
- If you connect a phone directly to a USB DAC, using a cable with simple USB connector on each end, of the right flavours, it will power the DAC, and the DAC should work, but you may have to go into the phone's settings to enable the necessary OTG functionality.
- If you connect a USB DAC to a USB hub to any of the hub's peripheral ports (not the host port) by any possible cable, the DAC probably power up, but it won't work.

Well, you are correct. I was not able to get any sound out through the hub, even without charging. Lights on, but no sound. I thought hub is the same as those adapters, but apparently not. I guess I will be looking for the adapter listed in one of the above posts...