Dongle with output voltage higher than apple.

[Ktacos]

Just looking for suggestions on some dongles that can output higher voltage than my apple dongles. It appears to top out at 1v. I saw a few reviewed here that looked like they could do 4v but I'm feeling a bit lazy and not wanting to hunt down all the dongle reviews here to find them.

My use case is outputting signal into a motu m4 that will act as a crossover using EKIO, and I just need something with more juice than the apple dongle to get a good signal into the line in's of the Motu, which unfortunately are fixed gain and quite low at that.

 

[DVDdoug]

USB is 5V and 5V peak-to-peak is about 1.75V RMS so you'll never get 2V without some kind of built-in step-up converter. That's not impossible... Many USB audio interfaces have 48 phantom power for studio condenser microphones, but it would be unusual in a dongle.

 

[Ktacos]

I have seen dongles reviewed here that are hitting 4v on their output, guess I'll just find them myself. My motu does 5v over usb.

 

[Ktacos]

USB is 5V and 5V peak-to-peak is about 1.75V RMS so you'll never get 2V without some kind of built-in step-up converter. That's not impossible... Many USB audio interfaces have 48 phantom power for studio condenser microphones, but it would be unusual in a dongle.

TANCHJIM Luna Portable HP Amp & DAC Review

This is a review, detailed measurements and listening tests of TANCHJIM Luna portable headphone amplifier and DAC. It was sent to me by the company and costs US $139.99 with anime engraving or $129.99 without: The look and feel of the adapter is excellent. The controls for volume have...

www.audiosciencereview.com

 

[Randyman...]

Have you tried using the Mic pre 1/4" inputs? You shouldn't need much gain, and I'd bet they are fairly quiet.

An aside - while not very highly regarded around here - I use an old Dragonfly Red from 2020 in my studio to feed my RME MadiFace XT - but it does come through a Radial J+4. But the Dragonfly does 2.1v - I'm sure plenty of other "higher regarded" dongles can as well. I'd personally just come into the Mic Pre 1/4" Unbalanced and save the money on a dongle. The apple one is very good for what it is (pretty sure the Apple dongle scored better than the $$$ Dragonfly), and the MOTU's preamps are certainly useable. Or spend money for whatever small improvement might be available (noise floor?).

 

[Ktacos]

Have you tried using the Mic pre 1/4" inputs? You shouldn't need much gain, and I'd bet they are fairly quiet.

I would but I use mic 1 for a mic used in voice chat regularly.

 

[Randyman...]

Another alternative that could end up cheaper than a high-quality high-voltage USB Dongle: Forego the analog mic for voice chat, and purchase a USB Mic for that purpose. Then you can use the mic-pres for the Apple dongle. You can try it now for free and see if the results are sufficient. A sufficient USB Mic for voice-chat is likely to be cheaper than a high-quality DAC IMO.

Whatever the case - if you buy another dongle - I'd reference the ASR HP DAC/Amp chart and not go below the Apple Dongle in overall score - but will restrict the field to one with hi-voltage outs. I'm not of much help there

 

[staticV3]

Lots of dongles around that can hit 4Vrms, and a few that can do more (Apogee Groove, DACport HD)

 

[Randyman...]

In the ASR Portable DAC/HP SINAD score, the Apple Dongle scores higher than $120 DACPortHD, and within 6 points of the $249 Apogee. $50-$100 (maybe less) can get a useable USB Mic for voice chat, and free up those Mic Pre inputs. And can be quickly tested now in the OP's system to see if SINAD remains acceptable coming in through the mic pres. I'd imagine that will undoubtedly be superior to the line input level-mismatch scenario going on now.

 

[Ktacos]

Not at all interested in using a usb mic over what I have.

 

[Ktacos]

In the ASR Portable DAC/HP SINAD score, the Apple Dongle scores higher than $120 DACPortHD, and within 6 points of the $249 Apogee. $50-$100 (maybe less) can get a useable USB Mic for voice chat, and free up those Mic Pre inputs. And can be quickly tested now in the OP's system to see if SINAD remains acceptable coming in through the mic pres. I'd imagine that will undoubtedly be superior to the line input level-mismatch scenario going on now.

I did try the pre's but haven't run the setup in awhile. I seem to recall it just not sound good in some manner, some sort of degradation to the sound stage. I'll have to try it again to see if it was placebo.

 

[Randyman...]

Not at all interested in using a usb mic over what I have.

I did try the pre's but haven't run the setup in awhile. I seem to recall it just not sound good in some manner, some sort of degradation to the sound stage. I'll have to try it again to see if it was placebo.

I hear ya. I love my vast mic locker too I still use BT/USB headsets for Zoom/Voice - but certainly appreciate LDC's (or whatever you are using) being used for voice chat...

I'd try the pre's again as you mentioned. Sighted bias and general pre-conceptions will ruin any objective results - especially if you already expect the pre's to "cloud" the signal (or whatever). They should not add anything other than a little noise floor. I'd try all 3 input stages - Line, High-Z and Mic (might need to come in XLR to use the actual Mic stage) to see if the dongle behaves best at one specific loading, and should give you a very good idea if purchasing another DAC will get you what you want.

The Apple dongle scores fairly well (and likely had more R&D than converters costing thousands) - and I doubt you will get much appreciable "DAC" improvement by upgrading - aside from the voltage concerns that will be mitigated with the preamps. Your main concern is if the MOTU seems to work better for you with higher analog input levels hitting its internal ADC - and using the preamps should reveal this.

I always go for the free (or cheap) route when possible, and ASR's logical and evidence-based perspective alleviates many urges to upgrade needlessly

 

[Ktacos]

I'd try the pre's again as you mentioned. Sighted bias and general pre-conceptions will ruin any objective results - especially if you already expect the pre's to "cloud" the signal (or whatever).

I just hooked it up to the line ins, and switched between motu output and apple dongle with EKIO, couldn't tell a difference. The levels actually seem ok at the moment, I think 2v would be a sufficient upgrade and give me the output I want. Boy I really missed subwoofers.

Aside from wanting to keep my mic plugged in, it's also kind of difficult to adjust the gain on the mic pre's to be balanced even though they are controlled in digital steps. I've had my cats step on the knobs as well and crank one channel.

 

[Randyman...]

Lookie here! This JCALLY JM20 Headphone Dongle that was just reviewed might squeak out 2v as long as it is loaded with a Higher-Z load (like the Line input of your MOTU). And scores VERY high on the SINAD chart - AND is only $24

JCALLY JM20 Headphone Dongle Review

This is a review and detailed measurements of the JCALLY JM20 USB-C headphone adapter (DAC and Amp). It is on kind loan from a member and is on sale for US $24. Not much to say about the construction so let's get into measurements. Speaking of that, I finally have a fix for this class of...

www.audiosciencereview.com

 

[Ktacos]

Lookie here! This JCALLY JM20 Headphone Dongle that was just reviewed might squeak out 2v as long as it is loaded with a Higher-Z load (like the Line input of your MOTU). And scores VERY high on the SINAD chart - AND is only $24

JCALLY JM20 Headphone Dongle Review

This is a review and detailed measurements of the JCALLY JM20 USB-C headphone adapter (DAC and Amp). It is on kind loan from a member and is on sale for US $24. Not much to say about the construction so let's get into measurements. Speaking of that, I finally have a fix for this class of...

www.audiosciencereview.com

Looks great!

I may not need it though, I ended up just adding 9db of gain to my inputs in EKIO and that did the trick. I was concerned about elevating the noise floor but putting my ear right up to the monitors tweeter I heard no change in noise level. I believe my setup is good to go at this point.