Yeah it took almost a week after I paid the customs duties and the item had not yet been delivered, and then I got up and visited the Post Office. Apparently some glitch in their computer systems, had not allowed my payment to be properly processed. At my insistence that I had paid, they went ahead to double check their records, and with an apology handed over the item to me.
Yes it has been an experience, almost a month from order date to delivery. But having ordered three different dongles :
1. A fake Samsung which sounded better than my laptop headphone output, but I returned cos it was obviously fake
2. A Samsung dongle direct from Amazon.co.uk, from the Samsung store - dispatched by Amazon, so it has to be genuine. - this definitely sounded better.
3. The original Apple - Designed in California - A2049 - Made in China, ordered from Apple in the US - USB-C to 3.5 mm.
It did not take much of a listen this morning to conclude, the Apple dongle is without a doubt the best - most accurate sounding. It beats the Samsung, and the margin is not small, it just sounds so much more clean and clear and easier to listen to, in the high end.
Some interesting differences from both of the other dongles.
I did not have to disable the HID device, in Windows, with the Apple dongle.
I did not have to swap the channels as I had to with the Samsung dongle.
The Apple dongle does not seem to have as much in the low end as the Samsung dongle, but based on my best judgement, I think the Apple dongle sounds the most natural to me, not over emphasizing anything. In particular, the end of notes on instruments and voices, is tighter with Apple's device, without that extra "space" or "reverb" that I can now hear that the Samsung dongle seemed to add to everything.
The Samsung dongle and the fake Samsung topped out @ 16 bit 48Khz, Apples had proper 24bit support up to 48Khz.
All dongles supported WASAPI Exclusive on Windows.
Definitely I can say - as advanced as the technology of DAC's seems to be in today's world, where all well made devices should sound negligibly different from each other, sorry, it is not so. To my ears, the Apple dongle is significantly better than the Samsung dongle.
I must add this, I am a convert. As long as I can afford it, I will be buying Apple products from now on. I had been a bit of a rebel - a Windows/Microsoft die hard for many many years, and while I never bought anything Apple for myself, I gave Apple products as gifts to a family member -iPad and iPhone.
Recently I bought the 1st Apple product for myself - a 20W USB-C charger, for a Samsung mobile phone.
This dongle is the 2nd Apple product I have bought for myself, and I am extremely impressed.
I do not have any measurements, but I can highly recommend the Apple dongle - USB-C to 3.5 mm. I would expect that they would use similarly high quality conversion in all their other products, such as their other dongle DACs. And their headphones which have in-built DAC's such as the USB-C headphone.
I am seriously impressed. Seriously. Sure it has been quite an effort, to get to this point, but well worth it.
It does give me the impression though, that like with any new venture, there may be a bit of wasted investment - such as having to buy more than one product to be able to personally compare for yourself, in your own environment.
No regrets.
Going forward, I'd like to compare the Apple dongle with the professional tools I own, like the headphone outputs of the EMU 0404USB Audio Interface. That should be enlightening.
I will still go ahead and buy at least one dongle DAC in the $40 to $50 price range, who knows maybe two, so I can compare, and possibly return the worst performer.
But it is such a relief, not having to second guess what I am listening to - and yes - DAC's do not sound the same. I have very concrete evidence. The Apple dongle is far better than the Samsung dongle, far far better.
Using the same headphones, I can easily hear the difference, now I have to go back and listen to everything I have on my reference list again, I am definitely a happy bunny.
EDIT :
Further listening, in my opinion tells me that this is a case of the Emperor's new clothes. I find on much more extensive listening, that the Apple dongle is cutting some corners, I think, which makes it appear to sound better, but in truth it may not be as good, as the Samsung. My revised opinion is in further posts below.