Potential New 3.5mm USB-C Dongles & USB DAC/AMPs

[Veri]

Subjective evaluation of dongles can reveal general categories which correlate with objective measurements to some extent: https://andyaudiovault.com/donglemadness/

"Sub-Bass seismic decay could be a little bit crisper"

Lol what.

Yes, but ASR has moved on from dongle testing.

How so? If anyone sends amirm good contenders surely they'll be reviewed eventually, there's just a big backlog right now. But people do need to send him things, ASR is not going to fund buying all these new dongles.

 

[Saidera]

Yeah I get you.

Lol. I don't care about meaningless terms, I'm only referring to the broad categories, but yeah. Not a lot to gain from it.

I assumed we have so many more headphones and speakers to test rather than DACs which have already been heavily focused on for many years now.

 

[Veri]

I assumed we have so many more headphones and speakers to test rather than DACs which have already been heavily focused on for many years now.

Yeah I think a lot of people are also tired of pure DAC reviews. Many speakers headphones, interfaces and all that stuff probably swamped around Amirm's house, lol. But I'm sure if someone PMs Amir to send him a new/fancy dongle there's a good chance he's absolutely fine with testing it, in due time that is.

 

[ZolaIII]

Hello
Please help me chose a dongle amp for an android phone - Pixel 4a.
Priorities:
1. Reliability and ease of use. My Tempotec Sonata HD Pro stops working from time to time when switching apps and I have to reboot the phone to get sound back.
2. The amp should be able to drive both low and high impedance HP.
3. Price.
3. DAC performance is not a huge factor for me.

What would you recommend? Thank you.

1. Problem will probably persist from time to time as its OS not the DAC. However take a look at E1DA range for the sakes of companion app and fine tuning.
2. You didn't specify exactly but again both balanced and unbalanced E1DA's can do a bit more than typical proper (4V, 2V) dongles other than that you might check if it still can be found and don't mind flask alike battery powered one's it would be worth checking out Tooping NX4.
3. ...
4. What ever cleans SINAD of 106 dB in multitone is perfectly fine enough for anything ever recorded.

 

[Saidera]

Apple Music has started distributing lossless and high-resolution music, and Amazon Music HD has responded by lowering the price of its high-resolution service. Many of you may already be enjoying these services on your smartphone. However, even though the music is being distributed in high quality lossless/high resolution, there are probably many people who say, "I'm only using Bluetooth earphones, which lose information during transmission," or I'd like to use wired earphones, but my phone doesn't have an earphone output in the first place.

As a solution, you can buy a new smartphone or use a dedicated portable audio player DAP that can also use music distribution services. That is one way to solve this problem, but it's not easy to change your phone or carry around a big, expensive player.

Another solution is the USB DAC amplifier/dongle/adapter, a stick that connects to your phone. It's smaller and easier to carry than a portable player, and it allows you to use wired earphones without interfering with the convenience of your phone. But they're cheap and don't sound as good as portable players, do they? you might think.

Dongles equipped with two of Cirrus Logic's top-of-the-range DAC chips with a signal-to-noise ratio of 131dB, an astonishing level that rivals even the best portable players, can vary widely in pricing. In short, they're all small but mighty USB DAC amps.

Features like multiple Pentaconn jacks, screens, volume buttons, LED lights, op amps, SPDIF output, FPGA EQ, filters, tuning options, may be necessary to distinguish products in this market.

 

[DarrylG]

It seems that Hidizs has sent their new S3 Pro dongle out to a lot of reviewers. I wonder if they sent one to Amir.

 

[Saidera]

I like to compare dongles. It is difficult to say that one is better than another because your gear will determine which is better for you. Some higher quality components doesn't necessarily make a difference. When it comes to expensive luxury products of their calibre, you choose based on features (both hardware and software) that you like, or your preferred brand, and unless there is a severe deficiency of some sort (e.g. noise or distortion for specific loudspeakers) there's really no difference from my perspective.

I'm interested in the market developments, but I am skeptical of massive sound differences beyond apple dongles to be honest. Oddly enough I recommend Cyberdrive Clarity Aura or Meizu Hifi on aliexpress. Clarity Aura does exhibit noise for sensitive IEMs (not with Meizu), but for the price of luxury show off products you can buy dozens of them and I guarantee you won't be disappointed (unless you're highly into audio and small differences matter).

 

[Saidera]

Conexant magic?
I can't understand https://andyaudiovault.com/donglemadness-yannicks-edition/ when it says CXpro handily beat apple, meizu pro, dc03, eida 9030D, pee51 or CXpro got beaten by Sonata HD Pro or CXpro got smashed by Sony A55 MrWalkman FE50v2.
It's as if DACs are fighting each other. Perhaps that is fun. I find it interesting to see Meizu almost gets favoured, but Sonata HD Pro and Walkman win for this person. If CXpro really uses a Conexant chip, it may be a simple explanation for why it is favoured. I once compared X220’s CX20672 with the Apple dongle using 2 EX150AP IEMs. They are almost identical, except CX20672 exhibits audible noise. Apple dongle with its volume roughly matched, appears to put out more bass if it is present in the audio, and this can overload small IEMs leading to the perception that CX20672, which has less bass, provides an 'easier to listen to details' experience. Why this sort of difference exists is uncertain, but with better headphones CX20672 will likely show its weaknesses. On the other hand, Apple dongle works across a range of loudspeakers but somehow one wishes that it would be easier to listen to, even at the cost of inaccuracy. You will see that underlying the meaningless words in that page, the reviewer seems to prefer the way Conexant when implemented in a certain way, tends to reduce the overloading of low frequencies but still retain a fairly natural sound for the rest of the spectrum. You might hear those details better when the low frequencies stop interfering and overbearing the sound.

It is in this way that comparisons of DACs are done as if DACs are headphones. What holds true for EX255AP (bass overbearing on everything else) is transposed to Apple dongle and other well measuring DACs. Low performers then get preferred ... that Sonata HD Pro was preferred does not accord with this interpretation though.

 

[Saidera]

Also found that DAISO’s USB-C audio adapters are all analogue (no DAC), meaning it’s useless.

They do have USB cables, and some have the durable fibre cord and 56k ohm resistors on the USB C plug, which also reminded me that with the two adapters I've got I could even charge USB C devices using the micro B cables I have. Problem is safety.

Also found that Japanese BBS bulletin board system users know of ASR and discussed extensively regarding Meizu and Sonata HD Pro. Some stuck to their belief that if headphone distortion is incomparable to DACs then Walkman is fine and perhaps better.

Finally I also saw that the Meizu Hifi Pro DAC was announced in 2019 at the Meizu 16T event, but that the pro vers was discontinued in Oct 2020 due to the TI amp chip shortage. Meizu Hifi DAC is still available on their site for 129 or 169 yuan, but cheaper on AliExp.

Also seeing how tax regulation is getting stricter, taobao website now charges GST (effective 1 July 2021).

 

[Veri]

Finally I also saw that the Meizu Hifi Pro DAC was announced in 2019 at the Meizu 16T event, but that the pro vers was discontinued in Oct 2020 due to the TI amp chip shortage. Meizu Hifi DAC is still available on their site for 129 or 169 yuan, but cheaper on AliExp.

Also seeing how tax regulation is getting stricter, taobao website now charges GST (effective 1 July 2021).

GST?

 

[RHO]

GST?

... Sales Tax?

 

[Matias]

Goods and Services Tax.

I sent the TempoTec Sonata HD for Amir to measure and unfortunately it did not do very well. Mostly dominated by a big 2nd harmonic distortion.
https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...onata-hd-phone-headphone-dongle-review.16859/

My current Sonata E44 I am sure measures stellar but I wanted it too badly and bought directly. Someone could send the E44, the iBasso DC04 and the Hidizs S9 Pro to review and we would see which is the king of dongles.

 

[Veri]

... Sales Tax?

I know VAT/BTW, sorry did not know the GST term

 

[RHO]

I know VAT/BTW, sorry did not know the GST term

I don't know either. I'm just guessing.

 

[Matias]

I just googled it.

 

[Saidera]

It was IVX's comment that taobao had Meizu Hifi for $13 that induced me to use taobao. Well, by the time I got in there in May, all the Meizu Hifis were high priced, with one listing that misled me into thinking it was Meizu Hifi, when in fact it was just an ALC4050 copy of Meizu Hifi.

At the time taobao hadn't begun collecting GST unlike AliExp which started collecting back in 2018.

At least it's good that Meizu Hifi is still alive and a strong seller on AliExp. And IVX should definitely get a xie-xie from Meizu. I don't use Meizu Hifi though, since it skips sound on 44.1 kHz, hasn't got latency/buffer controls so some software can't use it on WASAPI exclusive DoP (or is that because the Win 10 volume control isn't set to 100?!). So do try to set to 100 before playing DSD.

 

[Saidera]

Every Sonata HD Pro and S8 can potentially measure differently by small degrees.

 

[Veri]

Every Sonata HD Pro and S8 can potentially measure differently by small degrees.

Same for 9038Q2M as measured by IVX. I'm sure the same is true for ESS Pro chips, too... small degrees of difference not unlike when you buy a CPU: might heat up fast, or it might be a perfect sample..

 

[Saidera]

I'll share my worthless thoughts on dongles with interested audio adapter fans here one last time.

It took 3 months for me to get 4 DACs today. Taobao never again. 2 weeks from mainland to HK, cargo ship stuck in HK for 2 months, 1 month to reach Victoria, stuck in customs for 1 week, another 5 days before I got them today. At least AliExp uses aeroplanes. When products like Apple USB-C exist, there should be no reason to be purchasing directly from China, yet the prices were better there or the products were unavailable locally leaving little choice.

Silver Sonata HD Pro – although the packaging was squashed badly, SHDP is superb.

Sonata HD II – build quality is more flimsy than Hidizs S1, despite being very similar – the same manufacturer no doubt. Progress is backwards. ESS chip doesn’t help that its USB-C connector is the cheaper version with the zig zag line in the middle, rather than the welded smooth USB-C connector which apparently costs more to produce. Microphone doesn’t work...or is it insertion order related? Firmware updates? Can’t find any. Hard to imagine a better faulty product to force users to buy Sonata HD Pro or their new dual DAC lineup. DSD playback only possible via WASAPI push. It does get warmer than other dongles. It overloaded my USB hub so its power draw is way beyond other dongles! Later clarified that the USB hub is failing for unrelated reasons. Sonata HD II is bad for many reasons. But aside from usability, we don’t have measurements for this Sonata HD II yet.

ALC5686 dongle has an LED light where it attaches to the cable but it doesn’t play DSD, and isn’t able to play 352kHz either. Wrong product descriptions! It’s just another Hidizs S1. They all share the characteristics of having full metal body, nice looking cables and a falsely gold plated jack. But what’s inside? Realtek crab that costs less than a dollar.

ALC4050 Harber dongle is worse. Although it was meant to be a Meizu copy they didn’t attempt to turn on DSD mode. When marketing they certainly said it’s DSD capable. One wonders whether DSD played back on smartphones does not face the same issues as on Windows PC.
Both can only record in 16/48.

Sonata HD II has better capabilities and output power, but these cheaper dongles simply advertise the 384kHz capability while not reaching the Apple dongle minimum standards. A waste of money but collectors don't mind.

 

[Saidera]

Although Apple and Meizu do not show off any gold plated gorgeousness, it's what's inside that counts. These cheap yet overpriced gold plated ones look good but aren't made for listening.