• WANTED: Happy members who like to discuss audio and other topics related to our interest. Desire to learn and share knowledge of science required. There are many reviews of audio hardware and expert members to help answer your questions. Click here to have your audio equipment measured for free!

Review: Apple vs Google USB-C Headphone Adapters

I’ve discovered something regarding the lightning dongle. Living in the UK post Brexit it’s hard to know what our phones and dongles output anymore so I did a little experiment. Within ios14 you can set the volume level to a maximum of 100db manually. Using my HD660S, when I turn this OFF (no limit) and turn the volume to maximum it gets very loud, my comfort(listening) level is about 2-3 clicks from max volume like this. When I turn it ON and set it to 100db I would say it it’s the equivalent volume of about 2 clicks from maximum when it’s turned OFF.
I’ve not got the equipment to test the voltages but this would suggest that there is no 0.5 v limit being applied to the lightning dongle here in the UK anymore based on my basic experiment.
Do any of you guys know any more info about this cap as of now?
 
JimBobSound said:
I’ve discovered something regarding the lightning dongle. Living in the UK post Brexit it’s hard to know what our phones and dongles output anymore so I did a little experiment. Within ios14 you can set the volume level to a maximum of 100db manually. Using my HD660S, when I turn this OFF (no limit) and turn the volume to maximum it gets very loud, my comfort(listening) level is about 2-3 clicks from max volume like this. When I turn it ON and set it to 100db I would say it it’s the equivalent volume of about 2 clicks from maximum when it’s turned OFF.
I’ve not got the equipment to test the voltages but this would suggest that there is no 0.5 v limit being applied to the lightning dongle here in the UK anymore based on my basic experiment.
Do any of you guys know any more info about this cap as of now?
Click to expand...
Yes, the volume cap is on EU dongles per EU regulations. The dongle sold in the rest of the world does not have the volume limiter and has better measured performance.
 
Billy Budapest said:
Yes, the volume cap is on EU dongles per EU regulations. The dongle sold in the rest of the world does not have the volume limiter and has better measured performance.
Click to expand...

Post-Brexit, perhaps the UK will have access to the non-EU dongle sold in the rest of the world. I might have an extra one, too. PM me if you are interested.
 
JimBobSound said:
I’ve discovered something regarding the lightning dongle. Living in the UK post Brexit it’s hard to know what our phones and dongles output anymore so I did a little experiment. Within ios14 you can set the volume level to a maximum of 100db manually. Using my HD660S, when I turn this OFF (no limit) and turn the volume to maximum it gets very loud, my comfort(listening) level is about 2-3 clicks from max volume like this. When I turn it ON and set it to 100db I would say it it’s the equivalent volume of about 2 clicks from maximum when it’s turned OFF.
I’ve not got the equipment to test the voltages but this would suggest that there is no 0.5 v limit being applied to the lightning dongle here in the UK anymore based on my basic experiment.
Do any of you guys know any more info about this cap as of now?
Click to expand...
Oh, wait—you do not have the volume limit anymore? Good deal.
 
I tried plugging this USB-C dongle into my iMac Pro and an amplifier. It sends turn on / turn off clicks, I think when the machine is waking from sleep or maybe doing power-nap activities. The iMac Pro's headphone jack doesn't send these clicks.

Do we have evidence that the Apple dongle is an improvement over Apple's built-in DACs? If it's all the same, I'd just as soon run off the headphone jack and do without these clicks.
 
JimBobSound said:
Yes that seems to be the case. I can’t measure the output voltage but based on my little test it would seem that I am managing to get more than the 0.5 v limit (which I think equated to “85-100” dB)
Click to expand...
I tried using the usb3 apple dongle tonight from my iPad and that gets even louder than the lightning one from my phone. I’ve no idea anymore what the lighting dongle is outputting.
 
I have the dongle connected to a Mini M1 and then to a pair of powered speakers. There are certainly clicks when the mini is turned on and off, but I also get occasional clicks when nothing is being played through the dongle, when VLC has finished playing a video and I am busy typing an email for example, or when I open apps that are going to use the dongle - Skype seems to be a bit of a culprit here.

Edit. I just spent some time trying to troubleshoot the issue in a systematic manner making changes one at a time - shutting down all apps that I could, disconnecting the speakers from the dongle, using USB headphones, using the mac speakers, etc - and it just seems to be noisy when the dongle is connected but not in use.

The speakers (JBL 305MKII) are quiet when the dongle is not connected to the mini. When the dongle is reconnected I can be using a Logitech 820 USB headset or the mac speakers for the audio and there are clicks through the speakers - but no apparent clicks through the headset or the mini speakers. I then switch to the dongle for audio and the clicks just go away.

The clicks seem to be both regular (every 5 minutes) and occasional/intermittent with several bursts per minute, but when the dongle is in use I can go 15 minutes with no clicks. I'm going to try a KTB DAC next.

Edit II

I replaced the dongle with a KTB (Khardas Tone Board) and no clicks through the powered speakers when the DAC was not in use.

I then swapped back to the dongle and instead of the powered speakers I used a JDS labs Atom headphone amp and the clicks returned, although (subjectively) they seemed to be far less frequent.

Next is to try another source instead of the mini, but that might have to wait for a time.
 
Last edited:
milw50717 said:
I replaced the dongle with a KTB (Khardas Tone Board) and no clicks through the powered speakers when the DAC was not in use.

I then swapped back to the dongle and instead of the powered speakers I used a JDS labs Atom headphone amp and the clicks returned, although (subjectively) they seemed to be far less frequent.

Next is to try another source instead of the mini, but that might have to wait for a time.
Click to expand...

Despite a Hawthorne Stereo salesman telling me my Mac's built-in DAC probably sucks (in order to sell me a Bluesound Node 2i), I have some doubts that the audible clicks from the dongle are worth the (yet to be proven) possibility of worse sound from the Mac's motherboard. Maybe when I get some good speakers I'll be able to hear the difference. Now I just hear unnecessary clicks when the thing is supposed to be silent.
 
As another quick test I'm working on a macbook air (2015 model) today with the dongle and powered speakers hooked up. I have the same logitech USB headset plugged in and am using a web browser for emails, etc. I went past the 30 minute mark with no clicks. To see if there was any RFI I fired up the mac mini and placed the dongle (mine is in an unshielded plastic case) close to, behind and on top of the mini. No clicks were heard after 5 minutes in each position.

At this point my simplistic tests would seem to indicate that the noise is generated by the mac mini and not by the dongle itself, but only with this dongle as the KTB was quiet. I'm going to try a Raspberry Pi as a streaming device next as this is one use case that I had in mind when I first bought the dongle.

Edit - To poke holes I should mention that the MBA was on battery power. I'll have to try it on a charger

Edit II
  • MBA + charger = No clicks after 30 minutes.
  • Windows 10 Professional desktop = No clicks after 30 minutes
  • PI 3 model B (wired and wi-fi ethernet turned on) running RoPiee 3.113 + dongle (via ALSA) as a Roon endpoint. When no music streaming = No clicks after 30 minutes.
That's about as far as I will go with my testing. With a very small sample size and in my home office environment it just seems that some mac hardware is noisy in combination with this dongle.
 
Last edited:
Should i get the restricted EU version of the apple dongle or the samsung one? I will use them on pc with my sennheiser pc38x headset (28 ohm)
 
I got mine from the Apple Singapore store (shipped to PH). Model number was MU7E2FE/A A2049. It definitely gets loud, but I use this plugged into my laptop, because the onboard jack has some sort of crackling noise every now and then.

Now my problem is that even if I use a 3.5mm TRRS splitter to get Headphone and Mic Input jacks, only the headphone jack is detected, and there's no mic input device. Is this as expected?
 
I saw a reddit post of someone driving the 6xx with the apple dongle coming out of an iPad Pro saying it can drive them with most music at 80% volume and rarely needs to go up to 90-100% so I will be giving it a shot as a cheap portable solution. I have a heresy and modi 3+ at my desk but I always find myself wanting to walk around the house with them and I don’t want a bulky usb amp as a solution. If they’re not good enough I’ll probably go with the Meizu dongle.
 
Comparison of X220’s CX20672 with Apple dongle

They are almost identical, except CX20672 exhibits audible noise. Apple dongle with its volume roughly matched, appears to put out more bass if present in the audio, and this can overload small IEMs leading to the perception that CX20672, which has less bass, provides 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.

https://pc.watch.impress.co.jp/docs/news/1156091.html

Beyond ALC1220, very little audible differences exist between DACs. But bad mobos and laptops by Panasonic - don't count on good audio.
 
Following my previous comment about getting this the US version dongle, I now also own the ATH-R70x and for my use, it gets loud enough for me at 30/100 volume. Doesn't really feel like I'm missing out on something, as I also have an LG V50 which drives the headphone fine at around 25/75 volume. Not a blind AB test though. Still, I guess I don't need to buy an amplifier then?
 
In my case (France so the EU version), the Lighning->Jack adapter is just a bit short to drive an AKG 712 Pro and has a slight "blurry" feeling overall. Like 2/3 of the iPhone 11 pro sound level was enough but the sound still sounded a bit lacking. I performed a fast AB (mostly blind because I did not remember at all what was plugged to what) on a Cayin HA-1A Mk2 (tube) amp to compare it to a Supreme FXIII based motherboard (Asus ROG Rampage Gene IV, a ~2012 high-end motherboard). the level was roughly matched with an Apple Watch mic and the motherboard sounded marginally better.
In short : for the price, this is a pretty good solution and technically enough for most people. I found it lacking afetr having compared to the Marantz CD6006 headphone out and I think only the amp part is really impactful in that case. Else I was satisfied overall.

I've ordered the Cayin iDac-6 Mk2 which costs 999 euros (less with summer sales but it is of course a completely irrationnal purchase but this will be my endgame) and it will be fun to AB them.
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

S
Is It Worth Upgrading to a DAC for My Setup (Dali Spektor 1 + Fosi V3)? Apple Dongle vs. iFi Uno/FiiO K3
Replies
3
Views
648
yourmom210
yourmom210
amirm
  • Poll
Dell CN-03GVVD USB-C Headphone Adapter Review
2 3
Replies
40
Views
19K
paulraphael
P
amirm
  • Poll
1More USB-C Headphone Adapter Review
2 3
Replies
44
Views
18K
LJHR
L
amirm
  • Poll
YONGSE Y01 Balanced Headphone Adapter Review
3 4 5
Replies
91
Views
22K
JB6789
J
amirm
  • Poll
JCALLY JM20 Headphone Dongle Review
5 6 7
Replies
133
Views
24K
markanini
M
Back
Top Bottom