Review: Apple vs Google USB-C Headphone Adapters

[RadioBuddha]

To a Pi Zero WH...

https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...c-headphone-adapters.5541/page-29#post-799402

Thanks but I don't want it to be a project, can I just connect it to a Raspberry Pi 4?

 

[Ralph_Cramden]

Thanks but I don't want it to be a project, can I just connect it to a Raspberry Pi 4?

Of course, it will work the same as on the Zero, just a slightly different adapter.

 

[RadioBuddha]

Of course, it will work the same as on the Zero, just a slightly different adapter.

Thank you, it would just need a USB-A to USB-C adapter, correct?

 

[audio_fanatic]

I got the Apple USB-C dongle after reading the raving reviews on this forum. I have tested this on a Windows laptop (Dell Precision 5550) and Apple Macbook Pro 2019. The output volume on both is vastly different. On the windows laptop there is sufficient volume even at 20%, however, on the macbook I have to be at 50% to nearly match the same volume. At max volume on windows, it is so loud that distortion definitely sets in, but on mac it is quite controlled due to the lower volume. I have tested with couple of different headphones AKG K240 (55ohms) and HD 6XX (300ohms).
If the dongle has the same 1VRMS output, and the source is only sending 1s and 0s to the dongle, can someone chime in on why the audio levels are different on windows vs mac?
Thanks!

 

[somebodyelse]

Someone would have to to some USB packet capture and analysis (and possibly reverse engineering) to be sure. I'd guess at software imposed limiting - MacOS recognizes the dongle and scales the volume settings so that maximum on your volume slider only sets the dongle's hardware volume to 70% or something in order to avoid distortion at maximum volume. Some of the hat style DACs for the Pi do something similar. It's also possible that it operates in a different mode on Mac and Windows - that's been seen by people trying to get the MOTU AVB interfaces working properly on linux. I'm assuming you were consistent about what was plugged into the dongle when you connected it to the USB port - dongles have been known to change internal settings to better match the impedance of the connected headphones when the dongle is first plugged in, but not change if you subsequently plug in a different set of headphones, a dummy load etc. This has caused confusion around apparently inconsistent test results in the past.

 

[sadburai]

I am trying to connect an external microphone to my Windows PC with the Apple USB C Adapter (EU). Unfortunately, the microphone is not recognized. Can anyone check if it works for you?

One of my microphones has a 3.5mm stereo plug (2 black lines on the plug), the other one a 3,5mm mono plug (1 black line). Could it be that only a combined headphone/microphone jack will be recognized?

Thanks!

EDIT: So maybe this could do the trick?

 

[half_dog]

I am trying to connect an external microphone to my Windows PC with the Apple USB C Adapter (EU). Unfortunately, the microphone is not recognized. Can anyone check if it works for you?

One of my microphones has a 3.5mm stereo plug (2 black lines on the plug), the other one a 3,5mm mono plug (1 black line). Could it be that only a combined headphone/microphone jack will be recognized?

Thanks!

Apple USB C Adapter is compatible with CTIA and OMTP but it is unable to recognize a mic only. Probably if you use a TRRS to mic and headphones splitter it shall works. Some dongles only work with mics which have an impedance higher than 1K ohm, I don't know about Apple adapter...

 

[sadburai]

thank you. My plan is to connect my Audyssey Microphone with my PC to do room acoustics measurement with Room EQ Wizard (REM). I don't know whether it's high impedance, although this source says it is:

It's just an inexpensive hi-impedance omni-directional mic that's supplied for convenience.

The Audyssey microphone was not recognized by my thinkpad's docking station, which has a regular microphone input (although of abysmal quality). It does work with my regular external microphone that I use for skype, though. Hopefully I'll get it to work with the Apple Adapter.

 

[sadburai]

Probably if you use a TRRS to mic and headphones splitter it shall works. Some dongles only work with mics which have an impedance higher than 1K ohm, I don't know about Apple adapter...

I bought a TRRS splitter to microphone & headphones. The microphone input works with both my laptop and the apple usb C adapter. BUT: unfortunately only my table microphone is recognized, it does not work with the Audyssey Measurement microphone...

I set up my super old gaming PC with an X-Fi Extreme Music sound card and the Audyssey mic works flawlessly... So I guess there is a problem with the impedance of the audyssey mic, that the apple usb C adapter can't handle?

 

[cancunia]

Of course, it will work the same as on the Zero, just a slightly different adapter.

@Ralph_Cramden I saw your earlier post about output formats & I'm tempted to get an Apple dongle for my Zero W. I noticed in that post that you mentioned you've tried other dongles. What was your view on sound quality with the Apple dongle on the Pi Zero, are there any comparisons with an I2S Dac?

Thanks

 

[Ralph_Cramden]

@Ralph_Cramden I saw your earlier post about output formats & I'm tempted to get an Apple dongle for my Zero W. I noticed in that post that you mentioned you've tried other dongles. What was your view on sound quality with the Apple dongle on the Pi Zero, are there any comparisons with an I2S Dac?

Thanks

Sorry, I don’t have “golden ears”. Any DAC that’s linear and low noise will “sound” just like another with similar qualities - that is, transparent.

 

[cancunia]

Sorry, I don’t have “golden ears”. Any DAC that’s linear and low noise will “sound” just like another with similar qualities - that is, transparent.

No problem, I've just bought the Apple dongle from Curry's UK for £7.50 inc delivery. I'd been thinking about what to buy all week and up until I saw this thread, I was going to get an I2S DAC Hat for the Pi Zero. I currently have an LG G5 DAC which I've very happy with and want to set up a second Pi Zero for another room.

 

[cancunia]

Next problem, the Pi Zero has Micro USB connectors & the Apple DAC has USB C so an adaptor cable/plug is needed. I suppose they're all much the same but thought I'd ask in case some are better than others?

 

[cancunia]

OK, the Apple DAC arrived today & the USB C > Micro adaptors came yesterday so I've connected it all up to my Pi Zero W running Moode.

First impressions are that it's an amazing thing for the price, the sound is really good, volume levels are a bit lower than the LG HiFi Plus and the sound is a but less 'warm' but both can be adjusted via software so no issues.
For the USB C > Micro USB I bought these from Amazon UK, they were the only ones I could find for a reasonable price and that stated they do data transfer, not sure what I'll do with the other 5! ..

GeekerChip Micro Usb to Usb C Adapter [6 Pieces],Micro USB (Male) to Type C (Female) Adapter Support Galaxy S7 / S7 Edge,LG G4,Nexus 5/6 and other Micro USB Devices-Black: Amazon.co.uk: Computers & Accessories

Shop GeekerChip Micro Usb to Usb C Adapter [6 Pieces],Micro USB (Male) to Type C (Female) Adapter Support Galaxy S7 / S7 Edge,LG G4,Nexus 5/6 and other Micro USB Devices-Black. Free delivery and returns on eligible orders.

www.amazon.co.uk

 

[sadburai]

..., not sure what I'll do with the other 5! ..

well, I already have 3 Apple USB C adapters by now. One for my in-ears, one for my headphones and one for the speakers. The best thing is that Windows allows to output sound from different apps to different audio devices - so I can listen to Spotify on my speakers and youtube in Chrome on my headphones at the same time for example. If I could buy the US-Version of the Apple adapter, I'd buy 2 more for the louder volume .

 

[aerione]

Is anyone using the Apple USB-C dongle as their main DAC?
If so, has anyone done the insane(?) thing of using a splitter to hook it up to 2 different amplifiers?

I have a regular as well as a tube amplifier that I'm thinking of getting a DAC for, but spending 90 bucks more for a Topping D10 for instance feels somewhat wasteful for such marginal difference in distortion and whatnot.

 

[jasonhanjk]

Is anyone using the Apple USB-C dongle as their main DAC?
If so, has anyone done the insane(?) thing of using a splitter to hook it up to 2 different amplifiers?

I have a regular as well as a tube amplifier that I'm thinking of getting a DAC for, but spending 90 bucks more for a Topping D10 for instance feels somewhat wasteful for such marginal difference in distortion and whatnot.

Amplifiers normally input impedance are spec at 10k ohm, the apple dongle can drive as low as 32 ohm.
It won't be a problem for splitter to your amp.

 

[cancunia]

Is anyone using the Apple USB-C dongle as their main DAC?
If so, has anyone done the insane(?) thing of using a splitter to hook it up to 2 different amplifiers?

Not quite sure what you're aiming for, running both amps at the same time? TBH, for the price of the Apple DAC, it's probably better to get 2 of them if your setup will allow, probably no more than a splitter switch..

 

[KSTR]

Seeing how this is a semi-serious DAC performance, I thought I run some adult tests on it like Linearity:

Most excellent again for something that is tinier than your fingernails!

I'm currently doing a lot of tests with the Apple Dongle (the lower output EU model) and found out that the adapter is using a muting feature once the signal drops below ~21 bit levels. Actually it's more like a dim, not a full mute, reducing output by only some 10dB.

And that's why we see that lowered output level below -100dBFS here. Normally, linearity would always come out as noise-limited, meaning the curve goes upward below a certain level, not below zero. At what point the noise starts to dominate depends on the bandpass applied in the analyzer and when that is as narrow as the window function permits (using lowest sample rate and largest FFT size) then the +-0.5dB linearity easily exceeds -130dBFS.

Bottom line:
For this dongle, when the input signal is dithered to 20bits, the linearity is even more excellent than actually seen in this plot and notably the performance is exactly what we are used to see from any modern Delta-Sigma type DAC. There could be other ways to keep the muting off that I haven't explored yet, like adding a tiny bit of DC.
Spoiler: All of this is only relevant for measurements (also when using this DAC as a test generator, etc).

 

[sadburai]

I bought a TRRS splitter to microphone & headphones. The microphone input works with both my laptop and the apple usb C adapter. BUT: unfortunately only my table microphone is recognized, it does not work with the Audyssey Measurement microphone...

ok I figured out the problem of how to connect my Audyssey measuring microphone to my PC.

Turns out I only needed 4 adapters


1.) USB-A (male) to USB-C (female)
2.) Apple USB-C Adapter to 3.5 mm TRRS (female)
3.) 3.5 mm TRRS (male) splitter to 3.5 mm Stereo/TRS Headphone & Stereo/TRS Microphone (both female)
4.) 3.5 mm Stereo/TRS (male) splitter to 2x 3.5 mm Mono/TS (female)

=> Plug the Audyssey mono/TS (male) into the white 3.5m mono plug. Alternatively, you can skip the stereo-to-mono splitter and plug the audyssey mic only halfway into the pink stereo microphone jack...



The results are worth the 10€ in adapters though and I can finally start treating my room.