Review: Apple vs Google USB-C Headphone Adapters

[staticV3]

I was more wondering about the "headphone-e-ness" aspects of the dongle making it not good, or even bad, for standard speakers.

There's no such thing. The built-in headphone amp doesn't mean it's somehow worse for plugging into external Amps.

 

[SuperDerpBro]

Alright, thanks

 

[FlxDrv]

Hi everyone,

I know pertty much nothing about dacs, but I got a DT 770 pro (80 ohm) headphone plugged into a topping L30 II amp, wich is itself plugged into my pc that got a Realtek ALC892 dac (MSI Z490-A PRO motherboard). Would the usb-c to 3.5 apple dongle be an impovement over my current dac?

At around 100-170hz I can pretty easily hear distorsion with my current setup, so I wondering if it was just the headset or the dac.

 

[staticV3]

Would the usb-c to 3.5 apple dongle be an impovement over my current dac?

My own motherboard with ALC1150 codec has 86dB SINAD via Line out. So in my case the A2049 with 101dB would be an upgrade.
I'm not sure about the ALC892, but at $10, the Apple dongle is a pretty low consequence investment.

If you do decide to go down that way, take a look at this Steelseries cable: https://steelseries.com/gaming-accessories/usb-c-usb-cable
Super handy for connecting dongles to a motherboard's rear I/O.

 

[bsdinis]

where to buy A2049 in Europe? except ebay

 

[SuperDerpBro]

Get a friend in NA to buy one and send to you?

 

[bsdinis]

Get a friend in NA to buy one and send to you?

where friend

 

[Jimbob54]

where friend

North America

 

[staticV3]

I bought one on eBay for 22€ (7€ dongle + 15€ shipping).
It took a month to be delivered to Germany.
It was fine.

 

[billqs]

I hate to ask a (probably) redundant question. Is the performance of the Lightning connection version of the Apple dongle close to that of the USB C one? Thanks!

 

[Veri]

I hate to ask a (probably) redundant question. Is the performance of the Lightning connection version of the Apple dongle close to that of the USB C one? Thanks!

These two are expected to perform around the same level, yes.

 

[Jimbob54]

Anyone using the apple USB C (mine is EU version but doubt it matters) with uapp on android? Has it stopped working? Uapp fine with my other dongles, the apple dongle fine on the phone with Spotify etc when uapp not engaged, but the two have stopped playing nicely.

Tried 2 different phones and checked hardware volume settings too.

I don't use the apple dongle regularly and it was a bit glitchy with uapp particularly when sample rates changed but now it seems goosed totally with uapp on this latest version.

 

[catharsis]

Apple dongle's volume is very low. I put mine on side. Samsung's dongle is much better in Android.

 

[Jeromeof]

I was actually wondering does the American version of the Apple Dongle work well enough with say a Hifiman HS400SE (I can imagine the European version struggling)!!

I have an headphone amp already in one room (and Denon receiver in another room) both of which I would imagine have no problems driving it - but my use case for the hifiman would involve using it with my mobile occasionally in a situation where I am not near either headphone connection. And I am curious about Planar headphones so this seemed like an idea to try one.

 

[staticV3]

I was actually wondering does the American version of the Apple Dongle work well enough with say a Hifiman HS400SE

Depends on how loud you like to listen and whether you can use the dongle at full volume (see here).
At full volume, the A2049 can drive the HE400se to about 104dB SPL Peak, which is about 90dB SPL AVG.
For me, that's plenty loud enough.

 

[threni]

Anyone using the apple USB C (mine is EU version but doubt it matters) with uapp on android? Has it stopped working? Uapp fine with my other dongles, the apple dongle fine on the phone with Spotify etc when uapp not engaged, but the two have stopped playing nicely.

Tried 2 different phones and checked hardware volume settings too.

I don't use the apple dongle regularly and it was a bit glitchy with uapp particularly when sample rates changed but now it seems goosed totally with uapp on this latest version.

I only have the UK one to hand (my US one is encased in Lego) but it's working fine on my Pixel 6a and fully up-to-date UAPP.

 

[Jimbob54]

I only have the UK one to hand (my US one is encased in Lego) but it's working fine on my Pixel 6a and fully up-to-date UAPP.

I suspect I'm being dumb

 

[Jimbob54]

I suspect I'm being dumb

I think I was. Or at least I don't think the issue was front end related. I don't think I had used my old akg buds with inline mic with the apple dongle before. The akg 4 pole wiring must be different to apple.

Apple dongle works fine with a standard trs jack.

Edit again, now everything is working fine so it's not the jack wiring either. Ffs. Don't know and don't care. But whatever it was can only have either been a temporary glitch or user error.

 

[Happypik]

Hi, I am trying to connect my home stereo to my Google pixel 6 phone via Apple USB c to 3.5" mm dongle. It works but the outcome is very low sound volume. I have tried tweaking the sound on neutron app but it's already maxed out. Phone to headphones is fine for listening YouTube music is plenty loud. Why is not working well with home stereo?

 

[staticV3]

@Happypik here's a guide to the Apple dongle's volume on Android.

Also, there are two versions of the Type-C Apple dongle:
The A2155 is for the EU market and can output 0.5V
The A2049 is for the US market and can output 1.0V
The model number is printed on the dongle's wire.

If you still have troubles, I always recommend people get a cheap $10 multimeter to be able to measure and troubleshoot the voltages of audio equipment, like you see in the guide.