Review: Apple vs Google USB-C Headphone Adapters

[VientoB]

So in the UK which dongle should I get for my daughter's iphone?

 

[Somafunk]

So in the UK which dongle should I get for my daughter's iphone?

None, buy her AirPods

On a more serious note just buy whichever apple dongle is available on amazon uk that fits her needs, usb c/lightning,

 

[danadam]

I didn't investigate the reasons for the differences, but here's what REW was showing when measuring through ADI-2 Pro FS @ 13 dBu. The file was 1 kHz signal at 24/44.1 kHz.

                    Google Pixel 3      iPhone 16 Pro Max       Lenovo T480S/Win 11
JCally JM6           -7.4 -95.3         -12.9 -94.6              -7.5 -98.6
Samsung dongle      -25.1 -90.0         -16.6 -98.7             -12.8 -101.0
Apple US dongle     -30.4 -88.6         -10.5 -98.8             -10.7 -99.0
Apple EU dongle     -36.3 -83.4         -16.4 -99.2             -16.6 -99.3

The first number is the level of the signal, the second number is SINAD.

Pixel played through the default "Files" app, iPhone and Lenovo through "Foobar2000". To avoid CAudioLimiter, Lenovo played -0.2 dBFS file instead of full scale. Foobar on iPhone has "High-definition audio output" enabled in "Advanced" settings.

 

[Yorkshire Mouth]

A general question.

All the old external USB-C DAC/HP amps which worked on android phones, do they all work seamlessly on the new USB-C iPhones, or have there been issues?

 

[markanini]

Apparently 1.3k Reddit users upvoted this:

https://www.reddit.com/r/headphones/comments/1iqllam/stop_recommending_the_apple_dongle_to_android

 

[danadam]

The bug report has a comment from 2 days ago saying that the issue is fixed and is going to be rolled out in the next release.

 

[unpluggged]

Apparently 1.3k Reddit users upvoted this:

https://www.reddit.com/r/headphones/comments/1iqllam/stop_recommending_the_apple_dongle_to_android

So what's untrue or new about that?

 

[markanini]

So what's untrue or new about that?

I don't know, just noting a large number of people resonate with it. In other areas of the internet Apple dongle remains a ubiquitous recommendation. That's a striking discrepancy. Although given the expected utility of a dongle I think the opinions in the reddit thread should represent a more mainline opinion moving forward.

Android OS bug fixes are nice, but not everyone updates their phones every three years-those Android users won't be qualified for updates. Those affected moved on to other dongles a long time ago probably. It was jerk move by Apple in the first place to exploit a long-unpatched bug.

 

[smcc]

I'm pretty sure that Lightning version in EU is 0.5V as well.

This is wrong. I've measured a bunch of these all purchased in EU, all 0.9V. Lightning is 0.9V confirmed on following devices: iphone 16 pro max, iphone XS, iphone 6S...all EU.

 

[smcc]

Is it possible to use 'apple usb-c to lighting adapter' with 'apple lighting to 3.5m dongle' in laptop to power headphones since lighting version in eu is 1v compared to just getting the apple usb-c to 3.5mm dongle 0.5v ?

And is the apple usb-c to 3.5mm eu dongle limited to 0.5v only on mobile phones, i heard the eu dongle is full 1v on modern gaming laptops ?

Yes you can, and you get 0.9V. It works great. In fact the lightning has marginally better performance...see my 32 tones post earlier in thread.

 

[chelgrian]

I don't know, just noting a large number of people resonate with it. In other areas of the internet Apple dongle remains a ubiquitous recommendation. That's a striking discrepancy. Although given the expected utility of a dongle I think the opinions in the reddit thread should represent a more mainline opinion moving forward.

Android OS bug fixes are nice, but not everyone updates their phones every three years-those Android users won't be qualified for updates. Those affected moved on to other dongles a long time ago probably. It was jerk move by Apple in the first place to exploit a long-unpatched bug.

Um sorry the Apple Dongle is working as expected and they would have be pilloried in the other direction had they made it output full scale by default for blasting people ears off. Apple never claimed compatibility with Android phones and likely never tested it and even if they had would not have changed the behaviour of their hardware to accommodate Android. This is entirely an Android issue.

As other have said the only issue is people recommending this dongle to Android users without knowing about or mentioning this compatibility problem.

 

[markanini]

Um sorry the Apple Dongle is working as expected and they would have be pilloried in the other direction had they made it output full scale by default for blasting people ears off. Apple never claimed compatibility with Android phones and likely never tested it and even if they had would not have changed the behaviour of their hardware to accommodate Android. This is entirely an Android issue.

As other have said the only issue is people recommending this dongle to Android users without knowing about or mentioning this compatibility problem.

Fair enough, but we don't know if a different course of action by Apple would be critisized more. Being an Apple product it's more likely received with positive bias regardless of practical issues found-that lines up with reality. Given Apples prior actions to lock in user to their ecosystem it's reasonable to scrutinize Apples unique implementation. The fact is that power users can work around the output limitation with specific tools, giving up some conveniance. This leaves standard-configuration users affected unless they substitute for any other 1V class dongle on the market. Dongles using the same CS46L41 chip by any other brand don't have output limitations on Android. It suggests a deliberate choice by Apple.

My main point is that Android OS bug fixes isn't a universal solution, it doesn't erase the issues users have had past, or will continue to have as long as people use older Android versions. To confidently declare the issue as solved, at a minimum the fix should be verified on multiple vendor Android OS variants. Very very few use AOSP GSI, it's a non-default, deliberate, way to setup your Android device-only a tiny minority of Android users will be able to test the fix immediately. Non-critical bugs like this could take 6 months before regular users have it.

The bug fix is great news. It also begs the question if calling it an "Android bug" fully makes sense if Android simply adheres to defined USB Audio Class 1.0 and 2.0 standards. In this context that makes the claim have a spin partial to Apple.

 

[ZolaIII]

 

[danadam]

Given Apples prior actions to lock in user to their ecosystem it's reasonable to scrutinize Apples unique implementation.

I'm not a fan of Apple but criticizing them for this seems weird to me. The issue was long known and Google had plenty of time to fix it but they didn't. If it wasn't a priority for Google, why should it have any priority for Apple?

... here's what REW was showing when measuring through ADI-2 Pro FS @ 13 dBu. The file was 1 kHz signal at 24/44.1 kHz.

                    Google Pixel 3      iPhone 16 Pro Max       Lenovo T480S/Win 11
JCally JM6           -7.4 -95.3         -12.9 -94.6              -7.5 -98.6
Samsung dongle      -25.1 -90.0         -16.6 -98.7             -12.8 -101.0
Apple US dongle     -30.4 -88.6         -10.5 -98.8             -10.7 -99.0
Apple EU dongle     -36.3 -83.4         -16.4 -99.2             -16.6 -99.3

Update for Apple EU Lightning:

                    Google Pixel 3   iPhone 16 Pro Max    iPhone 7      Lenovo T480S/Ubuntu 20
Apple EU Lightning  see below        -11.7 -97.7          -11.9 -97.8   -11.7 -97.7

(again, the first number is the level of the signal, the second number is SINAD.)

Windows didn't recognize the device when connected through Apple's Lightning USB-C adapter, so the result is from Ubuntu.

Google Pixel 3 clips the output on full volume and also at 1 and 2 steps below. At 3 steps below full volume I get -5.9 -85.4. The best SINAD is at 6 and 7 steps below full volume: -11.0 -91.0 and -12.7 -91.3.

Spectrum at full volume:

Spectrogram, starts at full volume, every 2 seconds volume is lowered by 1 step:

 

[markanini]

I'm not a fan of Apple but criticizing them for this seems weird to me. The issue was long known and Google had plenty of time to fix it but they didn't. If it wasn't a priority for Google, why should it have any priority for Apple?

I don't know how to reasonably blame Androids passive implementation of USB Audio Class standards in the Android audio stack. If Android didn't create the limitations, then is it their responsibility to "correct" them? Maybe, maybe not. Best would be if Apple didn't cause artificial limitations in the first place given the consumer confusion that's very real.

 

[chelgrian]

I don't know how to reasonably blame Androids passive implementation of USB Audio Class standards in the Android audio stack. If Android didn't create the limitations, then is it their responsibility to "correct" them? Maybe, maybe not. Best would be if Apple didn't cause artificial limitations in the first place given the consumer confusion that's very real.

It’s not a ‘artificial limitation’ the audio class spec says nothing about what the initial hardware volume setting should be but does say things about exposing a hardware volume control or not.

Apple’s dongle is compliant with the spec it’s Android which is making rash assumptions and not fully implementing support for compliant devices.

 

[markanini]

It’s not a ‘artificial limitation’ the audio class spec says nothing about what the initial hardware volume setting should be but does say things about exposing a hardware volume control or not.

Apple’s dongle is compliant with the spec it’s Android which is making rash assumptions and not fully implementing support for compliant devices.

The only point of clarity I see is that Apples dongle is unique among many dongles on the market that don't imposes directed output limitations on Android OS. That suggests deliberate design.

Am I suggesting Apple redesign the dongle? No. I'm questioning the ubiquity of Apple dongle recommendations. The solution IMO is to recommend other $10 dongles instead. How do you convey that without explicitly mentioning Apples artificial restrictions-the main cause of the issue? I don't know how or why to avoid raising the issue-when a friend asks for a recommendation, and they ask if Apples dongle is as good as the forums say it is. What do you say in this situation? I would love to know.

 

[chelgrian]

The only point of clarity I see is that Apples dongle is unique among many dongles on the market that don't imposes directed output limitations on Android OS. That suggests deliberate design.

Am I suggesting Apple redesign the dongle? No. I'm questioning the ubiquity of Apple dongle recommendations. The solution IMO is to recommend other $10 dongles instead. How do you convey that without explicitly mentioning Apples artificial restrictions-the main cause of the issue? I don't know how or why to avoid raising the issue-when a friend asks for a recommendation, and they ask if Apples dongle is as good as the forums say it is. What do you say in this situation? I would love to know.

That Android is broken is the main cause of the issue and they should buy a different dongle because of that. I still don’t get why you are trying to blame Apple for something which as far as they are concerned is a *feature* to prevent people’s ears being blown off by unexpected full volume sound.

 

[Luiswhs]

Hi, I'm a newbie here, I saw this app on reddit and it worked fine for me, it fixes the dongle volume problem

 

[markanini]

That Android is broken is the main cause of the issue and they should buy a different dongle because of that. I still don’t get why you are trying to blame Apple for something which as far as they are concerned is a *feature* to prevent people’s ears being blown off by unexpected full volume sound.

Have you not dug yourself into a logical corner? If Apples restrictions are in fact a feature, then Android is working as intended and can't be blamed.

Let me adress why "blaming Apple" or "blaming Android" is a red herring: When inconveniently faced with too low output levels from a source assigning blame is not a solution. What helps is identifying and informing about issues before a purchase. Mindful recommendations and consumer knowledge works, anything else is conjecture.