Review: Apple vs Google USB-C Headphone Adapters

[amanieux]

Two points on that video from me, just to clarify my position:
1. The notion of minimal difference - to me, minimal difference may be important. E.g., two sources sound almost the same, but one has better attack and decay/transients. Small change? yes, in the grand scheme of things - these may only be 1% of the overall wave graph shape. But, I do love them in my music. In their test, Fiio won over the non-Apple dongle, regardless of the margins.
2. DAC+amp test has more intangibles than just the DAC test, as there are 2 variables instead of 1. Additional problem of the video was volume matching to the weakest amp (dongle), as was picked upon by their tester number 4. IEMs are less affected by the amp, but still are affected. They really should have plugged all three sources into the same amp.

I am thinking of running my test in the following way. N trials, each trial consisting of the same song section played twice. The experimenter chooses if it is played from different sources (e.g., dongle then Mojo) or on the same source (eg., dongle twice). Volume is set to zero in the beginning of each song, the participant is free to adjust it. The participant ranks the first song as 10, second song as 11, 10 or 9 =better, same, worse. The experimenter adds up all the scores for both sources, divides by the number of trials and we have a result.

i don't think they volume matched to 100% of the weakest dongle amp, but they matched all 3 to normal listening level which must have been quite high because of the openback in a noisy cafe, if you are ready to pay $200 for a faster attack this choice is ok, i'd rather invest these $200 in upgrading my iem because i will hear much more improved sound allocating my budget this way. anyway your idea to let tester adjust the volume is interesting, will it be a blind test ?

 

[Panasonyum]

your idea to let tester adjust the volume is interesting, will it be a blind test ?

Yep

 

[markanini]

I'd love to see a proper double-blind test with the Apple adapter and many other highly-rated DACs. I'm betting that hardly anyone will hear a difference.

Needs confirmation, but there likely are specific samples that could be easily ABX-able on the Apple dongle. https://audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/63038 That said some other $10 dongles don't have the same signal specific distortion so don't take it as a case for spending a premium, products costing ten times more than Apple dongle have the same issue: https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...vices-a-comparative-review.63038/post-2414964

 

[AudioSceptic]

Needs confirmation, but there likely are specific samples that could be easily ABX-able on the Apple dongle. https://audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/63038 That said some other $10 dongles don't have the same signal specific distortion so don't take it as a case for spending a premium, products costing ten times more than Apple dongle have the same issue: https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...vices-a-comparative-review.63038/post-2414964

Thanks, that's some article! Do we know that, although the MacBook Air's HP output suffers from the "Cirrus hump", the Apple adapter also does?

 

[AudioSceptic]

Needs confirmation, but there likely are specific samples that could be easily ABX-able on the Apple dongle. https://audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/63038 That said some other $10 dongles don't have the same signal specific distortion so don't take it as a case for spending a premium, products costing ten times more than Apple dongle have the same issue: https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...vices-a-comparative-review.63038/post-2414964

Strangely enough, one of the 3 "Golden Ears" in Archimago's test used

Macbook Pro M3 (audio at 96kHz) → TRUTHEAR x Crinacle Zero IEM

 

[Panasonyum]

I am thinking of running my test in the following way. N trials, each trial consisting of the same song section played twice. The experimenter chooses if it is played from different sources (e.g., dongle then Mojo) or on the same source (eg., dongle twice). Volume is set to zero in the beginning of each song, the participant is free to adjust it. The participant ranks the first song as 10, second song as 11, 10 or 9 =better, same, worse. The experimenter adds up all the scores for both sources, divides by the number of trials and we have a result.

This is a nice experiment, but, to be fair, with a sizable flaw, I quote :

In other words, hearing a perfect recording of a $20K DAC on your personal $10 ($100, $1000, etc) DAC is not the same as actually listening to a $20K DAC. I initially thought that the participants were actually listening to the devices, but online survey with a set of recordings is not really convincing me. E.g., if I listened to a great recording of a $500 speaker on my $10 speaker, would I prefer it to a great recording of a $10 speaker? (Let's say we ran equalization them to make better fit to the DAC analogy.) The answer is not obvious...

Basically, I now think that the two links to blind tests above don't quite scratch my scientific itch The video with the headphones+DAC+amp blind test was done on a noisy street, the addition of amplification muddied the results, their volume matching to the weak Apple dongle amp put other DACs to a disadvantage. And the Archimago test was a blind test of DAC recordings .

I'll see if I can organize my partner to suffer though half an hour of cable switching to test my preference for Chord Mojo over the Apple dongle to finetune my current conclusion that the difference is very small or none. I'll be using my active Adam A5X, in a quiet room. Of course, in my test n will be equal to 1 participant, but at least the the other three shortcomings will be mitigated - actual device listening, no amp in the equation, no street noise. I used to be grade 8 on piano too, so my ears -while certainly not golden- shouldn't be made of lead

Here is my humble attempt at a blind test of the Apple USB-C DAC vs Chord Mojo DAC (bypassing their amps!) https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...sting-dacs-starting-with-apple-vs-mojo.66553/. TLDR, it was a statistically easy, but auditorily hard win for the Mojo.

 

[CuteStudio]

Hi all, I've been happily using my clutch of A2155 Apple headphne adapters, in all sorts of systems as it sounds just so 'listenable' on all types of music.

USB Isolator
I power it via a USB isolator - e.g: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/364298096256 using the ADUM3160 USB2 chip and B0505S-1W PSU isolator.
This eliminates ground loops, but also gives the apple a new PSU !

As supplied the PSU module is Ok, but they used a not very well regulated version: B0505S-1W

MORNSUN® B0505S-1W Review - Codrey Electronics

Recently when I was developing a digital light controller project, I wanted to have the interface isolated from the common ground to avoid spurious noise and other issues. Since I didn’t have a quick solution […]

www.codrey.com

So I replaced mine with the best available: B0505S-1WR3 (the Rev3) which was easy to obtain and replace, along with an extra OSCON cap.
So this little isolator gives a convenient top quality PSU - rather than relying on what it's plugged into.

The 44100 rate problem solved: (apologies if this has been covered already)
I was stuck on Linux kernel 4.19.118-v7l+ to get the 44100 as well as the 48000 rates, as all kernals since wedge it into 48000 and then I need sox and CPU which takes time.
But today I was searching for ways to unlock the 44100 rate and found this webpage:

Apple DAC fails w/ *fatal error: The output DAC can not be set to 44100 frames per second · Issue #1504 · mikebrady/shairport-sync

Scratching my head on this one... I'm using the Apple usb-c DAC that is fully capable of 44100 Hz but shairport fails with the following error: *fatal error: The output DAC can not be set to 44100 ...

github.com

Which gives the interesting commend (as root or sudo)
usb_modeswitch -v 05ac -p 110a -u 3

E.g:
{PiZero:~ 16} cat /proc/asound/card2/stream0 | grep Rates
Rates: 48000 - 48000 (continuous)
Rates: 48000 - 48000 (continuous)

{PiZero:~ 17} lsusb
Bus 001 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub
Bus 001 Device 002: ID 0424:2514 Microchip Technology, Inc. (formerly SMSC) USB 2.0 Hub
Bus 001 Device 003: ID 0424:2514 Microchip Technology, Inc. (formerly SMSC) USB 2.0 Hub
Bus 001 Device 004: ID 0424:7800 Microchip Technology, Inc. (formerly SMSC)
Bus 001 Device 005: ID 05ac:110a Apple, Inc. USB-C to 3.5mm Headphone Jack Adapter

{PiZero:~ 18} sudo usb_modeswitch -v 05ac -p 110a -u 3
Look for default devices ...
Found devices in default mode (1)
Access device 005 on bus 001
Get the current device configuration ...
Current configuration number is 2
Use interface number 0
with class 1
Change configuration to 3 ...
Looking for active drivers ...
OK, driver detached
OK, driver detached
OK, driver detached
OK, driver detached
Configuration was reset
OK, configuration set
Get the current device configuration ...
The configuration was set successfully
-> Run lsusb to note any changes. Bye!

{PiZero:~ 20} cat /proc/asound/card2/stream0 | grep Rates
Rates: 44100, 48000
Rates: 44100, 48000

The usb_modeswitch command changes the config of USB devices, the man page sort of explains it.

So if you add that command into /etc/rc.local or similar executable /etc/init.d/my-new-script script it should work Ok on both 44100 and 48000 each time you boot up.
I tried this with 6.12.47+rpt-rpi-v8.

I used this in /etc/rc.local
(sleep 10; usb_modeswitch -v 05ac -p 110a -u 3 ) &

The sleep allows a little time for the USB stuff to init, not sure it's required but it doesn't hurt.

Enjoy!

 

[somebodyelse]

I'd probably add a rule under /etc/udev/rules.d/ to change the mode whenever it's added, not just at boot.

Edit: Put this in /etc/udev/rules.d/90-apple_headphone_dongle.rules

# change mode of apple headphone dongle to enable 44100 as well as 48000
ATTRS{idVendor}=="05ac", ATTRS{idProduct}=="110a", RUN+="/usr/sbin/usb_modeswitch -v 05ac -p 110a -u 3"

then reload the rules so it'll apply without having to reboot:

sudo udevadm control --reload-rules && sudo udevadm trigger

Seems to work for me on an Ubuntu 24.04 derivative.

 

[CuteStudio]

in /etc/udev/rules.d/90-apple_headphone_dongle.rules

Thanks for this, I added this to my media laptop (a de-Chromebooked Asus flip) running:

Debian 6.12.20-1 (2025-03-23) x86_64 GNU/Linux

I plugged in my USB isolator + Apple A2155 and it worked perfectly without a reboot being required.
So the great problem of the Apple USB adapter on Linux has been solved: brilliant !!

It may be my imagination but it could also be louder - I wonder if this also bypasses the 0.5V limit ?!
When I've time I'll have to measure the output voltage.

 

[four_strings_good]

Today I put together an eight-channel DAC for use with a Mac, Apple Music's spatial audio, and Rogue Amoeba's Loopback app. Total component cost was 68.99 Canadian dollars plus tax. Breakdown:

USB hub - $14.99
Apple dongles - $40.00 ($10.00 each)
3.5 mm adapters - $14.00 ($3.50 each)

Apple Music spatial audio is lossy, the dongles are able to convert 24/48 audio to analog, and @amirm gave them a great review. Setup instructions are given in the bottom half of this document.

I'm now enjoying Dolby Atmos audio in 5.1.2. My panther is ready for a round of golf!

 

[AudioSceptic]

Today I put together an eight-channel DAC for use with a Mac, Apple Music's spatial audio, and Rogue Amoeba's Loopback app. Total component cost was 68.99 Canadian dollars plus tax. Breakdown:

USB hub - $14.99
Apple dongles - $40.00 ($10.00 each)
3.5 mm adapters - $14.00 ($3.50 each)

Apple Music spatial audio is lossy, the dongles are able to convert 24/48 audio to analog, and @amirm gave them a great review. Setup instructions are given in the bottom half of this document.

I'm now enjoying Dolby Atmos audio in 5.1.2. My panther is ready for a round of golf!

I'm not interested in more than 2 channels but that is genius!

 

[Yorkshire Mouth]

Today I put together an eight-channel DAC for use with a Mac, Apple Music's spatial audio, and Rogue Amoeba's Loopback app. Total component cost was 68.99 Canadian dollars plus tax. Breakdown:

USB hub - $14.99
Apple dongles - $40.00 ($10.00 each)
3.5 mm adapters - $14.00 ($3.50 each)

Apple Music spatial audio is lossy, the dongles are able to convert 24/48 audio to analog, and @amirm gave them a great review. Setup instructions are given in the bottom half of this document.

I'm now enjoying Dolby Atmos audio in 5.1.2. My panther is ready for a round of golf!

People not in our community will not understand just how smashing this is.

But come on, mate. It's 7.1.4 or bust!

 

[four_strings_good]

Thanks for the kind words gents. I used two Focusrite 6i6 units for the first iteration. Amps and speakers are the same this time around. Details here:
https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...and-lossier-but-i-am-still-enjoying-it.68652/

 

[Chromatischism]

Today I put together an eight-channel DAC for use with a Mac, Apple Music's spatial audio, and Rogue Amoeba's Loopback app. Total component cost was 68.99 Canadian dollars plus tax. Breakdown:

USB hub - $14.99
Apple dongles - $40.00 ($10.00 each)
3.5 mm adapters - $14.00 ($3.50 each)

Apple Music spatial audio is lossy, the dongles are able to convert 24/48 audio to analog, and @amirm gave them a great review. Setup instructions are given in the bottom half of this document.

I'm now enjoying Dolby Atmos audio in 5.1.2. My panther is ready for a round of golf!

Without any channel logic, I'm struggling to understand how this works.

 

[somebodyelse]

Without any channel logic, I'm struggling to understand how this works.

https://support.apple.com/en-us/102171

I'm guessing the 'Configure Speakers...' button lets you change the channel mapping.

There's similar functionality in PipeWire on linux.

 

[four_strings_good]

I actually used Loopback by Rogue Amoeba to create an aggregate audio device (named as Atmos 5.1.2). As an added bonus, Loopback also takes care of drift correction.

Here is how the whole adventure started. I did an Internet search and found this 2022 article:

How To Listen To Dolby Atmos Without Costly Hardware

The second part of the article piqued my interest. This section's heading is "Using Rogue Amoeba Loopback To Audition Dolby Atmos Reference Material". I have been a big Rogue Amoeba fan for many years, and Loopback is one of their apps that's installed on my Macs.

The Production Expert article includes numerous screenshots, and the article was what inspired me. Robert with Rogus Amoeba support was responsive and helpful as well - great products and great support!

 

[edechamps]

Today I put together an eight-channel DAC for use with a Mac, Apple Music's spatial audio, and Rogue Amoeba's Loopback app. Total component cost was 68.99 Canadian dollars plus tax. Breakdown:

USB hub - $14.99
Apple dongles - $40.00 ($10.00 each)
3.5 mm adapters - $14.00 ($3.50 each)

Apple Music spatial audio is lossy, the dongles are able to convert 24/48 audio to analog, and @amirm gave them a great review. Setup instructions are given in the bottom half of this document.

I'm now enjoying Dolby Atmos audio in 5.1.2. My panther is ready for a round of golf!

How do you deal with clock synchronization issues between channels handled by different dongles? Channels have to be precisely time-aligned, which seems difficult to do if they are separate USB devices.

 

[four_strings_good]

How do you deal with clock synchronization issues between channels handled by different dongles? Channels have to be precisely time-aligned, which seems difficult to do if they are separate USB devices.

Thanks for the good question! I posed this very question to Rogue Amoeba support, and this was their response: "Loopback itself performs drift correction internally, and there are not downsides to using a Loopback device for this sort of audio routing setup." As far as I can determine, the four "mini-DACs" are synchronized. Audio MIDI Setup says Clock Source: Internal. I have not observed any audible issues with sync or drift.

 

[somebodyelse]

How do you deal with clock synchronization issues between channels handled by different dongles? Channels have to be precisely time-aligned, which seems difficult to do if they are separate USB devices.

I assume Apple are doing something similar to PipeWire - tracking the actual audio data rate being delivered to each USB device and using ASRC to compensate for the clock drift between them.