Review: Apple vs Google USB-C Headphone Adapters

[staticV3]

still 0.5 limit on ANdroid or not?

If you're referring to the 0.5Vrms voltage limit of the EU version of the Apple dongle, that is hard-coded into the dongle and has nothing to do with Android.

On Android, you then have an additional volume limiter caused by the Apple dongle's UAC2 Hardware Volume defaulting to <100%, and Android not having UAC2 Hardware Volume control built-in by default.

This limiter limits the output of both Apple dongle versions to about 25% of full volume, and it is this limiter that you can disable via the UAC2 Hardware Volume Control that's built into UAPP, Hiby, etc.

 

[multiformous]

If you're referring to the 0.5Vrms voltage limit of the EU version of the Apple dongle, that is hard-coded into the dongle and has nothing to do with Android.

On Android, you then have an additional volume limiter caused by the Apple dongle's UAC2 Hardware Volume defaulting to <100%, and Android not having UAC2 Hardware Volume control built-in by default.

This limiter limits the output of both Apple dongle versions to about 25% of full volume, and it is this limiter that you can disable via the UAC2 Hardware Volume Control that's built into UAPP, Hiby, etc.

I believe they were talking about this: https://www.apple.com/ca/shop/product/MTJY3AM/A/earpods-usb-c

 

[staticV3]

I believe they were talking about this: https://www.apple.com/ca/shop/product/MTJY3AM/A/earpods-usb-c

I'm aware. I was referring specifically to the part that I quoted and trying to explain the limiter situation that's (afaik) universal to all Apple USB DACs, be they in dongle form or built into their wired Earbuds.

 

[threni]

That's kinda funny. When I play the test file in foobar with the Apple dongle, my mouse and keyboard stop working! They come back to life after the file stops playing, though. Tried it with a few other dongles and didn't have that issue. Strange. And yes, I hear that intermittent crackle when using the Apple dongle with this test file.

Using a USB 2 or 3 socket? If 3, does it occur with USB 2? Unbelievably, using USB 3 can cause interference at 2.4ghz.

 

[multiformous]

Using a USB 2 or 3 socket? If 3, does it occur with USB 2? Unbelievably, using USB 3 can cause interference at 2.4ghz.

USB 3.0. Upon a little further inspection, I think it may be just the particular port I was using. Tried the dongle on another port and it seemed to work correctly. That being said, no other dongles make my keyboard and mouse stop working... I dunno. My mobo is old and has long had power issues on the USB ports; just can't be bothered to replace it.

 

[helpmehelpyou]

This is a review, detailed measurements and comparison of Apple's USB-C adapter to the current and last version of Google Pixel headphone adapters. The Apple adapter costs just $9 including one day shipping for free. The Google dongle costs $12.

Not that any of these are large by any stretch but Apple's is also the smallest of the three:

View attachment 18460​

Oddly there is no apple logo or markings on the device. The others don't have it either but I thought Apple would insist on that.

All three adapters work in Windows with the appropriate adapter and that is how I tested them, allowing my analyzer to fully control and quantify their performance.

Format wise, Apple's supports the key ones:
View attachment 18461

So very similar to Google Pixel V2 and better than V1 which only supported 48 kHz.

Note that volume control in Windows is active at all times even if you use WASAPI exclusive mode!

Not much else to talk about than getting into measurements.

Measurements
As always, let's start with our dashboard view at maximum volume:
View attachment 18462

Oh wow! That is good. Very good for a dongle. Here is how the SINAD compares:

View attachment 18463

As you see, it leaves both Google dongles in the dust. Mind you, built-in DAC in LG G7 ThinQ is much better still so Android fans don't need to kill themselves. Clearly someone cared about audio performance here in design of Apple dongle.

Let's look at jitter:
View attachment 18464

That's massively lower noise floor and distortion spikes than the Google pixel V2.

Seeing how this is a semi-serious DAC performance, I thought I run some adult tests on it like Linearity:
View attachment 18465

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

Here is Dynamic Range:

View attachment 18498

The most important metric for these is how much power they have. There was some criticism of my Google Pixel measurements so I decided to remeasure them and refine the graphs and setting. While Google Pixel V2 repeated its past performance, the V1 produced less power. I don't know what is up with that. But here is the data anyway:

View attachment 18467

The Apple USB-C headphone dongle betters both in noise. It then proceeds to produce much more power than Google Pixel V2 and a bit more than V1.

Here are the results for much more stressful 33 ohm load:
View attachment 18468

Here the noise performance is similar but the Apple Dongle has a commanding lead over both Google dongles with respect to power.

Putting these in a graph we get this (sorted by 300 ohm power):
View attachment 18469

As we see, the Apple USB-C adapter even beats the small thumb drive sized Audirect Beam!

Story doesn't end here. Let's look at the output impedance:
View attachment 18470

At 0.9 ohm, the Apple USB-C dongle has near ideal output impedance whereas Google V2 is far higher at 7.6 ohm.

Listening Tests
I started my listening tests with my AKG K92 headphones. Here, there was ample power with excellent fidelity when using the Apple headphone adapter. Hard to imagine this much oomph coming out of such a tiny thing. The extra power was very audible as compared to Google V1 and V2. I am listening to the Apple dongle as I am typing this, having to keep the Windows volume control at just 18 out of 100 on my headphone electronic music.

Switching to high-impedance 300 ohm Sennheiser HD-650 nearly killed performance. The sound was OK but bass is week and dynamic range just not there. Here my reference is more powerful desktop and battery operated portables.

Finally I tested the Hifiman HE-400i. This wasn't nearly as loud and dynamic as AKG K92 but still quite good!

Bottom line: if you have a lower impedance headphone or an efficient one, there is no reason to apologize for using the Apple headphone adapter.

Conclusions
It is time for us Android users to crawl under a rock. Apple showed us that a bit more thought and engineering put in a dirt cheap and small audio product can produce respectable performance. The objective performance gap with Google dongles especially with their regression to version 2 is vast. This is both on objective front and subjective listening tests.

Note that my testing is all on Windows. I attempted to test on my Samsung S8+ and got odd results. Using both Google dongles, all they did was route the not so good sound of the internal DAC through the dongle (???). With Apple dongle I got music but level was very low. So if you plan to use the Apple dongle on an Android phone, you should do some compatibility testing.

FYI I have two other dongles to test in the future. For now, I can recommend the Apple USB-C headphone adapter. For many people it may replace the portable thumb drive dac+amps.

Now please forgive me as I go drown out my sorrows as an ex-Microsoft guy having to recommend an Apple product....

-------------

As always, questions, comments, recommendations, etc. are welcome.

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i heard that when using the apple dongle on android it only uses 50% of its actuall power and to bypass this you need to get USB audio player pro

 

[Jimster480]

i heard that when using the apple dongle on android it only uses 50% of its actuall power and to bypass this you need to get USB audio player pro

Where did you see that?

 

[helpmehelpyou]

Where did you see that?

just a youtube video. maybe its not 50% but it wasnt loud enough or something and with UAPP it worked. i have not tested this myself im half asking if anyone tried this

 

[Art of sound]

If you're referring to the 0.5Vrms voltage limit of the EU version of the Apple dongle, that is hard-coded into the dongle and has nothing to do with Android.

On Android, you then have an additional volume limiter caused by the Apple dongle's UAC2 Hardware Volume defaulting to <100%, and Android not having UAC2 Hardware Volume control built-in by default.

This limiter limits the output of both Apple dongle versions to about 25% of full volume, and it is this limiter that you can disable via the UAC2 Hardware Volume Control that's built into UAPP, Hiby, etc.

on the ipad pro this works like desktop windows though. in my experience android volume of the US dongle is also limited when using spotify, plexamp. as there are other dongles for 20USD from moondrop as well apple dongle is outdated in 2023

 

[paudio]

I've heard this as well. Seems likely as I need to almost max out on my phone vs my PC

 

[samwell7]

just a youtube video. maybe its not 50% but it wasnt loud enough or something and with UAPP it worked. i have not tested this myself im half asking if anyone tried this

Can confirm the Apple one not as loud. This is why I ended up buying a Google USB-C to 3.5mm adaptor this weekend (phone is a Pixel 7), I couldn't get podcasts loud enough to hear clearly while mowing the lawn using my Etymotics.

 

[Chromatischism]

Can confirm the Apple one not as loud. This is why I ended up buying a Google USB-C to 3.5mm adaptor this weekend (phone is a Pixel 7), I couldn't get podcasts loud enough to hear clearly while mowing the lawn using my Etymotics.

Wow, even with a complete ear seal? It might be time for an electric mower. Protect that hearing

 

[samwell7]

Wow, even with a complete ear seal? It might be time for an electric mower. Protect that hearing

Ha! Yes even with a complete seal (using smallest ear tips), I'm pretty sure they're the kids Etymotics though, they were given to me so I don't know the part number - definitely smaller than my old MC5s though.
Unfortunately battery mowers aren't quite where they need to be for ride-ons (without spending the equivalent of a small car), recently moved to more land so my battery push mower now only does the edges.

 

[multiformous]

Yes, Apple dongle on Android defaults to lower hardware volume. But you can use apps to put it in exclusive mode to control hardware volume (UAPP, or the free Hiby player app). See this post.

 

[BJL]

Ha! Yes even with a complete seal (using smallest ear tips), I'm pretty sure they're the kids Etymotics though, they were given to me so I don't know the part number - definitely smaller than my old MC5s though.
Unfortunately battery mowers aren't quite where they need to be for ride-ons (without spending the equivalent of a small car), recently moved to more land so my battery push mower now only does the edges.

For power tools, I use 3M Worktunes Connect (over the ear) hearing protectors with bluetooth. I have found them to be very effective and relatively comfortable, even in the tropical climate where I live, and the slight discomfort is well worth it to protect my hearing. If they are available where you live, I recommend them. Here is the U.S. Amazon link for information:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0723CYHPZ/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&th=1

Edit: a caveat - I don't use any gasoline powered tools, only electric, so I cannot say if they will work in that context, although do block the noise of a table saw and other loud equipment fairly well.

 

[samwell7]

For power tools, I use 3M Worktunes Connect (over the ear) hearing protectors with bluetooth. I have found them to be very effective and relatively comfortable, even in the tropical climate where I live, and the slight discomfort is well worth it to protect my hearing. If they are available where you live, I recommend them. Here is the U.S. Amazon link for information:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0723CYHPZ/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&th=1

Edit: a caveat - I don't use any gasoline powered tools, only electric, so I cannot say if they will work in that context, although do block the noise of a table saw and other loud equipment fairly well.

Thanks for that! I've looked at those specific headphones before and nearly bought a set a while ago.

The Etymotics block practically all noise when I'm using electric tools and woodworking equipment, I think it might be the low frequencies from the engine causing issues!

 

[BJL]

Thanks for that! I've looked at those specific headphones before and nearly bought a set a while ago.

The Etymotics block practically all noise when I'm using electric tools and woodworking equipment, I think it might be the low frequencies from the engine causing issues!

I tried both the airpods pro and airpods max in noise cancelling mode with my (battery) long mower, a mitre saw, a reciprocating saw (aka "Sawzall"), and a string trimmer. In no case was I satisfied. They did cancel out much of the audible sound, but I found the pressure changes very uncomfortable, almost painful. I am skeptical on the claim that the reduction provided electronically was actually protecting my hearing, but perhaps I am just being old fashioned. I wonder if anyone has actually tested this objectively in a way that accounts for the pressure artifacts (or if such a test could even be done, ethically.)

The mechanical 3M hearing protector (and previous to that a Stihl protector) do not entirely block, but the (claimed) 30dB reduction I found more than adequate to eliminate any discomfort, and without the pressure artifacts from the noise cancelling earphones. Both the Stihl and the 3M blocked low frequency sound well. In the case of the 3M, the bluetooth worked seamlessly with an iPhone, and provided sufficient volume levels for music listening or to listen to the news of the day. I did not try it with a phone call, although 3M claims it will work for that purpose as well. If you can get a pair with a return privilege I believe that you would be pleased with the result.

 

[samwell7]

I tried both the airpods pro and airpods max in noise cancelling mode with my (battery) long mower, a mitre saw, a reciprocating saw (aka "Sawzall"), and a string trimmer. In no case was I satisfied. They did cancel out much of the audible sound, but I found the pressure changes very uncomfortable, almost painful. I am skeptical on the claim that the reduction provided electronically was actually protecting my hearing, but perhaps I am just being old fashioned. I wonder if anyone has actually tested this objectively in a way that accounts for the pressure artifacts (or if such a test could even be done, ethically.)

The mechanical 3M hearing protector (and previous to that a Stihl protector) do not entirely block, but the (claimed) 30dB reduction I found more than adequate to eliminate any discomfort, and without the pressure artifacts from the noise cancelling earphones. Both the Stihl and the 3M blocked low frequency sound well. In the case of the 3M, the bluetooth worked seamlessly with an iPhone, and provided sufficient volume levels for music listening or to listen to the news of the day. I did not try it with a phone call, although 3M claims it will work for that purpose as well. If you can get a pair with a return privilege I believe that you would be pleased with the result.

That's a great summary, thank you!

I don't think any active noise cancelling headphones would be safe to use with loud equipment as it's still pushing high SPL into the ears - old fashioned noise isolation (or mechanical, as you referred to it as) is definitely the way.

 

[Rhaston]

Hi, sorry everyone if this is a stupid question or was answered before but can driving high impendence headphones with the apple dongle damage them (for example by causing clipping)? I'm a total noob and not sure how to read charts in the op but from what I understand it's best if the voltage and impendence of the amp is matched with impendence of the headphones. I purchased Senn 660 S2 which is 300 ohm but quite sensitive at 104dB/1 Vrms - I'm pretty sure that the apple dongle will drive them to comfortable listening volume levels for me and while I understand that the subjective sound quality might not be best (though opinions on this seem to be split) my main concern is whether it is safe to use this combo as long as it works for me or if there is a risk of damaging the headphones by not using powerful enough amp? Thanks!

 

[staticV3]

can driving high impendence headphones with the apple dongle damage them (for example by causing clipping)?

No. The Apple dongle is incapable of clipping with loads above 20Ω.

from what I understand it's best if the voltage and impendence of the amp is matched with impendence of the headphones.

Not really.

I purchased Senn 660 S2 which is 300 ohm but quite sensitive at 104dB/1 Vrms - I'm pretty sure that the apple dongle will drive them to comfortable listening volume levels for me

I have both and can confirm. There's ample volume!

my main concern is whether it is safe to use this combo as long as it works for me or if there is a risk of damaging the headphones by not using powerful enough amp? Thanks!

It is fine to use this combo for as long as you want. There is no risk of damaging anything.