Samsung USB-C Headphone Adapter Review

[Veri]

Thank you for the link. Looking on the store they also have the MU2S which looks very tempting indeed.

The MU2S looks a bit like the meizu usb-c Pro, spec and DAC-wise. Interesting.

 

[julian_hughes]

Thank you for the link. Looking on the store they also have the MU2S which looks very tempting indeed.

Btw one other thing which distinguishes the MU1 & MU3 from the MU2 series is that the MU2 dongles have very wide enclosures to their USB Type-C connectors while the 1 & 3 have very slim enclosures. I can say for sure that the slimmer MU1 connector works perfectly with a phone in a thick protective case but looking at the MU2 series I wonder if they would be as compatible or if they might only be convenient with phones without a case. It's another of those things which is never considered by people testing and benchmarking but is a major issue if you buy something and it doesn't bloody well fit. I haven't used an MU2. It might be fine with phone cases, I don't know. But it looks like it might not be.

 

[johnk]

The MU2 versions draw more power from your phone. For use with a phone I would choose the cheaper MU1 or the much more expensive MU3 which also has very low power draw.

Thanks for the warning. My plan for this is mainly for my laptop and only occasional phone use, so hopefully the power draw won't be too much of an issue. When on the phone I am only using fairly sensitive IEMs so that should help a bit too.
And my phone case luckily has a pretty wide USB-C hole (the middle one).

 

[julian_hughes]

If power draw isn't an issue and the phone's type C port is easily accessible I would choose: the MU1! Sorry ;-) It's just because I know it works and is durable. I've used it daily for 6 months. I've had so many cable failures with IEMs, dongles and similar that I really, really like the braided cable of the MU1. I live by the sea and whenever I buy stuff that has crappy quality copper cable I know about it three months later because it has oxidized and become stiff and inflexible. So I like the MU1 a lot! I do expect that the MU2 & MU3 series are equally well made. Musiland are quite an interesting company. They have a history of making very good PCI and PCI-E sound cards for PC, and very good audio interfaces for recording to PC, and their dongles use their own custom designed processor chips and achieving really good results even within the constraints of audio powered by Android OTG. Anyway I am impressed enough by the MU1 that I'm saving up for the MU3.

 

[johnk]

I'll take a risk on the MU2S, but I respect your opinion and appreciate your help. It is amazing quality of gear that we can get for such a low cost now.
Some of these small companies are just wonderful. I had an Allo Boss DAC, then an Allo Volt+ amp and I am listening as I type on an Allo Volt+ D amp ($130). I also have a Khadas Tone board ($79) running from a raspberry pi in my main system.
It is a great time to be playing with this stuff

 

[julian_hughes]

It would be great to hear your opinions and experiences of the MU2S after using it for a while.

 

[johnk]

If I can find time I will have a go at measuring the difference as that is more in the spirit of the forum
I can try using my UMIK-1 with REW and comparing between the internal sound card of my laptop and the MU2S. I expect that it is unlikely that I will see any difference, as the amp and speaker flaws will likely mask any change, the but a negative result is still useful data.

 

[julian_hughes]

In this case the measurements would not be meaningful as they'd only describe your specific circumstance. I'd be more interested to hear impressions of real world usage from someone who paid their own money. Lab reports are great but they always miss stuff like interference noise, real world power consumption, practicality & durability. The stuff that really matters when you're spending your own money!

 

[johnk]

> It would be great to hear your opinions and experiences of the MU2S after using it for a while.

Quick update on my Musiland MU2S.
I have not found the physical size to be too much of an issue. It has worked well with cases on 2 phones I have tried and works without issue on my laptop. In comparison to my previous Apple dongle it is noticeably louder using the phone (no surprise there). I have had intermittent connectivity issues, mainly with my laptop. I did not notice any significant battery drain, but I have not performed any analysis.
Then, today, it just died completely so it has only lasted a few months. It now will not appear as a USB device on any phone or computer so it has suffered some kind of a catastrophic failure.
I am contacting the seller to seek a refund.
Maybe I will try a Musiland MU1 instead, or any more robust recommendations would be welcome.
Cheers,
John

 

[julian_hughes]

I'm still using the MU1 daily and no problems. I like the construction/design very much. Having owned numerous dongle type devices and cable adapters I found that the lack of flexibility in typical USB cable leads to wear and failure. The braided cable of the MU1 is much, much better for something that may well live in your pocket getting moved and squished. It also makes it easy to identify. I don't think I will bother upgrading to the MU3. For portable use this is fine.

 

[johnk]

FYI - The failure with my MU2S was not cable related. I was in the middle of a phone call and the sound went garbled for a few seconds then dropped. No physical stress or strain.

 

[johnk]

FYI - The failure with my MU2S was not cable related. I was in the middle of a phone call and the sound went garbled for a few seconds then dropped. No physical stress or strain.

As an update on this, "MH Recording Music Store" have agreed that the device is at fault and have asked me to send it back for repair. I now have to make the decision as to whether or not it is worth the $18.50 AUD postage to send it back given that it only cost $65.50 AUD.
I think I will purchase my next dongle from an Australian supplier ...

 

[julian_hughes]

Yes, the local warranty can be useful. The extra cost shouldn't be much higher than $18.50.......

 

[julian_hughes]

As an update on this, "MH Recording Music Store" have agreed that the device is at fault and have asked me to send it back for repair. I now have to make the decision as to whether or not it is worth the $18.50 AUD postage to send it back given that it only cost $65.50 AUD.
I think I will purchase my next dongle from an Australian supplier ...

On a serious note, I've bought a couple of Musiland items from that same store and found them to be really good. Maybe the fastest free shipping from China to UK and items well packed and arrive in showroom condition. I couldn't bring myself to buy the MU3 because it is so expensive. But Musiland just released the MU2 Mark III which is appears to be the MU3 but with female USB type-C at each end instead a type-C male connector at one end. Yes, the do supply the cable and an adapter to use it with full size USB ports such as on PC. It is substantially cheaper than the MU3 but about 60% more than the MU2S. Aside from that it has the same specs as the MU3, so improved USB interface and ultra low power consumption. Anyway, I bought one and it arrived this morning (11 days from order date) and it is really remarkably good. It has 4 output voltage settings so it can work as well with my very low impedance multi BA IEMs as with my full size headphones. Definitely worth a look.

 

[half_dog]

Just some measurements at I made with a TASCAM US-366. Audio chain: Poco F3 (UAPP)> Samsung dongle>US-366. All files where created on REW. The only thing that it didn't go well was jitter, but everything else seems more than enough for me
I've bought a few of these because my current decive has no TRS output (Poco F3).

 

[johnk]

As an update on this, "MH Recording Music Store" have agreed that the device is at fault and have asked me to send it back for repair. I now have to make the decision as to whether or not it is worth the $18.50 AUD postage to send it back given that it only cost $65.50 AUD.
I think I will purchase my next dongle from an Australian supplier ...

I thought I should add a final follow up to this. I did return the dongle to the MH Recording music store and they were able to confirm the fault and allowed me to swap my dead MU2S for a new MU1 (as recommended earlier in this thread). So I am a few dollars down due to the return postage, but in general I am very happy with their service and would shop there again. Cheers, John

 

[julian_hughes]

Glad you got it resolved. I've found that's a very good store. Since my last post I've bought the Musiland MU2 Mk III from them and like it very much. It offers selectable 4 voltage levels and volume controls so works fine with ultra low impedance BA IEMs and with my full size headphones. Obviously there isn't quite the voltage you get with a desktop headphone amp but it is still really impressive and the power draw is very low. It remembers the voltage and volume settings so when it gets regularly swapped between my desktop PC and my Sony smartphone the sound remains the same. Neat trick!

The MU1 now does duty as the soundcard on my gaming PC. It is excellent!

 

[barrupa]

Sorry for necroing the thread. But has anybody found out yet what is the actual DAC chip that is being used in the Samsung dongle?

I've tried searching all around the web for information regarding the question but I could only find stuff about the Google Pixel and Apple dongles.

 

[julian_hughes]

Sorry for necroing the thread. But has anybody found out yet what is the actual DAC chip that is being used in the Samsung dongle?

I've tried searching all around the web for information regarding the question but I could only find stuff about the Google Pixel and Apple dongles.

There's probably no way to find out unless you break one open and the chip has details etched onto it. It's as likely to be an in-house Samsung device as anything else.

 

[Veri]

There's probably no way to find out unless you break one open and the chip has details etched onto it. It's as likely to be an in-house Samsung device as anything else.

Or just manufacturered on-demand like with the apple usb-c, with no real identification on the dac chip since it's purpose built.