Xperia Z1 working with USB DAC :)

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ferx1

Member
Jan 30, 2009
15
0
Could you please contact me at mendozas@gmail.com?
I need to know how to enable audio USB via Sony DAC in my Z2 ; I work in Sony too
Thanks

As product owner for USB Audio in the Z2, I would like to explain about our USB support.

In the 2013 mid- and high-end products (Z, ZL, ZR, Tablet Z, Z Ultra, Z1, Z1 Compact) we support USB Audio from the Android Audio framework, which means that all audio is resampled to 48kHz/16 bits, and mixed in with notifications etc. This means that we have "bit-perfect" reproduction only for tracks with this sample rate originally (and such are not very common) and turn off all system sounds and all sound enhancements (and even then, I cannot guarantee that we are 100% bit-perfect).

In Z2 and T2, however, we have introduced a new mode, "High-res audio over USB", where the audio stream is sent directly to USB after unpacking/decoding (actually, when selected, this applies to all audio data, no only high-res, so internally it is called "Direct" mode).

The only exception is if a DAC does not support a particular sample rate, in which case it is sent to the audio framework in the previous manner - for instance, some DAC's which support 96kHz do not support 88.2kHz, strangely enough.

Anyway, in this feature we support 44.1kHz, 48KHz, 88.2kHz, and 96kHz in either 16 or 24bits using USB Audio Class 1, and also 192kHz and 176.4kHz using USB Audio Class 2 in Asynchronous mode. The file formats can be either WAV or FLAC for lossless compression, or MP3 or AAC (which decompresses to either 44.1 or 48kHz at 16bits). I guess other generic Android audio formats should work too but they are not in scope since I have never seen these at download stores.

One caveat with 192 and 176.4kHz files is that the Android downsampler does not handle more than 96kHz, so if you get such files, they will only play in High-res mode to a capable DAC, not in any other circumstances.

In this mode, since we bypass the mixer, ring signals and notifications etc are not passed to the USB DAC. If you want these in headphones connected to a portable DAC, you will need to turn off HigH-res mode and everything will then work as in the 2013 products.

I will be present in this forum for questions and problem reports when these devices are released. Currently we are testing with a limited number of DAC' and I will post a list of these soon.
 

gewgaw

Member
Sep 1, 2010
10
0
Lisbon
Hello, thank you for such an insightful post.

I wonder though how well does the XZ1 handle the M50s. I have been wanting to purchase a set myself but the audio in my XZ1 is disappointing although I hear it is a general issue, the volume is a little lower than expected.

How does you XZ1 drive the M50s? How does it perform when going through the USB DAC?

Any pictures of your set up would be appreciated as well.

Thanks and let's keep this "underdog" of a phone alive!
 

raginginferno

Senior Member
Apr 24, 2011
114
72
Hello, thank you for such an insightful post.

I wonder though how well does the XZ1 handle the M50s. I have been wanting to purchase a set myself but the audio in my XZ1 is disappointing although I hear it is a general issue, the volume is a little lower than expected.

How does you XZ1 drive the M50s? How does it perform when going through the USB DAC?

Any pictures of your set up would be appreciated as well.

Thanks and let's keep this "underdog" of a phone alive!

For me personally it's hard to say now. My original post was way back when the phone first came out. Now I've left stock firmware ages ago and am now running Cyanogenmod. Cyanogenmod has also lost USB DAC support... due to the fact that when the magnetic charge cable is connected, there's no sound at so the FXP team had to disable USB DAC in order for it to work correctly...

So with Cyanogenmod, volume is actually worse than stock. So I had to add this volume boost mod:
http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?t=2476498
With this mod and Cyanogen, I'd say the Z1 can drive the M50s headphones just fine. The volume boost does help I believe. M50s are not a hard headphone to drive but it's harder than normal earbuds.

How does it sound? Um.... good I guess. It's a phone... not much I can say. I don't even have test it, I know a decent DAC with a portable amp will automatically sound better than the Z1. I've tested back when I was able to and there was just so much for life in the music when you have a nice DAC Amp attached to it.
 

gewgaw

Member
Sep 1, 2010
10
0
Lisbon
For me personally it's hard to say now. My original post was way back when the phone first came out. Now I've left stock firmware ages ago and am now running Cyanogenmod. Cyanogenmod has also lost USB DAC support... due to the fact that when the magnetic charge cable is connected, there's no sound at so the FXP team had to disable USB DAC in order for it to work correctly...

So with Cyanogenmod, volume is actually worse than stock. So I had to add this volume boost mod:
http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?t=2476498
With this mod and Cyanogen, I'd say the Z1 can drive the M50s headphones just fine. The volume boost does help I believe. M50s are not a hard headphone to drive but it's harder than normal earbuds.

How does it sound? Um.... good I guess. It's a phone... not much I can say. I don't even have test it, I know a decent DAC with a portable amp will automatically sound better than the Z1. I've tested back when I was able to and there was just so much for life in the music when you have a nice DAC Amp attached to it.

Yeah I see what you mean. I briefly used CM for a little while but it was "too nightly" for my taste so I went back to stock. With the recent Walkman updates it is visually awesome. I can't think of any other better Music Player besides iTunes for iOS. But maybe this is just a personal opinion or taste. Sound quality is O.K. but the volume is still lacking I think. I just recently listened to both a Note 3 and a G3 and man did they kick ass in Volume dept. Don't know why Sony made it so low, waterproofing maybe?

Fiio recently launched the E18 specifically designed for Smartphones. I will give it a try when I get the chance but if only the Visuals of Walkman matched the Volume Level.

thanks!
 

raginginferno

Senior Member
Apr 24, 2011
114
72
Yeah I see what you mean. I briefly used CM for a little while but it was "too nightly" for my taste so I went back to stock. With the recent Walkman updates it is visually awesome. I can't think of any other better Music Player besides iTunes for iOS. But maybe this is just a personal opinion or taste. Sound quality is O.K. but the volume is still lacking I think. I just recently listened to both a Note 3 and a G3 and man did they kick ass in Volume dept. Don't know why Sony made it so low, waterproofing maybe?

Fiio recently launched the E18 specifically designed for Smartphones. I will give it a try when I get the chance but if only the Visuals of Walkman matched the Volume Level.

thanks!

Well finally Z1 is part of the stable snapshots builds now, so we have more stability. You can get the walkman app back in to cyanogen, search through the forums for that. If you want the walkman widget you have to use the sony launcher as apposed to the cyanogenmod launcher. So FYI is you want to go back to cyanogenmod.

But try the sound mod I mentioned. It only changes a few values in one settings file. No actual major file swaps. It may push the headphones volume to the levels you may actually want. I only picked the "boosted" level, the other "higher" volume choices are way too distorted.
 

elesido

New member
Nov 18, 2012
1
0
Motivate Sony to add "High-res audio over USB" to Z1

Hi all

To raise Sony's awareness that Z1 users also want "high-res audio over USB" give Kudos or reply to this support request:
https:// talk. sonymobile. com/t5/Xperia-Z1-Compact/Z1-Compact-quot-High-res-audio-over-USB-quot-update/td-p/841559
(remove blanks before "talk", "sonymobile" and "com" - I am still unable to post external links)

Kind regards
ElEsido
 

sk74261700027

Member
Aug 10, 2016
34
0
hello. sorry for this necro-post here, but i could use some help. :(

i have purchased 2 different DAC units and a half-dozen different OTG cables by now... for the life of me, i can't figure out how to get any audio through one of these things. i am on the Sony Xperia Z1(C6903) and really really need a DAC to work. my headphones jack is broken. T_T

can someone help me figure what to do?
 

sk74261700027

Member
Aug 10, 2016
34
0
What DAC's are you using?

i have tried both version of the, "HiFiMeDIY Sabre Android USB DAC, Android Digital to Analog Audio Converter ES9023+PCM2706".

the one that needs an OTG cable. and then there is one that connects directly to micro-USB. they SHOULD work. the green light is lit up, but all audio still comes through the phones main speaker.

the OTG cables works fine, because i can read USB mass storage through it. i have also tried to enable the option through developers options for routing audio through the USB, but it is enabled by default. so then i tried disabling any other USB options... like fast charge, MTP and diagnostics mode.
 
Last edited:

OmegaRED^

Senior Member
Oct 31, 2010
2,957
636
Odd i have used 3 audio dac's with no problems.
even my corsiar headphones work perfectly.
 

uhauha2000

New member
May 17, 2014
4
1
Z2 and T2 USB Audio support



As product owner for USB Audio in the Z2, I would like to explain about our USB support.

In the 2013 mid- and high-end products (Z, ZL, ZR, Tablet Z, Z Ultra, Z1, Z1 Compact) we support USB Audio from the Android Audio framework, which means that all audio is resampled to 48kHz/16 bits, and mixed in with notifications etc. This means that we have "bit-perfect" reproduction only for tracks with this sample rate originally (and such are not very common) and turn off all system sounds and all sound enhancements (and even then, I cannot guarantee that we are 100% bit-perfect).

In Z2 and T2, however, we have introduced a new mode, "High-res audio over USB", where the audio stream is sent directly to USB after unpacking/decoding (actually, when selected, this applies to all audio data, no only high-res, so internally it is called "Direct" mode).

The only exception is if a DAC does not support a particular sample rate, in which case it is sent to the audio framework in the previous manner - for instance, some DAC's which support 96kHz do not support 88.2kHz, strangely enough.

Anyway, in this feature we support 44.1kHz, 48KHz, 88.2kHz, and 96kHz in either 16 or 24bits using USB Audio Class 1, and also 192kHz and 176.4kHz using USB Audio Class 2 in Asynchronous mode. The file formats can be either WAV or FLAC for lossless compression, or MP3 or AAC (which decompresses to either 44.1 or 48kHz at 16bits). I guess other generic Android audio formats should work too but they are not in scope since I have never seen these at download stores.

One caveat with 192 and 176.4kHz files is that the Android downsampler does not handle more than 96kHz, so if you get such files, they will only play in High-res mode to a capable DAC, not in any other circumstances.

In this mode, since we bypass the mixer, ring signals and notifications etc are not passed to the USB DAC. If you want these in headphones connected to a portable DAC, you will need to turn off HigH-res mode and everything will then work as in the 2013 products.

I will be present in this forum for questions and problem reports when these devices are released. Currently we are testing with a limited number of DAC' and I will post a list of these soon.
Dear SONY developer,

recently I bought SONY PHA-2A USB-DAC amplify and trying to use it to connect my old Xperia X1Z (btw I have Xperia I III but it just doesn’t have the good old Xperia Equalizer, the Dolby Atmos is just meh :/) and fulfill my Dream: Xperia sound effects + DAC & amplify with a 4.4mm balanced port. The most important part is THE ‘Xperia equalizer’, cus I’ve been using it since almost a decade back when it came out on Sony Ericsson Phones. The SONY equalizer just gives an impressive experience especially with its ‘clear bass’ function. And when I am trying to use the ‘Xperia equalizer’ for the PHA-2A, I am kind heart broken, seems the sound effect from equalizer just bypass the digital signal and doesn’t add to the output for the PHA-2A, the sound quality is still good but just without my favorite ‘clear bass’ etc -.-
So I’m desperately to find a solution. checked a lot of tech websites and also have tried at least 15 different 3rd part equalizer app, most of them work for the PHA-2A, but simply no one can match the fantastic awesome clear bass effect as Xperia Equalizer could offer.
Is it possible to fix this? I'm quite sure its just a software issue since other equalizer app just work on the USB DAC. I'm really desperate to find a solution! Many thanks!!!
 

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  • 6
    Z2 and T2 USB Audio support

    So now Z2 is out and it specifically mentioned it support USB DAC but not with Z1.
    I have a usb DAC personally (Fiio E07k) and it works with xperia Z1 with usb micro to mini cable without any modification to the software.

    Any difference between them Z1 and Z2 in terms of functionality?

    As product owner for USB Audio in the Z2, I would like to explain about our USB support.

    In the 2013 mid- and high-end products (Z, ZL, ZR, Tablet Z, Z Ultra, Z1, Z1 Compact) we support USB Audio from the Android Audio framework, which means that all audio is resampled to 48kHz/16 bits, and mixed in with notifications etc. This means that we have "bit-perfect" reproduction only for tracks with this sample rate originally (and such are not very common) and turn off all system sounds and all sound enhancements (and even then, I cannot guarantee that we are 100% bit-perfect).

    In Z2 and T2, however, we have introduced a new mode, "High-res audio over USB", where the audio stream is sent directly to USB after unpacking/decoding (actually, when selected, this applies to all audio data, no only high-res, so internally it is called "Direct" mode).

    The only exception is if a DAC does not support a particular sample rate, in which case it is sent to the audio framework in the previous manner - for instance, some DAC's which support 96kHz do not support 88.2kHz, strangely enough.

    Anyway, in this feature we support 44.1kHz, 48KHz, 88.2kHz, and 96kHz in either 16 or 24bits using USB Audio Class 1, and also 192kHz and 176.4kHz using USB Audio Class 2 in Asynchronous mode. The file formats can be either WAV or FLAC for lossless compression, or MP3 or AAC (which decompresses to either 44.1 or 48kHz at 16bits). I guess other generic Android audio formats should work too but they are not in scope since I have never seen these at download stores.

    One caveat with 192 and 176.4kHz files is that the Android downsampler does not handle more than 96kHz, so if you get such files, they will only play in High-res mode to a capable DAC, not in any other circumstances.

    In this mode, since we bypass the mixer, ring signals and notifications etc are not passed to the USB DAC. If you want these in headphones connected to a portable DAC, you will need to turn off HigH-res mode and everything will then work as in the 2013 products.

    I will be present in this forum for questions and problem reports when these devices are released. Currently we are testing with a limited number of DAC' and I will post a list of these soon.
    4
    I didn't see anyone mention about this here so I thought I post about it in case someone is wondering or is searching about it in the future.

    For anyone that is an audiophile or just wants better audio... I have tried a USB DAC with our Xperia Z1 and it works great! As usual you need a USB OTG cable and plug directly to the DAC (or DAC/AMP combo). The USB port does output enough current to power the DAC and even charge it (a little... I don't think the Z1 outputs the full 500mA). Android volume controls also work and it controls it. All audio goes through the DAC and no additional software is needed. I even tried it on CyanogenMod 11 when I had it installed briefly, works just the same!

    In my attached pic, the DAC Amp combo is the iBasso D2+ Hj Boa along with Audio-Technica ATH-M50 Headphones. It shouldn't be limited to this DAC. Once you have DAC support confirmation it should generally work with any driverless USB DAC.

    And yes the DAC sounds way better than the built in audio. The built in audio chip is okay... but there's no life/fidelity in the audio. And no amount of equalizer can fix that.