Compatible USB DAC/Amp?

[thisisjason]

Hi, I've found that the headphone output of this phone, while good for some headphones, has too much noise for sensitive IEMs and not enough power for some less efficient headphones, so I'm looking into a portable DAC/Amp. I tried this one with a USB-C adapter:

https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B00FJSEAZ4

But it didn't work. I know the USB-C adapter works, as I've used it with a thumb drive, and I know the DAC works on other Android devices, but apparently compatibility isn't universal. So has anyone successfully tried a portable DAC with this phone?

 

[uberano26]

My Fiio Q1 works fine with the phone.

 

[thisisjason]

My Fiio Q1 works fine with the phone.

Thanks, that's good to hear. I was considering one of Fiio's products

 

[noisyriver]

I tried this one: http://hifimediy.com/android-dac
Works very well together with an USB B to C converter that supports USB OTG and drove even my good old 600 Ohm AKG K 141 loud enough!

It has a Sabre DAC. Bought it out of concern that the sound of the phone might not be good enough. But it is - at least with low impedance headphones like my Ultimate Ears UE 10 TF I don't find a difference to the 180 $ sony walkman of my GF.

(Small remark: Used a Samsung USB B to C converter first. This one, while doing very well on the PC and with ADB and also with the charger did not work as OTG adaptor.)

 

[thisisjason]

I tried this one: http://hifimediy.com/android-dac
Works very well together with an USB B to C converter that supports USB OTG and drove even my good old 600 Ohm AKG K 141 loud enough!

It has a Sabre DAC. Bought it out of concern that the sound of the phone might not be good enough. But it is - at least with low impedance headphones like my Ultimate Ears UE 10 TF I don't find a difference to the 180 $ sony walkman of my GF.

(Small remark: Used a Samsung USB B to C converter first. This one, while doing very well on the PC and with ADB and also with the charger did not work as OTG adaptor.)

Weird, that's the exact one I tried that didn't work. Maybe I needed a different USB-C OTG adapter

 

[noisyriver]

Weird, that's the exact one I tried that didn't work. Maybe I needed a different USB-C OTG adapter

For sure. It works for me without problems - plug and play.
I use this adaptor: http://www.delock.com/produkte/G_65678/merkmale.html

Side note: While I could use the Samsung adaptor for charging (but not for OTG devices) this one works well for OTG - but not for charging.

Edit: The price for te DAC on the amazon side is way higher than if you buy directly from the Hifimediy website.

And you should also note, that this DAC while it's pretty good for higher impedance phones did not work well with my low (32 ohm) impedance IEM's. But for those I found no need to use the DAC.

 

[thisisjason]

I ended up with a Fiio E18, I like the fact that it has playback control, plus B&H has it on sale right now. It doesn't seem to work with Poweramp, but it works perfectly with USB Audio Player PRO.

 

[aviwdoowks]

I ended up with a Fiio E18, I like the fact that it has playback control, plus B&H has it on sale right now. It doesn't seem to work with Poweramp, but it works perfectly with USB Audio Player PRO.

Will USB Audio Player read OTG storage?
Most file explorers do not see mnt/media_rw/0EB0-0FF. Do any players?

 

[ahfpired]

Quick, and hopefully not too stupid, question, do I need to root the phone to get the DAC working with Google Play Music?

 

[aviwdoowks]

Quick, and hopefully not too stupid, question, do I need to root the phone to get the DAC working with Google Play Music?

Gpm will not pcm to a dac.
Need USBAPP

NO ROOT