General Issues with USB Dongles and external USB DACs

[Nemuritor01]

January Update did not fix the issue.

Can someone with the DAC issues test this for me?

[KERNEL] [blu_spark r71] [A12L]

Kernel features: (WIP) Build with custom upstream LLVM 14.x (Clang 14.0.5 + LLD linker + IAS) Full -O2 Thin LTO build with device and target flags enhanced, build improvements and compiler fixes, etc Less is more: stockish kernel+modules+dtb...

forum.xda-developers.com

Would appreciate feedback if it works with this build r42

Nice to see you here eng.stk and your effort to fix this problem. Unfortunately I quit with my work on audio ports and did not root my phone since years. So I can not test.
But maybe I need to reconsider my decision, when I see all those bugs in the stock ROM and kernel.

 

[EndlessBliss]

Can someone with the DAC issues test this for me?

[KERNEL] [blu_spark r71] [A12L]

Kernel features: (WIP) Build with custom upstream LLVM 14.x (Clang 14.0.5 + LLD linker + IAS) Full -O2 Thin LTO build with device and target flags enhanced, build improvements and compiler fixes, etc Less is more: stockish kernel+modules+dtb...

forum.xda-developers.com

Would appreciate feedback if it works with this build r42

Just tried your latest build, r45, which I'm assuming has the same "fix," Unfortunately, there was no change. Still get random sputters and screeches, but most importantly, direct access in an app like Tidal didn't work. I did notice all audio would occasionally get resampled to 88.2 kHz instead of 48 kHz

 

[eng.stk]

Just tried your latest build, r45, which I'm assuming has the same "fix," Unfortunately, there was no change. Still get random sputters and screeches, but most importantly, direct access in an app like Tidal didn't work. I did notice all audio would occasionally get resampled to 88.2 kHz instead of 48 kHz

No, you need to test r42 please.

 

[whatsisnametake2]

yeah Jan update, same problem. hidizs sonata direct still not working.

 

[EndlessBliss]

No, you need to test r42 please.

Will r42 be compatible with Google's January update? I'm already on it

 

[eng.stk]

Will r42 be compatible with Google's January update? I'm already on it

idk, have your img backups ready if you need to restore.

 

[EndlessBliss]

Just tried your latest build, r45, which I'm assuming has the same "fix," Unfortunately, there was no change. Still get random sputters and screeches, but most importantly, direct access in an app like Tidal didn't work. I did notice all audio would occasionally get resampled to 88.2 kHz instead of 48 kHz

No, you need to test r42 please.

idk, have your img backups ready if you need to restore.

Same behaviour above on r42

 

[jigz23]

Anyone have luck with getting the Helm Audio Bolt to play nice with Tidal MQA on the pixel 6 pro? The Tidal app is recognizing my Helm, but after I say yes and press play, the play button just goes round and round and doesn't ever play anything.

 

[EndlessBliss]

Anyone have luck with getting the Helm Audio Bolt to play nice with Tidal MQA on the pixel 6 pro? The Tidal app is recognizing my Helm, but after I say yes and press play, the play button just goes round and round and doesn't ever play anything.

Exactly the bug we're hoping to get Google to resolve Please star/comment on the issuetrackers linked here, and from settings, Send Feedback and contact support to raise a bug report

https://www.reddit.com/r/GooglePixel/comments/ri7ibv

 

[EndlessBliss]

Maybe this Twitter thread will gain some traction:

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1483509426535342080

 

[Matterhorn]

I haven't tried my external DAC on the P6P but LDAC at 990kbps works fine. I do need to go into developer options and select it manually. In auto mode it as never selected 990 on any of my Pixels.

Edit: ok, I take it back. I experienced stuttering today on both Spotify and Amazon HD streaming on LDAC 990kbps. It doesn't happen right after a phone restart but it doesn't take long for the problem to surface.

 

[Nemuritor01]

Google's working on a fix for the Pixel 6's external DAC issues, but don't expect it anytime soon

You better hope 2022 flies by

www.androidpolice.com

 

[Alekos]

It's really funny reading the comments on tech news sites. most commenting how usb-dac/LDAC 990 is so rarely used that it doesn't matter that it won't work properly.

Anyway, I am really disappointed in the Pixels. But we only have 2 other choices - Samsung and Oneplus. I'm not sure what to think anymore. I mean many of us on xda who purchased 6/6 Pro, knew there would be bugs. That's fine. but when a basic feature doesn't work at all? I am lucky because I didn't experience any of the issues that others have had - except this one (and some battery drain on 5G).

If it gets fixed at the end of summer - it'll be almost a year since the 6 series was released. They need to do better. Much better.

 

[andriy2011]

I've tried THX Onyx DAC with pixel 4 running Android 12 - same issue as with P6Pro - so most likely the issue is Android 12 related

 

[Alekos]

I've tried THX Onyx DAC with pixel 4 running Android 12 - same issue as with P6Pro - so most likely the issue is Android 12 related

I have 2 Pixel 3XL's, a Pixel 4 XL and a 6Pro - all running A12. These issues only appear on the 6Pro (for myself and many, many others). I mean for Google to come out and provide an official statement must mean something - they didn't do that for any other Pixels. Not saying your phone isn't having the issue - but it looks like its a deeper problem than just a "bug" on the 6/6Pro and not widespread on the other models.

 

[niteowl360]

Yeah, maybe you can play some processed, low quality music through your high res DAC. So the DAC is pretty useless, you could use a standard dongle with bullshit chip, as it doesn't matter.
I know a little bit what I'm talking about.
I did some audio ports and worked with UltraM8 and the other dudes on the Ainur Audio mods.

My issues started when LG Wing updated to Android 11.
Since then my external DAC no longer plays when using UAPP, Neutron Hiby etc Worked perfectly on Android 10

 

[niteowl360]

Yep. Saw this article on Android Police and made an account here to say that I was having the same issue and found a workaround that fixed it for me.
Important words above are "for me". Who knows if it'll do anything for you but the steps are simple enough that you should definitely give it a try.

1-Unplug DAC/phones
2-Open Android Settings
3-Choose Sounds and Vibration
4-Turn off the last four options
They should be
-Dial pad tones
-Screen locking sound
-Charging sounds and vibration
-Touch sounds

And that's it! I would reboot my phone after that and then plug in the phones/DAC just to make sure but shouldn't be necessary.

Hopefully that did it for you as well and it could give Google a clue where to start to actually fix it.

Thank you.
May I ask which Android version.
I'm on Android 11 with no sound whereas Android 10 everything worked perfectly with my external DAC and UAPP

 

[niteowl360]

It's really funny reading the comments on tech news sites. most commenting how usb-dac/LDAC 990 is so rarely used that it doesn't matter that it won't work properly.

Anyway, I am really disappointed in the Pixels. But we only have 2 other choices - Samsung and Oneplus. I'm not sure what to think anymore. I mean many of us on xda who purchased 6/6 Pro, knew there would be bugs. That's fine. but when a basic feature doesn't work at all? I am lucky because I didn't experience any of the issues that others have had - except this one (and some battery drain on 5G).

If it gets fixed at the end of summer - it'll be almost a year since the 6 series was released. They need to do better. Much better.

My external DAC on the LG Wing with Android 10 worked perfectly.
Since Android 11 update everything stopped working.

 

[philthebeat2]

Thank you.
May I ask which Android version.
I'm on Android 11 with no sound whereas Android 10 everything worked perfectly with my external DAC and UAPP

Hello niteowl360!

I believe this thread is about an issue with Pixel 6 specifically so we're on Android 12. Your problem might be a different one sadly. (Also my post was about the screeching sounds and not the "no-audio" issue. I didn't make it clear initially.)

The Pixel 6 issue has been acknowledged by Google with a fix coming this summer.

 

[NippleSauce]

Although Google has mentioned releasing an update to fix this issue this Summer, I'm kinda hoping that they resolve the video output issue as well... On my previous phones with USB-C ports, a USB-C to HDMI cable worked fine at showing my phone's display image on whatever I connected the HDMI end of the cable to. But with this phone it is, unfortunately, not possible to physically cast your display to a television or monitor over a display cable.

I have two Chromecasts, but I tend to prefer wired connections so that I don't lose any video quality when I'm trying to cast higher resolution videos =/