The phone specifically needs to support video out over USB-C. I'm pretty sure that is at the hardware level determined by what spec of USB-C port the OEM decides to use. I don't think it can just be "turned on" for all USB-C ports in software.
General Issues with USB Dongles and external USB DACs
- Thread starter Nemuritor01
- Start date
The referenced QPR beta is for the June feature drop. That doesn't mean the fix won't be in next month's Stable kernel. Could be, could be not.
Or you could use a custom kernel today that already has that fix.
Google Pixel 6 gets 'Direct USB Access' w/ upcoming June update, improves DAC support
An upcoming update for Google's Pixel 6 series will deliver better USB DAC support through "Direct USB Access." Here's what that means.
I loaded QPR3 Beta 1.1 in hopes of getting USB sound to work properly with my Shure Aonic 50 headphones through USB, it has it's own DAC. I can get sound through USB but it won't access full Ultra HD sound that is available with Amazon Music. A track that plays at 24-bit 192KHz with my Pixel 3 only plays at 24-bit 96KHz with my P6P. Also there is popping sounds on the track. It sounds kind of like a dirty vinyl record. The Pixel 3 doesn't have these pops. When I switch to BT the pops go away. Of course sound with BT LDAC at 990 still skips. Frustrating!
Eriol
Senior Member
I have a TempoTec Sonata HD Pro DAC (with CS43131) which works fine with my P6P since February update (i.e. when I got my P6P, so I do not know if it worked with previous versions ...).
I have also tried out some USB C to 3.5 dongles (from Essential, Xiaomi, etc.) and all of them worked.
I am aware that this may not be relevant for the more audiophile users here - I have read that some here are more concerned about LDAC at 990kbps ... When travelling I am fine with aptX HD or even SBC, and @ 127.0.0.1 I prefer cable bound audio transfer where my CS43131 DAC is sufficient. Just wanted to confirm it works.
I have also tried out some USB C to 3.5 dongles (from Essential, Xiaomi, etc.) and all of them worked.
I am aware that this may not be relevant for the more audiophile users here - I have read that some here are more concerned about LDAC at 990kbps ... When travelling I am fine with aptX HD or even SBC, and @ 127.0.0.1 I prefer cable bound audio transfer where my CS43131 DAC is sufficient. Just wanted to confirm it works.
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In my opinion, the reason is for avoiding resampling distortion and reducing distortion caused by heavy jitter of battery optimizations. Higher data rate can be used for reducing jitter of PLL in a DAC. Try audio-misc-settings (resampling at a mastering quality and no jitter from an effect chain) and USB_SampleRate_Changer (You can use 384kHz & 32bit mode of the Android OS mixer for usual music streaming apps. A root script "extras/jitter-reucer.sh" in it can be used for reducing many jitters).
I've tested it with latest QPR3 beta and it's working. Finally!!!!
awesome! did you try it with stable april update before the new beta? seems like the ldac problem was fixed in stable april and latest beta. may be same for external dac problem?
Best report this to Google via Pixel feedback, or else this "faulty" DAC fix will make the public release and people that want to use DACs will be none the wiser.
Yes, I'm on the beta that was released 2 days ago. LDAC is fine at 990. The pops are still there when using USBc to headphones directly. Again my Pixel 3 plays at 192/24 but my P6p only manages 96/24 on the same track. I have a feeling it's not staying digital all the way to the headphones.
Yes, I've switched today to the beta and was on stable before. Passthrough doesn't work on stable. It also did not work on the previous beta. Just latest beta from few days ago seems to have implemented the new aoc.
new april beta. can confirm neutron player now plays correctly with usb direct with my hidizs sonata. hurrah!
to anyone that has got the may update, has the dac fix from April's beta been implemented in the main release now?
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Actually it works. So I had the exact issue you encountered with the Tidal app. Uninstalled it and installed it back fixed this, you will now get the prompt that Tidal needs access to the DAC pop-up. After which, the THX Onyx DAC now shows magenta for MQA Master tracks.3
Yeah, a lot of people in Google's Issue Tracker for this bug are saying it was fixed with the June update. Good news!2
I just sideloaded the latest OTA. I was previously on the 12 beta. LDAC and USB DAC are both working....so far.2 -
6Yep. 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 the screeching sounds 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.
EDIT: Just edited wording to clarify that this workaround is specifically to fix the screeching sounds some people are reporting. If you get no audio at all (or if applications crash), this might not help. We just need to wait for Google to implement the fix this summer.5There is another problem with the Pixel 6 (6 and 6 pro) devices. External USB DACs and dongles do not work properly. USB Host API or the DAC offloading and hand-over are bugged. Apps like Tidal, Neutron, USB audio Player Pro crash or can't play music in high res. The problem has already been reported by some users. There has been no statement from Google yet.
A work around for me to get music playing and stop apps freezing was switching off the toggle for "allow all apps use mic" in system/privacy settings.
But this does not solve the issue, as the apps still can not access the USB Dongles or external DACs directly and by pass android system limitations and software processing.
Google skips the 3.5 port and users are forced to use dongles, etc., which do not even work properly.4
Appreciate the post, but unfortunately it doesn't fix the larger kernel issue. Android still resamples all audio, and the phone freezes up if you grant an app like Tidal direct access to the DAC. However, this does remove the static/screeching noise in some instances as the OS doesn't have to trip over itself to mix audio streams (like system sounds and a music stream)
The best everyone can do is star and comment on the issuetracker threads (see my post here for links), and submit your own feedback reports and support tickets from settings. Just insist that it's a widespread bug and that you want to submit a bug report4It'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.
