The last two are probably passive, and I used to own a OnePlus 6t as a daily so can confirm at least that one is passive, i.e. it uses a DAC built into the phone instead of carrying one inside the cable itself.
@@JulianKrause now that I also finished watching, it seems fairly well documented online that the Apple dongle purposely puts out less power when used with Android, but for some reason runs at full power with a PC, the latter of which being how I use mine. Awesome reliable and simple DAC solution for most headphones
Vielen dank, Julian! I haven’t seen anyone else do such proper measurements and reviews of these gear. 99% are RUclipsrs who read the specs sheets accompanied by loud music and jump cuts. I just wanted to let you know that we really appreciate your content
Bought one from samsung, bloody bastard broke in less than a week, its been about 5 days and fucker doesnt wanna work anymore, and its yo be expected, its the shittiest most pitiful cable i have ever seen, I could snap this shit with my fingers.
The Apple ones DAC is able to provide CD quality. As far as I know only the new 14 and 16 in MacBook Pros get to that quality very few other laptop or desktops do that. I have also used the lightening DAC to connect high quality external mics to an iPhone 13 Pro rig set up and it worked brilliantly. For the money it is very good. Same for the USB3 one into my iPad Pro.
I've been wondering this myself, with so many different generic ones on Amazon. Was looking for comparisons and wonder if they were all the same. Thank you for doing the research for us!
I used your videos as reference before combining headphones with audio cards. I ended up with DT990 PRO 250ohm with Audient ID4 MK2. I am so happy about the end result. Thank you for engineering level details, charts and everything. ❤
Julian, this is what I've been looking for for years! I want to do the review of Apple dongle for quite awhile now and all I lack of is the scientific data to back-up my claim that why the dongle is better than people might think. Big ups to your effort and thank you for your hard work.
I'm using the Samsung USB-C 3.5 mm adapter with the Galaxy S24 and Samsung EO-IA500 headphones and i'm surprised by the phenomenal sound quality. I've listened to many headphone amplifiers and none of them offered such a pure sound! All sound components are in their place, the instruments have their own space and air. The separation is just phenomenal! Definitely the best DAC i've ever listened to music on, and what's more, it's cheap!
Hallo Julian, vielen Dank für dieses tolle Video! Ich bin sehr beeindruckt von deiner Vorgehensweise und werde deinen weiteren gerne Content verfolgen. Weiter so!
Actually these adapters do get used with lav mics such as the Rode SmartLav+ or Sennheiser XS Lav Mobile, so maybe a more thorough investigation of their pre-amp and ADC performance could be interesting...
@@dfcx1 Yeah, I've seen 1.0V (Interface supplied with Logitech analogue headset) to 4.5V (Rode VXLR+ 3.5mm TRS to XLR Adaptor). 1.0V seems a bit low for the JFET amplifier. 7V is probably safe. Android specs say 2.8V max.
Great video. It's pretty random that a lot of entry level audio interface's can't handle that level of accuracy. But I understand that compensates that with a better preamp for inputs. Anyways love your channel and your graphs!
Every time I look for some answers, I just reach for Julian's channel and bam! The answer is right here. Such an excellent details! I'm glad you include the mic tests because I wasn't sure about SNR implied from the chart (high power + low noise floor). The Samsung's noise floor seems to be best but it kinds of changing the sound tone.
It's pretty amazing tech wise, but the hassle of these is still a huge shame. I have a s22+ and the Apple one was too quiet so I got Samsung's own, and while it sounds fine after a while it starts increasingly bitcrushing the audio until the phone crashes...I miss the jack ;_;
I think it could be that Samsung didn’t bother to fix issues with the dongle on newer phones because a lot of people switched to wired buds. Just my guess though. I used the dongle for 2 years with my iPhone 7, then put it back on the case after getting AirPods, Ive never ever seen someone using the dongle after the iPhone X’s release
Hi, I wanted to buy one adapter to use with my phone and a laptop which has even worse sound. How much quieter was the apple dongle? I rarely use more than third of the available volume and the terrible user reviews of the samsung unit are off-putting. When exactly does the bitcrushing happen? Does it heat up/run out of memory after some time/get more and more often with age of device or happen completely randomly? Does it do that when connected to pc too ?
@@milithemuffin4534 I have mine set typically around about 2/3 volume but the apple one just sounded very weak on Samsung. Regarding the crashes, I'm starting to believe there's something wrong with my phone as it is crashing about 6x per day since I got it. Was hoping it was something fixed by stability patches but as this isn't common I'll probably have to get warranty help, so wouldn't worry about that. The adapter is pretty good for £9 tbh - unsure how it works on laptops etc tho. Hope that helps
2 года назад+6
One of the biggest advantages of these dongles, is that the inline remote buttons work on pc too.
Great video! Thank you for your AMAZING work Julian! I got a pair of HD600s and thought performance would be terrible on my iPad with the USB-C to 3.5mm dongle. In comparison to my Motu M4 it’s only a little quieter, and there’s no audible distortion. But then I’m using a US dongle, with an M1 iPad that provides plenty of power, so maybe that’s why. Either way, I can’t believe it works so well!
THANK YOU!. I really needed a detailed version of the affects of the usb c 3.5mm audio adapter. Especially needed the recording of the voice test that you did, so Thank you!..
I listened a lot recently on my Iphone with lightning adapter on a Shure SRH840A and I was pleasantly surprised by the good sound of it. Off course using Spotify isn’t the highest quality, so all in all I think it is the best you can get when you are on the way. I was in a hotel by the way, so far away from any decent gear I have at home, making this the best you can get and it works well. Thank you for confirming!
Works fine with Beyer DT 900 Pro X headphones too which is very much to Apple’s credit. It is limited to CD quality. I recently imported a very good value and high quality dongle from Amazon in the USA that is USB to phono. That goes to twice CD quality. Ailun I think - ‘DAC Hi-res Chipset 384KHZ/32Bit ,with high quality audio conversion chipset, it can convert Digital Audio Signals to Analog Audio Signals and maintain the original sound quality of your headphones. Sampling Rate up to 384KHZ/32Bit gives you Hi-res sound performance. ‘ for €13 an absolute bargain. Sounds good for the money.
Excellent, and most impressively, objective review as always - just what I have been looking for. However, I do agree with some that you might want to consider doing a deep-dive on the mic-input portion (mic-preamp and ADC stages) of these dongles though, in addition to the DAC and headphone amp portions. I am curious about how the dongle analog mic input can compare to full-fledged audio interfaces. More people are shifting to using portable devices such as smartphones or tablets over computers in their audio production nowadays. Wonder if these dongles can produce quality results for audio production like podcasts.
I have a fake Samsung adapter and the hiss is extremely loud through the mic input. Purchased it over Amazon and was told it's a genuine adapter but I don't believe so. I don't believe any of these will record in stereo either.
Great video JK! I suggest a follow-up that measures the mic input too. My reasoning is the following: People use their phone for Discord, Zoom, Clubhouse, Tiktok and even RUclips. For recording videos, from say from your phone, you can always use a portable/external recorder and sync in post, but I imagine that sometimes you just want to record as-is but wish to have better audio than the built-in mics. Also the usb-c/lightning lapel mics are often limited in quality so some people might want to use their regular minijack lapel (or other connectors with an adapter). I suggest using a well known and good lapel mic like the sennheiser mke2 and maybe one or two others (that requires plugin power), and one or more known dynamic lapel mics. (That don’t require plugin power). Maybe you could also include a normal dynamic mic as well. (Sm58/røde m1 etc) And also compare their recording quality to say a consumer grade zoom h5, and with a good audio interface (Røde has a xlr/3.5mm phantom power/plugin power adapter). It would be great if you could test with both normal speech and maybe something noisier. Would also be nice if you could upload the recordings so we could judge by ourselves. And lastly, please include the Saramonic lightning or usb-c adapter since that is the only one that advertise plugin power combatibility. Maybe a few other adapters on the market might include plugin power without advertising it, so with an mke2 you could actually find that out. I am about to order the saramonic adapter for my lapel mic and use it to shoot a few videos from my vacation and tbh I think it’s probably good enough for speech, but it would be really interesting if you could include the mic inputs in a follow-up. Cheers
Dear Julian Krause, DANKE and thank you once again for an another top-class, easy-to-understand video clip. I lift my symbolic hat off every time I watch your videos. For most people, the Bluetooth connection is enough. If somebody want or need a cable connection because they think it sounds better, then this clip is a really great help. Exactly my opinion, the manufacturer's parts are usually the better choice. With cheaper goods from far east, you end up paying double, mostly. Although some of the manufacturer's parts don't have a long life either, maybe on purpose. Expensive doesn't have to mean more either. But what is most important? Every person in the world hears differently! Keep up the good work. Musical greetings and I say "Servus!" from Bavaria
About a year back with my pixel 6 I bought an apple usb-c adapter, it absolutely does not drive my M50x, surprisingly. I was curious if it's because of the phone or if it's the dongle. I ended up going for a Fiio BTR5 bluetooth adapter that I am very happy with.
Would you still recommend buying headphone adapters with external DAC for around 80 - 100€? Currently using the dt770pro 32 Ohms with a Samsung device via original Samsung Adapter and wondering if it's worth upgrading. Great video thanks ✌️
Enlightening review! Only USB-C-3.5mm adapter I have is the stock unit that came with the Essential PH-1 phone, unsure of who manufactured it. It still sounds great with various TRRS buds and 32Ω Sennheiser HD-202 headphones on my Pixel 6. But it's really noisy with my 50Ω Fostex RP T-20 (v2) using a 3.5mm to 1/4" adaptor that otherwise works fine with a Cute II headphone amp and the Fostex off other equipment.
Samsungs and other android phones always resamples audio to around 48kHz... the only way to go around this issue is to use apps like USB Audio Player Pro which allows android to output bit perfect audio.
I would love for someone to test the ADCs and mic input - mainly because nobody else is testing this and there are loads of podcasting and video mics that use the 3.5mm format
I use a US Apple adapter on a cheap Android phone. When I first used the adapter it was not very loud but I read of and can confirm a workaround. Purchase the app USB Audio Player PRO, connect the adapter, start the app, max the app’s hardware volume setting and exit the app. The volume is now higher than before in all other apps. This process needs to be repeated whenever the adapter is reconnected. The standard phone volume control is not and does not need to be maxed after the procedure. The app has its own audio driver which bypasses the standard Android one. Its boosting effect on volume remains when its app volume is max at app exit. I also read that the standard Android audio driver is programmed to reduce the max volume available when an Apple dongle is detected. Perhaps the iPhone been made to do the same to a Google dongle. My phones headphone audio is poor quality. The Apple dongle is very much better and with the app trick l can now comfortably listen to high dynamic range music such as Classical at a medium phone volume setting. The app is a good player too with many other audio features such as avoiding Androids 41 to 48 kHz resampling when appropriate. This is not an app advert.
Recently I got a notebook without a jack that came with Asus MU3C-AD(M) USB-C->3.5jack dongle based on ESS ES9260(Q) SoC/DAC chip. In a quick test it showed to be capable of driving 150 Ohm headphones (Sennheiser and Beyerdynamic) to decent enough levels, no problems with driving 32 Ohm headphones really loud, and it was like more than +115 DNR and less than -100 dB THD+N. I mean, these little things I never took seriously became surprisingly good!
$20 NZD for Apple USB C, $50 NZD for headphone amp, $25ish NZD for a raspberry Pi Zero W and accessories And you add some HD600's and you have a really really good playback device (stream and local files). Im a recovering Audiopile, Blind tested it with Some of my audiophile mates. Let's just say they were convinced it was some of the expensive audio gear they thought I still had (sold that stuff many years ago to some sukers). Either the Apple is better with the same IEM's than the dac on my S10 of years back...(was testing only a month ago)
I would love to know if I can record my next album using the mic input. Like you said, the DA output is fantastic, so now I’m curious to know about the AD input.
The audio is fine but the problem I constantly have with the Apple lightning dongle is disconnecting multiple times during a short walk around the block. It drove me to switch to bluetooth IEMs. I also sometimes need to use it for mic input with video recording and never trust its going to stay connected. I've been getting Facebook ads for a thing called Bolt by Helm Audio. A high-end version of these dongles. Worth a look?
If you're talking about the Lighting connector version, that sounds like what happens when you have dirt inside the socket and the jack doesn't go all the way in. My mother had a similar issue with the charging cable before I cleaned it up with a toothpick.
Could you potentially go back to your PC mainboards and test their inputs? There are a lot of people complaining about unusably noisy mic input, and i'm curious how much performance you can get out of line in!
I just received my Amazon order of the LUDOS CLAMOR 2 Pro Wired Earbuds with Microphone for my Galaxy A35...seems to work very well. Cheap at under USD10. Edit: I already have the Lenovo thinkplus XT80. The above purchase is a plan B when my XT80 runs out of juice.
1:29 I have a suggestion. The table would be more useful if there are columns somewhere around 60 and 80 ohm instead of 150. HD 280/300 PRO are 64 ohm. DT770 PRO can be 80 ohm. 32 to 150 is a big jump.
Why do thay need to use wire between. Why not just make it straight to 3.5mm so it dosent break. Have had 2 from samsung in 1 year. And thay are both defect now. Or add it back into the phone so we can charge and use headphones at the same time... 😢
Please do a review of the Apogee groove if you can and as always incredible content, I find it incredible we can have this quality of content for free!!
Excellent video! Please compare these to 3rd party adapters, so that we don't have to buy a phone for the adapter ;-) I purchased a couple of dongles that pass through power and they had absolutely terrible noise floor! Finally I purchased adapters with only headset but listed the frequency range of the chips and it was much better. (unfortunately this means I can't charge . . thanks Apple . . and everyone who copied)
HI Julian! In your opinion, would it make sense to get one of these to mix on low-impedance headphones instead of using an interface with high-impedance HP output (like UR22C)?
I agree with that. But I have no problems to get my DT 1990 Pro loud enough with the Apple lightning dongle if I switch audio normalization off. It is definitely loud enough for my ears and I have reserves. I do not know how loud other people are listening. When I turn the lightning dongle all the way up with my DT 1990, it sounds for me as I would damage my hearing.
I just got my Apple USB-C to 3,5mm adapter. Really quiet when connected to my Google Pixel 6 and Huawei P10 Plus, but it could even drive my HD 600 when connected to my ThinkPads USB-C port.
Nice video Julian. I think the problem with the adapters that you couldn’t get working is that they may be passive, the Apple and Samsung adapters definitely have converters. Cheers, Dave.
The thinner cable used by Apple is significant in its durability. I know it’s not the kind of thing you measure, but I’ve been unpleasantly surprised at how quickly these fail, usually in one ear, when used on short daily hikes. I assume it’s the regular flexing at the pocket or the stress inadvertently put on the cable when putting in or removing from pocket. Now I always buy two at once and fortify the cable between the plugs with gaffer tape. Not pretty but definitely increases usability.
I fully agree! The Apple adapters are flimsy af. Waaay too thin. That's why I plan to buy the Samsung one for my iPad Mini 6. I am okay with using bluetooth speakers on my phone, but certainly not when doing music producing stuff on my iPad. Hence I need an adapter...
Those of Samsung are not any better. I have 2 broken in 1 month time. Its rubbish. I hope to find a brand with a better build quality. But I heard most of them are not working on my a54. I switched to my old phone for listeninng to music, that one has at least a proper 3.5 jack input. I realy dont like how Samsung is going the Apple way.
Amazing video as always. I think this video shows that 'basic' specs don't give the picture anymore. I think you need to up the complexity of your quoted specs and educate your audience further. This would make more sense in general for your more expensive products you review. I want you to do really well and I want you to get great sponsorship. But to get that you need to be able to show why people should pay more for the more expensive kit. Often there is a justifiable reason, you just need to find it. For example. - Intermodulation distortion - Phase delay with frequency - Waterfall - Clock accuracy and stability - RF noise susceptibility - input power - Clipped audio playback behaviour (beyond 0dBfs true peaks). - Power droop with frequency. - energy consumption - Frequency response at different playback levels. My experience is that many of these devices with 'is that real?!' specs have made other compromises which in an AB comparison are instantly audible but hide within the specs.
The oneplus (red) adapter is just a passthrough not a dac. It works very well with their own phones; and, iirc, has much more power to drive the higher impedance headphones.
Nice! I just started googling for new info on this topic so glad you've just made this! I'm using a Google Pixel 3 and since it's been hard to find the Google adapter here in Finland, i've had instead the Apple adapter, but haven't really been able to use it because the volume is not enough even if cranked to full volume with any headphones. But because of your videos(!), i've attained new info on amp/headphones compatibility and thought to try again to find a better suited option. I guess if the Google adapter still isn't available here, i'm gonna try the Samsung one since it looks to give better output to 32ohm (Ollo S4X), but apparently since it varies depending on the audio source, i'm already prepared to return it if/when it doesn't help :).
Ach, saw on Amazon reviews the Samsung one doesn't work nor get recognised as headphones with Pixel 3 and the Google one still isn't available here so i guess that's that - i'll continue using a separate bt receiver or a laptop...
Superb video! Thanks for the research. Always a pleasure to meet a nerd. ❤ Could you also test if volume rockers work? And the audio quality during calls. Sometimes the volume tends to jump around from music to calls. Cheers!
Really helpful video! I found this video searching for a solution to a problem I have with my adapter, I bought a Xiaomi phone and a samsung adapter. It ended up sounding really low, I'll search for the Xiaomi one and test if there's any difference. Thanks for yout video!
Well, you need to mention the price and hence, price performance ratio. In my place, the apple adaptors are selling at USD8 a piece, and the quality is so good. I even use them to drive a powered speaker (then, the not enough output power issue is gone), and compare with other dongles 10x the price, those 'cheap' adaptors are still performing so well.
Tks for this mate. I got tired of the dongle game and just bought some TWS Samsung Galaxy buds pro. The fact Apple castrated their dongles in EU really sucks.
@@dfcx1 Not sure, it's entirely possible the Samsung is running at 1.0 Vrms as opposed to Apple's 0.5 Vrms. Apple is under a microscope by regulators, almost all other companies aren't
The only reason I’m looking at usb c dacs is to connect my old wired skullcandy crusher to my thinkpad p1 and be able to record my voice noiselessly and be able to take calls and record podcasts again without the laptops horrible background hum noise. I can’t afford a usb mic or interfase yet but dacs are pretty cheap. The Samsung unit surprised me, maybe I’ll go for that instead of the Apple. Thanks for the video, I been looking for this info all night!
I should test some of them with my dt880 600ohms on my lg valvet(worn out headphone jack). 🤪 jokes beside does the usb port link to the same dac as the headphone jack on phones?
They all most likely will activate their own chip inside. And yeah the 880-600 just likes to have some serious voltage source which the 3 volt battery doesn't provide.
What’s interesting to me is whether there is any reason, apart from power and higher sample rates, to buy an external DAC. I for example bought an iFi Hip-Dac recently, and I believe all my low impedance headphones sound better with it than the lightning adapter. But is there any reason that would be true, or is it a placebo?
Could be true, depends on the DAC/ codec used. I know that all my digital sources sound different even though they play the same CD into the same DAC via fiber optic cable, some sound almost the same, but two just stand out as very different in tonality. Yeah, could I be crazy or ... Damn, bits should be bits, right.
Love it will be fun to compare them to the more expensive DACs I already have didn't know they were sold by Google and Samsung. They say the Apple dongle doesn't always work on some Android devices. We shall see.
It's an excellent idea to use these as just pure DACs that can be hooked up to a dedicated amplifier as a super budget way to get a totally transparent hifi setup on a PC
The last two are probably passive, and I used to own a OnePlus 6t as a daily so can confirm at least that one is passive, i.e. it uses a DAC built into the phone instead of carrying one inside the cable itself.
Good point, that would also explain why the HTC and OnePlus adapter aren't even recognized when plugged into a PC.
@@JulianKrause now that I also finished watching, it seems fairly well documented online that the Apple dongle purposely puts out less power when used with Android, but for some reason runs at full power with a PC, the latter of which being how I use mine. Awesome reliable and simple DAC solution for most headphones
@@metal571 omg those Assholes. If only I knew about this
Are you sure that the last white one is HTC? I've never seen a white adapter from them and all the ones I've had were digital.
The Essential Phone adapter was the best one (in my experience) I've used and I am sad that I lost mine.
Vielen dank, Julian! I haven’t seen anyone else do such proper measurements and reviews of these gear. 99% are RUclipsrs who read the specs sheets accompanied by loud music and jump cuts. I just wanted to let you know that we really appreciate your content
Warum deutsch?
so true comrade
Exaclty my thoughts.
Dude that's impeccable timing. I was just about to buy a USB-C to 3.5mm adapter and wondering which one to get. Thanks for the help!
Which one did you get?
@@jonahramirezmusic Prob got a pair of bluetooth headphones instead. Smart move. Screw the cable
@@chan13153imagine having to charge Bluetooth headphones. 😮💨
@@chan13153 and he lost about 5 pairs already and spend x5 20$
I hate those adapters😅 wish they just kept the headphonejack
I got one for my PC because it's better quality than the mobo's built in 3.5mm output.
@@dfcx1 which one us best for mic quality?
Agree they should bring back the headphone jack where you don't have to charge the bloody thing
Bought one from samsung, bloody bastard broke in less than a week, its been about 5 days and fucker doesnt wanna work anymore, and its yo be expected, its the shittiest most pitiful cable i have ever seen, I could snap this shit with my fingers.
The Apple ones DAC is able to provide CD quality. As far as I know only the new 14 and 16 in MacBook Pros get to that quality very few other laptop or desktops do that. I have also used the lightening DAC to connect high quality external mics to an iPhone 13 Pro rig set up and it worked brilliantly. For the money it is very good. Same for the USB3 one into my iPad Pro.
Literally hands down the best comparison video on entire youtube!! Words are not enough to thank you
I've been wondering this myself, with so many different generic ones on Amazon. Was looking for comparisons and wonder if they were all the same. Thank you for doing the research for us!
I used your videos as reference before combining headphones with audio cards. I ended up with DT990 PRO 250ohm with Audient ID4 MK2. I am so happy about the end result. Thank you for engineering level details, charts and everything. ❤
Don’t u just hate that the Beyerdynamic DT Siebenhundertsiebzig Pro won’t run well on the Apple ones
😂
Try the 880-600 wouldn't do it either ;)
Gesundheit.
Julian I am a big fan of your videos. Thank you for all the effort you put into making your measurements, I really enjoy them!
Julian, this is what I've been looking for for years! I want to do the review of Apple dongle for quite awhile now and all I lack of is the scientific data to back-up my claim that why the dongle is better than people might think. Big ups to your effort and thank you for your hard work.
Aaaaand Julian Krause strikes again!! Fantastic-useful information as always! 🥳🥳 😄😄
I'm using the Samsung USB-C 3.5 mm adapter with the Galaxy S24 and Samsung EO-IA500 headphones and i'm surprised by the phenomenal sound quality. I've listened to many headphone amplifiers and none of them offered such a pure sound! All sound components are in their place, the instruments have their own space and air. The separation is just phenomenal! Definitely the best DAC i've ever listened to music on, and what's more, it's cheap!
Have it breaked yet??
I have had 2 in a year 😢
Thay should have made one without wire between. So it dont break.. 😢
Hallo Julian, vielen Dank für dieses tolle Video! Ich bin sehr beeindruckt von deiner Vorgehensweise und werde deinen weiteren gerne Content verfolgen. Weiter so!
Actually these adapters do get used with lav mics such as the Rode SmartLav+ or Sennheiser XS Lav Mobile, so maybe a more thorough investigation of their pre-amp and ADC performance could be interesting...
The amount of bias voltage would be interesting since some headset mics don't work too well without enough of it.
I would love a test of this!
@@dfcx1 Yeah, I've seen 1.0V (Interface supplied with Logitech analogue headset) to 4.5V (Rode VXLR+
3.5mm TRS to XLR Adaptor). 1.0V seems a bit low for the JFET amplifier. 7V is probably safe. Android specs say 2.8V max.
Yes, they can get used for ad-hoc podcasts.
Great video. It's pretty random that a lot of entry level audio interface's can't handle that level of accuracy. But I understand that compensates that with a better preamp for inputs. Anyways love your channel and your graphs!
Every time I look for some answers, I just reach for Julian's channel and bam! The answer is right here. Such an excellent details! I'm glad you include the mic tests because I wasn't sure about SNR implied from the chart (high power + low noise floor). The Samsung's noise floor seems to be best but it kinds of changing the sound tone.
Geiles Video Julian, und sehr nice Graphen👍
It's pretty amazing tech wise, but the hassle of these is still a huge shame. I have a s22+ and the Apple one was too quiet so I got Samsung's own, and while it sounds fine after a while it starts increasingly bitcrushing the audio until the phone crashes...I miss the jack ;_;
Lagsung is a bit of a laugh..
I think it could be that Samsung didn’t bother to fix issues with the dongle on newer phones because a lot of people switched to wired buds. Just my guess though.
I used the dongle for 2 years with my iPhone 7, then put it back on the case after getting AirPods, Ive never ever seen someone using the dongle after the iPhone X’s release
Shit i need dongle to record audio with mic
Hi, I wanted to buy one adapter to use with my phone and a laptop which has even worse sound. How much quieter was the apple dongle? I rarely use more than third of the available volume and the terrible user reviews of the samsung unit are off-putting. When exactly does the bitcrushing happen? Does it heat up/run out of memory after some time/get more and more often with age of device or happen completely randomly? Does it do that when connected to pc too ?
@@milithemuffin4534 I have mine set typically around about 2/3 volume but the apple one just sounded very weak on Samsung. Regarding the crashes, I'm starting to believe there's something wrong with my phone as it is crashing about 6x per day since I got it. Was hoping it was something fixed by stability patches but as this isn't common I'll probably have to get warranty help, so wouldn't worry about that. The adapter is pretty good for £9 tbh - unsure how it works on laptops etc tho. Hope that helps
One of the biggest advantages of these dongles, is that the inline remote buttons work on pc too.
I wish companies would do a more clear job of marketing which of these adapters have their own internal dac and which are totally passive.
Great video! Thank you for your AMAZING work Julian! I got a pair of HD600s and thought performance would be terrible on my iPad with the USB-C to 3.5mm dongle. In comparison to my Motu M4 it’s only a little quieter, and there’s no audible distortion. But then I’m using a US dongle, with an M1 iPad that provides plenty of power, so maybe that’s why. Either way, I can’t believe it works so well!
Thanks for doing this particular video!!!!!
Julian thanks for your evaluation 👍
THANK YOU!. I really needed a detailed version of the affects of the usb c 3.5mm audio adapter. Especially needed the recording of the voice test that you did, so Thank you!..
Great video mate. I love the length you’ve gone to to review these adapters 👍🏻
Subscribed 😉
“Don’t worry about it” classic 😂
I listened a lot recently on my Iphone with lightning adapter on a Shure SRH840A and I was pleasantly surprised by the good sound of it. Off course using Spotify isn’t the highest quality, so all in all I think it is the best you can get when you are on the way.
I was in a hotel by the way, so far away from any decent gear I have at home, making this the best you can get and it works well. Thank you for confirming!
Works fine with Beyer DT 900 Pro X headphones too which is very much to Apple’s credit. It is limited to CD quality. I recently imported a very good value and high quality dongle from Amazon in the USA that is USB to phono. That goes to twice CD quality. Ailun I think - ‘DAC Hi-res Chipset 384KHZ/32Bit ,with high quality audio conversion chipset, it can convert Digital Audio Signals to Analog Audio Signals and maintain the original sound quality of your headphones. Sampling Rate up to 384KHZ/32Bit gives you Hi-res sound performance. ‘ for €13 an absolute bargain. Sounds good for the money.
Excellent, and most impressively, objective review as always - just what I have been looking for. However, I do agree with some that you might want to consider doing a deep-dive on the mic-input portion (mic-preamp and ADC stages) of these dongles though, in addition to the DAC and headphone amp portions. I am curious about how the dongle analog mic input can compare to full-fledged audio interfaces. More people are shifting to using portable devices such as smartphones or tablets over computers in their audio production nowadays. Wonder if these dongles can produce quality results for audio production like podcasts.
I have a fake Samsung adapter and the hiss is extremely loud through the mic input. Purchased it over Amazon and was told it's a genuine adapter but I don't believe so. I don't believe any of these will record in stereo either.
Great video JK! I suggest a follow-up that measures the mic input too.
My reasoning is the following: People use their phone for Discord, Zoom, Clubhouse, Tiktok and even RUclips. For recording videos, from say from your phone, you can always use a portable/external recorder and sync in post, but I imagine that sometimes you just want to record as-is but wish to have better audio than the built-in mics.
Also the usb-c/lightning lapel mics are often limited in quality so some people might want to use their regular minijack lapel (or other connectors with an adapter).
I suggest using a well known and good lapel mic like the sennheiser mke2 and maybe one or two others (that requires plugin power), and one or more known dynamic lapel mics. (That don’t require plugin power). Maybe you could also include a normal dynamic mic as well. (Sm58/røde m1 etc)
And also compare their recording quality to say a consumer grade zoom h5, and with a good audio interface (Røde has a xlr/3.5mm phantom power/plugin power adapter). It would be great if you could test with both normal speech and maybe something noisier.
Would also be nice if you could upload the recordings so we could judge by ourselves.
And lastly, please include the Saramonic lightning or usb-c adapter since that is the only one that advertise plugin power combatibility. Maybe a few other adapters on the market might include plugin power without advertising it, so with an mke2 you could actually find that out.
I am about to order the saramonic adapter for my lapel mic and use it to shoot a few videos from my vacation and tbh I think it’s probably good enough for speech, but it would be really interesting if you could include the mic inputs in a follow-up. Cheers
As always, impeccable test and review!
Thanks for taking the time to buy all those different ones 🤙
Dear Julian Krause, DANKE and thank you once again for an another top-class, easy-to-understand video clip. I lift my symbolic hat off every time I watch your videos.
For most people, the Bluetooth connection is enough. If somebody want or need a cable connection because they think it sounds better, then this clip is a really great help.
Exactly my opinion, the manufacturer's parts are usually the better choice. With cheaper goods from far east, you end up paying double, mostly. Although some of the manufacturer's parts don't have a long life either, maybe on purpose. Expensive doesn't have to mean more either.
But what is most important? Every person in the world hears differently!
Keep up the good work. Musical greetings and I say "Servus!" from Bavaria
Great video Julian.
Vielen Dank für den tollen und umfangreichen Vergleich! 🙏
I am using a pixel and using IEMs so I need this! THANK U SO MUCH this channel is such a hidden gem I'm shocked at the production quality ! Subbed!!
About a year back with my pixel 6 I bought an apple usb-c adapter, it absolutely does not drive my M50x, surprisingly. I was curious if it's because of the phone or if it's the dongle. I ended up going for a Fiio BTR5 bluetooth adapter that I am very happy with.
Would you still recommend buying headphone adapters with external DAC for around 80 - 100€? Currently using the dt770pro 32 Ohms with a Samsung device via original Samsung Adapter and wondering if it's worth upgrading. Great video thanks ✌️
Enlightening review! Only USB-C-3.5mm adapter I have is the stock unit that came with the Essential PH-1 phone, unsure of who manufactured it. It still sounds great with various TRRS buds and 32Ω Sennheiser HD-202 headphones on my Pixel 6. But it's really noisy with my 50Ω Fostex RP T-20 (v2) using a 3.5mm to 1/4" adaptor that otherwise works fine with a Cute II headphone amp and the Fostex off other equipment.
Caught you slipping into German when you mentioned the Beyerdynamics DT Siebenhundertsiebzig 😁
Immer wieder interessant! Guter Mann!
Danke dir, echt präzise und hilfreich 👍
Thank you for the data driven comparison.
subscribed. thank you for this. hope the channel grows.
Samsungs and other android phones always resamples audio to around 48kHz... the only way to go around this issue is to use apps like USB Audio Player Pro which allows android to output bit perfect audio.
This video feels like an AI human is talking but it is actually a real person. 😂 Love the diligence you put in your work.
Thank you! This was very useful, and I appreciate the breakdown for audio laypersons. :)
I do a lot of field recording, I am curious about the A/D converter also. Thank you for all the data!
I would love for someone to test the ADCs and mic input - mainly because nobody else is testing this and there are loads of podcasting and video mics that use the 3.5mm format
Podcasting mics are hot garbage. Just by a decent regular mic. The humble sm57 would sound better than 99% of them.
Thank you man, the most useful video on this subject!
I use a US Apple adapter on a cheap Android phone. When I first used the adapter it was not very loud but I read of and can confirm a workaround. Purchase the app USB Audio Player PRO, connect the adapter, start the app, max the app’s hardware volume setting and exit the app. The volume is now higher than before in all other apps. This process needs to be repeated whenever the adapter is reconnected. The standard phone volume control is not and does not need to be maxed after the procedure. The app has its own audio driver which bypasses the standard Android one. Its boosting effect on volume remains when its app volume is max at app exit. I also read that the standard Android audio driver is programmed to reduce the max volume available when an Apple dongle is detected. Perhaps the iPhone been made to do the same to a Google dongle. My phones headphone audio is poor quality. The Apple dongle is very much better and with the app trick l can now comfortably listen to high dynamic range music such as Classical at a medium phone volume setting. The app is a good player too with many other audio features such as avoiding Androids 41 to 48 kHz resampling when appropriate. This is not an app advert.
Recently I got a notebook without a jack that came with Asus MU3C-AD(M) USB-C->3.5jack dongle based on ESS ES9260(Q) SoC/DAC chip. In a quick test it showed to be capable of driving 150 Ohm headphones (Sennheiser and Beyerdynamic) to decent enough levels, no problems with driving 32 Ohm headphones really loud, and it was like more than +115 DNR and less than -100 dB THD+N. I mean, these little things I never took seriously became surprisingly good!
Hai, your review helped me to find a better option, i ended up using samsung usb-c for my 16 oHm headphones works fine
Thank you for the video, it was very helpful!
Great content. Keep doing it hard dude.
$20 NZD for Apple USB C, $50 NZD for headphone amp, $25ish NZD for a raspberry Pi Zero W and accessories And you add some HD600's and you have a really really good playback device (stream and local files). Im a recovering Audiopile, Blind tested it with Some of my audiophile mates. Let's just say they were convinced it was some of the expensive audio gear they thought I still had (sold that stuff many years ago to some sukers). Either the Apple is better with the same IEM's than the dac on my S10 of years back...(was testing only a month ago)
I would love to know if I can record my next album using the mic input. Like you said, the DA output is fantastic, so now I’m curious to know about the AD input.
The audio is fine but the problem I constantly have with the Apple lightning dongle is disconnecting multiple times during a short walk around the block. It drove me to switch to bluetooth IEMs.
I also sometimes need to use it for mic input with video recording and never trust its going to stay connected.
I've been getting Facebook ads for a thing called Bolt by Helm Audio. A high-end version of these dongles. Worth a look?
If you're talking about the Lighting connector version, that sounds like what happens when you have dirt inside the socket and the jack doesn't go all the way in. My mother had a similar issue with the charging cable before I cleaned it up with a toothpick.
Or just but THX Onyx reference dongle
Could you potentially go back to your PC mainboards and test their inputs? There are a lot of people complaining about unusably noisy mic input, and i'm curious how much performance you can get out of line in!
I just received my Amazon order of the LUDOS CLAMOR 2 Pro Wired Earbuds with Microphone for my Galaxy A35...seems to work very well. Cheap at under USD10.
Edit:
I already have the Lenovo thinkplus XT80. The above purchase is a plan B when my XT80 runs out of juice.
1:29 I have a suggestion. The table would be more useful if there are columns somewhere around 60 and 80 ohm instead of 150. HD 280/300 PRO are 64 ohm. DT770 PRO can be 80 ohm. 32 to 150 is a big jump.
wonderful information thanks dude.
This video reminded me of Sheldon Cooper's Fun with Flags :D
And I sincerely mean that as a compliment
Loved the video, it had all that I needed.
¡Has realizado un excelente trabajo!
Why do thay need to use wire between. Why not just make it straight to 3.5mm so it dosent break. Have had 2 from samsung in 1 year. And thay are both defect now.
Or add it back into the phone so we can charge and use headphones at the same time... 😢
Please do a review of the Apogee groove if you can and as always incredible content, I find it incredible we can have this quality of content for free!!
Hell yeah great idea for a video
Excellent video!
Please compare these to 3rd party adapters, so that we don't have to buy a phone for the adapter ;-)
I purchased a couple of dongles that pass through power and they had absolutely terrible noise floor!
Finally I purchased adapters with only headset but listed the frequency range of the chips and it was much better.
(unfortunately this means I can't charge . . thanks Apple . . and everyone who copied)
HI Julian! In your opinion, would it make sense to get one of these to mix on low-impedance headphones instead of using an interface with high-impedance HP output (like UR22C)?
I agree with that. But I have no problems to get my DT 1990 Pro loud enough with the Apple lightning dongle if I switch audio normalization off. It is definitely loud enough for my ears and I have reserves. I do not know how loud other people are listening. When I turn the lightning dongle all the way up with my DT 1990, it sounds for me as I would damage my hearing.
Some people listens quite loud unlike us
Use Kinsound one... The Hi-Res is no Joke.
The Best DAC adapter in my opinion at price
I just got my Apple USB-C to 3,5mm adapter. Really quiet when connected to my Google Pixel 6 and Huawei P10 Plus, but it could even drive my HD 600 when connected to my ThinkPads USB-C port.
Is it quieter than build in 3.5 mm headphone jack of phone?
Nice video Julian. I think the problem with the adapters that you couldn’t get working is that they may be passive, the Apple and Samsung adapters definitely have converters. Cheers, Dave.
Hey David, I think you are right. They weren't even recognized by a PC. Pretty sure they are passive.
@@JulianKrauseyea because the OnePlus phones have a DAC built-in
Super helpful video! Thank you!
thanks for sharing this informative video on audio adapter
Such nice video
Nice intro B-roll lol 😂
The thinner cable used by Apple is significant in its durability. I know it’s not the kind of thing you measure, but I’ve been unpleasantly surprised at how quickly these fail, usually in one ear, when used on short daily hikes. I assume it’s the regular flexing at the pocket or the stress inadvertently put on the cable when putting in or removing from pocket. Now I always buy two at once and fortify the cable between the plugs with gaffer tape. Not pretty but definitely increases usability.
I fully agree! The Apple adapters are flimsy af. Waaay too thin. That's why I plan to buy the Samsung one for my iPad Mini 6. I am okay with using bluetooth speakers on my phone, but certainly not when doing music producing stuff on my iPad. Hence I need an adapter...
Thanks. I needed this info.
Those of Samsung are not any better. I have 2 broken in 1 month time. Its rubbish. I hope to find a brand with a better build quality. But I heard most of them are not working on my a54. I switched to my old phone for listeninng to music, that one has at least a proper 3.5 jack input. I realy dont like how Samsung is going the Apple way.
Thank you so much for your research!
Amazing video as always. I think this video shows that 'basic' specs don't give the picture anymore. I think you need to up the complexity of your quoted specs and educate your audience further. This would make more sense in general for your more expensive products you review. I want you to do really well and I want you to get great sponsorship. But to get that you need to be able to show why people should pay more for the more expensive kit. Often there is a justifiable reason, you just need to find it. For example.
- Intermodulation distortion
- Phase delay with frequency
- Waterfall
- Clock accuracy and stability
- RF noise susceptibility
- input power
- Clipped audio playback behaviour (beyond 0dBfs true peaks).
- Power droop with frequency.
- energy consumption
- Frequency response at different playback levels.
My experience is that many of these devices with 'is that real?!' specs have made other compromises which in an AB comparison are instantly audible but hide within the specs.
The oneplus (red) adapter is just a passthrough not a dac. It works very well with their own phones; and, iirc, has much more power to drive the higher impedance headphones.
Nice! I just started googling for new info on this topic so glad you've just made this! I'm using a Google Pixel 3 and since it's been hard to find the Google adapter here in Finland, i've had instead the Apple adapter, but haven't really been able to use it because the volume is not enough even if cranked to full volume with any headphones. But because of your videos(!), i've attained new info on amp/headphones compatibility and thought to try again to find a better suited option.
I guess if the Google adapter still isn't available here, i'm gonna try the Samsung one since it looks to give better output to 32ohm (Ollo S4X), but apparently since it varies depending on the audio source, i'm already prepared to return it if/when it doesn't help :).
Ach, saw on Amazon reviews the Samsung one doesn't work nor get recognised as headphones with Pixel 3 and the Google one still isn't available here so i guess that's that - i'll continue using a separate bt receiver or a laptop...
hi! how does samsung adapter work? i have pixel 6 and also cant buy in croatia google adapter
@@bizovski See my above reply for Pixel 3, don't know about Pixel 6 unfortunately.
Superb video! Thanks for the research. Always a pleasure to meet a nerd. ❤ Could you also test if volume rockers work? And the audio quality during calls. Sometimes the volume tends to jump around from music to calls. Cheers!
I am Using UGREEN DAC ADAPTER for SAMSUNG A73 , and its working flawlessly.
Really helpful video!
I found this video searching for a solution to a problem I have with my adapter, I bought a Xiaomi phone and a samsung adapter.
It ended up sounding really low, I'll search for the Xiaomi one and test if there's any difference.
Thanks for yout video!
Well, you need to mention the price and hence, price performance ratio. In my place, the apple adaptors are selling at USD8 a piece, and the quality is so good. I even use them to drive a powered speaker (then, the not enough output power issue is gone), and compare with other dongles 10x the price, those 'cheap' adaptors are still performing so well.
Tks for this mate. I got tired of the dongle game and just bought some TWS Samsung Galaxy buds pro.
The fact Apple castrated their dongles in EU really sucks.
Probably a eu regulation ^^
@@TheRazerx7 Yeah correct, EU has a limit on voltage
If it's an EU regulation, why isn't the Samsung dongle similarly gimped?
@@dfcx1 Not sure, it's entirely possible the Samsung is running at 1.0 Vrms as opposed to Apple's 0.5 Vrms. Apple is under a microscope by regulators, almost all other companies aren't
Very helpful. Thank you
The only reason I’m looking at usb c dacs is to connect my old wired skullcandy crusher to my thinkpad p1 and be able to record my voice noiselessly and be able to take calls and record podcasts again without the laptops horrible background hum noise. I can’t afford a usb mic or interfase yet but dacs are pretty cheap. The Samsung unit surprised me, maybe I’ll go for that instead of the Apple. Thanks for the video, I been looking for this info all night!
BRO I am Using Mi 10t 5g Smartphone.....pls suggest me which one is better for me
These adapters can be used as AUX outputs for any audio amplifier with the AUX input.
Thank you so much Julian this video is end game for my dongle search ..i wish you compare OnePlus type c dongle also
I should test some of them with my dt880 600ohms on my lg valvet(worn out headphone jack). 🤪
jokes beside does the usb port link to the same dac as the headphone jack on phones?
They all most likely will activate their own chip inside. And yeah the 880-600 just likes to have some serious voltage source which the 3 volt battery doesn't provide.
What’s interesting to me is whether there is any reason, apart from power and higher sample rates, to buy an external DAC. I for example bought an iFi Hip-Dac recently, and I believe all my low impedance headphones sound better with it than the lightning adapter. But is there any reason that would be true, or is it a placebo?
Could be true, depends on the DAC/ codec used. I know that all my digital sources sound different even though they play the same CD into the same DAC via fiber optic cable, some sound almost the same, but two just stand out as very different in tonality. Yeah, could I be crazy or ... Damn, bits should be bits, right.
Julian, when UAD Apollo or Steinberg AXR4 review?
Love it will be fun to compare them to the more expensive DACs I already have didn't know they were sold by Google and Samsung. They say the Apple dongle doesn't always work on some Android devices. We shall see.
Honestly, I will just buy the other one because it’s cheaper of the three. But the information in this video is great to know
Which would you say is all-around the best for strictly PC use?
Please, always provide a table that ranks and summarizes the presentation. Thanks
in which category would a high quality hifi dongle dac like the AudioQuest DragonFly Cobalt measure different?
Love your content
It's an excellent idea to use these as just pure DACs that can be hooked up to a dedicated amplifier as a super budget way to get a totally transparent hifi setup on a PC