Dongle sound quality.

[Mike Dee]

It doesn't look that way. My Moto pass-through adapter is dead on my PH-1 so it's safe to say that Essential, Google and HTC aren't using the SoC DAC except to output to the internal speaker(s).

That's right I forgot about that one

 

[xplod566]

I think it sounds better than the G6, so far at least.

Absolutely impossible.I would dance naked near the LG headquarters if so.
The G6 has got some crazy HiFi quad dac 32bit and there is no competition for it currently

 

[xplod566]

Btw if we attach the HTC or pixel dongle to the Xperia xz premium will it still work fROM the Usb c port ?

 

[Mike Dee]

Absolutely impossible.I would dance naked near the LG headquarters if so.
The G6 has got some crazy HiFi quad dac 32bit and there is no competition for it currently

Not all G6 units have the DAC

 

[modifier]

Btw if we attach the HTC or pixel dongle to the Xperia xz premium will it still work fROM the Usb c port ?

Yes, it should.

 

[xplod566]

Yes, it should.

And it completely bypasses the inbuilt Sd835 soc?

 

[modifier]

And it completely bypasses the inbuilt Sd835 soc?

Correct. That's how it works on HTC, Google and Essential devices. The 835 SoC DAC is only used for the internal speaker(s).

 

[xplod566]

Correct. That's how it works on HTC, Google and Essential devices. The 835 SoC DAC is only used for the internal speaker(s).

Oh man u got no idea how much their soc sucks(dac)

 

[Chex313]

I do not own any hi quality earbuds..but that dongle has improved the sound dramatically in the cheap ones I do have.

 

[modifier]

Oh man u got no idea how much their soc sucks(dac)

LOL... I have a clue.

 

[LeoRex]

The G6 has got some crazy HiFi quad dac 32bit and there is no competition for it currently

At least here in the US, the G6 didn't get the quad DAC... Only the V30 has it.

The DAC Google stuffed in that dongle may not match the one LG is using but, if the testing that I've seen is sound, it's really not that far off either.

 

[sunrat39]

At least here in the US, the G6 didn't get the quad DAC... Only the V30 has it.

The DAC Google stuffed in that dongle may not match the one LG is using but, if the testing that I've seen is sound, it's really not that far off either.

Hmmm. I have a V20 now and I'm looking to upgrade. I don't know about the V30 because LG has burned me with updates on this phone plus the horrible image retention that comes with this screen.

I'm looking at the pixel 2 since it has a great camera, timely updates, front speakers, etc...

However, I was hesitant due to audio quality through headphones. If it's somewhat close to the V series then I think this will push me towards to getting the pixel 2.

 

[Mike Dee]

At least here in the US, the G6 didn't get the quad DAC... Only the V30 has it.

The DAC Google stuffed in that dongle may not match the one LG is using but, if the testing that I've seen is sound, it's really not that far off either.

I should be getting mine Tuesday and will let you. My guess is even if the sound quality is good on the Pixel it won't have as much output.

 

[e30ernest]

Yes, it should.

I've heard somewhere the HTC's dongle was proprietary so it won't output sound on other devices. Google's and Essential's however uses the USB-C standard so those will work in other devices.

I think it was mentioned in this video too:

https://youtu.be/9Pi_SykMCsI

 

[LeoRex]

I've heard somewhere the HTC's dongle was proprietary so it won't output sound on other devices. Google's and Essential's however uses the USB-C standard so those will work in other devices.

I think it was mentioned in this video too:

https://youtu.be/9Pi_SykMCsI

JCB laying it down. I'm glad he put that out there, because that's really what Google's after in a lot of the choices they make in their line. They want to move things forward.

Many many years ago, when my desire for toys was matched by my disposal income, I had quite the audio setup in my car.. and a lesson learned early on was to avoid head units that didn't have unamplified outputs. You were not doing that expensive amp in your trunk any favors by sending it a dirty signal boosted by a much lower quality amp buried in the bowels of the head unit.

The same lesson can be applied here. If premium headphone OEMs provided us with USB-C headphones with high quality DACs and amps built in, excellent quality audio can be had from any device that supported them. No gnashing of teeth over poor built in DACs, no lamenting the fact that your preferred brand choose to not include trick audio circuitry for the model coming to your region. Pick up a good pair of USB-C cans and enjoy your music as equally on a $100 value phone as you would on a $800 flagship.

 

[vzwuser76]

Big players are pushing for adoption of the USB-C audio adoption. And when I say big, I'm talking about Intel, Google, Apple... Pretty big players.

If you try to use a pair of headphones that only have a USB-C connector but no DAC, you will be rewarded with silence. Which, I admit, can be relaxing at times. The bottom line is that the Pixel 2s do not output analog audio.

But the good news is that with such big players pushing adoption it shouldn't be too long before we see more choices in headphones that comply with the standard.

In the meantime my IEMs sound pretty good using the dongle.

That's great that those smartphone OEMs are pushing USB-C audio, but until some decent audio companies start putting out products that make use of it, we're stick with the crappy ones currently on sale on Amazon. The only ones I've seen from a reputable company are the ones from JBL for one of the HTC phones. But now that some are saying that the HTC dongle doesn't work the same way as the Google dongle does, it makes me wonder if those JBLs would work properly.

I guess I'm just wondering when we're going to see unit from Klipsch, Sennheiser, and the like. Most of the ones currently on Amazon don't have very good ratings for quality sound, hardware, or reliability. There are some decent ones for Apple's lightning audio of course.

 

[e30ernest]

Personally, I wouldn't mind if none of the reputable audio companies go and build USB-C earphones so long as good dongles like the one on the Pixel 2 exist.

For the past several years I've been using a separate DAC for my audio needs since most smartphones did not output good sound to begin with. It's a bit ironic that a phone that deleted the headphone jack might be the first one I use as an audio device again.

 

[LeoRex]

For the past several years I've been using a separate DAC for my audio needs since most smartphones did not output good sound to begin with. It's a bit ironic that a phone that deleted the headphone jack might be the first one I use as an audio device again.

Right! I've read a lot about people hating having to live 'the dongle life', but people out there like you have been dealing with this for a while now, often with gear larger than an inline adapter like the one here.

So would you all protest if high end headphone companies Bryan selling a wide range of digital units that included top notch DACs built in? Or even modular designs that you can custom pick?

Our problem is one of timing. We are in a transition phase, so the will be growing pains. But the sooner we move on, the sooner everyone benefits.

 

[Large Hadron]

I've heard somewhere the HTC's dongle was proprietary so it won't output sound on other devices. Google's and Essential's however uses the USB-C standard so those will work in other devices.

I think it was mentioned in this video too:

https://youtu.be/9Pi_SykMCsI

I'm afraid you've been given incorrect information. The HTC dongle works fine with the Pixel 2. I'd personally say that it has a more musical presentation than the one Google supply, certainly when listening with my over-ear Senns. I bought a second HTC dongle and keep one with each of my headphones, with the Google dongle being relegated to backup.

I suspect that this confusion came from either the proprietary "U-Sonic" tech in HTC's headphones, which will only work with HTC, or the fact that the HTC dongle won't work with Motorola phones, who were the only others using the USB-C socket for audio output when HTC released theirs (but, as has been established in this thread, Motorola do not use the USB-C digital audio standard, so the dongle not working with Motos doesn't tell us whether it will work with others).

 

[wyelkins]

Dongle works OK for me. Bluetooth Good too. But I don't claim to be an audiophile.