Android phones and USB DACs

uprightman said:

  Am looking to make the switch to Spotify Premium for home AND travel.  Need help with DAP choice and if any thoughts on DAC/APP please feel free to share
 
Travel Headphones: Sennhesier Amperiors
Home Headphones: HifiMan HE-400
 
Dac/Amp - planning to buy JDSLabs C5D (which I think/hope will cover home and away?)
 
DAP Requirements
 
   - Spotify Premium (with ability to play offline HQ)
   - at least 64 Gb
   - connection to DAC with one simple cord (likely JDS C5D)
   - Bluetooth a plus
   - Size - prefer same size as the JDSLabs C5D, will consider up to 5'' display (want to get it in my front pocket!)
   - I don't need a phone or plan to use for anything else (obviously no problem if phone though)
   - prefer non Apple products!!!
 
Thanks
 
Leaning towards a Samsung Galaxy S III mini GT-I8190 as can get new for ~£100. Any thoughts much appreciated.

Click to expand...

 
I don't know about the mini but based on danba's list the C5D works on the SIII through USB Audio Recording Pro. I guess you can either change the DAC/AMP to one that can drive the HE-400's and have USB support as well. I've used an ODAC + O2 / E12 for my LCD-2's and SIII's for example but I do admit that that makes it very non-portable. I use iems exclusively for my setup with an iBasso D-Zero. It works without any issues and it is latched on with velcro. But yeah, just like you I have an SIII in airplane mode with FLAC/mp3's and Spotify Premium.
 
This post may help: http://www.head-fi.org/t/595071/android-phones-and-usb-dacs/4860#post_10620318
 

uprightman said:

  Am looking to make the switch to Spotify Premium for home AND travel.  Need help with DAP choice and if any thoughts on DAC/APP please feel free to share
   
Thanks
 
Leaning towards a Samsung Galaxy S III mini GT-I8190 as can get new for ~£100. Any thoughts much appreciated.

Click to expand...

 
You might want to double-check, but the last time I checked about a year ago, neither the Galaxy S3 Mini nor the S4 Mini support USB OTG, not electrically nor in the ROM, so even flashing Cyanogenmod won't magically make USB OTG work, at least not without a USB OTG Y-power cable and USB power source, which makes it a wired mess.

neopac said:

  why do you think you need an amp? HTC One sounds nice at it is .
 
Got the M7 and went the "what can i do to max out everything" route, bought a dragonfly 1.2 and UAPP. Did a critical listening with my most-heard-album-atm Oblivion OST Flac via dragonfly/UAPP and then compared it to the same Album on Spotify Premium straight out of the jack -> didn´t recognize any audible quality benefits from the dragonfly-UAPP combo to the android app of spotify ( 4.4.2 CM11 with system headphone eq) using Sennheiser IE80 iems and Ultrasone Pro900---(Ok, the dragonfly got a bigger soundstage on some tracks)
 
I hear the phone amp clipping, going very (much to) loud with (easy to drive) full size cans like to Ultrasone Pro900, that´s where an external amp starts to make sense -> driving power hungry full size cans. Would not hassle with addtional equipment, if you only use iems.
 
don´t know how the M8 is setup regarding built-in EQ ... the stock M7 was pretty bad, because of its pre-installed Beats-EQ-setting. CM11 solved that for me, very nice sounding cellphone in the end.
 
cheers

Click to expand...

 
 
I can hear major differences with my HRT Microstreamer over the stock HTC M8 sound. The stock M8 sound is very flat, cold, and shrill compared the the HRT microstreamer. If you are used to decent audio quality you will definitely notice some downfalls if you listen to the M8 on it's own. I purchased the M8 after the HRT microstreamer, thinking maybe I could use the M8 on it's own for listening to music and get rid of a little bulk/hassle of using a dac but the HRT Microstreamer just sounds way better.

avroarrow said:

   
You might want to double-check, but the last time I checked about a year ago, neither the Galaxy S3 Mini nor the S4 Mini support USB OTG, not electrically nor in the ROM, so even flashing Cyanogenmod won't magically make USB OTG work, at least not without a USB OTG Y-power cable and USB power source, which makes it a wired mess.

Click to expand...

Are you sure? If it doesn't support OTG a Y cable will not make it work.

Latest version of USB Audio Player PRO with preliminary DSD support: 1.1.9
 

 
 
Some free DSD files to be downloaded from 2L:
http://www.2l.no/hires/

FINALLY DSD!!
 
From the latest update of UAPP.
 
Davy, Thank You! Thank You! Thank You!
 
Geek Out 1000 confirming DSD128 courtesy from the album 2L The Nordic Sounds.
 

thebigstick said:

  Does anyone know if there is a way to get the CLAS -r to work with android?

Click to expand...

 
The Cypher Labs AlgoRhythm Solo -R can't work with an Android device, because it can't work with a PC or with an Apple Mac:
http://www.cypherlabs.com/products/algorhythm-solo-r/
 
"The AlgoRhythm Solo -R connects only to Apple iDevices and so does not utilize a PC driver."

m-i-c-k-e-y said:

  FINALLY DSD!!
 
From the latest update of UAPP.
 
Davy, Thank You! Thank You! Thank You!
 
Geek Out 1000 confirming DSD128 courtesy from the album 2L The Nordic Sounds.

Click to expand...

What's the difference between the 1000 and the 450?  Is it the amps output to the phones?  How much amps doe the phone put out through usb?  My ODAC from my S4 doesn't sound the same as if I have it hooked up to my desktop.  I suspect my S4 is the not outputting enough amps to the ODAC.

Yes, 
 
GO 450 outputs 450mW
GO 1000 outputs 1000mW
 
IDK, but its pretty wicked how Note 3 could support the amount of current draw feeding a 1W amp.

Can anybody suggest an inexpensive android phone with OTG support for DACs?
 
I've got a Dragonfly v1.2, a UD110, and a Sabre U2 to choose from and UAPP.
 
I'm using a rooted Nexus 4 with the hells-core kernel, which works fine, but would like something smaller, with a micro SD card so I can have a dedicated stack with my amp.
 
I'll buy refurbed or used also. I've researched a few on the working list, but haven't found a winner.

stand said:

  Are you sure? If it doesn't support OTG a Y cable will not make it work.

Click to expand...

 
What I meant was it won't supply power out the USB port to trigger the attached device.  e.g. If you flash a Nexus 4 or Asus Memo Pad HD 7 (ME173) (which does not have native USB OTG fuctionality in software) with CM11, you will get the software (kernel) USB OTG support, but since it doesn't feed power out the USB port, even if you plug in a USB flash drive it won't do anything.  If however, you use a USB OTG Y-cable with an external USB battery power pack the flash drive will work.  Unlike the Nexus 7 2013, which has no software USB OTG support out of the box (but does have USB OTG hardware support), but once you flash CM11, it works with USB flash drives & DACs (Fiio E07k/E17) with a standard USB OTG cable, Y-power cable not required.  I haven't looked on the Cyanogenmod site lately so I don't know if they have a build for the S3/S4 Minis, but they should work once you flash to a kernel that supports USB OTG and use a USB OTG Y-power cable, but it's also a huge cable mess.
 
If the other user wants a cheap android phone with USB OTG support out of the box, maybe wait for the new 8GB/LTE/microSD Moto G.  Although I think some people reported on here of having clicking or popping issues with their Moto Gs and certain DACs. 

head-hi said:

  Can anybody suggest an inexpensive android phone with OTG support for DACs?
 
 

Click to expand...

 
When I was looking a few months back, I couldn't find anything smaller and less expensive than a Samsung S3, Fortunately, I did manage to get a second-hand one at a good price and the size compliments my E18 well even if I would prefer something smaller.

peridot said:

   
When I was looking a few months back, I couldn't find anything smaller and less expensive than a Samsung S3, Fortunately, I did manage to get a second-hand one at a good price and the size compliments my E18 well even if I would prefer something smaller.

Click to expand...

 
Yeah, secondhand S3s can be had pretty cheap these days. Of course if using UAPP is acceptable then there are likely to be a number of USB OTG capable handsets that could be used, some more cheaply than even a secondhand S3.

http://www.androidpolice.com/2014/06/25/android-l-preview-builds-for-nexus-5-7-2013-go-live-tomorrow-5000-new-apis-including-usb-audio-bt-4-1-burst-photo/
 
Looks like Android 5.0 will have native USB audio!  Probably not overcome the 16 bit limitation (thus, still requiring UAPP for 24 bit playback), but if true, it will be nice to have all kinds of options for ROMS, notably including stock.

head-hi said:

  Can anybody suggest an inexpensive android phone with OTG support for DACs?
 
I've got a Dragonfly v1.2, a UD110, and a Sabre U2 to choose from and UAPP.
 
I'm using a rooted Nexus 4 with the hells-core kernel, which works fine, but would like something smaller, with a micro SD card so I can have a dedicated stack with my amp.
 
I'll buy refurbed or used also. I've researched a few on the working list, but haven't found a winner.

Click to expand...

 
 
Moto G works. No micro sd though. Maybe a Used Xperia Z1.