[DanBa]

32-bit/384kHz M2Tech hiFace DAC & Galaxy Note II:
http://www.whathifi.com/blog/m2tech-hiface-dac-hands-on-review
http://www.alpha-audio.nl/2013/05/review-m2tech-hiface-dac/
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10151579277217712&set=a.385608472711.168535.145626052711&type=1&theater
 
Galaxy Note II using USB Audio Recorder PRO > digital USB audio out >> USB OTG cable adapter >> hiFace DAC
 
 

 

 
 
High resolution sound on an Android Tablet? Yes we can!
http://m2techsrl.blogspot.fr/2013/06/high-resolution-sound-on-android-tablet.html
 
"We recently did some experiments with an Asus Nexus 7 tablet using Android and some of M2Tech products. Thanks to an app called USB Audio Recorder Pro which, as the name suggests, is mainly a recorder but also offers some playback features, our engineer Pietro succeeded in playing back 192kHz tracks via both the hiFace Two and the hiFace DAC.
 
But what's more interesting is that, once a Joplin ADC was connected to the tablet, he was able to record up to 384kHz! This give more than a chance to people who want to make highest quality field recordings during concert or sessions: they only need a small and cheap tablet, a Joplin and a pair of microphones with a cheap phantom supply unit (ande, hopefully, a hiFace DAC to monitor the recording). Thanks to the excess gain available on the Joplin, no real mike preamp is necessary.
 
The special point is that no USB Audio Class 2.0 compliant driver was available on the tablet: the experiment succeeded thanks to a feature of the app: it includes a user space driver emulator, that is a piece of software which exclusively interfaces to the audio peripheral (this means that no other app can use this feature to in turn access the peripheral) without any need for kernel recompiling. This means that every tablet running Android 2.2, provided with a 2.0 USB port, can use hiFace Two, hiFace DAC and Joplin.
 
The app can be found on www.audio-evolution.com. It's not free, but I think that 5.49€ may be worth the pain (I have no interest in the company selling the product, nor am I paid to advertise the product)."

 

[hidaven]

Question, can I use a cable to go from my usb micro port on my galaxy s4 to either a dac or maybe usb micro to RCA plugs? I don't want to connect from my amplified headphone jack........also I see a lot of external Dax's or amps with full size USB ports is there a USB micro to reg. USB port? I'm just looking for a way to use my s4 as a digital player. Lastly, is the s4 using the internal dac if its coming out the USB micro port? I don't want to double dac.....lol

Thanks so much!

Dave

 

[hidaven]

Question, can I use a cable to go from my usb micro port on my galaxy s4 to either a dac or maybe usb micro to RCA plugs? I don't want to connect from my amplified headphone jack........also I see a lot of external Dax's or amps with full size USB ports is there a USB micro to reg. USB port? I'm just looking for a way to use my s4 as a digital player. Lastly, is the s4 using the internal dac if its coming out the USB micro port? I don't want to double dac.....lol

Thanks so much!

Dave

 

[SV_huMMer]

Question, can I use a cable to go from my usb micro port on my galaxy s4 to either a dac or maybe usb micro to RCA plugs? I don't want to connect from my amplified headphone jack........also I see a lot of external Dax's or amps with full size USB ports is there a USB micro to reg. USB port? I'm just looking for a way to use my s4 as a digital player. Lastly, is the s4 using the internal dac if its coming out the USB micro port? I don't want to double dac.....lol

Thanks so much!

Dave

Los of questions

1) Yes, you can connect S4 to an external DAC via USB OTG adapter. The list of DACs reported to work with S4 is in this thread.
2) No, there is no such thing as USB to RCA cable. If by RCA you mean stereo signal from 2 RCA connectors typically found in component interconnects, then it's analog signal. USB is a digital port. If by RCA you mean single-RCA digital SPDIF signal, then it could be sourced from the phone's micro USB port, but you'll need an active converter, not just a cable.

3) If you use USB OTG, the transmitted signal will be purely digital, bypassing the phone's onboard DAC, so no, you will not double dac!
4) A USB OTG cable is a specially wired cable, it is not just a "micro usb to something" piece of wire! The typical USB OTG cable is micro USB male to USB female:

You then connect your usb device to this female connector, using whatever appropriate simple cable.

If you want to avoid this extra connection, then you need to DIY a custom OTG cable.

 

[jared basshead]

In a way absolute off-topic BUT:
Are there any other operating systems than Android (>4.1) that supports usb dac/amp?
Fanx
 

Ok, here comes the smolder,
nokia C6_01 connected to E7 works fine. Nokia proprietary symbian belle OS (default player).
I was shocked when I found out, as I was 100% sure that it wont work but it did while unfortunately flash drives doesn't. So I guess any s^3+ with otg support will work with fiio e7.


Sent from my C5302 using Tapatalk 4 Beta

 

[drSeehas]

Quote:

... nokia C6_01 connected to E7 works fine. Nokia proprietary symbian belle OS (default player).
I was shocked when I found out, as I was 100% sure that it wont work but it did while unfortunately flash drives doesn't. So I guess any s^3+ with otg support will work with fiio e7...

Very interesting!
My neighbor has a Nokia E6-00. I will try to get access to it. But I have only a FiiO E07K.

 

 

[hidaven]

Ahhhhhh, thanks so much!

1. Where does one get this micro to USB female mini cable?

2. I'm assuming that the extra cables or digital source (ipod, computer, s4, quality etc)don't degrade the sound quality before the DAC and its the dac to headphones that matters most?

3. For amps with a mini usb, I would need a micro to mini "b" plug I.e. fiio e17 then right?

Thanks so much in advance.......wish this was all plug and play. : )

Los of questions

1) Yes, you can connect S4 to an external DAC via USB OTG adapter. The list of DACs reported to work with S4 is in this thread.
2) No, there is no such thing as USB to RCA cable. If by RCA you mean stereo signal from 2 RCA connectors typically found in component interconnects, then it's analog signal. USB is a digital port. If by RCA you mean single-RCA digital SPDIF signal, then it could be sourced from the phone's micro USB port, but you'll need an active converter, not just a cable.

3) If you use USB OTG, the transmitted signal will be purely digital, bypassing the phone's onboard DAC, so no, you will not double dac!
4) A USB OTG cable is a specially wired cable, it is not just a "micro usb to something" piece of wire! The typical USB OTG cable is micro USB male to USB female:

You then connect your usb device to this female connector, using whatever appropriate simple cable.

If you want to avoid this extra connection, then you need to DIY a custom OTG cable.

 

[matbhuvi]

NuForce has released Icon DAC for Android based devices.
 
 
Quote:

Icon DAC is a newly designed DAC with very high power headphone amp and supports Android*, PC and Mac. The appearance might be similar to Icon HDP but they are two very different products.
 
The innovative NuForce Icon DAC delivers the latest mobile device connectivity by supporting USB Audio for Android (4.1 and beyond with OTG), Mac and PC (with advanced PCM and DSD), a high-power headphone amplifier, a linear volume control and genuine audiophile construction throughout.
 
With the advent of Smartphones and their enormous storage capabilities, a great many audio enthusiasts have been longing for a quality DAC/headphone amp they can simply plug into in order to experience their favorite music delivered with vivid clarity.
 
The Icon DAC stands as the ideal solution for mobile music listeners seeking audiophile-grade performance. This versatile device features a USB input compatible with typical Windows or Mac computer-based setups, as well as Android 4.1.1* (with optional OTG cable). In addition, employed simply as a headphone amp or preamp the Icon DAC provides a secondary analog input for stereo signals from most home-audio and mobile sources.

 
 

 ​

 

[ZeNmAc]

Quote:

NuForce has released Icon DAC for Android based devices.
 
 
 
 

 ​

Nice, but there's no dimensions?  Seems like that would be VERY important especially if it was used with a phone.

 

[imeem]

Quote:

NuForce has released Icon DAC for Android based devices.
 
 
 
 

 ​

https://www.nuforce.com/index.php?option=com_k2&view=item&layout=item&id=666&Itemid=2668#specifications
 
 

*Android compatibility is limited to smart phones running Android 4.1.1 that enables support for USB OTG Audio features.

does that mean that even if the phone supports USB OTG, the dac will not work if the phone does not usb audio out? Or is it saying that the dac will come with usb drivers for android to make it work? 

 

[QldKev]

I've got Samsung Galaxy SII >> usb OTG >> usb cable >> Fiio E17 >> headphones.
 
Ho do I get it to send the music out via the usb post?

 

[DanBa]

"I've tested UAE Tiny with the following devices: Samsung Galaxy S2 (JB 4.1.2) : Doesn't work with default audio player, only through USB Audio Recorder app" [Earfonia]:
http://www.head-fi.org/t/595071/android-phones-and-usb-dacs/2790#post_9677393
 
Galaxy S2 running Jelly Bean 4.1.2 using USB Audio Recorder PRO >> USB OTG cable >> HiFiMeDIY Sabre Tiny USB DAC

 

[DanBa]

Quote:

https://www.nuforce.com/index.php?option=com_k2&view=item&layout=item&id=666&Itemid=2668#specifications
 
 
does that mean that even if the phone supports USB OTG, the dac will not work if the phone does not usb audio out? Or is it saying that the dac will come with usb drivers for android to make it work? 

 
As USB is a master-slave communication bus [master = computer = USB host, slave = peripheral = USB peripheral], the USB OTG feature allows a native peripheral like Android phone to switch to USB host mode so that it can interact with a USB peripheral like USB DAC.
 
Appropriate software program of the host is needed to drive the peripheral.
 
USB Device Class Definition for Audio Devices specification details the common operation of standard USB DAC peripherals so that a "USB Device Class Definition for Audio Devices"-compliant or USB Audio-compliant software program, like USB Audio Recorder PRO at the user space or USB Audio Driver for ALSA at the kernel space, can drive USB Device Class Definition for Audio Devices or standard USB DACs without special drivers.
 
 

 

 

[jared basshead]

Quote:

... nokia C6_01 connected to E7 works fine. Nokia proprietary symbian belle OS (default player).
I was shocked when I found out, as I was 100% sure that it wont work but it did while unfortunately flash drives doesn't. So I guess any s^3+ with otg support will work with fiio e7...

Very interesting!
My neighbor has a Nokia E6-00. I will try to get access to it. But I have only a FiiO E07K.

 

E6 supports otg, so curious too. Do report when you find out. I think it may not work with E07, but might as well try rather stay in dark. This is all getting interesting.
Good luck

Sent from my C5302 using Tapatalk 4 Beta

 

[SV_huMMer]

Ahhhhhh, thanks so much!

1. Where does one get this micro to USB female mini cable?

2. I'm assuming that the extra cables or digital source (ipod, computer, s4, quality etc)don't degrade the sound quality before the DAC and its the dac to headphones that matters most?

3. For amps with a mini usb, I would need a micro to mini "b" plug I.e. fiio e17 then right?

Thanks so much in advance.......wish this was all plug and play. : )

Hi there!

1) There are tons of such cables on Amazon. Just search for USB OTG.
2) Taking the risk of being shot down immediartely by audiophile snipers here ))), I would however dare to say that there's no way you'd be able to hear any difference because of extra cables in a portable set up So the answer is no, the extra cables and connectors will not affect SQ to any audible extent (provided, of course, that cables are not broken or anything).

However, if your phone is connected to a network (cellular or wifi), chances are you'd get unwanted noise, beeps and hum because of the radio frequency interference being somehow caught by USB cables as "antennas". My solution was to get a separate cheaper phone to use it as digital transport only. It has no sim card, and is always in "Airplane Mode". No hum so far. Please note that your mileage may vary.

3) No, this is trickier than that A simple micro usb to mini usb cable will not do the trick, because it will not have a special wiring (4 and 5 pins shortened at the micro USB end) to trigger OTG mode of the phone. There are custom-made USB OTG micro to mini cables, but so far I've seen only one vendor making them and selling them on amazon: Lindy Cables, http://www.lindy-usa.com/usb-otg-cable-black-type-31717.html. They are specially made to trigger OTG mode on portable devices. I have no information about their compatibility with SGS4 and/or your equipment. Haven't tried them.