[Toe Tag]

   
I agree with another poster, that you can't say one manufacturer is better about it.  Phones even varied by version, like when I had a Verizon Samsung Galaxy note 2, I still don't know anyone getting USB Audio without UARP from that specific model, that device really drove me nuts.
 
CM 11 = Android 4.4.  It is still unofficial and you should keep that in mind. If you are already rooted and bootloader unlocked on your devices and want to experiment, go ahead, and while I've had no problems with CM11 on Nexus 5, I can't speak to other devices and for any device they are not technically stable, although I am finding them quite stable.
 
If you don't know what you are doing, I wouldn't suggest rooting/unlocking and slapping on these custom roms/kernels at this point.  If you are in that boat, wait for official CM11.

So, if I told you I would give you an Android smartphone/tablet at random, and let you choose if you wanted one sold by Google or by Samsung, you see no difference as far as USB OTG support? I can't agree. Samsung seems to get it, their top selling S3 S3 Note2 Note 3 all support it OOTB. Google, their 2013 lineup of Nexus 7 and Nexus 5, nope, nada, zilch, nothing.
 
I do agree with your advice now about, wait several months on CM11. And frankly on the Notes CM may never get it to 100%. Maybe this is Google's secret master plan. Let CM do the USB OTG work, just make everyone wait...

 

[TrancerSte]

USB audio support is only part of the story, though. If you asked me if I wanted a Samsung [insert model] "out of the box" with their backwards TouchWiz launcher and obscene amounts of non-removable crapware, vs a stock Google Nexus 5 it'd be a very easy call for me.
 
Root and CyanogenMod / AOKP is essential for me to make an Android device really usable. If that breaks USB audio on most Samsung devices then the fact that they may have supported it out of the box means nothing to me.
 
Also numerous people have reported that taking official OTA Android updates from Samsung (4.1.2 to 4.2.1 etc) has broken / fixed / rearranged USB audio support. So the claim that Samsung "gets it" and is intentionally working to support USB audio on their devices is a bit dubious imo.
 
Woo, I just flashed this on my Nexus 7 (2012): http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2546065&page=10
 
My E07K now works, although it has to be plugged in at boot and an unplug causes sound to stop working altogether until I reboot again. I think this is the same crack as the Nexus 5 currently.
 
I'm damn tempted to flash a 4.4 ROM on my One XL now and see if it works with that too, although I think they're all still too unstable for daily use at the moment.

 

[SV_huMMer]

  DanBa, I don't understand why you have separate sections on your list for
DACs that work with Note 2
DACs that work with Note 3
DACs that work with S 3 
DACs that work with S4
 
Isn't it the case that if a DAC is with the USB OTG program, that it 99% should work across all those phones. Are there really many or any cases of "this DAC works with the Note 2 but not with the S4"? 
 
 

 
No, unfortunately, it is not. Partly because this is not a standartized Android functionality, partly because, unlike Apple, Android devices are all over the place in terms of functions, partly because the devices you list are from different generations.

 

[xp9433]

"Does an SD Card for the Galaxy Note 3 have to be formatted "fat32" to work with the Fiio E18 (or other external DAC/Amps)?"  
No.

Thanks NZtechfreak. Waiting for the E18.

 

[DanBa]

 
Looking past that to the gist of what you're saying, it could be more user friendly, I agree. With that in mind, a few thoughts come up DanBa: perhaps maintaining the list off-site in a Google doc or something and merely posting new information here and linking to the full list? That might even make it a bit less work for you? 
 

 

 
Also, you could put the data into a shared publicly accessible document on Google Drive. Also what I've seen here is people put the information in the first post, then re-edit the first post, rather than post a giant new post every 5 pages. 
 
Anyway, your call, its great what you do.
 

 
A list of stock Android-powered devices reportedly interworking with standard USB DAC:
stock Android device > digital USB audio out >> standard USB DAC >> amp >> headphones
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B3XYy1FuzDUecWx6Vmt0NlhUM1U/edit?usp=sharing
 
A list of standard USB DAC reportedly interworking with the Android-powered smartphone Samsung Galaxy S3:
stock Samsung Galaxy S3 > digital USB audio out >> USB OTG cable (ID pin grounded) >> standard USB DAC >> amp >> headphones
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B3XYy1FuzDUeSktfU1ZrLW1teFU/edit?usp=sharing
 
A list of standard USB DAC reportedly interworking with the Android-powered smartphone Samsung Galaxy Note2:
stock Galaxy Note2 > digital USB audio out >> USB OTG cable (ID pin grounded) >> standard USB DAC >> amp >> headphones
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B3XYy1FuzDUeLWo0R2hzM0FBek0/edit?usp=sharing
 
A list of standard USB DAC reportedly interworking with the Android-powered smartphone Samung Galaxy S4:
stock Samsung Galaxy S4 > digital USB audio out >> USB OTG cable (ID pin grounded) >> standard USB DAC >> amp >> headphones
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B3XYy1FuzDUeRHQwMjBJQ0VqSjg/edit?usp=sharing
 
A list of standard USB DAC reportedly interworking with the Android-powered smartphone Samsung Galaxy Note3:
stock Samsung Galaxy Note3 > digital USB audio out >> USB OTG cable (ID pin grounded) >> standard USB DAC >> amp >> headphones
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B3XYy1FuzDUeQmhCNnRjZ1ZzRlU/edit?usp=sharing
 
A list of standard USB DAC reportedly non-interworking with the Android-powered smartphone Samsung Galaxy S3 / Note2 / S4 / Note3 using USB Audio Recorder PRO:
stock Samsung Galaxy S3 / Note2 / S4 / Note3 using USB Audio Recorder PRO > digital USB audio out >> USB OTG cable (ID pin grounded) >> standard USB DAC >> amp >> headphones
None, for the time being, as far as I know.

 

[Toe Tag]

This is awesome DanBa. One thing, you have to adjust the sharing settings to say "public" and "can't edit".
https://support.google.com/drive/answer/2494886?hl=en It should be live for everyone once you activate that.

 

[AvroArrow]

My friend just got a new Telus Moto G after losing his old phone and I was curious if it had USB OTG support so I got to try it out and it does have USB OTG support in stock form.  It can only read FAT32 USB sticks, not exFAT nor NTFS.  I happened to have my Fiio E17 with me so I got to try that out too.
 
Motorola Moto G 8GB (stock unrooted Android 4.3)
Fiio E17: WORKS with google music player
 
The only drawback to that phone is the dismal amount of non-expandable storage (5.5GB free and NO microSD slot) so he can't really use that as a primary DAP for high rez FLACs, but it does work with a USB DAC.

 

[NZtechfreak]

 
The only drawback to that phone is the dismal amount of non-expandable storage (5.5GB free and NO microSD slot) so he can't really use that as a primary DAP for high rez FLACs, but it does work with a USB DAC.

 
Wow, pretty cool that a budget phone can be used as a transport, even if storage is limited.
 
Still could use something like the Wireless Plus from Seagate or similar solutions from the likes of Sandisk with that phone via Bubble UPnP, so no reason he can't be rolling with a terabyte of FLAC if he really wants too

 

[DanBa]

  Just tried UARP with Audioengine D3 and it worked! However, I only have one flac file on my phone with the rest MP3. Also it was obviously not a music player app, as turning off the screen stopped the playback...

 
I used to listen music on my Galaxy S3 / Note3 + ODAC using USB Audio Recorder PRO in shuffle mode while reading ebook.
http://www.head-fi.org/t/595071/android-phones-and-usb-dacs/3105#post_9802394
 
1. USB Audio Recorder PRO in shuffle mode
2. Click on the Home key
3. Launch eReader app, or launch any other app, or screen timeout

 

[devhen]

With the 4.4 update my Nexus 7 2013 now works with my iBasso D-Zero. The light now comes on and UARP works great. However, audio from other apps still plays through the speaker instead of the DAC even though it seems to recognize it (it even pauses the music if you disconnect the DAC, similar to what happens when you unplug your headphones).
 
Any news on when/if apps like Google Music and Spotify will support streaming to a USB DAC on the Nexus 7?

 

[SV_huMMer]

DanBa, thanks for repackaging the summary posts - in addition to being more convenient, it now does not crash Tapatalk HD on iPad, which used to crash every time the last page contained your useful, but superlong compilation post!


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

 

[bhazard]

  With the 4.4 update my Nexus 7 2013 now works with my iBasso D-Zero. The light now comes on and UARP works great. However, audio from other apps still plays through the speaker instead of the DAC even though it seems to recognize it (it even pauses the music if you disconnect the DAC, similar to what happens when you unplug your headphones).
 
Any news on when/if apps like Google Music and Spotify will support streaming to a USB DAC on the Nexus 7?

Cyanogenmod 11 will most likely enable it.

 

[Toe Tag]

The fact that UARP works on the Nexus 7 indicates that it does have proper hardware for USB OTG (but regrettably Google did not take advantage of it in 4.3 or 4.4 shipped for it, in fact I wonder if they've every shipped an OS with proper USB OTG build in for any of their devices.). UARP however only works in its own private Idaho, and does not (and cannot) put the USB OTG access into the OS where every other app can use it. This requires an OS level change, possible in a CM flash. That said, Google Music and Spotify, while convenient, I'm pretty sure they're not lossless data. Though still worth getting those samples away from the internal DAC/amp.

 

[imeem]

  We should put pressure on Google, and therefore on the Android device manufacturers.

 
problem is that the general consumers don't even know what is USB OTG and what it can do for them. 

 

[James1776]

The real problem is in Google caring vastly more what the carriers desire than what the users want.