[ProtegeManiac]

   
The only point that can be improved in the usabiliy is to get rid of the USB (OTG) cable between my S3 and my DAC. For headphone use this is not really a problem but for music via loudspeakers you need a long cable across the room.  I've done some experiments with a second android device and  I succeeded in a cordless setup:
 

 
This is the same problem with the iPod DACs being used for speaker systems, especially if you aren't using them in the same room as the home theater where you have a display from which to see and navigate the contents. For speaker systems I'm more inclined to use the Android phone or tablet as a remote, then use a dedicated network music server with a remote app. You can now see your entire library on the Android. The problem is that some of these don't have wireless, or you pay extra for it.
 
If that's too expensive (cheapest network music servers I know are the Cocktail Audio X10 and Aune S1) and you might already have a DAC lying around, there are $100 Android miniPC's that can be configured to run headless. They also have WiFi built in so no cables nor extra fees for wireless antennae, and you might still have USB ports to hook up HDDs. Also you can use an older laptop, then download a non-brand specific remote app. Paid versions can also show you more info so you can navigate your way around the media player on Windows.

 

[robob]

 
i received mi hifimedy u2 but i can't get it to work.
the app uapp tells me that it can't get enaught power. could try with a hub but then it is not portable enought for me :s
does anybody have an idea.
the dac worked with a note 3.

 
Hi,
I have a hifimedy u2 asynchronous. With my ZTE V965 phone, the DAC works but when the battery level reaches about 40% (according to the headphone), UAPP no longer recognizes the DAC.
If I connect only the DAC without headphone, UAPP always recognizes the DAC, but when I plug the headphone, there is an error message : this is a power problem and it depends on the headphone impédance.
With a Micro USB Host OTG Y-Cable (This cable lets you connect your Android device to the DAC at the same time as charging with a charger) there is never problem.

 

[AvroArrow]

  Thanks for the tip, considered doing this in the past but still a bit concernde I will break or brick the thing.

 
Use the Cyanogenmod Installer (http://www.cyanogenmod.org/) , it is super easy to use, assuming you have a Windows PC, I don't think it supports Mac or Linux.  It was actually easier and faster to install Cyanogenmod with their new Installer than it was for me to unlock the bootloader and root my N7-2013 from stock.  The Installer uses a slightly different build of CM11 than the Snapshot builds, but it's easy to flash the Snapshot M6+ after you've already got CM11 on it.  I flashed it to CM11 purely for the USB audio and USB OTG drive auto-mount support. 
 

  You tried the same CM11 M6 on a N5? I am having issues with M6 and JDSlabs C5D... I'll have to make some time to delve into it more.

 
I don't have a Nexus 5, only a Nexus 7 2013 and Galaxy S3 (i747m, stock 4.3 ROM). 

 

[jjacq]

   
I'll keep my fingers crossed that you don't have any issues, but as you mentioned, it doesn't appear to be a big financial hurdle to covering your bases either way. Definitely keep us informed on how you get on . 

 
Hello! Just here to give a progress report in my setup so far. I've gotten a few basic things in but this won't be the final setup I'm going to be using when I'm out and about.

 
What you see pictured is a Galaxy S3 with a CM11 rom connecting a USB OTG cable with a charger split on it and an O2/ODAC powering an LCD-2. I tried using Spotify and Poweramp, both work but they stop and I have to replug again. I'm guessing this may be because the ODAC is drawing too much power but I don't have solid proof of that so I'll follow up once I can get the iBasso into the setup. Using the USB Audio Player Pro app, I wasn't able to get the ODAC detected so no playback happened there whatsoever. The only thing I dislike about this is that I don't see any indication that it's connected or not. Sometimes I hear the connected sound and sometimes I don't. Does anyone know why this is?
 
 
And does anyone know what causes this to stop working after 2-3 minutes of playback?

 

[Pastapipo]

   
Hello! Just here to give a progress report in my setup so far. I've gotten a few basic things in but this won't be the final setup I'm going to be using when I'm out and about.

 
What you see pictured is a Galaxy S3 with a CM11 rom connecting a USB OTG cable with a charger split on it and an O2/ODAC powering an LCD-2. I tried using Spotify and Poweramp, both work but they stop and I have to replug again. I'm guessing this may be because the ODAC is drawing too much power but I don't have solid proof of that so I'll follow up once I can get the iBasso into the setup. Using the USB Audio Player Pro app, I wasn't able to get the ODAC detected so no playback happened there whatsoever. The only thing I dislike about this is that I don't see any indication that it's connected or not. Sometimes I hear the connected sound and sometimes I don't. Does anyone know why this is?
 
 
And does anyone know what causes this to stop working after 2-3 minutes of playback?

 
Dayum, nice rig!

 

[DanBa]

  Thanks for your support
 
The logs with UASPP can be accessed here: https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/13704932/DAC%20logs.zip
 
 
Logs with Native player (no UAPP) https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/13704932/DAC_LOG-no%20UAPP.zip
 
 
Hope I did it right.

 
The Galaxy S4 - Geek Out 450 non-interworking seems due to the non-quite-compliancy of the Geek Out descriptors to the USB specification (Universal Serial Bus Device Class Definition for Audio Devices):
http://goo.gl/pYJbTu
 
For example: Audio Streaming Format Type Descriptor:
bLength:              0x06
bDescriptorType:      0x24
bDescriptorSubtype:   0x02
bFormatType:          0x01
bNrChannels:          0x04
bSubframeSize:        0x20
bBitResolution:       0x07
bSamFreqType:         0x05
tSamFreq[1]:      0x880501 (8914177 Hz)
tSamFreq[2]:      0x080101 (524545 Hz)
tSamFreq[3]:      0x000125 (293 Hz)
tSamFreq[4]:      0x080200 (524800 Hz)
tSamFreq[5]:      0x050700 (329472 Hz)
 
The size bLength of this descriptor should be more than 6 (bytes)!
The USB audio code of the Galaxy S4 is not tolerant and the S4 seems to refuse to connect to the Geek Out due to invalid argument:
 
Logcat 05-16 11:53:07.762 I/usb_audio_hw(283): Open output Card=1 Device=0 rate=44100 period=1024 format=0
Logcat 05-16 11:53:07.762 E/usb_audio_hw(283): pcm_open() failed: cannot set hw params: Invalid argument

 

[DanBa]

 
What you see pictured is a Galaxy S3 with a CM11 rom connecting a USB OTG cable with a charger split on it and an O2/ODAC powering an LCD-2. I tried using Spotify and Poweramp, both work but they stop and I have to replug again. I'm guessing this may be because the ODAC is drawing too much power but I don't have solid proof of that so I'll follow up once I can get the iBasso into the setup.
 

 
There is no problem between an ODAC and a stock Galaxy S3.
The Galaxy S3 can directly supply power to the ODAC for more than 7 hours
http://www.head-fi.org/t/595071/android-phones-and-usb-dacs/315#post_8707637
 
and much more via a battery-powered hub.
http://www.head-fi.org/t/595071/android-phones-and-usb-dacs/4710#post_10544580
 

  Using the USB Audio Player Pro app, I wasn't able to get the ODAC detected so no playback happened there whatsoever.
 

 
USB Audio Player PRO, my favorite music player, running on a stock Galaxy S3 can drive an ODAC.
 
 

   Sometimes I hear the connected sound and sometimes I don't. Does anyone know why this is?
 
And does anyone know what causes this to stop working after 2-3 minutes of playback?
 

 
How about doing a test with a USB OTG adapter cable instead of a USB Y-cable?
http://www.head-fi.org/t/595071/android-phones-and-usb-dacs/4710#post_10544341
 
How about some dmesg / logcat tracing or logging?
It should be easier to match a dmesg / logcat error using the available (?) CM11 source code.
http://www.head-fi.org/t/595071/android-phones-and-usb-dacs/60#post_8428180
http://www.head-fi.org/t/595071/android-phones-and-usb-dacs/1395#post_9069866

 

[jjacq]

   
There is no problem between an ODAC and a stock Galaxy S3.
The Galaxy S3 can directly supply power to the ODAC for more than 7 hours
http://www.head-fi.org/t/595071/android-phones-and-usb-dacs/315#post_8707637
 
and much more via a battery-powered hub.
http://www.head-fi.org/t/595071/android-phones-and-usb-dacs/4710#post_10544580
 
 
USB Audio Player PRO, my favorite music player, running on a stock Galaxy S3 can drive an ODAC.
 
 
 
How about doing a test with a USB OTG adapter cable instead of a USB Y-cable?
http://www.head-fi.org/t/595071/android-phones-and-usb-dacs/4710#post_10544341
 
How about some dmesg / logcat tracing or logging?
It should be easier to match a dmesg / logcat error using the available (?) CM11 source code.
http://www.head-fi.org/t/595071/android-phones-and-usb-dacs/60#post_8428180
http://www.head-fi.org/t/595071/android-phones-and-usb-dacs/1395#post_9069866

Thanks for the info! Can you elaborate on the more part? You mentioned the battery powered hub can supply power to it more. Is it because there's less draining done from the microusb port? I ordered a USB adapter cable but it has yet to come. I will do the logging if other problems persist. I tried a USB thumb drive without the charging cable and USB OTG worked well, it's just the ODAC that's giving me issues. So I'm guessing that the drivers are all right but my cable probably isn't. Will update when I get it....

 

[thebratts]

Question: 
If i connect to the DAC from an Android Phone (xperia z, z1 etc) via USB, is the volume controlled on the phone still?
I've searched the thread but couldn't find this 100% in the thread.
 
Would also a low or high volume out from the android phone matter with regards to sound quality?

 

[DanBa]

When using an external USB DAC, the hardware volume control buttons of a Galaxy S3 / Note3 are still functional with music players interfacing with the Android media player framework like Neutron, Poweramp, BubbleUPnP or BlackPlayer.

 

[DanBa]

 
Thanks for the info! Can you elaborate on the more part? You mentioned the battery powered hub can supply power to it more. Is it because there's less draining done from the microusb port? I ordered a USB adapter cable but it has yet to come. I will do the logging if other problems persist. I tried a USB thumb drive without the charging cable and USB OTG worked well, it's just the ODAC that's giving me issues. So I'm guessing that the drivers are all right but my cable probably isn't. Will update when I get it....

 
USB DAC powered by a battery-powered hub, Galaxy S3's battery level = 10% after 13hrs continuous music playing:
stock Galaxy S3 powered by its own battery with functional WiFi & 3G >> USB OTG adapter cable + regular USB cable provided by the USB hub maker >> self-powered Belkin 4-port USB hub powered by a Veho Pebble battery pack >> regular USB cable provided by the USB DAC maker >> ODAC >> Neco V3 amp >> Alpha Dog headphones
 
The stock Galaxy S3 is not charging when playing music in the previous case.
 
 
When playing music, a stock Galaxy S3 can be charging:
 
. using a USB-Y cable with a given ID resistance value:
http://www.head-fi.org/t/595071/android-phones-and-usb-dacs/2235#post_9403679
http://www.head-fi.org/t/595071/android-phones-and-usb-dacs/2580#post_9598490
 
. using a Qi wireless charging:
http://www.head-fi.org/t/595071/android-phones-and-usb-dacs/3150#post_9841794

 

[Pastapipo]

  When using an external USB DAC, the hardware volume control buttons of a Galaxy S3 / Note3 are still functional with music players interfacing with the Android media player framework like Neutron, Poweramp, BubbleUPnP or BlackPlayer.

 
How about the EQ settings in Poweramp? 

 

[Robgo]

I bought an HTC M8 recently. People were talking about how the audio quality for a phone is excellent and a bar above other phones. I thought maybe I wouldn't need to use a DAC on my phone any longer. 
 
Well, the microstreamer still sounds significantly better than the onboard dac. I guess I will continue to use it. 

 

[NehPets]

If I've interpreted this correctly, you've got your phone connected to your DAC and an external battery pack, via a USB Y-cable, so the battery is charging your phone while your phone is powering the DAC: have you considered powering your DAC from the external battery pack and only using the phone to supply the USB data stream?

 

[ProtegeManiac]

  If I've interpreted this correctly, you've got your phone connected to your DAC and an external battery pack, via a USB Y-cable, so the battery is charging your phone while your phone is powering the DAC: have you considered powering your DAC from the external battery pack and only using the phone to supply the USB data stream?

 
Actually it kind of looks like the pigtail for the power input is wired to the female plug, powering the OTG device (in this case, the DAC). Zoomed in on the photo and I can't see if the phone battery icon has the lightning logo on it to indicate that the phone is charging.