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I'm a bit confused now... My Pico DAC/amp is Mini-B. Do I have to get a Micro-A to Mini-B cable to make it interoperable with the Galaxy SIII?
One cable or a combination of two cables.
Simply put, A is related to a USB host, and B to a USB peripheral.
"An OTG product (like the Samsung Galaxy S III) is a portable device that uses a single Micro-AB receptacle to operate at times as a USB Targeted Host and at times as a USB peripheral." [page 1]
http://www.usb.org/developers/onthego/USB_OTG_and_EH_2-0.pdf
Samsung Galaxy S III operating as a USB host:
. Samsung Galaxy S III as a USB host (i.e. A-Device) interworks with a standard USB mass storage device operating as a USB peripheral (i.e. B-Device) via a Micro-A to Standard-B USB cable
. Samsung Galaxy S III as a USB host (i.e. A-Device) interworks with a standard USB DAC operating as a USB peripheral (i.e. B-Device) via a Micro-A to Standard-B USB cable if the USB DAC has a Standard-B receptacle, or via a Micro-A to Mini-B USB cable if the USB DAC has a Mini-B receptacle
Samsung Galaxy S III operating as a USB peripheral:
. Samsung Galaxy S III as a USB peripheral (i.e. B-Device) interworks with a PC / Mac operating as a USB host (i.e. A-Device) via a Micro-B to Standard-A USB cable
. Jelly Bean powered Samsung Galaxy S III as a USB peripheral (i.e. B-Device) interworks with a upcoming Android-specific USB DAC operating as a USB host (i.e. A-Device) via a Micro-B to Standard-A / Mini-A / Micro-A USB cable
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A quick search at Wikipedia (
link here) shows that such cable is "non-standard, existing for specific proprietary purposes, and not interoperable with USB-IF compliant equipment".
I’d rather trust these official USB specifications.
"The ID pin on a Micro-A plug shall be connected to the GND pin. The ID pin on a Micro-B plug is not connected or is connected to ground by a resistance of greater than Rb_PLUG_ID (100kΩ MIN). An On-The-Go device is required to be able to detect whether a Micro-A or Micro-B plug is inserted by determining if the ID pin resistance to ground is less than Ra_PLUG_ID (10Ω MAX) or if the resistance to ground is greater than Rb_PLUG_ID . Any ID resistance less than Ra_PLUG_ID shall be treated as ID = FALSE and any resistance greater than Rb_PLUG_ID shall be treated as ID = TRUE." [page 10]
http://193.219.66.80/datasheets/usb_20/Micro-USB_final/Micro-USB_1_01.pdf
If ID = FALSE (i.e. the Micro-A plug is present), the Samsung Galaxy S III decides to operate as a USB host.
If ID = TRUE (i.e. the Micro-B plug is present), the Samsung Galaxy S III decides to operate as a USB peripheral.
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When member akwok said the combo was "plug and play"
here, it didn't sound like he was using a special cable...
He didn’t mention the type of USB cable he used.
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I think this can be done using an OTG cable (Micro-A male to Type-A female) in combination with the DAC cable (Type-A male to Mini-B male)...
However, is there a single cable out there with this function, so that I wouldn't need to combine two different cables?
Yes.
Micro-A to Mini-B USB cable:
http://www.lindy.co.uk/usb-firewire/usb-cables/usb-otg-on-the-go-cables/type-micro-a-to-mini-b-usb-otg/
Micro-A to Standard-B USB cable:
http://www.lindy.fr/cable-usb-micro-a-b-05m/31950.html
Audio equipment manufacturers, like FiiO, will provide these cables.
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We will design a new Mini USB to Macro USB cable with L type connector so it can be easy installed in Galaxy S2 and our E7/E17. Also I think it will be a good place to ask if someone can help us to test it when we have the sample cable. We will send free cable to you , of course, you must have one Android phone which seems to be support OTB/USB host function, an E7 or E17, and have the knowledge to install some special firmware to your Android phone.
http://www.head-fi.org/t/604479/good-news-about-android-phone-supports-digital-audio-output