Android phones and USB DACs | Page 77 | Headphone Reviews and Discussion - Head-Fi.org

DanBa · Dec 20, 2012 at 8:58 AM

A dmesg log output should detail what is going on.

DanBa · Dec 20, 2012 at 9:03 AM

i_djoel2000 · Dec 20, 2012 at 9:24 AM

hi again guys..

been skimming through the last few pages of this thread. is it true that all android phone running on stock jelly bean will work with self powered usb DAC?

i'm planning to buy nexus 4 once it's once again available in google store

chrdxn · Dec 20, 2012 at 9:47 AM

Quote:

danba said:
A dmesg log output should detail what is going on.

When I enter

dmesg > /sdcard/f

as a command line, it responds with "operation not permitted". My phone is not rooted, if that makes a difference. I am new to Android, so forgive me if I missed an obvious step.

DanBa · Dec 20, 2012 at 11:32 AM

Weird!
There is no need to root your phone.

How about
. Open the Terminal Emulator and type "dmesg"
. Connect your S3 to the FiiO E07K via a USB OTG cable
. On the Terminal Emulator, click “Enter”
[You should have a lot of messages displayed on the phone screen.]

The ">" character is used to re-direct the standard output from the command "dmesg" to the file called "f " on the directory "sdcard".

Finally, could you please reset the phone before typing the command "dmesg"?

chrdxn · Dec 20, 2012 at 12:38 PM

Quote:

danba said:
Weird!
There is no need to root your phone.

How about
. Open the Terminal Emulator and type "dmesg"
. Connect your S3 to the FiiO E07K via a USB OTG cable
. On the Terminal Emulator, click “Enter”
[You should have a lot of messages displayed on the phone screen.]

The ">" character is used to re-direct the standard output from the command "dmesg" to the file called "f " on the directory "sdcard".

Finally, could you please reset the phone before typing the command "dmesg"?

Rebooted, and did the steps above. Same thing... "operation not permitted".

lee730 · Dec 20, 2012 at 12:42 PM

Did you root your phone? Maybe that could be necessary in your case?

Nirmalanow · Dec 20, 2012 at 1:18 PM

Quote:

i_djoel2000 said:
hi again guys..

been skimming through the last few pages of this thread. is it true that all android phone running on stock jelly bean will work with self powered usb DAC?

i'm planning to buy nexus 4 once it's once again available in google store

Not all phones and some of them only work with USB Audio Recorder Pro app which has limited playback features so far. The developer may be adding features. I would check the list above to see if the Nexus 4 is on there.

dem626 · Dec 20, 2012 at 1:19 PM

I can't run dmesg on my phone either (get operation not permitted error). My phone is an unrooted Samsung Galaxy Note 2 from Verizon.
Doug

chrdxn · Dec 20, 2012 at 1:22 PM

Quote:

dem626 said:
I can't run dmesg on my phone either (get operation not permitted error). My phone is an unrooted Samsung Galaxy Note 2 from Verizon.
Doug

Mine is an unrooted Galaxy S3 from AT&T. Could this be a new limitation of Jelly Bean?

DanBa · Dec 20, 2012 at 2:18 PM

I don’t need to root my European Galaxy S3 for using the command dmesg.
May be, you should root your AT&T S3 for that.

"Why do I get "permission denied" errors when I try to run commands in the terminal?

This message is being printed out by the Android shell. It means one of two things:

It might simply mean that you have misspelled the command name, or are trying to use a command that is not installed on you device. The Android shell will print "permission denied" when it just can't find the command, instead of a more accurate error message like "command not found".

It could mean that the command exists, but you don't have permission to run it. By default the Android Terminal Emulator runs using the permissions of the Android Terminal Emulator application. You may need to become "root" in order to gain permissions to run some commands. You can use the "su" command to do this. Of course, most consumer Android devices don't have root access enabled by default, so you may not be able to use the "su" command on your device."
https://github.com/jackpal/Android-Terminal-Emulator/wiki/Frequently-Asked-Questions

Davy Wentzler · Dec 20, 2012 at 3:39 PM

Quote:

turokrocks said:
@ eXtream, If I played a 16/44.1 file but chose 96/24, will it be up-sampled?...or in this case what really happens?

Thanks

It will play faster, there is no upsampling.

CZ Eddie · Dec 20, 2012 at 4:16 PM

For Galaxy S3 owners with USB-OTG solutions for their car stereo for DACs, here is my review of the CraigsDocks dock with a DIY USB-OTG cable.

http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=35700044#post35700044

Nirmalanow · Dec 20, 2012 at 9:29 PM

I said I would post some impressions of the USB Audio Recorder app once I had listened some more. I happened to have just purchased a set of HE-400 headphones and am really enjoying their clarity and detail. So before my HE 400s arrived, when I was listening with my modded d5000s, I felt the edge went slightly to Neutron music player with the Noozxoide app running. For this I connect my Predator via a mini to mini cable to the headphone out of the Nexus tablet. The Noozxoide makes up for any limits in the sound although the Nexus is no slouch when it comes to SQ and there is a decent DAC in there (I believe it is a Wolfson DAC)

But now with my HE-400s working like a microscope into the music, I must say the USB Audio Recorder has a definite edge. The sound is simply more natural and flows more effortlessly. This makes sense as there is much less processing of the sound. I used a short silver USB cable I have and hooked up to the DAC inside my Predator amp/dac. Compared to going through the headphone out to the mini input of the Predator, there is more detail, transparency and natural tone when listening with my HE400 headphones.

The Neutron and Noozxoide sound great, but there is something organic and pleasing when I switch over to the much cleaner signal path of the USB app. However, the Neutron/Noozxoide sound is so close that it is questionable if it is worth the hassle of loading my songs one at a time into the USB app. I guess I will wait and see what the developer comes up with for making playback easier on his software. I don't need a lot of features in a music player, but the bare minimum would be the ability to load folders and then use shuffle, and to be able to skip a track to the next one if a song comes up on shuffle I don't feel like listening to. Beyond that I can live with bare bones.

I also have not tried rolling any DACs into the equation. I would love to know if the new Dragonfly by Audioquest would run off this app. And of course I will still be watching to see if Google adds USB DAC functionality to Android. Then I might be able to have my cake and eat it too by using external dacs and the Neutron/Noozxoide combo. I did ask the USB app developer and as of now, no other apps can access the DAC through his app. And in the meantime, I can still use the Noozxoide app anytime I do not want to carry an extra amp. For travel I would probably just take the Nexus and my REO iems, and then the Noozxoide would really come in handy.

With the free trial of the USB app and the totally free cost of the Noozxoide app, there is no reason not to at least give these new options a try and see if they work with your equipment and your ears

And if anybody tries this with a Dragonfly, let us know if it works with that device!

DanBa · Dec 21, 2012 at 1:34 AM

Quote:

nirmalanow said:
And if anybody tries this with a Dragonfly, let us know if it works with that device!

http://www.head-fi.org/t/595071/android-phones-and-usb-dacs/1035#post_8959237

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