See the Samsung Galaxy S4 Active for the first time

NZtechfreak · May 20, 2013 at 12:41 AM

Quote:

gordec said:
Guys, I have the leckerton uha-6s mkii. Today is the first time I actually used it as a USB/DAC through my laptop. I hear a huge difference in sound when playing the same song coming from the laptop vs USB-OTG out of my Galaxy S4. I'm using IE80s. The sound from the laptop USB out sounds cleaner, deeper, better separation, etc. Just about every aspects is an upgrade. Anyone knows the potential difference here?

Have you set it to bypass USB charging when connected to the phone?

NZtechfreak · May 20, 2013 at 12:42 AM

Quote:

nnotis said:
I would totally pull the trigger and get a G Pro too, were it not for the locked boot loader. The thought of being stuck on the stock rom for the duration of the device's life doesn't sit well with me. Hopefully development will really get cooking on the Korean version, wich isn't locked. For anyone, like myself, who finds the One & S4 too small, the G Pro is fantastic. I could read desktop web sites without zooming. And pixels are as hard to see as they are on the One. There's that sweet home button too.

Locked bootloader isn't necessarily incompatible with Root and custom ROMs, but definitely means a no go for custom kernels.

gordec · May 20, 2013 at 12:47 AM

nztechfreak said:
Quote:

gordec said:

Guys, I have the leckerton uha-6s mkii. Today is the first time I actually used it as a USB/DAC through my laptop. I hear a huge difference in sound when playing the same song coming from the laptop vs USB-OTG out of my Galaxy S4. I'm using IE80s. The sound from the laptop USB out sounds cleaner, deeper, better separation, etc. Just about every aspects is an upgrade. Anyone knows the potential difference here?

Click to expand...

Have you set it to bypass USB charging when connected to the phone?

When listening through laptop I have the leckerton on charge. When through s4, I turn off charging. I haven't tried USB-OTG, charging on.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I337 using Tapatalk 2

DanBa · May 20, 2013 at 4:07 AM

DanBa · May 20, 2013 at 7:10 AM

Quote:

rique said:
I am wanting to make my own short OTG cable for my Xperia Z + PH1A amp. Can anybody direct me to where I can buy just the 90 degree bare plugs? Nothing on ebay.

thanks Riq

Search for "usb right angle plug".

EmanuelP · May 20, 2013 at 11:52 AM

Hey guys/gals

i just got a OTG cable and tested my HTC One (1.28) with my NuForce Icon-1 and it worked out of the box.

I'm now looking for a portable amp for my Ultrasone Tio inear's.

might just have to give Dragonfly and Meridian Explorer a try...

kimvictor · May 20, 2013 at 5:55 PM

GS3+Leckerton UHA-6S.MKII+UERM

nnotis · May 20, 2013 at 6:31 PM

Quote:

gordec said:
When listening through laptop I have the leckerton on charge. When through s4, I turn off charging. I haven't tried USB-OTG, charging on.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I337 using Tapatalk 2

I just did a similar test comparing the Leckerton connected to a laptop vs the S3. The laptop signal was louder. If there were differences beyond that, they were too subtle to pick up on with a brief comparison. I trust this problem has persisted through reboots of the phone?

gordec · May 20, 2013 at 8:45 PM

Quote:

nnotis said:
I just did a similar test comparing the Leckerton connected to a laptop vs the S3. The laptop signal was louder. If there were differences beyond that, they were too subtle to pick up on with a brief comparison. I trust this problem has persisted through reboots of the phone?

I did some more critical listening. I think the difference is slimmer than I previously heard. Logically there shouldn't be any difference since same digital content is fed to the Leckerton and using all external DAC/Amp for output.

BTW, I'm toying with Neutron player demo. I assume for external DAC/Amp Android setup, there shouldn't be any sound difference between the different players Poweramp, stock, etc. I always prefer Poweramp's interface since I never find any sound quality difference using external DAC setup. I would like to hear other's experience on this issue.

Benny-x · May 21, 2013 at 3:04 AM

Quote:

fuzzy1969 said:
The PD-XM6 doesn't I beleive do 24bit my memories a bit hazy but Im pretty sure it upsamples 16bit to 24bit but doesn't do 24 bit natively, the apex glacier does though.

Thanks again for those answers too, Fuzzy. The XM6 looks like a nice little unit, thanks for letting me know your order of preference

As for the Glacier being able to do 24bit, this makes me wonder. I thought that Android's kernel didn't allow anything above 16/44.1 output, so how does USB DAC mode get around that? Maybe the answer is just as simple as "it bypasses that part of the OS on outboard USB DACs that are capable of bypassing it", but has anyone proven 24bit 96kHz output with the Glacier? Like are we sure it's not just reading the 24bit tracks and doing any downsampling? I ask just because I remember this topic back when I was looking into audio output on my iPad and at the time everyone figured the iPad could do 24/96, but then we found that unless it has the CCK it'll just downsample everything and output 16/48kHz.

Haha, end of giving you the third degree there, just interested in seeing where the answers came from

As for that new Wolfson DAC chip mentioned, I wonder if it'll find it's way into the Galaxy Note3 that should be coming out in the Fall?? Has anyone compared any of the Galaxies with Wolfson on boards direct into a normal headphone amp like an RSA P-51 or Meire QuickStep to see if USB DACs we're all looking into here are giving us the edge or just helping close the gap?

turokrocks · May 21, 2013 at 6:26 AM

See the Samsung Galaxy S4 Active for the first time

DanBa · May 21, 2013 at 6:44 PM

The GROM USB2P is the first Android Jelly Bean-specific USB DAC; more specifically it’s a multimedia car kit.
http://www.gromaudio.com/press/USB_audio_press.html

Jelly Bean-powered Android phone acting as USB peripheral > Android-specific digital USB audio out >> USB cable >> GROM USB2P acting as USB host

[size=10.0pt]"GROM Audio announces USB audio steaming for Android Jelly Bean devices, giving users the best possible sound quality for in-car listening.[/size]
[size=10.0pt]GROM is the first and only car audio company to deliver fully digital audio connection from any Android Jelly Bean devices (via USB2P or MST3P interfaces) to many factory car stereos. The direct USB Digital Audio connection provides high-quality sound, making a huge impact on Android users in-car media experience.[/size]

[size=10.0pt]"The majority of car audio sound systems and radios will not allow high fidelity sound through wireless Bluetooth or aux-in, which was the main reason for developing direct Android USB Audio connection. Connecting audio digitally allows the music signal to remain in a digital form until it gets converted into an analog signal at amplifier or DAC; meaning no unnecessary manipulations are made to the signal on the way to your ears."- GROM Audio [/size]

[size=10.0pt]GROM's direct USB Digital Audio connection via the GROM-USB2P adapter is the best way to get high quality sound in the car. Android users (Jelly Bean onwards) can play any music app including Pandora, SoundCloud and others to listen to their music library via the USB Digital Audio connection."[/size]

An Android Jelly Bean-powered smartphone/tablet can have:
. an Android-specific USB audio out capability (or USB audio accessory capability), or/and
. a standard USB audio out capability (or USB audio host capability)
http://www.head-fi.org/t/595071/android-phones-and-usb-dacs/135#post_8508754

An Android Jelly Bean-specific USB DAC acts as a USB host, and an Android Jelly Bean smartphone/tablet acts as a USB peripheral.
The Android-specific USB DAC acts as a USB host, and provides power to the Android Jelly Bean smartphone/tablet.
http://developer.android.com/guide/topics/connectivity/usb/accessory.html

A standard USB DAC compatible with PC / Mac acts as a USB peripheral, and a PC / Mac / OTG-capable Android smartphone/tablet acts as a USB host.
The USB host provides power to a bus-powered USB DAC.
The USB host doesn’t provide power to a self-powered USB DAC.
A standard ACA-capable USB DAC could provide power to an ACA-capable USB host.
http://www.head-fi.org/t/595071/android-phones-and-usb-dacs/2160#post_9368775
http://www.head-fi.org/t/595071/android-phones-and-usb-dacs/2235#post_9406368

Theogenes · May 21, 2013 at 10:16 PM

Wow, that is absolutely AWESOME, because it means more and more people are working on getting USB audio out of Android devices. I looked up the app Grom uses (AALinQ), the compatibility list from the devices I have shows it will work with all the phones (S3, DNA, Galaxy Nexus, and Droid Charge), but none of the tablets (Galaxy 7.7 and Xyboard 8.2). It's only a matter of time before someone devices a desktop (or portable!) version of this... And if it allows us to stop having to wait on Google to make this a @#$% priority, it will be AMAZING!!

God I love technology.

estreeter · May 22, 2013 at 12:36 AM

Major props to NZtechfreak and PeterPenHK for their contributions to the June issue of Australian Personal Computer - the V-MODA Vamp looks very cool, too ! No shortage of tech geeks in this hobby, but it wont hurt to have a few more onboard

Dobiwallah · May 22, 2013 at 5:18 AM

Hi, it has maybe noting to do with a usb DAC, but a sort of. I bought the AllShare Cast Wireless Hub, EAD-T10 for the use in my car. It is my intention to play 5 channel wav files in my car via the Galaxy S4.

I thought about this setup:
Galaxy S4>EAD-T10>HDMI to optical converter>5 channel car amplifier

Or

Galaxy S4>EAD-T10>Home theater set

Any thought about this?

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