Hope this will help some here running into charging issues with any device
I work in the IT industry and have known for a long time there is a difference between USB-C cables and devices.
NOT all are created the same, and in many cases for cables and chargers there is a reason for the difference in price.
I don't mean go out and buy a $100 USB Cable (unless you honestly find a difference in sound/speed/quality) but more so, there is a reason some cables that are $2 or less expensive than another cable fails to work properly, and its not the device makers fault.
USB-C spec falls under a IEEE engineering spec, but it is a guideline, and the IEEE is not an enforcement body
For USB-C there is supposed to be a small microchip (in the PC industry referred to as the E-Marker) in the connector body that has the information of what that cable can pass for both data speed and power charging, that is the difference of USB-C certified or USB-C compliant, and why the difference in price.
This information chip is there so the device can use the fast charging feature and not damage itself or the battery, as well as reliable pass data at thie highest speed.
If this emarker is not there, than the device will default to the slowest charging and data transfer speeds, which is why some are seeing issues with charging, or USB-C dongles not work with higher quality sound settings or "clip" with higher power usage.
If this information exists on your cable or charger, it can be read from a reader like the one below (in the included link below) that will show you IF that cable can pass power according to the Power Deliver (PD) or Quick Charge (QC) standards of the USB-C spec. Without this chip your device (PC, Android or IOS phone and yes all of our Audio devices) will default to a "trickle charge" profile and charge EXTREEMELY slow at best, and at worse will get damaged as the cable will allow surges and unclean power charging which will take its toll on battery life and electrical "shock" to components.
I personally have seen laptops charge from a battery with 1% of charge left to 90%+ in 30-40min, via a charger and cable that can comply with the PD/QC standards (FYI: These specs also call for the device to swtich to trickle charge from about 90% to 100% to complete the full charge cycle, and not overly stress the battery which is part of those standards)
I've seen the EXACT same laptop take 4-6 hours to charge to 80% because the cable or charger did NOT comply with the USB-C standards.
As Twister6 mentioned this is 100% because the cable or charger is the bottleneck
As mentioned here is a screen shot of the little device I use to check and reads the "e-marker" file on the cable connector or charge to show what it can support. (data and charge speed) in this screen shot below the test screen is showing the cable and charger meets the "active" (vs passive) Thunderbolt 4 spec (a subset of the USB-C standard) can pass 40gb/s speed on the cable AND the charger connected meets the Apple fast charging standard)
Do you all need to run out by this expensive little checker? No you don't (Especially if you know someone that has one)
I own it as it has settled discussions with customers who thought the PC sold to them had a problem, when the issue was the bargain basement cable or charger they purchsaed (and they are usually name brand charges or cable, but they are clearly labeled as "compliant" and not "certified", which is a HUGE difference)
for me it was well worth the price of admission
This checker is available on Amazon, and other sites and price can vary from about $80-100, so shop around. There are other USB-C checkers out there but they DO NOT have the "emarker" check feature, this so far is the lowest price one I've found that is small and does this check.
Here is a link to the manufacturer of this charger and they still refer people to go buy from Amazon, but I've seen on other etailer sites.
https://www.chargerlab.com/power-z-km002c-is-now-available-on-amazon/
I'm not supporting the sometimes OBSCENE prices some cable and charger companies place on these "certified" devices.
But I can also pass on and say there are MANY name brand companies who offer their products, meet the "certified" spec and are only a few bucks more in cost (like single digit cost increase)
I only mention this as early in both this forum and on the N8ii forum I've seen Andy mention using a quality charge and cable.
I've seen Twister6 also mention this on several of his DAP reviews, and in one of his reviews he mentions good results using a specific model from Anker as an example
Other reviewers I trust have mentioned similar findings using good quality charges, even not form a name brand source
I put this info out hoping it can help those who running into issues and did not know the differences, and are worried their investment into a new DAP or similar was not a good because of charging issues that might not be the fault of the DAP maker or even their own, it was just that no one told them there was a difference between cables and chargers.
awesome DAP, only selling because I’ve bought the Amber Pearl version
