[Matias]

Any chance anyone can elaborate a bit more on the buzzing with Android.

With cell phone turned on, no app running, I plug the Idea into the USB port. Then I open an app say YouTube, select a music video and hit play. No music comes out, only a moderately loud buzz sound. This is not noise floor and not on top the music, just the buzzing sound.

If I disconnect the Idea and hit play again, music comes out of the cell phone speakers normally.

Now say I leave the music playing on YouTube and then I plug the Idea in. Then music comes out of the idea without any buzz or noise whatsoever, but in my case, even with cell volume and Idea volume max, the music is somewhat low in volume.

 

[wushuliu]

There's 20 tactile volume steps, from no output to max output.

Impressions. For context, I've previously heard the following ultra mini dacs-amps: Creative X-Fi Go! Pro and Soundblaster E1, FiiO K1, Dragonfly v1.2, Audioengine D3. (no DF Red).

Well then. The SMSL Idea sounds really good, especially when considering form factor. In terms of size and weight, I'd def put it in the same category as the FiiO K1, so yes it's extremely low footprint. Clean and neutral enough sound, with a hint of recession in the upper treble. First impression is it's one of the better ones I've heard, but I still might slightly prefer the Audioengine D3. Both sound great though. I'll see if burn in makes any difference in sound signature.

If it's not better than an Audioengine D3, the Idea isn't much of a bargain. And if it isn't better than the desktop SMSL Sabre dac then that doesn't sound compelling either, considering how much modding people have had to do on those to get them to sound decent.

 

[TrantaLocked]

I counted 22 steps of volume including max and zero (mute).
As for aesthetics I wish it came with black USB cables instead of the white ones.

Yep, you're right. Edited my post.

Thank you for your impressions! Tbh a bit sad the fact Spotify won't work via OTG. Does the iDEA have enough power to drive an Etymotic ER-4S? It would be nice as a portable solution, I just can use them with an amp to get its full potential.

It might just be my specific phone model that isn't working, for whatever reasons. I've never tried OTG before so take this as a newb's initial attempt at getting it to work. All I did was have the spotify app open and connect the Idea, and while the LED turned purple (?) there wasn't any audio output. And yeah, there's plenty of power for the ER4S.

If it's not better than an Audioengine D3, the Idea isn't much of a bargain. And if it isn't better than the desktop SMSL Sabre dac then that doesn't sound compelling either, considering how much modding people have had to do on those to get them to sound decent.

It might be better depending on what you want out of your dac. The Idea is super low footprint, with a very clean and coherent sound. Honestly one could go either way with the Idea vs D3 depending on preference and headphone matching. And in terms of DF v1.2 vs Idea, Idea wins.

 

[crashbowman]

With cell phone turned on, no app running, I plug the Idea into the USB port. Then I open an app say YouTube, select a music video and hit play. No music comes out, only a moderately loud buzz sound. This is not noise floor and not on top the music, just the buzzing sound.

If I disconnect the Idea and hit play again, music comes out of the cell phone speakers normally.

Now say I leave the music playing on YouTube and then I plug the Idea in. Then music comes out of the idea without any buzz or noise whatsoever, but in my case, even with cell volume and Idea volume max, the music is somewhat low in volume.

Thank you, this was very helpful!

 

[Yogibear91]

Any chance anyone can elaborate a bit more on the buzzing with Android. I had been considering this for a few weeks, but waiting on more feedback to roll in. I was planning to use with UAPP, but with UAPP you normally connect then open and it sounded like the solution to stop the buzzing was to open an app before connecting.

If you read my post on the previous pages the smsl idea DOES work with spotify and android the buzzing occurs only when spotify has not been opened before you plug in the dac. a couple of times plugging in and out when the apps actually open, if it's not already gone the buzzing goes. then it will work all day on your phone.

 

[TrantaLocked]

If you read my post on the previous pages the smsl idea DOES work with spotify and android the buzzing occurs only when spotify has not been opened before you plug in the dac. a couple of times plugging in and out when the apps actually open, if it's not already gone the buzzing goes. then it will work all day on your phone.

I've tried all the methods and the Idea still will not work properly with my phone. People will need to check specific phone model and app compatibility.

 

[Matias]

Interesting that if I connect the Idea to my Moto X Style before opening any app, the LED turn purple which means 384kHz sample rate, and when I open an app the buzzing comes out.
But when I have the app running before plugging in the Idea, when it works, its LED is on blue which means 44kHz sample rate.
But the low volume probably is related to using the lowest 24 bit on a 32 bit sample depth, so that the signal does not reach full scale? I don't know, just speculating.

 

[ClintonL]

Just got one and can't get it to work with my s7 at all, all i get is buzzing.

 

[snip3r77]

Anyone compared with DF Black?

 

[niron]

Just got one and can't get it to work with my s7 at all, all i get is buzzing.

I had the same buzzing issues with my Android phone.

I used this solution and it works.

 

[Matias]

Added your video to the first post. Thanks a lot, great video!

By the way I tested on my Moto X Style and the USB options do not show up on the notifications. And looking into the settings menu there is nothing about USB to change too.

This article has lots of information for USB Audio in Android. I sent it to SMSL to help them implement 2.0 with Android.
https://source.android.com/devices/audio/usb

 

[niron]

Thanks @Matias,

If you enter Quick Settings in the menu, you can modify which settings appear in your notification bar. There's gotta be something there.
I'm gonna try it out with some other Android devices.

 

[Matias]

@niron nope, nothing at all. And I am using Android 7 here.
Try it on a stock Android such as Pixel, Nexus or Moto X Pure/Style if you can, please.

 

[niron]

@niron nope, nothing at all. And I am using Android 7 here.
Try it on a stock Android such as Pixel, Nexus or Moto X Pure/Style if you can, please.

Alright, I have managed to find it on some other Android devices like the Samsung Galaxy series for example. Here's what you have to do:

Go to Settings > Developers Options > USB Configuration > Change to Midi

If you don't see Developers Options - You have to go to Settings > About Device > Software Info > Click Build Number X7 times (it will add developers options to settings).

 

[Matias]

I enabled the developer options, connected the Idea, turned "Select USB Configuration" to MIDI, opened YouTube app and still buzzing.