[Q] Headphone mic compatibility? - AT&T, Rogers HTC One X, Telstra One XL

Does the One X have the same contact scheme for headphone mics as an iPhone. I found this...
http://www.openmusiclabs.com/projects/bootlegmic/
which has been tested to work on an iPhone, but Google has failed me on whether the pinouts are the same as the One X.

I dont see any differences between iphone and any other devices in this case, they all have standart 4 contacts plugs. The only compatibility issues is the chip for mic+buttons witch in this case not used.
On the side note, since it's reducing input level, why can't it be done on programming level?

This is a late reply, but...
Just to add some info in case it could help future researchers. Some Android phones (especially cheap ones) are unable to detect an external mic unless the proper headphone output impedance is detected as well. Heaphones range from 16-32 ohms. It may be possible to trick the phone into thinking you have proper headphone plugged in if you put 22 ohm resistors in the heaphone output channels on the bootlegMIC. I've not done it to the one I've made, but I might be making more soon and will experiment.
[email protected], yeah totally agree the mic gain should have been controllable from an interface from day one. But, where are we now...Android 7? Still nothing. It's probably one of my most persistent disappointments with Android.

Related

Can't hear phone call with aftermarket headphone

anyone have this problem. with all other phone i have before all of them i can answer or make a call while i am enjoying my music. d i9000 have no problem calling out or picking up, but the phone call can't be here through the headphone i have to unplug it and use the phone speaker. anyone can help me out here? many thanks.
dinfung said:
anyone have this problem. with all other phone i have before all of them i can answer or make a call while i am enjoying my music. d i9000 have no problem calling out or picking up, but the phone call can't be here through the headphone i have to unplug it and use the phone speaker. anyone can help me out here? many thanks.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
same here.. I wonder why....
anyone else have this problem? have anyone try with the oem samsung headset? we r stuck to use with the oem 1?
same here ... i think we need an option to say use headphones instead of headset which it is looking for .
The galaxy s seems to have a non standard alignment (probably because it isnt standardised) If i listent to music through headphones that have a mic on it doesn't sound right because i believe its playing through the wrong channels (trying to play sound through the mic probably!).
I think you're screwed, use a bluetooth headset instead.
I'm having the same problem. I couldn't understand why it wouldn't put voice calls through my own earphones (obviously without microphone). So I bought a Griffin Smarttalk adapter hoping this would sort it and I still have no luck. Even though this adds the three contacts to the headphone jack, still no calls will come through my earphones. Very frustrating. Whether or not this is a non-standard alignment, it should be fixable with software as the phone is able to play media through standard earphones. Why can't something so simple just work.
ok guys, heres the thing
the samsung headphone jack layout is four pole t/r/r/s left right mic ground i think
it will not recognize an aftermarket headset with iphone jack config where the ground and mic is reversed or t/r/r/s left right ground mic
the samsung pin layout is similar to nokia's
i had a problem with my triplefi10vi too
so i got my old nokia 5310 headset adapter with mic and used it.
the layout is SGS<-nokia adaptor wiith mic<-triplefi10 standard cable without mic<-triplefi10
worked perfect
i can control the playback and answer call with the nokia phone adapter and it all gets routed to my triplefi10 iems
Yikes, your solution sounds like a Rube Goldberg contraption. An adapter to an adapter to the headsets.
This really sucks. Would have been a deal breaker for me had I known about it before buying the Galaxy S without option to return unless defective.
I wish some of the 100's of glowing reviews on the internet about this phone had caught this. All my headsets work with iPhones, Nexus One, EVO 4G, iPods, my MacBook Pro, etc...the Samsung's the only one with issues. Ugh.
furstrated said:
ok guys, heres the thing
the samsung headphone jack layout is four pole t/r/r/s left right mic ground i think
it will not recognize an aftermarket headset with iphone jack config where the ground and mic is reversed or t/r/r/s left right ground mic
the samsung pin layout is similar to nokia's
i had a problem with my triplefi10vi too
so i got my old nokia 5310 headset adapter with mic and used it.
the layout is SGS<-nokia adaptor wiith mic<-triplefi10 standard cable without mic<-triplefi10
worked perfect
i can control the playback and answer call with the nokia phone adapter and it all gets routed to my triplefi10 iems
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
furstrated said:
ok guys, heres the thing
the samsung headphone jack layout is four pole t/r/r/s left right mic ground i think
it will not recognize an aftermarket headset with iphone jack config where the ground and mic is reversed or t/r/r/s left right ground mic
the samsung pin layout is similar to nokia's
i had a problem with my triplefi10vi too
so i got my old nokia 5310 headset adapter with mic and used it.
the layout is SGS<-nokia adaptor wiith mic<-triplefi10 standard cable without mic<-triplefi10
worked perfect
i can control the playback and answer call with the nokia phone adapter and it all gets routed to my triplefi10 iems
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So I'm wondering if it wouldn't be easier for those of us who don't have the parts you already do to get something like this: http://www.amazon.com/Headphone-Ada..._1_2?ie=UTF8&s=wireless&qid=1278989309&sr=1-2
and then just cut into it and cross the appropriate wires to give the proper t/r/r/s wiring. I think I'll run over to Best Buy and see if I can find something similar and give it a try.
I successfully made an adapter by taking a short 4-pole extension cord for iPhones and then cross-wired the mic and ground wires. On the iphone it's t/r/r/s (L/R/G/M) and on the Samsung it's t/r/r/s (L/R/M/G) - on the adapter I cut the cord open, then soldered the G->M and M->G.
Works great. Music volume perfect, headset works for mic and headphones in phone calls, and the mic switch answers/hangs-up the phone as well as pause/play music player.
I'm happily using my Etymotics HF2s on the Samsung with full functionality as I type this.
This is the kind of stuff I wish the industry would standardize on. iPhones, Nexus One, EVO 4G all wired the same, but apparently Nokia and Samsung wired the same different way. Silliness.
This does not sound good.
distortedloop said:
This is the kind of stuff I wish the industry would standardize on. iPhones, Nexus One, EVO 4G all wired the same, but apparently Nokia and Samsung wired the same different way. Silliness.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
While I agree with you, honestly, the way I read this is you mean that Samsung and Nokia have it wrong. Which, on the surface, I just flatly disagree with. Now, anyone with facts can set me right, if Apple's interface is better from a quality standpoint then so-beit.
BUT...and this assume's I read your comment right, sense you essentially mean that since the iPhone, N1 & Evo 4G, then the two biggest cell phone manufacturers in the world have it wrong...Please keep in mind Apple is the new comer and that HTC, while having a long history with OEM builds that got rebranded, doesn't really have a long, storied history.
NO, what he is saying is that he wishes that all manufacturers would adopt the same pin-out. This would benefit everyone as then we could use any headset that we preferred especially as the Samsung is an in-ear type and they don't make and ear-bud type for the SGS which I would prefer. The SGS supplied headset would have been a deal breaker for me too if it was advertised prior to purchase.
peterfz30 said:
NO, what he is saying is that he wishes that all manufacturers would adopt the same pin-out. This would benefit everyone as then we could use any headset that we preferred especially as the Samsung is an in-ear type and they don't make and ear-bud type for the SGS which I would prefer. The SGS supplied headset would have been a deal breaker for me too if it was advertised prior to purchase.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Correct, that was my only point as it was written. I don't care who is right or wrong, I just want my aftermarket parts on something this ubiquitous to be interchangeable.
Buying a cheap cable and rewiring it isn't a big deal for me, but for most consumers it's probably never going to happen. There must be some third party adapter that works for exactly this, but I didn't find any with some quick searches that I was sure would work.
alovell83 said:
While I agree with you, honestly, the way I read this is you mean that Samsung and Nokia have it wrong. Which, on the surface, I just flatly disagree with. Now, anyone with facts can set me right, if Apple's interface is better from a quality standpoint then so-beit.
BUT...and this assume's I read your comment right, sense you essentially mean that since the iPhone, N1 & Evo 4G, then the two biggest cell phone manufacturers in the world have it wrong...Please keep in mind Apple is the new comer and that HTC, while having a long history with OEM builds that got rebranded, doesn't really have a long, storied history.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Wow, I really don't want to get into a pissing contest debate over who has it right and who has it wrong. That's really the only thing you took away from my post?
My background, as indicated in the signature below is mostly Apple and HTC products, so of course from my point of view, that's the "correct" way. LOL.
Seriously, my only real point, as said above is that I wish this were industry standardized. There's probably some secret agenda out there to sell more headsets by not making them not easily swapped between other products. I can imagine most normal consumers whose Etymotics or Bose or whatever didn't work from one phone to another just buying a new pair that did. Lots more sales for the manufacturers that way.
Since we're Android users in this forum, if I were going to debate who has it right or wrong OFFICIALLY for Android, I'd point out that the HTC/Google Nexus One is the officially anointed chosen phone from Google, and the official "reference phone" to show manufacturers what Google thinks is the right way to do an Android device. Since the Nexus One has the t/r/r/s of L/R/G/M format, it is the official Google way to design an Android phone.
In reality, Google probably didn't pay that much attention to that kind of thing, or if they did, they chose to go with the iPhone pattern as part of some strategy. Apple probably went opposite the industry norm for the reason of just being jack-asses with their i/o ports and because Steve didn't want you using anything but Apple headsets.
That said, and five minutes wasted arguing a point I don't really care about, I'll let you say you won the debate and I'll acknowledge that Apple/HTC/Google as the newcomers must be wrong with their design.
It still doesn't change the fact that I wish this were standardized across the industry, whatever the standard is, which was all I said originally. Note that my original post that you quoted said:
"but apparently Nokia and Samsung wired the same different way"
not "but apparently Nokia and Samsung wired the same wrong way."
Big difference in the meaning of those two statements.
Take care!
dinfung said:
anyone have this problem. with all other phone i have before all of them i can answer or make a call while i am enjoying my music. d i9000 have no problem calling out or picking up, but the phone call can't be here through the headphone i have to unplug it and use the phone speaker. anyone can help me out here? many thanks.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
that sounds like my old Treo 650 / 600
If you use Bluetooth, you wont have that problem
Don't forget htc only recently started to use standard 35mm jacks, before it was 25mm and mini usb. God how that annoyed winmo users like me
Sent back in time from my Samsung Galaxy SSS
ickyboo said:
Don't forget htc only recently started to use standard 35mm jacks, before it was 25mm and mini usb. God how that annoyed winmo users like me
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The explains the plethora of 3.5 to 2.5 adapters on the Amazon market.
i really hated those 2.5mm plugs it was always annoying, i still have about 5 of those adapters at home that i don't use
from the time when i used my Treo in a daily basis
distortedloop said:
I successfully made an adapter by taking a short 4-pole extension cord for iPhones and then cross-wired the mic and ground wires. On the iphone it's t/r/r/s (L/R/G/M) and on the Samsung it's t/r/r/s (L/R/M/G) - on the adapter I cut the cord open, then soldered the G->M and M->G.
Works great. Music volume perfect, headset works for mic and headphones in phone calls, and the mic switch answers/hangs-up the phone as well as pause/play music player.
I'm happily using my Etymotics HF2s on the Samsung with full functionality as I type this.
This is the kind of stuff I wish the industry would standardize on. iPhones, Nexus One, EVO 4G all wired the same, but apparently Nokia and Samsung wired the same different way. Silliness.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Great man. Can you post a picture?i am looking for a non cord solution.
So with an angle. Would that be possible?
Ciao valentijn
How about just an ordinary headset
How about using just an ordinary stereo headset like I do on all of my Nokias an iPhones?
Samsung should recognize it doesn't have a microphone and use the built in one, like all other phones in the world.
I can'd say it's a deal breaker but is pain in ass.
I can only hope it is software related and can be fixed in the future.

Replacement Earbuds (with microphone)

I'm looking to replace these stock earbuds.... they sound ok but the build quality is horrible and after 5 months of fairly heavy use the connector is already starting to separate.
Any suggestions? I want something with the same "stuff in" type feel, but something that's actually a decent price. I'm seeing a lot of $100+ klipsch and Skull Candy / Beatz or whatever the **** they're called.
Not interested in either of those gimmicky brands (dr. dre beatz or skull candy) but I could justify splurging on a Klipsch set if it was worth it.... looking for something a bit cheaper though lol
2 days later.... I'm starting to get the impression I'm the only one who ever used the stock earbuds.
Shameless bump.... shopping tonight and recommendations are welcome
For $15, these are great... I find the midrange on these not bad and the bass/treble very good.
MEElectronics M9P-BK
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0038W0K20
For $45, these are excellent sounding... Full spectrum is very clear.
NuForce NE-7M
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B001BL8BO4
I have both, and found them via head-fi.org forums.
Both of these earbud headsets puts the stock one to shame. I prefer these over bluetooth headsets due to radiation emitted via Bluetooth as well as the phone by itself. Only disadvantage of these earbud/headphones is no active noise cancellation. (eg. a Bluetooth Plantronics Voyager Pro's noise canellation is a LOT better, especially in a car, bus or noisy environment, unfortunately not sure if the bluetooth signal itself is bad (long term) since it's right next to your skull.
If you want DECENT headphones (Good sound, Good build quality), you're gonna have to get a DECENT brand. Right now, beats are the best you can get (opinion), and skull candy's are DECENT, and not too bad of a price. Look on amazon, i got some 80$ skull candy's for 15 dollars and they're AMAZING
Thanks for the input guys.
these Monoprice earbuds are decent, and the price is really low.
dunno if you'll like the color though.
I really like zagg smartbuds great sound. Great build quality.
Sent from my SPH-D700 using Tapatalk
My phone didn't come with stock earplugs, did my Bestbuy steal them from the packaging?!
I don't know about any with a microphone, but get some Klipsch's! I own a pair of S4's, and they are the best earbuds I've ever had.
I don't think you will regret buying these things, and I will honestly say your music will come alive with these things.
I do believe they have a model of the S4's which has a microphone, but i'm not sure if they would work with the Epic, call them up and find out.
oh, I got my S4's around 60 bucks when they were on sale from vanns or something
Overstew said:
My phone didn't come with stock earplugs, did my Bestbuy steal them from the packaging?!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
sounds like it... they're supposed to come with earphones with a built in mic.
I also got those pair of Klipsch Image S4 headphones too.
Theyre awesome! It is worth investing in them.
So heres the link to vanns.com for these earphones
http://www.vanns.com/shop/servlet/item/features/770077370/klipsch-image-s4-black?s_c=site_search
Theyre $79 right now (i got mine when they were $64 to rub it in haha) but hey at least theyre free shipping and they sound better than $100+ headphones.
If you don't believe me, CNET wrote a review on these and put them on their "must have gadgets" list.
I am also using the Klipsch S4's. Fantastic headphones, especially if you ditch the stock rubber tips and get a pair of complys
Just in case this is helpful to someone searching, our phones use a headset with a 4-pole 3.5mm male plug. iPhone's also use this plug, as do many other phones.
What you may not know is that they are not all the same. This kind of connector is called a TRRS connector (tip ring ring shaft or something like that, as opposed to the TRS headset only connectors that have been around forever).
Our phone is arranged as such:
Tip = L
R1 = R
R2 = Mic
S = Ground
an iPhone (and many, many other phones) is:
Tip = L
R1 = R
R2 = Ground
S = Mic
There are adapters if you must have one that is incompatible, but they're a pain in the ass to find and the only ones I've found have been overpriced ($10).
If you use an iPhone headset on our phone, sound will work, but mic will not.
Are there any small adapters that can make it work?
Something like
http://cgi.ebay.com/3-5mm-Headset-Earphone-Headphone-Converter-iPhone-/120625841112?pt=PDA_Accessories&hash=item1c15dc43d8#ht_1699wt_905
drunix said:
Just in case this is helpful to someone searching, our phones use a headset with a 4-pole 3.5mm male plug. iPhone's also use this plug, as do many other phones.
What you may not know is that they are not all the same. This kind of connector is called a TRRS connector (tip ring ring shaft or something like that, as opposed to the TRS headset only connectors that have been around forever).
Our phone is arranged as such:
Tip = L
R1 = R
R2 = Mic
S = Ground
an iPhone (and many, many other phones) is:
Tip = L
R1 = R
R2 = Ground
S = Mic
There are adapters if you must have one that is incompatible, but they're a pain in the ass to find and the only ones I've found have been overpriced ($10).
If you use an iPhone headset on our phone, sound will work, but mic will not.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I thought there is a driver on the Epic that detects the headset and configures what signal to send to the corresponding section of the plug.
drunix said:
Just in case this is helpful to someone searching, our phones use a headset with a 4-pole 3.5mm male plug. iPhone's also use this plug, as do many other phones.
What you may not know is that they are not all the same. This kind of connector is called a TRRS connector (tip ring ring shaft or something like that, as opposed to the TRS headset only connectors that have been around forever).
Our phone is arranged as such:
Tip = L
R1 = R
R2 = Mic
S = Ground
an iPhone (and many, many other phones) is:
Tip = L
R1 = R
R2 = Ground
S = Mic
There are adapters if you must have one that is incompatible, but they're a pain in the ass to find and the only ones I've found have been overpriced ($10).
If you use an iPhone headset on our phone, sound will work, but mic will not.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm not so sure this is exactly right... I have an old iphone 3g and an epic 4g, and I have a mic that works on both of them...
Don't bother with the Klipsch s4i, the mic doesnt work on both of my android phones, but the promedia version works fine with my epic/evo. They are around $40 online from tiger direct. I ended up with a pair of Mee m6 with mic. $20 and sound pretty damn good. Built cheap, costs only a little! People on the other end say the mic is crystal clear.
eddieyee said:
For $15, these are great... I find the midrange on these not bad and the bass/treble very good.
MEElectronics M9P-BK
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0038W0K20
.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have these, and they are good stock replacements. Sound better, and lower price.
chronostorm said:
I'm not so sure this is exactly right... I have an old iphone 3g and an epic 4g, and I have a mic that works on both of them...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I just tested again with my wife's iPhone 3GS Original headset (has mic, remote, and volume controls). The headset works fine, but the mic, volume, and remote do not work. I did pretty extensive research on it, and found pinouts for both around the web, which my diagram is based on. Perhaps as bighuta says they're supposed to detect but mine doesn't detect properly? Are you *sure* the mic works? Maybe we have different models and bighuta is right about detection, but the particular model of headset my wife's iphone came with (having volume controls) messes with the detection?
bighuta said:
I thought there is a driver on the Epic that detects the headset and configures what signal to send to the corresponding section of the plug.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
They definitely work with regular headsets (no mic) but that's to be expected if you consider that the connector for ground is in the same spot regardless of whether there is a mic or not... the detector would detect if there's a dead short between mic/ground, and if so, assume it doesn't have a mic. I am not aware of them being able to detect a mic/ground swap, however, and have a functioning mic--and my own testing appears to confirm that it does not (or at least can't detect and work with an iPhone 3gs headset).
riceknight said:
Are there any small adapters that can make it work?
Something like
http://cgi.ebay.com/3-5mm-Headset-Earphone-Headphone-Converter-iPhone-/120625841112?pt=PDA_Accessories&hash=item1c15dc43d8#ht_1699wt_905
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Assuming I'm correct (which there appears to be some controversy over) then a connector that swaps the ground/mic pins (shaft and ring2) would allow a galaxy s headset to work for an iphone OR an iphone headset to work with a galaxy s (the same connector would work for either task). Unfortunately that item you linked is unclear as to what it does... whether it actually swaps R2 and shaft or if it's just a TRS (3 pin) to TRRS (4 pin) converter (almost entirely unnecessary, and certainly won't solve your issue).
I did find a converter in my searching but it was $15, way more than I'd pay for something so simple. If you do have a headset that doesn't work though, it might be worth doing that or building your own connector... if you're handy with a soldering iron and can find a TRRS male and female plug, that would be trivial to construct.
Sorry I couldn't offer more assistance.
I tried using a simple pair of earphones with mic designed for the iphone and they worked beautifully.
I also tried using regular headphones without a mic and using the default phone mic to talk and guess what? It worked!! Guess they finally fixed it in froyo.

Bluetooth Firmware Hacking Question

Hello.
I paid attention to where it says "no noobs please" in the hacking section and opted to respect that request.
If at any point you find yourself saying "don't do that. do this." in regards to this thread then note: I know what I want. Either it can be done or it can't. Don't try and point me in some other direction.
That said, here's my issue:
I ride a motorcycle. I bought a bluetooth intercom/interface which fits nicely on the exterior of my helmet for control/safety. The headphones absolutely SUCK, which is why I'm here.
I bought a $100 pair of really nice earbuds + mic. The problem is that their controls are UNDER my helmet and that simply won't do.
What I WANT to do is control my phone with my exterior BT module but listen through my nice new earbuds.
Because both of these bt items are of an audio nature, only one can be connected. So, here I am ... wondering if theirs a solution that isn't a punch line.
I'm willing to hack into the product firmware if someone will openly guide me through the process.
Would that, could that even work?
Fingers crossed.
To clarify,
you have your mobil, which supplies the audio source, i.e. call or music?
you have your nice headphones + mic, which is itself a bluetooth device too
you have your old bluetooth device whose controls you want to use, but not the headphones it supplies?
Yes!
You nailed it.
That is precisely what I want to do.
Well its not impossible, but very unfeasible.
I'm no bluetooth expert, but when playing through some scenarios in my head it would be way to much effort.
I think taking the hardware approach and doing something like soldering the good earphones onto the headpiece with the bluetooth controls, will yield faster and cheaper results.
Ya i pointed you in another direction .
But the software approach just doesn't work very well, especially as the firmware on both bluetooth devices is most likely closed source, additionaly they might need hardware changes too, to be even modifyable software wise.
@RobinDean
The quickest and easiest way is the swap out the bad sounding speaker unit and replace with something better. Buy some ebay or whatever, not expensive .
While remembering Bluetooth transmission via SBC codec has few different bitrate of transmission, low is bad and high is relatively acceptable, plus internal DSP etc etc etc, hence you may be lucky they are using high bitrate and stereo.
Your post more than 2 years ago, probably you moved on, got better products and skip all this entirely.

why you need headphone jack

Turns out getting rid of the headphone jack is not such a great idea when it leaves you with no plan B
http://bgr.com/2016/11/07/iphone-7-plus-review-addendum-bluetooth-problems
First Samsung got rid of removable battery and they have a total Fukushima meltdown
Then Apple gets rid of headphone jack and their latest and greatest phone has unfixable Bluetooth connection issues...
Thank you LG V20
lets let those two companies play with each other in the corner while the rest of us laugh with popcorn.
Plus a lot of us enthusiasts have too many great and expensive headphones that we wont be parting ways with anytime soon.
Sent from my LG-H990 using XDA-Developers Legacy app
Apple is not the first company or first phone to remove the headphone jack. Let's not forget about the slim and sexy Oppo R5. Oppo has removed the 3.5mm jack because their whole phone is thinner than 3.5mm. People don't like the idea much and R5 didn't get much of the limelight.
(Premise: I'm an audiophile and a sound engineer in the free time) Well, the only reason i could judge acceptable for mobile phone companies to get rid of the headphone Jack is to change the way sound flow is managed nowadays, to be clear;
DAC in our smartphones is the "weakest link" in the audio path, you can have a pair of 1000$ cans but you wont be able to get the right sound quality from a phone without using an extra Amp, especially for high impedance cans such as Hd500, DT880, DT990, and so on. The only reason Apple, HTC and others like LeEco, Lenovo have dropped the use of the Jack is; they don't care about sound and they don't want to include DAC in their devices anymore, anyhow most of phones use the integrated sound processing of the SoC, only a few such as HTC 10, LG v20 and other niche market phones have dedicated quality DACs. Manufacturers that get rid of the Jack think this way: "why should i provide a quality converter? Why quality headphones manufacturers can't get the responsability of digital/analog conversion?" By only providing USB-C or Lightning ports on devices, the can manufacturer will have to embed a DAC inside the headphone, so it will be his work to convert the digital signal into music, which is much more logical... Downside is, this new devices without Jack have only one plug you can use at once and yes, you have no plan B, either using BT headsets or use USB-C/Lightning headphones (but can't recharge while headpones are plugged in, bummer). Philips has already released lighting headphones that sound pretty good. It's another way to conceive audio path. It might be the future i don't know. What i DO know, is that I appreciate corded Headphones with the V20 DAC and i've been waiting for a device with this sound quality for years!
spiderx_mm said:
Apple is not the first company or first phone to remove the headphone jack. Let's not forget about the slim and sexy Oppo R5. Oppo has removed the 3.5mm jack because their whole phone is thinner than 3.5mm. People don't like the idea much and R5 didn't get much of the limelight.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Slim and sexy doesn't even need to be a requirement for ditching the jack. The T-Mobile G1, the very first Android phone but not even the first to go without a jack, was neither sexy nor slim and it didn't have a headphone jack. I hated that dongle and preferred to just carry a dedicated mp3 player instead.
I happen to just like having something to plug a Square (or other credit card reader) into.
axaman943 said:
The only reason Apple, HTC and others like LeEco, Lenovo have dropped the use of the Jack is; they don't care about sound and they don't want to include DAC in their devices anymore, anyhow most of phones use the integrated sound processing of the SoC, only a few such as HTC 10, LG v20 and other niche market phones have dedicated quality DACs.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Apple dropping the jack really wasn't a decision based on sound equipment issues at all. It was a move to force all new iphone users onto Apple pay. Small businesses that use the credit card swipers need the headphone jack. Those systems compete with Apple pay that uses NFC to bypass the need for the credit card swipe device. With one move to eliminate the jack Apple just disrupted a huge part the mobile payments business to their benefit.
Didn't know about this thing, pretty sharp...

USB-C Port - Headphone Audio Quality ?

Hi.
I'm holding off on pre-ordering until I see some real world reviews.
A must have for me is very good headphone audio quality. I did have high hopes since the phone is made by HTC who have have a good reputation using dedicated quality DACs in their phones previously.
I can't find any information on the internet describing what to expect form an audio perspective apart from the dual speakers which don't really interest me.
Since the phone delivers audio over the USB-C port via a digital signal, am I correct in saying there will be no on-board DAC and sound quality will be solely driven by the headphones or/and the 3.5mm converter which contains something to decode the digital signal?
In-short, is the Pixel 2 Headphone audio likely to be inferior to something like the HTC 10 for example?
owens2000 said:
Hi.
I'm holding off on pre-ordering until I see some real world reviews.
A must have for me is very good headphone audio quality. I did have high hopes since the phone is made by HTC who have have a good reputation using dedicated quality DACs in their phones previously.
I can't find any information on the internet describing what to expect form an audio perspective apart from the dual speakers which don't really interest me.
Since the phone delivers audio over the USB-C port via a digital signal, am I correct in saying there will be no on-board DAC and sound quality will be solely driven by the headphones or/and the 3.5mm converter which contains something to decode the digital signal?
In-short, is the Pixel 2 Headphone audio likely to be inferior to something like the HTC 10 for example?
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Click to collapse
My understanding is all device currently out that uses USB C still sends an analog signal because it is still handled by an internal DAC. The Pixel 2 doesn't use an Internal DAC to push the signal and the adapter has a DAC inside of it to convert the signal. You can't by a pass through or it won't work. Apple current devices you can use any as long as it is supported, and some of them don't have DAC's inside. I actually think internal DAC's so be on the way out and it should drop the costs of devices. There's a lot better DACs out there, and are universal you can get the sound you want when you find the one for you. I prefer to not have a huge list of things just to buy a phone. I'd rather have like 5 things I am looking for and the rest I already have in my pocket if you know what I mean?
Someone told me that the iPhone adapter has a DAC in it but after seeing it I am a bit skeptical. I think it's their anti-cheap cable chip thing which is supposed to go into all cables to be certified by Apple.
Actually HTC devices without a jack only output digital audio, and I'm 99.9% certain the Essential is the same. Both of their adapters contain DACs and amps (I read an explicit statement from Essential that this was the case), and we know the HTC adapter works with the Essential phone. I don't know about Motorola; I've read there are compatibility problems between their adapters and some other manufacturers, but that may be because not everyone is applying the digital audio standard correctly rather than one being analogue.
Unlike USB-C Apple's Lightning port has no analogue outputs, so their adapter must have a DAC in it. Since they are using custom chips they may have integrated it with some of the other functions (same as the Qualcomm SoCs contain a DAC as well).
As for the original question, is the Pixel 2 wired headphone output likely to be inferior to a phone with a headphone jack: it will depend on the quality of the DAC and amp in the adapter you use (and we'll include "external USB DAC" as an "adapter" for this discussion). If the Google adapter is inferior it should be possible to find a better one (with more options as phones using this standard become more common). At this point I don't think anyone has any idea what the quality from the bundled adapter will be, though using the HTC 10 as your reference you set the standard higher than most phones with a jack (and certainly higher than the first generation Pixel). I've bought a HTC adapter to test with the Pixel 2, and assuming it is compatible I'll do some comparisons between that and the Google one when I have time (I won't be completely surprised if they turn out to be the same thing in different packages though, given HTC's involvement in the Pixels).
Large Hadron said:
Actually HTC devices without a jack only output digital audio, and I'm 99.9% certain the Essential is the same. Both of their adapters contain DACs and amps (I read an explicit statement from Essential that this was the case), and we know the HTC adapter works with the Essential phone. I don't know about Motorola; I've read there are compatibility problems between their adapters and some other manufacturers, but that may be because not everyone is applying the digital audio standard correctly rather than one being analogue.
Unlike USB-C Apple's Lightning port has no analogue outputs, so their adapter must have a DAC in it. Since they are using custom chips they may have integrated it with some of the other functions (same as the Qualcomm SoCs contain a DAC as well).
As for the original question, is the Pixel 2 wired headphone output likely to be inferior to a phone with a headphone jack: it will depend on the quality of the DAC and amp in the adapter you use (and we'll include "external USB DAC" as an "adapter" for this discussion). If the Google adapter is inferior it should be possible to find a better one (with more options as phones using this standard become more common). At this point I don't think anyone has any idea what the quality from the bundled adapter will be, though using the HTC 10 as your reference you set the standard higher than most phones with a jack (and certainly higher than the first generation Pixel). I've bought a HTC adapter to test with the Pixel 2, and assuming it is compatible I'll do some comparisons between that and the Google one when I have time (I won't be completely surprised if they turn out to be the same thing in different packages though, given HTC's involvement in the Pixels).
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Thanks for your reply and I look forward to reading your findings.
I must say, I find this whole trend towards usb-c driven headphones not exactly consumer friendly. I've not seen a strong enough argument by any of the manufacturers to justify the change, rather than reclaiming space to cram in other tech. Having to carry around an adapter as well as my existing headphones is just plain inconvenient.
Had Google included a pair of quality usb-c buds in the package with the Pixel 2 (and an adapter) while promoting a better than average audio experience (as per the HTC 10) that would have been enough for me to commit and pre-order without hesitation. Perhaps I'm not the typical mobile user these days whose priority, after the basic capability of making a phone call is to listen to quality audio.
You will probably can get a better DAC than the one generally included in the phones SoC.
Any small DAC should have a similar quality to phones DAC.
Now the Type C is strong. I can even power a Fulla 2 DAC/AMP with my 6P.
Sent from my Nexus 6P
One of the reviews I've read today (can't remember which) stated that the HTC adapter does work with the Pixel 2. That's a positive sign with regards to standards, which is what's needed if we're to have more options.
So, any news about this topic?
I've been using the Pixel 2 since Thursday and the audio with the dongle is fine. If audio quality is really important, then get an external DAC. I have a Fiio E18 and the quality is exceptional.
Without decent headphones the audio output method is almost meaningless, especially if you use earbuds.
I recently got a pair of Audeze EL-8 Over Ear, Closed Back headphones and the audio from the Pixel 2 with or without the DAC is excellent (better with, of course).
The audio with the dongle is absolutely terrible. I spent some time listening to it this morning and was appalled at the quality. So much so that I came here specifically looking for a solution.
Blown 89 said:
The audio with the dongle is absolutely terrible. I spent some time listening to it this morning and was appalled at the quality. So much so that I came here specifically looking for a solution.
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Click to collapse
The solution is an external DAC: Audioquest DragonFly Black or Red are absolute hit.
https://www.phonearena.com/phones/Google-Pixel-2-XL_id10568/benchmarks
They said in the presentation that the dongle includes a DAC (I remember hearing it, please correct me if I'm wrong) Apparently the Pixel 2 sounds louder than most phones, close to iPhones. Don't know about the quality though...
omarfarrah said:
https://www.phonearena.com/phones/Google-Pixel-2-XL_id10568/benchmarks
They said in the presentation that the dongle includes a DAC (I remember hearing it, please tell me if I'm wrong) Apparently the Pixel 2 sounds louder than most phones, close to iPhones. Don't know about the quality though...
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Click to collapse
Yes, it will contain a DAC. It uses USB-C digital audio, so with the output being digital there must be a DAC in order to produce the analogue waveform needed by your headphones. The same is true for most if not all phones using USB-C audio (certainly the HTC U11 and Essential PH-1, and I've read others confirm that the HTC adapter works with both the Essential and the Pixel 2).
I've had the pixel 2 xl for a few days now. I've used my regular headphones through the usbc dongle. It worked ok the first time I tried it. But last night I couldn't get any sound through it. So I unplugged and replugged it back it. The dongle was really warm. I rebooted and tried it again. The audio did finally come through but there was a lot of static and again the dongle was uncomfortably warm.
Fidgiting with it seemed to change the audio but it was very finicky. Hoping it was just the dongle.
Blown 89 said:
The audio with the dongle is absolutely terrible. I spent some time listening to it this morning and was appalled at the quality. So much so that I came here specifically looking for a solution.
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That is so disappointing. Do you think it might be dodgy dongle and have you asked Google for a replacement?
Can others confirm if the above is also your experience?
owens2000 said:
That is so disappointing. Do you think it might be dodgy dongle and have you asked Google for a replacement?
Can others confirm if the above is also your experience?
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I was listening to some music I loaded at the Verizon store. Comparing it to the V30 made it sound even worse. I have a friend that's an audio engineer that tested his. His comments were "finicky trying to get it to work, once it does....sounds like garbage. would be fine for a podcast or probably mostly youtube content, but music blows."
FWIW I was listening with Futuresonic G10's
I have no idea what people here are tripping on when they say audio quality from the dongle sucks?? Maybe they have a defective piece. Just compared sound from my s7 with viper vs pixel, and obviously the s7 sounded better cuz, it has viper on it but honestly couldnt complain about the sound of the pixel. No way it was close to being terrible, no WAY. It was almost the same,once viper comes and a few tweaks are made, it will be just as good or very close to it. I tested with samsung headphones and even sennheiser over the ear headphones fwiw
BTW. They RMA'd the phone, when I told them about the dongle heating up.
Hopefully the next one will be better.
owens2000 said:
That is so disappointing. Do you think it might be dodgy dongle and have you asked Google for a replacement?
Can others confirm if the above is also your experience?
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Click to collapse
It is not my experience. Audio seems fine.
94wolfpack said:
BTW. They RMA'd the phone, when I told them about the dongle heating up.
Hopefully the next one will be better.
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Click to collapse
Interesting. I'd have thought it would have been cheaper to send you a replacement dongle and see whether that fixed it, and replace the phone if not.
Blown 89 said:
The audio with the dongle is absolutely terrible. I spent some time listening to it this morning and was appalled at the quality. So much so that I came here specifically looking for a solution.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have the opposite experience. I download my Spotify library using the "extreme quality" setting enabled. Not sure what technical quality "extreme" is, but listening to The Beatles white album was amazing and sounded great. Could hear all the nuances, highs and lows.

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