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External Speakers for G2

Looking at buying a set of external speakers to play Pandora on with my G2. I don't want anything that's compatible with iPods, because I don't need that stupid dock connector. Hopefully I can get something that's less than $100, has great sound, and connects to the 3.5 mm headphone jack on the G2.
Any suggestions?

Its not the prettiest, but any pair of computer speakers will do the job for cheap. I use an old 2.1 Logitech system that has a sub and the sound is great!

Thinkgeek.com has a decent protable speaker setup. There is also a Sony branded tube speaker that is supposed to be good also. Seen em on ebay.

nobler1050 said:
Its not the prettiest, but any pair of computer speakers will do the job for cheap. I use an old 2.1 Logitech system that has a sub and the sound is great!
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Agreed. I believe you can get a decent set of Comp speakers at Walmart. If not there definitely Frys.

I'm currently using an older pair of computer speakers that has a sub-woofer and it works great. However, it's not the prettiest thing to look at, nor is it even remotely portable in the event I want to take them somewhere with me. Thanks so far for the suggestions, if I find something that works well I'll share it with everyone here.

http://www.usa.philips.com/c/mp3-player-accessories/universal-sba1600_37/prd/en/
this may not be what you are looking for but I have this in my backpack at all times. I use it maybe once every 2 or 3 days... Sucker it pretty loud and lasts a long time. Had it for about a year now, I'm sure you could find one on ebay for 10 bucks.

I couldn't pass up this opportunity. For anyone looking at this at a future date (considering the date of this topic already), looking for a top-notch quality external speaker for the G2 (or any other Android device at that) the X-Mini II Capsule Speaker has served me well. It provides more sound than you'd ever be able to get out of the phone, and it's really worth the money you spend on it compared to some of the other suggestions listed (such as computer speakers, which wouldn't be practical).

I reccomend the Supertooth disco --> http://www.supertooth.net/EN/DISCO/#page=page-1 It has great sound and the battery can last up to 10 hours if you let it play on medium sound. Its worth the money the sound is great and its easy to bring with you if you're going to some friends for example.

Wolfy9247 said:
I couldn't pass up this opportunity. For anyone looking at this at a future date (considering the date of this topic already), looking for a top-notch quality external speaker for the G2 (or any other Android device at that) the X-Mini II Capsule Speaker has served me well. It provides more sound than you'd ever be able to get out of the phone, and it's really worth the money you spend on it compared to some of the other suggestions listed (such as computer speakers, which wouldn't be practical).
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I would have to Second the X-mini 2's the sound you get from them is superb and the ability to buddy jack them is a feature that is often missed on many models

Just heard one of those new Bluetooth speakers they carry at best buy and they sound amazing. Much better than a boombox even lol. Anyways they run for about 50 bucks and they have their own rechargeable battery built in. They use micro USB to charge to so you can use the same setup you already have. I'm gonna get one you have to hear them to believe it.

bluetooth/minijack jambox set, do the work greatly.
it also have mic for conference mode.
tested with my rom, works perfectly
Sent from my HTC Vision using xda app-developers app

[Q] Sound quality compared to Sansa Clip+

Nexus S with Voodoo control
compared to
Sandisk Sansa Clip+ with Rockbox system
Which is better?
Does anyone has both of them?

while i did had a sansa some times ago (now it's dead ), i can tell you sansa (or any PMP) is better better in audio quality than a "mixed" device like a smartphone.
reason is, they've dedicated hardware to do that job, they just play music, and they do it via hardware decoding, most of the times, and they are designed to work for hours and hours with a single battery charge.
phones, instead, have to deal with other processes, like calls, wifi, and so on; moreover, they work software side, and playing music will drastically reduce battery time
however, there's always a big variable: headphones.
you could have the best player in the universe, but with a crappy pair of earpiece, there's no ifs or buts

Thanks for reply.
I see, and decide to buy a Clip+ for my UE TF10.
Besides, I just looked up Sardinia on GoogleMaps, it's really a big island that I haven't noticed before. I have been travelled in Rome for 2 days.

ozone89 said:
while i did had a sansa some times ago (now it's dead ), i can tell you sansa (or any PMP) is better better in audio quality than a "mixed" device like a smartphone.
reason is, they've dedicated hardware to do that job, they just play music, and they do it via hardware decoding, most of the times, and they are designed to work for hours and hours with a single battery charge.
phones, instead, have to deal with other processes, like calls, wifi, and so on; moreover, they work software side, and playing music will drastically reduce battery time
however, there's always a big variable: headphones.
you could have the best player in the universe, but with a crappy pair of earpiece, there's no ifs or buts
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The largest downside of a mixed device such as the Nexus S would have much more to do with various forms of interference coming from the other chips and electronics all huddled up next to each other, and possibly from heat too. You won't find a difference between "software" and "hardware" decoding here either, the clip simply uses a SoC much like the Nexus too, just much smaller with less features.
Playing music drastically reduces battery time on the Nexus S without Deep Idle enabled, with it there is a much less severe battery drain though. On newer Tegra3 devices, for example, battery drain is even less as only a much weaker, and more efficient, core is used to decode audio (a relatively easy task), saving even more power.
As you said though, sound quality is only as high as the weakest link - from the bitrate to the dac, amp and ear/headphones. I absolutely love the Sansa Clip+ though, there is nothing that compares to it's capabilities, price point, portability, etc. I intend to get one (or two) sometime soon, if not just to have one permanently hooked up in the car and as a backup, even though my Nexus S is my main source of music.

radianter said:
Thanks for reply.
I see, and decide to buy a Clip+ for my UE TF10.
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you're welcome, GLaD i've helped
radianter said:
Besides , I just looked up Sardinia on GoogleMaps, it's really a big island that I haven't noticed before. I have been travelled in Rome for 2 days.
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ahaahah, you're not the only one!
hope you haven't taken seriously my sig, it's just a joke referred to the fact that sardinian language is officially recognized as such, as opposite to other italian dialects it has autonomous roots (wikipedia will help) XD
Sent from my Nexus S using XDA

Well I have both, and what I'd say is Clip+ is better when using with low impedance headphones. On the other hand, I feel Nexus S with Voodoo Sound driver performs better with higher impedance headphones e.g. Hifiman RE-0 provided they're playing the same FLAC file

radianter said:
Thanks for reply.
I see, and decide to buy a Clip+ for my UE TF10.
Besides, I just looked up Sardinia on GoogleMaps, it's really a big island that I haven't noticed before. I have been travelled in Rome for 2 days.
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Click to collapse
i am also using a tf10 i think nesus with voodoo is great but if u wan quality why sansa with rockbox? my as well hifi-man? or cowon?
Sent from my Nexus S using Tapatalk 2 Beta-4

ozone89 said:
you're welcome, GLaD i've helped
ahaahah, you're not the only one!
hope you haven't taken seriously my sig, it's just a joke referred to the fact that sardinian language is officially recognized as such, as opposite to other italian dialects it has autonomous roots (wikipedia will help) XD
Sent from my Nexus S using XDA
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@[email protected] You have confused me successfully
I'm a Chinese currently at europe and don't have much geography knowledge of europe. I know there are two islands, one of France and one of Italy, but I just know their's names today ~~

kong said:
Well I have both, and what I'd say is Clip+ is better when using with low impedance headphones. On the other hand, I feel Nexus S with Voodoo Sound driver performs better with higher impedance headphones e.g. Hifiman RE-0 provided they're playing the same FLAC file
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Thanks for reply.
I just checked that Hifiman RE-0 is a 64 Ohms earphone. It's amazing that Nexus S can drive a earphone directly with such a high impedance. Can you get enough volume from this combination?
So, in your opinion, the output power of Nexus S is greater than Clip+, right?

xjerlzx said:
i am also using a tf10 i think nesus with voodoo is great but if u wan quality why sansa with rockbox? my as well hifi-man? or cowon?
Sent from my Nexus S using Tapatalk 2 Beta-4
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Thanks for reply.
I just want a small and portable player when I doing running exercise. For this reason, Clip+ is good to me, and it has FM

radianter said:
Thanks for reply.
I just checked that Hifiman RE-0 is a 64 Ohms earphone. It's amazing that Nexus S can drive a earphone directly with such a high impedance. Can you get enough volume from this combination?
So, in your opinion, the output power of Nexus S is greater than Clip+, right?
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Yeah I believe so... I never have to raise the volume bar above 50% most of the time.
BTW, here's a post that you may find interesting. It also talk about TF10 a little bit

Audio out quality

Hi all
Ordered my 32gb, white N5, which should be delivered early next week.
But while anxiously waiting and reading first feedbacks, I had a question that seemed to have not been answered yet.
What about audio jack quality? I don't expect a smartphone to drive a high spec earbud like a professional DAC, but the N4 was a bit disappointing. Muddy bass, irritating highs, it was definitely not enough for my Fidelio S2.
So what to expect from the N5? Does it come with a Wolfson DAC (I don't think so) or with the same DAC the G2 is equipped with? How does it sound?

i would imagine it uses a Qualcomm dac like the N4 before it only perhaps an updated one. i found the N4 to sound alright on my Sure SE535's but bass not as clear / punchy as any wolfson ive had previously.
if you goto the snapdragon S800 page if i recall it does talk about the DAC
Also the S800 now has a Dedicated DSP processor and 4.4 uses direct audio tunneling to the DSP so it will be interesting to see how this will effect the audio quality to.
EDIT: from what i understand tho the Qualcomm DAC's are more analytical in sound they tend to give detail and lack warmth in the sound.

How is the volume? I'm hearing impaired and I was always listening my music on full volume.
I read somewhere that the N5 would be louder. Can someone confirm this for me?

audio is a big one for me as well.
if it isnt a big improvement over the n4 it will be getting sold. Ive been spoiled with my htc one after having the n4.

aimetti said:
audio is a big one for me as well.
if it isnt a big improvement over the n4 it will be getting sold. Ive been spoiled with my htc one after having the n4.
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yeah, I used to listen my music on my ipod touch 64GB but it broke down. Just recently I started using my N4 as my daily music-"machine" D) and google music all access is great. However, the N4 was just not loud enough for some albums (usually older and quieter stuff) and 16GB weren't much enough.
I hope my new N5 white 32GB will be better as music player... I will find out at the latest on monday..

Just pasting my comment from a discussion on G+, some may find it useful:
From a quick test I believe it sounds better than my good ol' Nexus 4. The sound is a bit more bass-y, though I'm not sure if it's just "coloured", or the fact that Nexus 4's sound is a bit on the "tinny" side (note: I'm not using audiophile-grade gear, just slightly(?)-above-the-average Klipsch S4 in-ears). I'd say the sound is more balanced now. Also, output appears to be higher than on the Nexus 4.
Take the above with a grain of salt, this is a matter of personal preference after all. For proper analysis you should wait for Supercurio or someone with the proper tools + time to do it.
Edit: Before anyone asks about external DACs, just tried to connect my ODAC hoping for some sound to play from my speakers. No luck. Not even with a Y-Cable so I guess we're going to have to rely on custom kernels again.

phunkycow said:
Just pasting my comment from a discussion on G+, some may find it useful:
From a quick test I believe it sounds better than my good ol' Nexus 4. The sound is a bit more bass-y, though I'm not sure if it's just "coloured", or the fact that Nexus 4's sound is a bit on the "tinny" side (note: I'm not using audiophile-grade gear, just slightly(?)-above-the-average Klipsch S4 in-ears). I'd say the sound is more balanced now. Also, output appears to be higher than on the Nexus 4.
Take the above with a grain of salt, this is a matter of personal preference after all. For proper analysis you should wait for Supercurio or someone with the proper tools + time to do it.
Edit: Before anyone asks about external DACs, just tried to connect my ODAC hoping for some sound to play from my speakers. No luck. Not even with a Y-Cable so I guess we're going to have to rely on custom kernels again.
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Thanks!
With higher output, do you mean more volume, louder?
I also have Klipsch S4 (II) and I found it already quite (too?) bassy on my N4

Blocoholi said:
Thanks!
With higher output, do you mean more volume, louder?
I also have Klipsch S4 (II) and I found it already quite (too?) bassy on my N4
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Got the S4 (I), not sure if there's a difference!
Yep, that's what I meant about the output, sorry for the confusion.

Indeed. I hope the audio is better than the n4. Heck, my i9100 has better audio quality than the n4.
Sent from my GT-I9100 using Tapatalk 4

I'm coming from a GNexus and when I plug my phone into the aux jack in my car it sounds absolutely terrible. It's just horribly muffled and muddy compared to virtually anything else I've plugged in.
Anyone know what kind of improvements I can expect? Was the N4 any better than the GNexus? It's pretty embarrassing to want to share a song with friends and after someone unplugs their iphone my phone sounds like garbage.

feedtheducks said:
Indeed. I hope the audio is better than the n4. Heck, my i9100 has better audio quality than the n4.
Sent from my GT-I9100 using Tapatalk 4
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Nope nooope no no no no no nopity nope no no no. I'm sorry but having owned both Galaxy S2 and Nexus 4, the Nexus 4 definitely has better music-playing quality through headphones. 100%.
Will receive my Nexus 5 hopefully Monday!

Hopefully the audio quality can compete with a Samsung Galaxy S3 + Boeffla Sound Engine. I´ll really miss this one

T-Mobile Z3 has Terrible Bluetooth Audio Quality

So I just received my Z3 yesterday and I love everything about it except the BT audio into my 2013 BMW 3-Series (F30). It sounds way too compressed, having that "tinny" sound like it has been down-sampled to 8-bit, especially noticeable in the lower frequencies. I've also used an HTC One M8, Samsung Galaxy S4 and Apple iPhone 5 in this car and they all sound great over BT. To top it off, my car refuses to recognize the Z3 over USB, no matter what configuration I use. Upon searching, I noticed that some earlier Sony Z's seemed ot have similar BT problems but couldn't find any reliable fixes. Does anyone have any suggestions? This is a deal-breaker for me and I'd hate to send this otherwise-wonderful Z3 back.

Have you messed around with the ClearAudio+ and Dynamic Normalizer settings to see if there is a difference?

jayr04 said:
Have you messed around with the ClearAudio+ and Dynamic Normalizer settings to see if there is a difference?
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Yes, I've fooled with all the audio settings. Done the factory reset too. I even tried the app used to fix the Z1 bluetooth media issue to no avail. I happen to have a NAD Viso 1 on the way and will test with that as well. Right now, however, I'm leaning towards ditching this Z3 and keeping the M8. :/

Mashuri said:
It sounds way too compressed, having that "tinny" sound like it has been down-sampled to 8-bit, especially noticeable in the lower frequencies.
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Smells like that two devices won't share a A2DP connection.
I never experienced any problems with that, but it might be worthy to have a look at your car stereo's manual, seek for the keywords "A2DP" and "aptX".
Maybe your stereo is regarded as an aptX device by the Z3, but some problems prevent establishing an aptX connection, so there's a fallback to plain BT audio, which delivers "phone quality" (and below). Your stereo's manual should point you to some methods for forcing your stereo to use aptX; hopefully.

Chefproll said:
Smells like that two devices won't share a A2DP connection.
I never experienced any problems with that, but it might be worthy to have a look at your car stereo's manual, seek for the keywords "A2DP" and "aptX".
Maybe your stereo is regarded as an aptX device by the Z3, but some problems prevent establishing an aptX connection, so there's a fallback to plain BT audio, which delivers "phone quality" (and below). Your stereo's manual should point you to some methods for forcing your stereo to use aptX; hopefully.
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It may indeed be some compatibility issue with my car. My NAD should arrive this Monday or Tuesday and I'll do another test. Even if it is a compatibility issue, I need to have quality tunes in my car.

Considering you have 2013 BMW it's very outdated by now, time to upgrade the car to support latest technologies on your phone

dkreviews said:
Considering you have 2013 BMW it's very outdated by now, time to upgrade the car to support latest technologies on your phone
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lol, anyway do other phones work fine?

abhinav.tella said:
lol, anyway do other phones work fine?
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Quote from my OP:
I've also used an HTC One M8, Samsung Galaxy S4 and Apple iPhone 5 in this car and they all sound great over BT.
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I've also used an HTC One M8, Samsung Galaxy S4 and Apple iPhone 5 in this car and they all sound great over BT.
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Exactly my point, old stuff works fine with old car

dkreviews said:
Exactly my point, old stuff works fine with old car
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Which is why it's important to have backward compatibility. If I have to choose between trading in my car or my phone, the Sony is out.

You know this is really funny, because I have the complete opposite experience! I am coming from an M8 and had massive issues with Bluetooth disconnecting for no reason in my 2013 Lexus, but the Z3 seems to be performing better, with more sound in the lower frequencies!

I just upgraded today from an iphone 5 and I feel like my audio quality has improved. Using a sony headunit though and it has extensive EQ/compatibility with the phone

Z3 is on its way back to T-Mobile. Bummer.

Mine pairs fine with my belkin N9 bluetooth adapter, and sounds fine. At first the headphone cable was a bit loose and it sounded like you described, but some fidgeting got it sounding great. Sorry the BMW didn't like your phone!

Interesting, because I've always thought the opposite. There's a HUGE difference playing spotify over the stereo of my Focus ST compared to my old Nexus 4. It is borderline CD quality for me.

Sounds spectacular in my car and connects like a dream. I never had a Samsung actually connect without fiddling with it every so glad time.

I had some issues with my E-class Merc , it just didn't want to play well with the Z3 but was fine with my Samsung S5.
I contemplated upgrading the car, then I came to my senses lol.
I ended up buying the Sony Bluetooth receiver supports AptX, which sounds so much better then plain old A2DP. Seems to work very well so far.
Heres a link
http://www.sonymobile.com/global-en...bluetooth-music-receiver-bm10/specifications/
Its slightly bigger then a small matchbox.
Paul

Sounds absolutely brilliant on my modest Ranault Captur as well. In fact sounds much better than my previous M8 by a massive ammount.

Also have the opposite, BT is way nicer than my old S4. Like richer or something.

At the last minute, I yanked the UPS box containing my Z3 from my company's Out Box and decided to keep it. F&@# it. This thing is too beautiful and performs great with everything else. I'll just connect it to my car via 1/8" jack and deal with the slight inconvenience.
EDIT: FYI, I connected the Z3 to my Viso 1 via APT-X and it sounded fantastic. On a side note, I can't recommend the Viso-1 more highly. It blows even the B&W Zeppelin out of the water when it comes to sound quality and bass extension. The old models with the iPod docks (that fully support APT-X) are being blown out for $250. Get yourself one! NAD Viso 1 at Amazon

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?
Click to expand...
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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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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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?
Click to expand...
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.
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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.