Hi there, I’m thinking about getting my first pair of IEMs, as I’ve never had any before and would like to have a wired option that is easy to travel with. I’m specifically looking at the Moondrop Chu 2 as they seem quite affordable and a good starting point.
However my phone does not have AUX anymore (Pixel 7A) and I doubt I’ll get a phone that has one in the future as I want to continue to use GrapheneOS.
Does anyone have any experience regarding the use of these dongles. Is there something I should be aware of before doing a purchase?
Thanks in advance!
Edit: I see on the pictures(website link) that it’s possible to purchase this with an adapter between the dongle and the IEMs. Is this one in specific strictly necessary or can I go with a smaller/cheaper one?
Edit 2: Further investigation, it seems like these can come in two variants: 3.5jack and USB-C.
I love how the 3.5 mm connector is now called aux
It’s true, though.
I mean, it isn’t. The same way usb-c will never be “an android charger” no matter how many times people say it.
I have literally never heard someone refer to usb-c as an android charger
Do you have a charger?
Yeah, Android or iPhone?
That’s how I hear it the most.
I heard that more commonly referring to Micro USB but, yeah, most people used to ask what phone you have, not what cable.
To me, the charger will always be the wall brick.
That’s a transformer silly
If you want to get technical, the charger is built into the phone. You’re just connecting it to power…
The audio quality of a USB to headphone jack can vary wildly as they need to contain their own DAC (digital->analoge converter), tbh most are probably good enough for most people but depending on your headphone setup you may be able to tell. (Depending how much you spend they can actually have better audio quality than a normal phones headphone jack)
Edit: Fiio makes a pretty nice one, but not the cheapest on the block
For the price, the iPhone dongle is also pretty damn good too.
I haven’t read such an incorrect statement since someone said “I think Liz Truss will be great for the British economy”
such an incorrect statement
Not sure why you’re so confident about that. I’m not the only person who says this, not even in this thread.
The Apple dongle is very good and very cheap. YMMV on Android - it should be fine but I recall seeing some complaints a while back. Don’t remember what the issue was.
You can see its DAC measurements here: https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/review-apple-vs-google-usb-c-headphone-adapters.5541/
It’s often recommended as an entry-level DAC for audiophiles who want to focus their budget on amps and speakers when starting out. It’s transparent and there’s no need for any reasonable human to ever replace it, as far as sound quality goes. Build quality and connections are its limitations.
My PC has an Aorus Master x570 MOBO with “high end” (above average) onboard sound, and the $9 plug-and-play Apple dongle was a noticeable improvement. Almost every external DAC will beat onboard PC sound, but this thing is silly. It’s worth a try - return it if there’s any compatibility issue, or keep it handy for other uses, but I imagine any bugs are resolved at this point.
All of the Apple dongles I’ve tried on Android are considerably quieter than other dongles. It’s like they put a dampener on it. Otherwise it seems to be good quality
That audio padding could considered signal degradation, therefore fall into OPs qualifications for shittiness.
