Develop Bugs

What In-Ear Headset

I feel the stock headset is really lacking in some areas. I need advice as to what's a good headset. I use a razer Moray which is really clean and nice but really lacks in bass. They are somewhat better than the stock 1. Also i would like a headphone that doesn't leak the sound for everyone to hear outside. The stock sony does a good job at that.
What do you guys use?

I uses a pair of FitEar MH334 running with USB OTG through my Just Audio uHA-120Dsc DACamp.
Eats the stock headset for breakfast, very affordable.

Really? Find It quite good actually, could hold its ground against the sony mh1c And even my se215. Would recommend the audio technica im50/70
Sent from my C6903 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app

I'm using kef m200 with mic and they're really great powerfull sound

If you want a good bargain, try AKG K321.
I think it's the best deal for an high quality in-ear.
Very good isolation, nice highs, good mids and AWESOME bass.
Sent from my Honami!

I am currently using The Yamaha EPH-30... the Sound is quite good for the Price i got it for (Rs.1300 thats like just 25$)

Denon AH-C301, works with calls and I love them.

Vanarian said:
Denon AH-C301, works with calls and I love them.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
do all the functions of these headphones work with the xperia Z1? or just some of them.... I'm deciding between these and bowers & wilkins C5. Right now I'm using the bose in-ear

a bargain for less than 10usd or less than 600inr. philips she3590, belive me.. u gonna hate this headset,after u blow out ur eardrums.. what about a 10'boss subwoofer+10" jbl woofer+a philips midrange + a sony tweeter combined in a box ..and fitted on either side of ur head... this is the same shi##.
i own 12 headsets.. including sennheiser, sony,jbl wood,sonyericsson,panasonic,nokia,and htc beats edition , well.. all are midranges.. costing less than 5000INR, now u should be thinking that why this guy went for a 600INR philips.. the reason is.. under 5000.. the only competition it get is from JVC HAFX1X Xtreme Xplosives and some of its siblings like 3580,35xx,8xxx etc. but in its price range, nothing on earth matches to its overall sound perfomance( of course she3590 have its siblings in 35xx series,which have mic too, and all are under 1000INR, and all contains same drivers, so they all sound same or bout 98% same.)
so, if u want to see ur friend who own some sony xbh, or sennheiser cx, or beats, or anything which cost him $100 or less cry.. , buy one of these, plug into his ears, and watch him cry..:victory::cyclops:

mbp986 said:
do all the functions of these headphones work with the xperia Z1? or just some of them.... I'm deciding between these and bowers & wilkins C5. Right now I'm using the bose in-ear
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think the only functions working are Play/Stop and Call/Stop Call. Though the design of the button is pretty cool and awkward at the same time. You won't be using it at all for switching songs or change volume without having to hold the earphone which has the button mounted on it. But calling somebody, or making play/Stop on the go is discret and natural, and comfortable.
Everything depends on what you want to do.
Bower & Wilkins and Denon C300 series are nothing comparable. You won't get the same experience. There are very few earphones that compare to the C300 range actually. You're not listening to earphones, you're walking around with a private dimension surrounding you with music (either instruments and singers or a DJ or anything about what you play), and in this dimension lays a subwoofer made to turn your private room into a party room. It doesn't bleed in any way, but it is damn enjoyable.
Durability might also change a lot, since the Denons are very lightweight and well built. I don't see them dying on me anytime soon.
I recommend you to look at the last Senheiser IM50 & IM70 lines too. Though if you want something different, with less bass but even better details clarity and naturality, go for Denon C400 Music Maniac line. You will also like the other line of Senheiser (don't recall the names).
JVC FX1X are cool too, in fact those are the rare earphones that I would try to compare with my Denon C301. Of course they don't match, but the fact that a 15$ pair of phones can compare to a 300$ pair of phones is enough for you to imagine how JVC has hit the sweet spot. You just need to burn them for 150hours to reveal them fully.

Vanarian said:
I think the only functions working are Play/Stop and Call/Stop Call. Though the design of the button is pretty cool and awkward at the same time. You won't be using it at all for switching songs or change volume without having to hold the earphone which has the button mounted on it. But calling somebody, or making play/Stop on the go is discret and natural, and comfortable.
Everything depends on what you want to do.
Bower & Wilkins and Denon C300 series are nothing comparable. You won't get the same experience. There are very few earphones that compare to the C300 range actually. You're not listening to earphones, you're walking around with a private dimension surrounding you with music (either instruments and singers or a DJ or anything about what you play), and in this dimension lays a subwoofer made to turn your private room into a party room. It doesn't bleed in any way, but it is damn enjoyable.
Durability might also change a lot, since the Denons are very lightweight and well built. I don't see them dying on me anytime soon.
I recommend you to look at the last Senheiser IM50 & IM70 lines too. Though if you want something different, with less bass but even better details clarity and naturality, go for Denon C400 Music Maniac line. You will also like the other line of Senheiser (don't recall the names).
JVC FX1X are cool too, in fact those are the rare earphones that I would try to compare with my Denon C301. Of course they don't match, but the fact that a 15$ pair of phones can compare to a 300$ pair of phones is enough for you to imagine how JVC has hit the sweet spot. You just need to burn them for 150hours to reveal them fully.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Dude those suggestions are costly.. Do u think that these are cute for a phone with no dedicated dac amp chip?? Ofcourse its worth when u have a pair of headphone amp made of tubes. Or atleast htc one phone. Or even a sony android walkman. Which have smaster digital amp. I suggested big bang for peanut's cost. I adore jvc x1x, but they are like solar eclipse, cant get one, most of the online stores say out of stock!!!
Also there is a matter of comfort too, big inears make uncomfortable for prolonged use, tiny less weighted, smooth curved ones are better.
I think like this, dont go for high end ones if ur source of audio ( here - the phone) is not that good, also dont go for scifi type 3-4 driver types bulky costly ones, if u intend to use the rough,or in travel, they are really intended for studio qualities and not worthy unless u own chunky flaac files.
The worst thing about carring headphones- cable damages,loss of earbuds, etc.. Unless u have a carry case, but who wil carry a case, if u can put that in pocket, earbuds are for pockets, i think u get the point.
To sum up i opt for decent pair,which i can carry arround,and afford to loose or damage.
Sent from my C6903 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app

showlyshah said:
Dude those suggestions are costly.. Do u think that these are cute for a phone with no dedicated dac amp chip?? Ofcourse its worth when u have a pair of headphone amp made of tubes. Or atleast htc one phone. Or even a sony android walkman. Which have smaster digital amp. I suggested big bang for peanut's cost. I adore jvc x1x, but they are like solar eclipse, cant get one, most of the online stores say out of stock!!!
Also there is a matter of comfort too, big inears make uncomfortable for prolonged use, tiny less weighted, smooth curved ones are better.
I think like this, dont go for high end ones if ur source of audio ( here - the phone) is not that good, also dont go for scifi type 3-4 driver types bulky costly ones, if u intend to use the rough,or in travel, they are really intended for studio qualities and not worthy unless u own chunky flaac files.
The worst thing about carring headphones- cable damages,loss of earbuds, etc.. Unless u have a carry case, but who wil carry a case, if u can put that in pocket, earbuds are for pockets, i think u get the point.
To sum up i opt for decent pair,which i can carry arround,and afford to loose or damage.
Sent from my C6903 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well those are costly but you just need to know where and when to look. the retail price is normally expensive but I got my Denon C301 for like 30$, plus 10-15$ shipping. The phones themselves were not that expensive. And there might not be anything in ear bigger in size than those ones, the drivers need to breathe! 3-4 drivers earphones are generally more compact or a bit longer, but slimmer (which I honestly can't explain, I'm more into headphones blueprints, not earphones).
About our Xperia Z1, it's true that I usually ride it with one or two portable amp but tube amps are useless with earphones, what will really take the win with those ones are full sized headphones of high grade. And at this point it is also all about combination, high grade cables (full silver, silver copper, gold? etc). The only earphones pair that I see getting past its own type might be the Unique Melody Merlin series. And it is as expensive as full size headphones.
Also don't underestimate the Qualcomm DAC, it is really well implemented in our Xperia Z1 and we're talking about a portable source+smartphone here, not a single dedicated portable source. From this point of view, it is definitely one of the best music phones you will get from 2013-2014. Clean and lively sound, no distortions, instrument separation and spacialization are well made too. And the DAC is silent. Sony has made his homework here.
What I mean is : you CAN enjoy quality earphones or headphones from it. May be not at the earphones' full potential but I'd say 80%, the last remaining percent being cherry on the cake. If you go a little further away and plug an amp, you bring maybe 90%. To get even better, you need a real equalizer which our phones are never going to get anytime soon, unless a developper takes time to do a 10-30 parametric bands EQ with sliding gestures, since the bands are not going to fit the screen's size.
And it also depends on the files you're listening to, you're right. If the user uses 120kbps MP3, he can just use Apple earbuds. He gets past the compressed music and tries better encoded files, there quality cans and earphones are going to show how worthy these are.
Anyway, if you plug twin-driver (like mine or Music Maniac) or triple-driver (like Ultimate Ears Triple Fi), you will enjoy them with the Z1. And I'm sure that you will enjoy the Senheiser IM 50 or IM70 too. (Off-topic, but I'm pretty surprised to recommend Senheiser to somebody, considering I almost hate what Senn do with headphones. Some people love the HD-25 for exemple, I hate it the most. Not worst headphones I've ever heard, but dead absent soundstage and weak low/mid bass made it unbearable for me. I just think that the earphones here are well made).
EDIT : HAHA I remember why I didn't recommend Senn.... IM70 and IM50 are AudioTechnica! Stupid me for switching names!
The real problem with multiple drivers is : the more drivers you have, the more power you'll need, so an amp might be required. As for my personal taste and comfort, I bring a bag sized just to contain my wallet, my passport and my driving licence. Pretty small, right? I always have a little pouch in there too where I store my Denons and my two portable amps. Everything fits into my little bag too. The thing is still slim and compact. So the setup is fully portable, considering I'm really often going everywhere.
This is right for the JVC too : those earphones need a proper driving to give everything. Well, if you've never heard headphones or earphones through an amp, you won't care and you will already notice the difference between models. If you're already familiar with amps, I suggest to try to get an Headstage Arrow, a C&C BH or a Digizoid ZO. For the size and price, and performance provided, there might not be anything that compares. The rest might be either bigger, more expensive or will not perform as good.
(I don't know if my post is confusing to read, I tried to answer to showlyshah and the OP too haha, my bad if it looks messed up).

Vanarian said:
I think the only functions working are Play/Stop and Call/Stop Call. Though the design of the button is pretty cool and awkward at the same time. You won't be using it at all for switching songs or change volume without having to hold the earphone which has the button mounted on it. But calling somebody, or making play/Stop on the go is discret and natural, and comfortable.
Everything depends on what you want to do.
Bower & Wilkins and Denon C300 series are nothing comparable. You won't get the same experience. There are very few earphones that compare to the C300 range actually. You're not listening to earphones, you're walking around with a private dimension surrounding you with music (either instruments and singers or a DJ or anything about what you play), and in this dimension lays a subwoofer made to turn your private room into a party room. It doesn't bleed in any way, but it is damn enjoyable.
Durability might also change a lot, since the Denons are very lightweight and well built. I don't see them dying on me anytime soon.
I recommend you to look at the last Senheiser IM50 & IM70 lines too. Though if you want something different, with less bass but even better details clarity and naturality, go for Denon C400 Music Maniac line. You will also like the other line of Senheiser (don't recall the names).
JVC FX1X are cool too, in fact those are the rare earphones that I would try to compare with my Denon C301. Of course they don't match, but the fact that a 15$ pair of phones can compare to a 300$ pair of phones is enough for you to imagine how JVC has hit the sweet spot. You just need to burn them for 150hours to reveal them fully.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sent from my C6903 using xda premium

@ vanarian. You are right buddy.. Audio clarity demands 85% analog circuits and devices and only the rest is digital. I am an electronics hobbiest for about 15 yrs, and i am an electrical engineer. I have had time with analog amps and circuits a lot. And now in the digital era, i dont see any thing quite pleasant as my old cassette walkman. Now we punch up every thing, but then we lack its natural feel. I love analogs and old electronics.. I have built several amps for myself and others. I always opt for transistors or mosfet than ics( for ic, i choose gainclone ckts), i am much like a purist.
Now i am building a dac based portable audio amp for phones and usb host enabled devices. A dac + amp setup, powerd from usb port, smaller than a pendrive, when i finish, i will post those in hardware hacking thread here on xda.
Sent from my C6903 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app

showlyshah said:
@ vanarian. You are right buddy.. Audio clarity demands 85% analog circuits and devices and only the rest is digital. I am an electronics hobbiest for about 15 yrs, and i am an electrical engineer. I have had time with analog amps and circuits a lot. And now in the digital era, i dont see any thing quite pleasant as my old cassette walkman. Now we punch up every thing, but then we lack its natural feel. I love analogs and old electronics.. I have built several amps for myself and others. I always opt for transistors or mosfet than ics( for ic, i choose gainclone ckts), i am much like a purist.
Now i am building a dac based portable audio amp for phones and usb host enabled devices. A dac + amp setup, powerd from usb port, smaller than a pendrive, when i finish, i will post those in hardware hacking thread here on xda.
Sent from my C6903 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I look forward to it, this will definitely be a wonderful setup.

Vanarian said:
I look forward to it, this will definitely be a wonderful setup.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If u have an experience in electronics. I will give u a guide:-
1) buy a usb soundcard, there are several with choice of volume control, audio in/out, 2 to 7.1 channel audio o/p etc. I simply went for a normal one with 2 channel audio in/out with no volume control. And it works with xperia z,and z1, but not with htc one 4.2, but no matter, its just a driver problem, and can be fixed if we can manage to put the geniric usb dac driver into the rom. ( or may be its fixed on latest 4.4.2) infact most of the latest devices support it.
2) open the usb soundcard, and trace down the audio out channel circuit, there will be three wire connection, R,L,G.
3) now find a simple audio amp circuit, or opamp circuit, which can be used as a headphone amp,google search it, head-fi forms and other forums have lot of links and references. The thing is the ckt must be capable to operate in <= 5v and should not draw currents more than 100-200 ma at peak.
4) now connect the audio input to audio o/p of dac chip of usb soundcard. And use the same 5v power source from usb to power the amp ckt. Then connect the o/p of the amp ckt to a 3.5 mm headphone socket.
5) done. Now u have a digital amp that can be plugged directly to ur phone's usb host port, and can drive some beefy headsets.. Costing u less than 5 $. If u can manage to assemble the whole thing into an old casing of something like pendrive or netsetter, it looks like some professional device too..
Nb:- Dont use amp ckts that produce more than 1w, or u will burn ur headset. And dont draw lot of current, probably less than 300 ma from ur phones usb, or u will burn the usb chip of phone.
Sent from my C6903 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app

showlyshah said:
If u have an experience in electronics. I will give u a guide:-
1) buy a usb soundcard, there are several with choice of volume control, audio in/out, 2 to 7.1 channel audio o/p etc. I simply went for a normal one with 2 channel audio in/out with no volume control. And it works with xperia z,and z1, but not with htc one 4.2, but no matter, its just a driver problem, and can be fixed if we can manage to put the geniric usb dac driver into the rom. ( or may be its fixed on latest 4.4.2) infact most of the latest devices support it.
2) open the usb soundcard, and trace down the audio out channel circuit, there will be three wire connection, R,L,G.
3) now find a simple audio amp circuit, or opamp circuit, which can be used as a headphone amp,google search it, head-fi forms and other forums have lot of links and references. The thing is the ckt must be capable to operate in <= 5v and should not draw currents more than 100-200 ma at peak.
4) now connect the audio input to audio o/p of dac chip of usb soundcard. And use the same 5v power source from usb to power the amp ckt. Then connect the o/p of the amp ckt to a 3.5 mm headphone socket.
5) done. Now u have a digital amp that can be plugged directly to ur phone's usb host port, and can drive some beefy headsets.. Costing u less than 5 $. If u can manage to assemble the whole thing into an old casing of something like pendrive or netsetter, it looks like some professional device too..
Nb:- Dont use amp ckts that produce more than 1w, or u will burn ur headset. And dont draw lot of current, probably less than 300 ma from ur phones usb, or u will burn the usb chip of phone.
Sent from my C6903 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you for the steps! I'll try to do one, I need also to build a quick waves measurement kit. I'm trying to mod a pair of headphones with a whole new design (orthodynamics kind!) and if my assumptions are correct, there will be two consequences for the drivers : the sound will get a HUGE leap in term of quality, but the drivers will also become a lot more hungry in power. I can't tell yet, it is a real mess in my head.
So if by any means the cans become more hungry than these are already, having this will help me test them further.

Choose some low impedence drivers.
Sent from my C6903 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app

not so low ...I have 12ohm kef m200 and I can say not every device can handle that low impedance (z1 can perfectly) ...best for mobile are ~32ohm which are efficient a lot (eg 120 db)

i am using Soundmagics e10- very low costs - for me enough quality for a smartfone.
It has enough hearable bass. They are loud. They are small fit good and smart. If i loose them, it was not expensive.
It is truth about the audio source what has been said here so i will stay with these.
it is a smartfone not a portable studio so any soundcards (which would make it probably much nicer) are (too) big and probably (too) battery hungry devices.
If i want everything perfect i`m rushing home and listen to music on hifi setups with soundcards subwoofers and all these stuff
instead of having troubles getting my phone in my pocket on a train because of a soundcard connected

[Q] Developing a NFC, Wireless charging dock

Hi to the fantastic team of minds on XDA! I'm currently working through building a wireless charging/streaming dock with NFC for my Nexus 5, although the plan is to extend support to any device that supports Wireless Charging & NFC.
Basic concept is for use in a car, but could also be adapted for other situations easily. Basic operation is drop phone in charging area/cradle, NFC tag is read by phone and either launches the music player OR for me in my case, runs tasker to set volume max, play library on shuffle, launch GPS tracking for work/private mileage etc and the phone would stream audio to a receiver wired into the cars headunit.
NFC/Wireless charging.. piece of cake. Audio streaming... not so fun.
I would really like decent audio quality, not quite audiophile level but certainly at least as good as the 3.5mm line out from the headphone jack. Initially I disliked the idea of bluetooth due to quality however looking around I found some Bluetooth 4 APT-X enabled boards that seemed to fit the bill fairly well as apparently APT-X sounds much better in comparison to A2DP (haven't tried out for myself though). Only problem is the Nexus as well as a lot of other devices don't support APT-X. Other than bluetooth I'm really struggling to find a good quality wireless streaming standard that is fairly plug and play. I found a WiFi option via DTS using DLNA but the details on the receiving hardware are sketchy, it also doesn't seem very transparent (requires input from 3rd party apps etc).
I also found a few posts relating to Chromecast enabled media servers that will allow Play music to cast music to them, but again, can't really find any pre made WiFi enabled DLNA "dumb" servers designed to simply capture an audio stream. Again, not very transparent. Ideally it would work natively and without much 3rd party input.. although this may not be entirely possible so I'm open to all options.
So, what are my options? Also, why with Bluetooth 4 with the max bitrate of 20+mbps do we not have a high bit rate audio streaming profile/protocol?
I did consider the idea of a wired DAC, but the major plus on the cable free design is being able to just drop the phone in and grab it out without fiddling for cables. Also the Nexus 5 doesn't support USB DAC OOTB. I also had difficulty sourcing a DAC that would output acceptable audio (at least as good as the headphone jack) for a good price. Everything I found was either expensively high end or nasty & cheap. All I need is a bare board that gets stuffed into a cable box and works! I bought a cheap $5 DAC off ebay ages ago for testing. Worst mistake ever!!! Horrible sound, but hey it was $5
Thanks for any input!
- Auzeras

If bluetooth sound qualitiy is too bad for you (for me its ok with my JVC radio) i think the aux cable is the only option. But if you have to plug in the cable the "just drop your phone"-concept is gone. I suggest trying to use the USB port for audio out (because aux input isnt a big deal for most of the cars) und charging at the same time. For the dock i think using the brodit docks is ok although these docks are expensive. Alternativly you could try to use a cheaper dock.
For USB audio out i think a cheap DAC like this should be fine, but you need the usb audio recorder pro app (see this thread). Next thing is charging at the same time. Maybe its possible to do it like this with an powered usb hub but you'll have to try that. Overall its more the developing of an USB aux output with the ability of charging but i think its the only option to get the audio qualitiy you want.

Audio tweaks when root is achieved.

So, I'm a little underwhelmed by the DAC on this phone. It's mainly the volume. My Note 2 with DAC tuning and V4A sounds much better and is much louder.
Assuming we get root, will we be able to tweak the audio down to the DAC level in terms of oversampling, tuning, etc? Would we just be stuck with V4A and other software based optimizations?
Ideally, I'd like a louder headphone jack that doesn't suffer from as much distortion when turned up. My main issue is that it just isn't loud enough for me.
I'm using Klipsch S4's and ATH-M50s. I do plan on adding a pair of RHA IEM's or another pair of full size cans.
I know that people are using external amplifiers successfully with the phone, but I'd rather not carry one around if I could squeeze more power out of the DAC post-root.
Thanks!

I think it would depend on whether its done at the kernel level or at the chip layer (either from a soft processor or actually part of the HDL code fabric). Then again I no know nothing about audio DACs so it might make sense for them to expose those level of hooks to the kernal or even software/rom layer since they're often times needing to be tuned to a speaker's performance for achieving a desired sound (hopefully).
If this fails maybe it might be worth adding a outside box DAC from Fiio (those are good, I have the same headphones, ATH-M50s, and they do improve the sound even with v4a especially if you're seeking higher audio volumnes) or maybe even an USB Audio DAC (I would suspect these are even better than analog <> DAC <> analog ones) which will newly be supported natively by Android L and maybe already by Samsung phones.
http://www.androidpolice.com/2014/0...-android-now-natively-supports-usb-audio-out/
Hope that might help, unfortunately I doubt we'll see the level of tuning capability that you're seeking. I don't really know much about qualcomm's audio DAC selection but those with exynos phones I know have those really nice premium ones. It's all up to the hardware's capability and for all we know qualcomm's DAC has some crappy sampling rates which will never be able to be improved on if you're looking for good audio directly out of the jack.

imnoob55 said:
I think it would depend on whether its done at the kernel level or at the chip layer (either from a soft processor or actually part of the HDL code fabric). Then again I no know nothing about audio DACs so it might make sense for them to expose those level of hooks to the kernal or even software/rom layer since they're often times needing to be tuned to a speaker's performance for achieving a desired sound (hopefully).
If this fails maybe it might be worth adding a outside box DAC from Fiio (those are good, I have the same headphones, ATH-M50s, and they do improve the sound even with v4a especially if you're seeking higher audio volumnes) or maybe even an USB Audio DAC (I would suspect these are even better than analog <> DAC <> analog ones) which will newly be supported natively by Android L and maybe already by Samsung phones.
http://www.androidpolice.com/2014/0...-android-now-natively-supports-usb-audio-out/
Hope that might help, unfortunately I doubt we'll see the level of tuning capability that you're seeking. I don't really know much about qualcomm's audio DAC selection but those with exynos phones I know have those really nice premium ones. It's all up to the hardware's capability and for all we know qualcomm's DAC has some crappy sampling rates which will never be able to be improved on if you're looking for good audio directly out of the jack.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you, definitely helps. The audio output on this phone did get some good numbers according to GSMarena. I'm hoping that it means further tuning is possible. I believe the HTC One has a crazy 2w audio jack that's both loud and clear and also utilizes the same DAC. Hopefully that's a good sign for the possibility of tuning on this phone.
I was considering a Fiio box. I just hate having to carry that thing around or keep it clipped somewhere. The native USB audio out in Android L sounds promising though. I'd assume that a smaller USB sized box would leave a little less of a footprint.
I think Samsung actually ended up losing a lawsuit due to hearing loss. I suspect that it may be a reason why the audio output on the Note 4 is intentionally crippled. Hopefully I'm right and hopefully it's reversible.
I miss the Wolfson DAC on my Note 2. That thing sounded incredible. I'm tempted to sell this and seek the Exynos version just for the audio output.
When you use your m50s directly from the audio jack and through v4a, are the volume and distortion levels and better when cranking it up?
Oh, I also think that a file exists on the phone that limits the decibel output on the headphone jack. It can be altered to a level of 63 vs the 56(ish) that it's currently set at. I remember doing this on my Note 2 and it helped with high volume distortion quite a bit.
Root, we need you root.

[Q] Behringer UCA202 DAC - sounds horrible compared to headphone jack/bluetooth

So I found a Behringer UCA202 DAC online for really cheap and thought why not try it just for fun. Everything I've read says having one can help a bit and I figured at the least it would sound the same, but I plugged it into my Nexus 5 via OTG then plugged the AUX cord to my Jeep into the DAC and all bass and pretty much any other level of detail is gone from my music whether it's from Pandora, YouTube HD, or FLAC audio files. Audio sound quality is equal to listening to music over old mono bluetooth, you hear it fine but any highs and lows are removed. Has anyone else used this DAC that could give some suggestions?
Otherwise it's just as I assumed, DACs are pointless on good quality phones and that's why I can't find any DAC threads with the Nexus 5 involved.

herqulees said:
So I found a Behringer UCA202 DAC online for really cheap and thought why not try it just for fun. Everything I've read says having one can help a bit and I figured at the least it would sound the same, but I plugged it into my Nexus 5 via OTG then plugged the AUX cord to my Jeep into the DAC and all bass and pretty much any other level of detail is gone from my music whether it's from Pandora, YouTube HD, or FLAC audio files. Audio sound quality is equal to listening to music over old mono bluetooth, you hear it fine but any highs and lows are removed. Has anyone else used this DAC that could give some suggestions?
Otherwise it's just as I assumed, DACs are pointless on good quality phones and that's why I can't find any DAC threads with the Nexus 5 involved.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ummm, it's not a DAC. It's an interface.

theesotericone said:
Ummm, it's not a DAC. It's an interface.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, with a DAC in it. You need a DAC to get audio output through USB, there is no analog audio output through USB/USB OTG...

herqulees said:
Yes, with a DAC in it. You need a DAC to get audio output through USB, there is no analog audio output through USB/USB OTG...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes it has a DAC but it's not meant as a stand alone DAC. It's an interface or soundcard. Does your phone have enough juice to even operate the thing? Also for a device that sells for less than 30 bucks what exactly where you expecting? Get a real DAC. You will notice a huge difference. Until then do some more research on what you have and see if your meeting it's power requirements.
This is actually a pretty good review of the unit with lots of technical info.
http://nwavguy.blogspot.com/2011/02/behringer-uca202-review.html

theesotericone said:
Yes it has a DAC but it's not meant as a stand alone DAC. It's an interface or soundcard. Does your phone have enough juice to even operate the thing? Also for a device that sells for less than 30 bucks what exactly where you expecting? Get a real DAC. You will notice a huge difference. Until then do some more research on what you have and see if your meeting it's power requirements.
This is actually a pretty good review of the unit with lots of technical info.
http://nwavguy.blogspot.com/2011/02/behringer-uca202-review.html
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
While I can't see power being an issue I suppose I'll test with my Nexus 7 and laptop. I know it's a cheap DAC but I've read many reviews using this DAC with tablets and phones for car audio, along with the nwavguy in-depth review and testing showing how it's not a multi-hundred dollar unit but still does amazingly well. My issue is it doesn't even sound decent. It sounds like I'm playing rap/hip-hop through an old Nokia on speaker phone, you can hear it clearly but there's no depth.

So I tossed this DAC in a closet after I got bored of trying to make it work right and forgot about it for a year or so till earlier today when I found it while cleaning. My Nexus 5 has been retired and serves no purpose other than a security camera now. I now have a Samsung Galaxy S5 and an RCA Maven Pro tablet. The RCA Maven Pro is an 11.1inch 2-in-1 Android tablet with detachable keyboard for around $120. You'd assume it's horrible thanks to the brand and price but they managed to cut corners in all the right places it seems. Downsides are no GPS, 1GB of RAM, terrible cameras, and a horrible speaker. Other than that it has faithfully replaced my $1200 laptop with zero issues other than adjusting to ditching Windows.
Now back on track when I listen to music I'm either using an aux cord plugged into my work truck or bluetooth when using headphones or in my new car. When doing a side by side comparison bluetooth, to no surprise, shows no difference between my Maven and S5. However when using an aux cord the RCA doesn't put out as much bass and highs are... I guess not as clear? I think audiophiles are insane most of the time so it's hard for me to describe when I do notice a difference. Anyways I plugged the UCA202 into the RCA's USB port (no OTG here, it has a full size USB port) and plugged my Sony MDR-XB950BT headphones in to it with an aux cord (these headphones are 100% passive when wired, no bass boost or other enhancements) and sound quality is just as great as my S5, all bass and highs are restored. Just to further the test I plugged it into my S5 and did the same test with the same results. These are the same FLAC song files from the same network location that my Nexus 5 was playing a year ago.
The whole time the issue was something in my Nexus 5. What it was I don't know and sorry you guys I don't plan on investigating, I just wanted to inform everyone that the Behringer UCA202 is in fact a quality budget DAC since this thread is a top Google result for "Behringer UCA202 Android". If you have a cheap device that you want the audio to be on par with the high end phones this will do it, and for my original purpose of at the same time giving a bit of amplification for a weak head unit without distortion it does that decently too. To finish this off I am NOT an audiophile. Just a human with human hearing that likes songs with bass on car head units that weren't always designed for it (I glued a 80mm CPU fan to the back of the HU in my Jeep ) So take my finer details however you'd like.

the DAC works great for my Nexus 7 2013 model.

maybe otg cable is sh1tty
Sent from my D820 CAF using Tapatalk

Noise from my brand new Dasaita PK5 whenever wifi data is flowing...

I installed this unit in wife's 2018 Highlander today. It sounds great if wifi is switched off, or if it's on and no data is flowing. I am using Network Mini to monitor data, and as soon as data is going up/down, the crackling starts.
I've reached out to Dasaita and am awaiting a reply
I have grounded the black wire with the ringlet directly to the frame but it makes no difference. I have NOT grounded the radio chassis yet. Also the noise goes away when the unit isn't crammed into the dash. When all the wires are in close proximity to radio is when it picks up
Anyone seen this issue. Love the radio otherwise...
Video:.
https://youtu.be/NhSzLh7CD_0

Wow - that's REALLY bad... I'm starting to get a little fed up with the interference noises from my Eonon MTCE-WWW unit as well. I don't have any issues when using the internal amp, but if I connect to an external amp with the line-out RCAs, I get interference from USB devices, the LED backlighting on the unit, etc. It's shame becuase I love the idea of an Android unit, but not sure I can deal with the subpar quality issues....
Going to try connecting to my amp via speaker-level outputs next and see if that helps at all.
Do you have a stock or aftermarket amp in your vehicle?

Cracks and noises for me as well with my Belsee BP3 PX5 unit.
For me too the noises seem to fade away when I turn off WiFi.
I upgraded the firmware of the unit with a Cs-x sound mod one (there's an recente one for Dasaita too) and it seem to have reduced the issue
https://forum.xda-developers.com/an...ent/mod-cs-x-mod-mtcd-e-mcu-firmware-t3816042
Maybe you can check this out ?

TheDiB said:
Cracks and noises for me as well with my Belsee BP3 PX5 unit.
For me too the noises seem to fade away when I turn off WiFi.
I upgraded the firmware of the unit with a Cs-x sound mod one (there's an recente one for Dasaita too) and it seem to have reduced the issue
https://forum.xda-developers.com/an...ent/mod-cs-x-mod-mtcd-e-mcu-firmware-t3816042
Maybe you can check this out ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I suppose I could try updates, but I don't hold out much hope given that the problem seems to be related to proximity to the wifi antenna. It did this on the stock rom, as well as the Hal9k variant.
I'll update this thread if I manage to find an improvement.

The alternate sound-patched MCU's didn't make any difference whatsoever on my Eonon MTCE-WWW unit. I tried both the cs-x version and the wazdio verion. Same noise-related issues. You may help "hide" them a little by turning down the pre-amp value, but you can also do that with the stock MCUs, under the Factory Settings "Voice" tab.
To put it simply, I think they just use low-quality components with limited R&D - which is why these units are so inexpensive compared to more premium brands of plug-and-play units like Rosen, Dynavin, etc (they run WinCE though).
If using speaker-level outputs on the Eonon doesn't help in my case, I'll probably be going back to a WInCE unit, just becuase they seem to have much higher-quality audio components (better DAC's, 4V pre-outs, BBE processor, real 9-band EQ, time-delay, etc). I was really looking forward to an Android head-unit, but I'm just not willing to sacrifice sound quality to get the Android interface. Viper4Android helps a LOT in terms of sound-quality, but it can't help with the noise-related issues, which are more of a hardware thing...
Maybe some day they'll get there. I really wish they made low- and high-end versions of these radios - that way people had a choice between low-cost and high-quality.

That's a shame, as there is so much potential. I have a Hizpo PK5 in my (JBL-equipped) Sequoia, and it's completely noise-free. But this Dasaita for the Highlander is just very loud. It seems like it's a shielding issue. As stated previously, if I keep the head unit out with all the cables extended, the sound stops. I'm halfway tempted to buy an SMA wifi antenna with a cable long enough to get the RF signal away from the wires. The sound is exclusive to the left channel (both front and rear).
@TheDiB, missed your prior question. It's a JBL-equipped vehicle.

Yeah, your particular noise is REALLY bad (mine is more of something that you only hear if the music is muted or during really quiet parts of the music - and only in certain cases (but it still bothers me knowing that it's there).
Being that you can stop the noise by pulling the radio out, you may be able to figure out what is causing it. Maybe try disconnecting the AM/FM antenna to see if that has anytihng to do with it - I've read some cases where hte antenna was causing interference. Or just re-routing some of the wiring - or something along those lines.
In my case, the noises are present no matter what - but only if I use the RCA line-level outputs and an extrnal amp. If I use the stock built-in amp, there is no noise whatsoever. So mine seems to be related to the RCA line-level output hardware (shielding related, I'm guessing).
I would experiment some more if you are happy with the radio and sound-quality otherwise.

I'm hoping I hear something helpful back from Dasaita in the coming days. On this particular unit, the wifi antenna comes out about 1/2" above the main ISO plug for the radio. I suppose I could relocate the antenna by running the existing bulkhead SMA fitting through a screw hole elsewhere on the case to provide more distance. I'm not giving up yet The other issue is that it's the wife's car, so my access to it is limited.
I'm not using line-level outputs. The four pairs for the speaker output comes out of that ISO plug, and goes straight to the Toyota harness. Fader control (as well as a bunch of other controls/data) goes through the can bus adapter. But ultimately, those four speaker pair end up at the factory JBL amplifier.
Aside from the noise, the audio quality is equivalent to the stock radio. But, I'm not an audiophile, and I have the opposite of OCD...

So your stock JBL amp actually accepts speaker-level inputs? Usually, amps take line-level inputs. With the Eonon MTCE-WWW units for GM's, if your car has a stock Bose amp, there is a special "Bose adpater" that connects to the same port where you would connect the line-level RCA jacks for aftermarket amps, which is line-level - but instead of having RCA jacks at the other end, it just connects into the main wiring harness, so I guess it sends line-level signals through the speaker wires, to the Bose amp - and then the Bose amp amplifies them (that is just a guess though, based on the fact that the audio is coming from the same port that is used for an external aftermarket amp, which is line-level).
So the wiring harness you use for yours is exactly the same regardless of whether the car has a stock amplifier or not? Or maybe it's not an option on your car and they ALL come with JBL amps? Just trying to understand your setup a little better. Do you have a link to the unit you purcahsed?

jtrosky said:
So your stock JBL amp actually accepts speaker-level inputs? Usually, amps take line-level inputs. With the Eonon MTCE-WWW units for GM's, if your car has a stock Bose amp, there is a special "Bose adpater" that connects to the same port where you would connect the line-level RCA jacks for aftermarket amps, which is line-level - but instead of having RCA jacks at the other end, it just connects into the main wiring harness, so I guess it sends line-level signals through the speaker wires, to the Bose amp - and then the Bose amp amplifies them (that is just a guess though, based on the fact that the audio is coming from the same port that is used for an external aftermarket amp, which is line-level).
So the wiring harness you use for yours is exactly the same regardless of whether the car has a stock amplifier or not? Or maybe it's not an option on your car and they ALL come with JBL amps? Just trying to understand your setup a little better. Do you have a link to the unit you purcahsed?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It must, because I'm not using any coax/low-level outputs. In fact, I haven't hooked up most of the pigtail connectors. The ISO harness has about 5 or 6 connectors that are used, and about as many that aren't (presumably for the non-JBL vehicles). I think the Toyota JBL set up is much like the Bose you described. In a previous Tundra, I had to buy an adapter that would convert the two-pair per speaker wires to RCA plugs which I could then use to connect my aftermarket radio (to use the low level outputs). That converter (made by Metra or Scoche, IIRC) also somehow tied into the canbus to power the amp and control the fader.
Ultimately with this PX5, I'm using the purple/green/gray/white speaker level outputs to go directly to the factory harness. No adapter in between. I can only assume the JBL amp is designed to accept this somehow. Both my Sequoia and now this Highlander are set up the same way.

Well, I am happy to report that I was able to resolve the noise by replacing the Dasaita wifi antenna with a full-sized SMA-equipped antenna from an old Asus router. The antenna was a female SMA, so I had to slip a small copper conductor into it so it would interface with the female SMA bulkhead on the radio - but once I did that, ALL the noise disappeared! So either something is wrong with the antenna they provided, or it's simply dumping too much RF right on top of the ISO connector with all the speaker outputs. Whew!

Very cool! Glad to hear that you got it resolved. So is the antenna now further away from the ISO connector - or is it just becuase it's a different antenna? You may to get an adapter or an antenna with the right connecter for long-term use (instead of using the wrong gender anteanna with a piece of copper wire installed).
Regardless, glad to hear that you figure it out! I wish my noise-related issues were so easy to solve.
Although, I did some brief testing this morning and it seems that using the speaker-level outputs is better than using the line-level outputs on mine (for connecting external amp). The noises are still there, but they aren't as loud when using speaker-level outputs for my external amp (usually, it's the other way around with higher-quality head-units).
These units are so close to being really good - it's a shame they have these noise-relasted issues...

jtrosky said:
Very cool! Glad to hear that you got it resolved. So is the antenna now further away from the ISO connector - or is it just becuase it's a different antenna? You may to get an adapter or an antenna with the right connecter for long-term use (instead of using the wrong gender anteanna with a piece of copper wire installed).
Regardless, glad to hear that you figure it out! I wish my noise-related issues were so easy to solve.
Although, I did some brief testing this morning and it seems that using the speaker-level outputs is better than using the line-level outputs on mine (for connecting external amp). The noises are still there, but they aren't as loud when using speaker-level outputs for my external amp (usually, it's the other way around with higher-quality head-units).
These units are so close to being really good - it's a shame they have these noise-relasted issues...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I didn't move the bulkhead SMA fitting. I would have had to break the factory seal, and I didn't want to jeopardize warranty just yet. The antenna I added is about 4x longer than the stubby they provided, so I suppose it is spreading the RF over a larger area. It has a hinge on it and if I aim it straight back the noise is still present. Bending it 90° away from the harness makes it totally silent - and there is no depreciation in the signal strength.
I have ordered a gender changer and a 3" SMA extension cable from Amazon, but I probably won't install it unless the problem returns. I figure why rock the boat.
Is the noise you're experiencing related to data transmission? Does it stop if you disable the wifi? I'm wondering if wrapping the first few inches of the wiring bundle with copper tape wouldn't provide shielding against induced RF noise.

Ah - I see. Interesting - so just a different antenna resolved your issue. Like you said, I guess it's spreading out the signal enough to avoid causing the interference. I'm sure someone else will find that info very useful in the future!
My noise issues are not realted to wifi. I have interference noises in the following situations:
1. If car is not running and radio LED backlighting is on (cuases a hum through the speakers). Mainly only noticeable when no music is playing (between songs, for example) or when there are very quiet parts of the music.
2. When using my headrest monitors.
3. Anytime the system accesses USB devices. The interference is pretty noticeable when reading/writing USB thumb drives - especially if they have LEDs on them.
4. If I my Eonon USB dashcam is active, it makes a strange intference noise from the speakers. Again, really only noticeable when no music is playing, but...
None of these are huge issues in of themselves, but at the same time, it just bothers me knowing that the interference exists. I've also noticed that the overall sound quality just isn't as good as my previous WinCE-based head-units - (much more expensive units - they have 4v preouts, higher-quality DAC's, etc) - even when using an external amplifier. Never had interference noises with them, so the Android unit is really a downgrade in terms of sound-quality, which is more important to me than having Android, I guess. I was hoping that there woulnd't be much difference in sound quality when using an external amp, but there still is...
At first, I thought the Android head-unit was awesome while testng "on the bench" - until I connected it in-car and used it for a few days, then I started noticing all of the "cons" (warning chimes and turn-signal sounds are horrible, button backlighting doesn't dim with the rest of the interior lights when dimmed, screen isn't as nice or as bright as previous units, super-reflecitive screen, the noise issues mentioned above, no true dual-zone for my headrest monitors, no XM tuner, having to jump through all kind of hoops just to get music to continue playing where it left off when restarting the car, etc). When I add up all of these "cons", I'm just not sure the Android unit is worth it for me. I'll probably be going back to my WinCE head-unit very soon (Dynavin N7 or Rosen GM1010/1210). The WinCE units are not as flexible as the Android units, but the sound quality is more important to me.
I'd *gladly* pay more for a higher-quality Android head-unit, but right now, they just don't seem to exist - which is unfortunate...

jtrosky said:
Ah - I see. Interesting - so just a different antenna resolved your issue. Like you said, I guess it's spreading out the signal enough to avoid causing the interference. I'm sure someone else will find that info very useful in the future!
My noise issues are not realted to wifi. I have interference noises in the following situations:
1. If car is not running and radio LED backlighting is on (cuases a hum through the speakers). Mainly only noticeable when no music is playing (between songs, for example) or when there are very quiet parts of the music.
2. When using my headrest monitors.
3. Anytime the system accesses USB devices. The interference is pretty noticeable when reading/writing USB thumb drives - especially if they have LEDs on them.
4. If I my Eonon USB dashcam is active, it makes a strange intference noise from the speakers. Again, really only noticeable when no music is playing, but...
None of these are huge issues in of themselves, but at the same time, it just bothers me knowing that the interference exists. I've also noticed that the overall sound quality just isn't as good as my previous WinCE-based head-units - (much more expensive units - they have 4v preouts, higher-quality DAC's, etc) - even when using an external amplifier. Never had interference noises with them, so the Android unit is really a downgrade in terms of sound-quality, which is more important to me than having Android, I guess. I was hoping that there woulnd't be much difference in sound quality when using an external amp, but there still is...
At first, I thought the Android head-unit was awesome while testng "on the bench" - until I connected it in-car and used it for a few days, then I started noticing all of the "cons" (warning chimes and turn-signal sounds are horrible, button backlighting doesn't dim with the rest of the interior lights when dimmed, screen isn't as nice or as bright as previous units, super-reflecitive screen, the noise issues mentioned above, no true dual-zone for my headrest monitors, no XM tuner, having to jump through all kind of hoops just to get music to continue playing where it left off when restarting the car, etc). When I add up all of these "cons", I'm just not sure the Android unit is worth it for me. I'll probably be going back to my WinCE head-unit very soon (Dynavin N7 or Rosen GM1010/1210). The WinCE units are not as flexible as the Android units, but the sound quality is more important to me.
I'd *gladly* pay more for a higher-quality Android head-unit, but right now, they just don't seem to exist - which is unfortunate...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hello, have you found a solution, how you fix noise ?

jtrosky said:
Ah - I see. Interesting - so just a different antenna resolved your issue. Like you said, I guess it's spreading out the signal enough to avoid causing the interference. I'm sure someone else will find that info very useful in the future!
My noise issues are not realted to wifi. I have interference noises in the following situations:
1. If car is not running and radio LED backlighting is on (cuases a hum through the speakers). Mainly only noticeable when no music is playing (between songs, for example) or when there are very quiet parts of the music.
2. When using my headrest monitors.
3. Anytime the system accesses USB devices. The interference is pretty noticeable when reading/writing USB thumb drives - especially if they have LEDs on them.
4. If I my Eonon USB dashcam is active, it makes a strange intference noise from the speakers. Again, really only noticeable when no music is playing, but...
None of these are huge issues in of themselves, but at the same time, it just bothers me knowing that the interference exists. I've also noticed that the overall sound quality just isn't as good as my previous WinCE-based head-units - (much more expensive units - they have 4v preouts, higher-quality DAC's, etc) - even when using an external amplifier. Never had interference noises with them, so the Android unit is really a downgrade in terms of sound-quality, which is more important to me than having Android, I guess. I was hoping that there woulnd't be much difference in sound quality when using an external amp, but there still is...
At first, I thought the Android head-unit was awesome while testng "on the bench" - until I connected it in-car and used it for a few days, then I started noticing all of the "cons" (warning chimes and turn-signal sounds are horrible, button backlighting doesn't dim with the rest of the interior lights when dimmed, screen isn't as nice or as bright as previous units, super-reflecitive screen, the noise issues mentioned above, no true dual-zone for my headrest monitors, no XM tuner, having to jump through all kind of hoops just to get music to continue playing where it left off when restarting the car, etc). When I add up all of these "cons", I'm just not sure the Android unit is worth it for me. I'll probably be going back to my WinCE head-unit very soon (Dynavin N7 or Rosen GM1010/1210). The WinCE units are not as flexible as the Android units, but the sound quality is more important to me.
I'd *gladly* pay more for a higher-quality Android head-unit, but right now, they just don't seem to exist - which is unfortunate...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I also wanted to hear if you found out the problem .. since I myself have the same...