Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

Apple Music Cheap DAC for Hi-Res Lossless on USB-C iPad

Stuey3D

Stuey3D

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Jul 8, 2014
836
953
Northamptonshire, United Kingdom
Hi all below is an Amazon link for a USB-C DAC that I use myself on my 2018 iPad Pro 12.9 this works perfectly with Apple Music Hi-Res Lossless and for £16 for 2 you cant really go wrong.

It claims in iOS that it can do 384Khz 32Bit Audio and Apple Music works perfectly with it so it must be pretty decent. I assume it also works with a Mac too but as they have headphone jacks already I don’t think it will be needed.

www.amazon.co.uk

USB C to 3.5mm Dongle Adapter(2 Packs),Stouchi USB C Headphone Audio Jack Adapter Type C to 3.5mm Hi-Fi DAC Chip Compatible for Pad Air 5 Pad Pro 5,Pad mini 6,Galaxy S22 S21 Note20,Pixel 6,P50 Mate 4

USB C to 3.5mm Dongle Adapter(2 Packs),Stouchi USB C Headphone Audio Jack Adapter Type C to 3.5mm Hi-Fi DAC Chip Compatible for Pad Air 5 Pad Pro 5,Pad mini 6,Galaxy S22 S21 Note20,Pixel 6,P50 Mate 4
www.amazon.co.uk

38354D76-0433-4CCE-B491-5CE9D5ECDD24.jpeg
9E1CF8AC-5FD8-49F8-9710-7E21A816AE71.png
 
As an Amazon Associate, MacRumors earns a commission from qualifying purchases made through links in this post.
I wouldn't necessarily call that decent but certainly cheap. I have the Dragonfly Black which is classed as low to mid-range and was around £90. If you want to experience hi-res then you may want to take a look at something like a Dragonfly, Schitt Modi or Chord Mojo.
 
As an Amazon Associate, MacRumors earns a commission from qualifying purchases made through links in this post.
  • Haha
  • Like
Reactions: Cosmo M3 and ScottishDuck
Also it will show hi-res lossless playing even without a capable DAC playing and if you click the icon in the Now Playing screen it will show the hi-res bit depth and sample rate before iOS downsamples it.
 
Stuey3D said:
It doesn’t without that DAC i could only get standard Lossless not Hi-Res lossless.
Click to expand...
Weird. Just played something off my iPhone with no DAC connected or anything and it shows Hi-res is playing (before it downsamples)
AC884DF4-A0C4-4F61-8E7D-7E8867E5BBD6.jpeg
 
drunkmouth said:
Weird. Just played something off my iPhone with no DAC connected or anything and it shows Hi-res is playing (before it downsamples)
View attachment 1789442
Click to expand...
Yeah you are right I just did it with bluetooth it starts as standard lossless and then changes to the Hi-Res indicator after a second or 2 which must have been what I was seeing before. I just assumed it was the DAC causing Hi-Res to work.
 
Puonti said:
And here's the direct Amazon link without GeniusLink affiliate redirecting:

www.amazon.co.uk

USB C to 3.5mm Dongle Adapter(2 Packs),Stouchi USB C Headphone Audio Jack Adapter Type C to 3.5mm Hi-Fi DAC Chip Compatible for Pad Air 5 Pad Pro 5,Pad mini 6,Galaxy S22 S21 Note20,Pixel 6,P50 Mate 4

USB C to 3.5mm Dongle Adapter(2 Packs),Stouchi USB C Headphone Audio Jack Adapter Type C to 3.5mm Hi-Fi DAC Chip Compatible for Pad Air 5 Pad Pro 5,Pad mini 6,Galaxy S22 S21 Note20,Pixel 6,P50 Mate 4
www.amazon.co.uk
Click to expand...
Wow what an *******. I shared the link from the Amazon app which because I am an affiliate from my days of having a little tech YouTube channel it changes all links to my affiliate link.

I posted that link because I thought I was being helpful, and not to make the 0.5p affiliate money that would’ve earned me. I work for a living and also have a wife that works for a living. There is no need to go around and post the link again as that comes across as you implying that I only posted the link to make loads of cash which I didn’t, I saw other threads with other people asking about DACs and I thought the one I used myself sounded good and worked well and would’ve been a good item to try as it was only cheap.
 
As an Amazon Associate, MacRumors earns a commission from qualifying purchases made through links in this post.
  • Like
  • Angry
Reactions: btrach144 and Puonti
Well I plugged that DAC into my wife’s MacBook Air and this is what it reports it can do, and certainly through my mid range Sony noise cancelling headphones it sounds good to my ears, however I am 36 and have subjected my ears to loud music for years so my hearing is not what it once was when I was a Sonar Operator in the Navy. I also lack the equipment to test the frequency response of the output of this too, however I don’t doubt it can handle the Hi-Res stuff as I’m sure you’d get crackle and distortion and breakup if it couldn’t handle it correctly.
1CB0B058-18A1-411D-8249-1754C3CC5FAA.jpeg
 
I can only go on my experiences with the item. I got it to provide a headphone jack for my 2018 iPad Pro as I only had wired headphones at the time, its been decent for my usage. In both iOS and MacOS its being reported as 384Khz capable and you can see all the formats it claims to support in the photo above.

I have successfully played 96/24 FLAC via VLC through it and now Apple Music Hi-Res lossless, I assume if it was misrepresenting its capabilities to the OS music would either refuse to play or play with crackles/distortion/breakup which I haven’t had any sign of in my usage.

I do have another USB DAC which is part of a multi port dock and it definitely doesn’t sound as good as the one I’ve linked here, the volume control isn’t as accurate and it distorts at louder volumes, so in my experience this DAC has been decent for what it is and what I paid for it.
 
As an Amazon Associate, MacRumors earns a commission from qualifying purchases made through links in this post.
zea said:
Closest US version I could find. The title shows 384Khz capable in some places, but on the product page it’s just 24bit/96KHZ. Some of the reviews show it doesn’t even get that. Is this one different from the UK version then, or just mixed results across the board? https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0828TV3XH/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_glt_fabc_X03M95Q26CN51R7HC35Q
Click to expand...
Yeah definitely appears the same, how bizarre. Well as you can see in the photos above mine supposedly does 384/32 and is reported as such in the OS’s that I’ve tried it on.

I guess that is the problem with cheap Chinese tech they aren’t all built equally, one may get a good one as it appears I have and others may get rubbish.
 
As an Amazon Associate, MacRumors earns a commission from qualifying purchases made through links in this post.
Amazon is rip off. I bought this exact same DAC of eBay for £4.79. The chipset is the ALc 4050 and it comes up as Tx-384khz hifi type C on iOS and MacOS.
 
Last edited:
Stuey3D said:
Well I plugged that DAC into my wife’s MacBook Air and this is what it reports it can do, and certainly through my mid range Sony noise cancelling headphones it sounds good to my ears, however I am 36 and have subjected my ears to loud music for years so my hearing is not what it once was when I was a Sonar Operator in the Navy. I also lack the equipment to test the frequency response of the output of this too, however I don’t doubt it can handle the Hi-Res stuff as I’m sure you’d get crackle and distortion and breakup if it couldn’t handle it correctly.View attachment 1789460
Click to expand...
What app is this?
 
Apple Music offers Hi-Res Lossless up to 24-bit/192 kHz. If the DAC supports 32/384, that's cool, but Apple Music won't utilize it that extra bit depth or sampling frequency.
 
Hmm. It is cheap and probably good by most people's standards but just know that audiophiles spend hundreds and even thousands on DACs alone just to achieve better sound quality. I used to own a Schiit Modi Multibit which was around $250 USD which wasn't even their top-of-the-line DAC just trying to achieve "perfection" but it was never "perfect" and always wanted to upgrade to higher-end DACs. I gave up (due to a growing addiction and costs for new equipment) and sold my HI-FI setup.

maxsquared said:
What app is this?
Click to expand...
A built-in app called Audio MIDI Setup, look it up through Spotlight search.
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: maxsquared
drunkmouth said:
I wouldn't necessarily call that decent but certainly cheap. I have the Dragonfly Black which is classed as low to mid-range and was around £90. If you want to experience hi-res then you may want to take a look at something like a Dragonfly, Schitt Modi or Chord Mojo.
Click to expand...
Played Led Zeppelins " Physical Graffiti " using a Dragonfly Black on an iPhone X last night. The icon colour on the DAC was magenta 24/96 which is the highest format it can play. Sounded good to my ageing ears!. Did not check to see whether the original file was 24/192 but probably would not notice the difference!.
 
  • Like
Reactions: robotica and drunkmouth
Stuey3D said:
Hi all below is an Amazon link for a USB-C DAC that I use myself on my 2018 iPad Pro 12.9 this works perfectly with Apple Music Hi-Res Lossless and for £16 for 2 you cant really go wrong.

It claims in iOS that it can do 384Khz 32Bit Audio and Apple Music works perfectly with it so it must be pretty decent. I assume it also works with a Mac too but as they have headphone jacks already I don’t think it will be needed.

www.amazon.co.uk

USB C to 3.5mm Dongle Adapter(2 Packs),Stouchi USB C Headphone Audio Jack Adapter Type C to 3.5mm Hi-Fi DAC Chip Compatible for Pad Air 5 Pad Pro 5,Pad mini 6,Galaxy S22 S21 Note20,Pixel 6,P50 Mate 4

USB C to 3.5mm Dongle Adapter(2 Packs),Stouchi USB C Headphone Audio Jack Adapter Type C to 3.5mm Hi-Fi DAC Chip Compatible for Pad Air 5 Pad Pro 5,Pad mini 6,Galaxy S22 S21 Note20,Pixel 6,P50 Mate 4
www.amazon.co.uk

View attachment 1789411View attachment 1789412
Click to expand...
How did you get S&M in Hi-Res lossless? Mine only says Apple Digital Master. Lol only The Black Album and a few others from them show as HI-Res for me, even S&M2 is lossless only no Hi-Res
 
As an Amazon Associate, MacRumors earns a commission from qualifying purchases made through links in this post.
AppleFanBoy888 said:
Hmm. It is cheap and probably good by most people's standards but just know that audiophiles spend hundreds and even thousands on DACs alone just to achieve better sound quality. I used to own a Schiit Modi Multibit which was around $250 USD which wasn't even their top-of-the-line DAC just trying to achieve "perfection" but it was never "perfect" and always wanted to upgrade to higher-end DACs. I gave up (due to a growing addiction and costs for new equipment) and sold my HI-FI setup.


A built-in app called Audio MIDI Setup, look it up through Spotlight search.
Click to expand...
Oh for sure don’t get me wrong I’m no audiophile, I enjoy music and I own decent audio equipment but it’s certainly not audiophile grade just nicely mid range which is perfect for me.

If you are the sorta person who spends £10K on fancy audiophile sennheiser headphones then an extra £1K on a DAC is nothing really, however for those who have a nice set of midrange headphones who just want some supposed extra clarity from hi res lossless then this DAC at least plays those files and to my ears sounds decent whilst doing it.

Chances are for most people you aren’t going to hear the difference between a decent lossy/standard lossless/hi res lossless on the equipment most people will have in their homes and £15 barely buys you a couple of drinks in a pub nowadays so it’s an inexpensive way of trying hi res lossless. I would feel pretty annoyed if I dropped serious cash on a DAC and could barely tell the difference.

As I said I originally only got it as a headphone jack for my iPad as I only used wired headphones in the house, the fact that it supposedly does hi res too is a bonus in my books. I’ve now switched to Bluetooth at home too as it’s far more convenient not having wires getting tangled when I’m chilling on the sofa with iPad on my lap listening to tunes.
 
  • Like
Reactions: magicMac
Stuey3D said:
Thanks to this post I’ve managed to find the data sheet for the DAC for any geeks this might appeal to.

Click to expand...
Ah cool, nice find! I tried to find measurements of this DAC but couldn’t find any on that site, I must have used the wrong filter. at less than a fiver I just went for it anyway. I know it’s subjective but audibly it sounds like a really good DAC to me, clearer than the apple headphone adapter. It’s just A shame iOS doesn’t have the same audio utility to check/force 24bit Considering that each time i move it from USB port to another on the Mac it defaults back to 16bit, so im really suspicious as to what bit depth it’s running at on iOS - have you noticed this as well? Seems to be hard coded to prefer 16bit 384kHz
 
AppleFanBoy888 said:
Hmm. It is cheap and probably good by most people's standards but just know that audiophiles spend hundreds and even thousands on DACs alone just to achieve better sound quality. I used to own a Schiit Modi Multibit which was around $250 USD which wasn't even their top-of-the-line DAC just trying to achieve "perfection" but it was never "perfect" and always wanted to upgrade to higher-end DACs. I gave up (due to a growing addiction and costs for new equipment) and sold my HI-FI setup.


A built-in app called Audio MIDI Setup, look it up through Spotlight search.
Click to expand...
Thank you!
 
magicMac said:
Ah cool, nice find! I tried to find measurements of this DAC but couldn’t find any on that site, I must have used the wrong filter. at less than a fiver I just went for it anyway. I know it’s subjective but audibly it sounds like a really good DAC to me, clearer than the apple headphone adapter. It’s just A shame iOS doesn’t have the same audio utility to check/force 24bit Considering that each time i move it from USB port to another on the Mac it defaults back to 16bit, so im really suspicious as to what bit depth it’s running at on iOS - have you noticed this as well? Seems to be hard coded to prefer 16bit 384kHz
Click to expand...
Unfortunately iOS/iPadOS lacks any meaningful adjustments to audio output other than selecting what device to use. I tried in vain to hook my iPad up via HDMI to my AV Receiver for Atmos Apple Music only to find it constantly defaulting to stereo, it would play the Atmos file as I had it forced on but only send stereo output to the receiver as indicated by its signal info screen.

I assume for stereo iPadOS adjusts output on the fly, so if you play a 96/24 file it will adjust the DAC accordingly but I have no way of confirming this. However posts above show users with a more expensive DAC with quality indicators are noticing the DAC changing output according to the songs being played, so I assume it’s doing the same with our cheap DAC if it is reporting to the OS as capable of handling that quality level.
 
  • Like
Reactions: magicMac
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back