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.
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.
On Pixel. Apple dongle is really quiet. Do not buy for Android phones.
Why only rate and compare the Apple/Pixel ones? Neither company provides them with the hardware, right?