I'm considering upgrading from my Galaxy S (with voodoo sound and wolfson chip) to Galaxy S3. I'm on Bell. I understand that north-american version does not have wolfson chip and audio is worse than original S with voodoo. I use it for relatively high-quality aftermarket car audio using analog out to audio aux-in.
What are my options for S3? What's the cheapest usb dac I can use with north-american s3 and where to get it in Canada or US online?
Is there any guide about how to set it up?
Thanks!
Note: I reposted it to Q&A where it's more appropriate, but can't find how to delete it here...
it doesn't have the same sound chip???!!? what the hell.. deal breaker! is this true?
Sent from my GT-I9300 using xda app-developers app
midirt said:
I understand that north-american version does not have wolfson chip and audio is worse than original S with voodoo.
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No wolfson chip for NA version hopefully we get Voodoo kernel soon. Until then, some people have had success using a Fiio e7 plugged into their S3 using USB OTG. As for how they did it, I have no clue.
mtl171 said:
No wolfson chip for NA version hopefully we get Voodoo kernel soon. Until then, some people have had success using a Fiio e7 plugged into their S3 using USB OTG. As for how they did it, I have no clue.
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I did some research on this. Apparently it's possible to plug in a whole bunch of USB OTG devices, including many USB DACs. However as USB port is occupied - they suck power from the phone and phone itself cannot be charged at the same time. There are cables that you can inject USB power but in Galaxy S3 case - only to devices, the phone itself switches to "give power" mode when working in USB ORG mode and does not accept charge over USB. This is a bummer, as there is no way it can hold a battery for long while playing music and working as GPS in a car.
There is a guy on another forum who mentioned that it's possible to force S3 to accept charge with change in kernel (that means it won't power other USB devices, but they can be powered via injected power), but this is beyond my ability. We need somebody who knows how to do this to either build an app, or do a kernel version (semaphore?) or both, that have this module disabled on demand.
Here's what he said:
" However, I was able to modify this kernel to make it accept a charge while in OTG host mode. A Y-cable is connecting my phone to a powered USB hub. The hub has a USB-to-Ethernet dongle, connected to a router. The hub is also powering the Gnex via the other end of the Y-cable. The phone can now, say, act as a WiFi access point (wired + 3G!) and it's battery level will never drop below 100% or 99%. One disadvantage: in a real on-the-go situation, this kernel will not anymore power slave devices. One could fix this by allowing the user to switch between OTG host mode charge-out (default) vs. OTG host mode charge-in."
" On the Galaxy Nexus, removing the complete body of method tuna_set_vbus_drive() in arch/arm/mach-omap2/board-tuna-connector.c will disable charging of OTG slave devices and will allow the OTG host itself to be charged. The battery icon will not be updated by this modification alone."
SUCCESS!!! I can confirm that this USB OTG cable (http://ebayitem.com/190710044655) DOES CHARGE MY GALAXY S3! I plugged in USB cardreader with SD card into the phone through this cable (it lit up and card is fully readable), then plugged USB cable end into PC and phone showed a charging icon! Moreover, after waiting for 5 min. with screen off (cardreader still glowing blue and working) battery has gone up from %72 to %75 (and while I was writing this, to 78%), so it is indeed charging! Yay! It probably won't get up in the car, where just phone alone is "not discharging" at best from the car adapter, but at least it should allow me to listen to music with quality DAC and use navigation without (or with minimal) discharging.
I have not tested it with USB DAC that I intend to use for my car (Behringer UCA222), because I have to go out and buy it. Hopefully it works. Anyway, this cable definitely works with simultaneously charging my north-american Samsung Galaxy S3 (from Bell Canada) while powering USB cardreader!
Somebody else has mentioned that another cable (http://ebayitem.com/120980364117) also worked in his Galaxy S2.
SUCCESS!!! I can confirm that this USB OTG cable (http://ebayitem.com/190710044655) DOES CHARGE MY GALAXY S3! I plugged in USB cardreader with SD card into the phone through this cable (it lit up and card is fully readable), then plugged USB cable end into PC and phone showed a charging icon! Moreover, after waiting for 5 min. with screen off (cardreader still glowing blue and working) battery has gone up from %72 to %75 (and while I was writing this, to 78%), so it is indeed charging! Yay! It probably won't get up in the car, where just phone alone is "not discharging" at best from the car adapter, but at least it should allow me to listen to music with quality DAC and use navigation without (or with minimal) discharging.
I have not tested it with USB DAC that I intend to use for my car (Behringer UCA222), because I have to go out and buy it. Hopefully it works. Anyway, this cable definitely works with simultaneously charging my north-american Samsung Galaxy S3 (from Bell Canada) while powering USB cardreader!
Somebody else has mentioned that another cable (http://ebayitem.com/120980364117) also worked in his Galaxy S2.
Sorry for double post, I posted it by mistake and can't delete the post. Button says "edit/delete" but there is no delete option, just edit...
I bought Behringer UCA222 USB DAC and tested it in my car with the USB OTG cable with power that I mentioned. It works great! And the phone is indicating a charge. Sometimes when first playing music after plugging the device it sounds like fast forward for a few seconds (I guess clock rate mismatch or something similar), but after the presumably clock is locked it plays perfectly fine.
There is a big list of working DACs in the official sound quality thread, along with a lot of other good information.
midirt,
I am working on a car setup like this and would like to ask a question. Somewhere I read that you had to plug microUSB into phone before plugging into DAC in order for it to work. Is this true for you? It would be a pain to have to unplug everything each time you get in car.
BaronInkjet said:
midirt,
I am working on a car setup like this and would like to ask a question. Somewhere I read that you had to plug microUSB into phone before plugging into DAC in order for it to work. Is this true for you? It would be a pain to have to unplug everything each time you get in car.
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Usually I just plug entire setup into the phone and it works fine. Sometimes when I shut off the engine and start it up (there is power interruption) I have to re-plug the DAC.
midirt said:
Usually I just plug entire setup into the phone and it works fine. Sometimes when I shut off the engine and start it up (there is power interruption) I have to re-plug the DAC.
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Thanks! Are you happy with the Behringer unit?
BaronInkjet said:
Thanks! Are you happy with the Behringer unit?
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Yes. Very good DAC, sounds great, and cheap. It's not perfect though: there is definitely a "dirty ground" noise when power is connected - it may not be its fault, I'm using a weird aux-in adapter and all other solutions I tried had the same problem, even phone itself, when connected to power supply. Disconnecting power supply there is no noise. It' not usually noticeable in the car, but it's there and I don't like it. If your car doesn't have noise when phone is connected directly to aux-in and plugged into power, this unit won't have that noise. I just wish they would separate ground or cleaned the power or did something to isolate noisy USB power, but it's too cheap to have that. Nor sure expensive ones can do this either. Ground-lifting transformer from ebay removes the noise, but also reduces quality so I'm not using it.
Another issue is sometimes in the beginning the sound just accelerated and is played fast-forward for a few seconds, then it catches up and plays normal. After that it works OK until restarted. Very weird and a bit annoying but not a deal killer.
I have a dual usb car lighter adapter that I use for charging all my devices while I'm in the car. For whatever reason my Tab will not charge when I plug it in. I also have a usb port on my stereo that I tried but it just went into mass storage mode with no way to get it to switch to charge only. Is there any way to fix this?
Strizay said:
I have a dual usb car lighter adapter that I use for charging all my devices while I'm in the car. For whatever reason my Tab will not charge when I plug it in. I also have a usb port on my stereo that I tried but it just went into mass storage mode with no way to get it to switch to charge only. Is there any way to fix this?
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if im not mistaken, the tab needs at least a 2 amp power supply to charge. most usb chargers and usb ports only put out 1 amp or less.
Hello i installed a nexus 7 in my car not i really dont want to take out my center console because its a huge Pita. But i realise that i now need an otg. I was runninh sound via bluetooth to my radio but the lag os crazy. I have acces to the the end of my charging cable. I was wondering would adding a usb to usb adapter and a usb hub. Would that be consider a usb otg cable. Would i be able to purchase a usb dac and use it. Also could i charge at the same time. I have absolutely no room to fit a audio jack on my tablet. So usb dac is my only option.
egren58 said:
Hello i installed a nexus 7 in my car not i really dont want to take out my center console because its a huge Pita. But i realise that i now need an otg. I was runninh sound via bluetooth to my radio but the lag os crazy. I have acces to the the end of my charging cable. I was wondering would adding a usb to usb adapter and a usb hub. Would that be consider a usb otg cable. Would i be able to purchase a usb dac and use it. Also could i charge at the same time. I have absolutely no room to fit a audio jack on my tablet. So usb dac is my only option.
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You generally need a kernel installing to do as you have said eg elemental x or timurs. Yes, you can then use a usb otg cable to power and host the usb dac.
When I had my Nexus 5 I bought an OTG cable that had two inputs and claimed to allow charging of the Nexus 5 simultaneously with using an OTG device. It didn't work.
I want to use my Axon 7 with an external HDD for DLNA streaming of videos to my PS4, while also charging my Axon 7. Does anyone know of a split OTG cable that will work for this purpose? The external HDD does not have its own power source, and draws power from the phone. It works with an OTG cable I currently have (but does not have an additional input for charging the phone).
Thanks
I have a strange issue after installed my Nexus 7 as a car stereo setup in my Subaru (see setup blow)... Whenever I turn up the volume, specifically the subwoofer, the USB system basically "resets" itself. As if, I unplugged and plugged it back in very quickly. At first, I thought my USB DAC was bad, because I plugged my audio feed directly into the tablet with no USB devices connected and all worked fine, but if I have my hub plugged in and then the reset happens (with audio from tablet still), the reset still happens and my OBD2 adapter (USB) brings up torque. I plugged that same USB DAC directly in, with no hub, to my OTG cable and used its audio feed, same issue. I thought maybe the voltage drop was too harsh and causing issues with my charger, so I ran a 120v usb charger setup (like a factory phone one) with an extension cord to my vehicle to isolate its own charge system to the tablet with the same results. OK, Maybe it is just vibration? (forgot to note: subwoofer is freeair, laying in the back seat... still testing, box isn't done yet, so the vibration level is next to nothing currently.) I grabbed my usb cable system with the volume low and shook the life out of it... never did the reset. Again, only when the subwoofer volume goes up and anything is plugged into the USB port on the OTG for external devices does this ever happen.
The Setup:
I have a dedicated 4A 12v-5v charger and it seems to charge the tablet fine. I have a 90 degree charge adapter in place. I also have an OTG Cable so I can hook up USB to my dedicated USB hub that I have a "backup" power cable plugged in (into the same 5v charger the tablet is).
Audio chain wise, I have plugged into my USB hub a USB DAC. After that, a noise blocker. From there, I wired in a potentiometer for volume control. From there, it goes to the 4 channel amp and the mono subwoofer amp (which also has a dedicated volume controller that came with the amp)
Power wise, I have a dedicated run of "oversized 4awg" (basically, 6 awg wire) from under the hood and no more than 5' of cable to a fused distribution block, then to the amps. I also have a ground wire of the same size that from come the battery ground that all amps connect to (as well as chassis, so about an overkill of a grounding system). The factory wiring harness was spliced into for connection to a relay that feed from the constant on factory wire, feeding the 5v usb charger and the remote turn on trigger for the 2 amps (so it shouldn't be overloaded at all).
Items (can't give links, so giving exact item name):
4A 12v-5v charger(Amazon - Icstation LM2596 DC to DC Voltage Regulator Dual USB Charger Step Down Power Supply Buck Converter 6-40V to 5V 3A DC 5.5X2.1mm Port )
90 Degree USB adapter(Amazon - Micro USB Extension Cable - Riipoo Left Angle Micro B USB Extension Cable, 25 CM, Micro USB 5 Pin Male to Female, Sync Charging and Data Transferring Cable for Samsung, HTC, Huawei, Sony and More)
OTG Cable (Amazon - DSYJ Micro USB Host OTG Cable with Micro USB Power for Samsung S7 S7 Edge, S6 S6+ S6 Edge, S5, S4 & Nexus 10 9 7 4 Player + ALL OTHERS )
USB Hub (Amazon - UNITEK Portable USB 3.0 4-Port Ultra Slim Data hub, with Micro USB 2.0 Power port and Built-in USB 3.0 Cable LED for iMac, MacBook, MacBook Pro, MacBook Air, Mac Mini, Chrombook, Surface Pro )
USB Dac (Amazon - Fiio K1 Portable Headphone Amplifier&DAC and USB DAC, Titanium)
Noise Blocker (Amazon - Mpow Ground Loop Noise Isolator for Car Audio / Home Stereo System with 3.5mm Audio Cable (Black))
Potentiometer: (Amazon - 10K Audio Taper Stereo Potentiometer 1/4 Shaft)
4 Channel Amp: (Amazon - Audiopipe 4 Channel Micro Amplifier 1000 Watts)
Subwoofer Amp: (Amazon - Audiopipe Class D Micro Amplifier 500 Watts)
I'm pretty stumped at this point. Any ideas?
Wiring can be a *****!
You could replace your right angle cable and OTG with this one item: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00NSBVNCM/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1
My USB3 hub works pretty good. but it's not at rock solid as the USB2 hub it replaced. Hubs can do some weird things when they don't initialize when the tablet want or thinks they should.
How does the subwoofer volume knob connect?
Does the the same happen when you turn the other "volume knob"?
How are the 2 amps connected to the DAC?
I'd guess offhand the DAC doesn't like whatever "feedback" it's getting through the noise suppressor from the potentometer.
What's the reason for it? You should be able to adjust your system volume through the tablet, especially if the sub amp has it's own gain.
fr4nk1yn,
-Just ordered that OTG cable. Was going to try and make my own, but if that one is proven, good enough for me.
-Agreed on hub, but I did try going direct to OTG cable, bypassing hub, and had the same issue.
-Subwoofer volume knob has its own RJ-11 phone cable to the amp. I took it apart, its using only 2 wires out of the 6 to the potentiometer inside, so pretty simple. Not sure how it works at the amp itself, but standard subwoofer volume knob on an amp, far as I can tell.
-Other knob can be cranked, seems fine, but more testing would need to be done. Soon as subwoofer knob is cranked with the volume know all the way up (or close), it triggers really quick.
-Does Dac > Potiometer > Amps (soldered wiring together, 4 channel amp has 2 specific connectors and sub has pair of RCA)
-Potentiometer gives a much better feel, very response in comparison. Having to find a volume "knob" on a tablet requires vision, taking away from the driving experience (and safety!). Don't like if the tablet has ANY delay in that control as well. I'm just old school, I guess.
Thanks for the help!