About external USB DAC: A higher dimensions music!
Impressions of a guy upgrading his PC rig
from
PC > PC sound card Creative XFI Xtreme Music (i.e. not a stock PC card!) > headphone Audio-Technica ATH-AD700
to
PC > USB DAC/amp FiiO E17 > headphone Audio- Technica ATH-AD700:
"Anyway, I got on to a lot of forums and found HeadFi (Yes, say goodbye to your wallet!). Never fully understood the world of Dac's and Amp's I started my research!
I searched the forum's and felt there was a few people in the same position as me who were feeling unsure about an alternative to PC sound card's, so I decide to the plunge!
Yes I could have grabbed an Asus ST/STX or Creative Tit HD but I wanted to go a different direction, so I went with the Fiio E17.
Conclusion: Done the whole unboxing and setup that everyone has probably seen, plugged her in to the computer and ran it through her paces!
I listen to various music from Classical, Rock, Pop, electronic, using mainly FLAC files.
Sound quality compared to the Xtreme Music was overall a big improvement!
The sound was full and warm! I immediately felt like I was listening to (what I describe as) a high end Hifi system!
It's very reassuring as I come from a Creative product to something totally different as in the Fiio and be in awe about what I'm hearing.
The Fiio sounds like a professional athlete compared to say an amateur running a marathon, well paced full of energy and doing what it loves doing, where as the Creative was more like a weekend warrior!"
http://www.head-fi.org/t/587912/fiio-e17-alpen-first-impression-final-thought/1800#post_8175638
For the time being, the standard USB devices for USB host-capable Android devices are only USB hubs, USB mass storage devices and USB class for human interface devices (for example, mice and keyboards).
I think we have to lobby for imposing USB DAC as a standard Android USB device, like a standard USB device for every Mac or PC (i.e. we don’t have to request each individual PC manufacturer to add the USB audio capability).
Google should include USB host (and USB audio) on every new Google "Nexus" device, which is supposed to be a reference Android device for others.
The 1st out-of-the-box (i.e. without modding) Android device able to support USB audio is the Android 4.0 ICS powered Archos G9.
Archos 80 G9 Turbo slate shipping now, Ice Cream Sandwich on board -- Engadget
Archos 80/101 G9
The Google issue "Enable USB audio", requesting Google to standardize USB audio on Android smartphones/tablets, is currently ranked 21 of 18,868.
Issue 24614 - android - Enable USB audio on the Galaxy Nexus (or any Android 4.0 device) - Android - An Open Handset Alliance Project - Google Project Hosting
It is ranked in top 3 of less than one-year-old requests.
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