With the headphone jack absent from modern flagship phones, users need a USB-C to 3.5mm adapter to connect their favorite wired headphones. Initially, that solution sounds like a hassle, but it can provide better audio quality than you’ve ever heard out of a phone’s built-in headphone jack. That is, with the right USB-C digital-to-analog converter (DAC). USB-C DACs don’t just adapt your phone’s USB port to an analog 3.5mm jack — they also provide more amplification power while delivering bit-perfect reproduction of lossless audio files.
When most people think of a DAC, an image of a desktop box with heaps of knobs and inputs usually comes to mind. The kind of USB-C DACs designed to be used with phones and digital audio players (DAPs) are much smaller, and are usually in dongle form. There’s just one problem: people hate dongles. They’re clunky, brittle, and inconvenient. Luckily, there are options that sit flush against your phone, eliminating typical dongle complaints while retaining all the benefits of a USB-C DAC.
This DAC sits (almost) flush against your phone
Linsoul left just enough room for this DAC to work with a case
On a basic level, dongles are simply tiny gadgets that plug into devices to provide extra features or facilitate other connections. It’s a broad category, and there are all kinds of dongles out there. But the ones that plug into smartphones usually feature a familiar form factor: a USB-C plug and casing, a short cable, and another port and casing. You’ll find USB-C to 3.5mm adapters of this type, but also USB-C to Ethernet, USB-C to HDMI, and many others.
When I sought an adapter to bring the headphone jack back to my phones, I stumbled upon many USB-C DACs with that pesky cable separating the USB-C plug and the 3.5mm jack. I even bought one, pictured below — the Fiio KA11. It’s a fantastic DAC that isn’t much bigger than the USB-C to 3.5mm adapters you can buy from Apple or Google, and it features a tiny braided cable. That small strip of cord, though, is the clunky part of headphone jack dongles that causes them to get caught in pockets and bags.
Then, I found something even better. It’s the Linsoul Kiwi Ears Allegro Mini, a compact USB-C DAC made to sit flush against the bottom of your phone. Well, almost flush. The USB-C port protrudes an extra 1mm from the DAC’s chassis so that it will work with most phone cases, and that’s a nice touch. As you’ll see below, the USB-C DAC plugs into my Galaxy Z Fold 8 wearing Samsung’s Carbon Magnet Case with no issues.
I bought both the Fiio and Linsoul adapters around the same time, and on a technical level, the Fiio KA11 is superior. It has a lower THD+N rating (Total Harmonic Distortion plus Noise) and can deliver more power. However, I quickly found myself reaching for Linsoul’s DAC due to its neat form factor. It slots into my phone’s USB-C port and feels like part of my phone, and with a right-angle headphone cable, my dongle and wired headphones’ cord won’t get caught on things anymore.
The design is great for laptops, too. You need to be careful not to block any of your laptop’s other ports, but I’ve tested many laptops with just a USB-C port and possibly a 3.5mm jack on one side. This adapter works well for these laptops, like the Dell XPS Googlebook pictured above, because it sits neatly against their chassis without blocking ports.
It has dual 3.5mm and 4.4mm outputs
Audiophiles will love the 32-bit/384kHz audio, too
I’m a fan of the Linsoul adapter’s metal chassis and cordless design, but that’s not all that’s good about it. Surprisingly, it has dual headphone jacks: one 3.5mm jack and another 4.4mm jack. The former is for connecting your average wired headphones or in-ear monitors (IEMs), but the latter serves as a balanced output. Balanced cables are designed to thwart electromagnetic interference, and it’s neat that you can plug a 4.4mm balanced cable into this tiny adapter.
This USB-C DAC technically supports 32-bit, 384kHz audio, but let’s be honest, your ears can’t hear anything beyond 16-bit, 44.1kHz anyway. It’s powerful enough to drive any of the headphones in my collection, including the Sennheiser HD 600s.
But the reason I choose to use the Linsoul adapter over the others in my kit has nothing to do with the DAC’s specifications. It’s the cordless, hassle-free experience of plugging wired headphones directly into my phone, with only a small metal block in between. It’s not as convenient as having a built-in headphone jack, but it’s better than dongles with a clunky cable strip in the middle.
This USB-C DAC doesn’t solve every problem
Charging your phone and listening to music is still an issue
Make no mistake, this adapter doesn’t solve every problem with traditional USB-C to 3.5mm dongles. It still uses up your phone’s only USB-C port, which makes charging difficult. As you can see from the photos above, I’ve used MagSafe and Qi2 battery packs to fill the gap. They charge my phone wirelessly while a USB-C DAC is connected, and I can plug a power cable into the battery pack when needed.
It’s not an elegant solution, but the slow death of the headphone jack on consumer electronics forced me to get creative. If you’ve given up on USB-C to 3.5mm dongles, consider trying one that doesn’t dangle from your phone and become a nuisance. Now that I’ve tried one, all my other dongle DACs stay in a drawer.
- Type
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USB-C DAC
- Phone Output
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44.1-384kHz/32bit PCM
- Connectivity
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3.5/4.4mm output
The Linsoul Kiwi Ears Allegro Mini is a tiny USB-C DAC that plugs into your device’s Type-C port. It uses a custom chip to deliver up to 32-bit/384kHz audio thanks to a custom digital-to-analog converter (DAC) chip. It has 3.5mm and 4.4mm headphone outputs.