I got a UG007 ii from Amazon for $50. I ordered the original version UG007 but got the one with two microUSB ports, research shows it is the UG007 ii. Very lucky to get a free upgrade, but after reading some other forums also very lucky to not get a *clone*. After reading about clones, and ordering problems, I can report complete success and happiness.
Not many thorough guides and lots of random stabs at getting rooted. Some of the downloads set off my Avira anti virus which was bad, so anything not totally clean was deleted and not used.
DRIVERS: Getting the drivers to work on Window 7 x64bit took some searching and work. I was surprised that both microUSB ports will supply power to the UG007, but only the microUSB next to the microSD slot will work for adb. Also, there is an extra USB section in the settings that allows your device to communicate (at all) with the PC. Wrapping my head around the fact the UG007 ii device defaults to supporting multiple USB host ports, it makes sense there is a switch to reverse the defaults for connecting to a PC. Twisted brain stuff. LOL.
ROOT: Many various methods exist. I found only one root method that worked, and all others I tested failed. After the drivers are working, it is very easy to root using TPSarky-VonDroid-Root.zip. I really like this method installs SuperSU, and I updated it via the market afterwards. I verified root successfully, loaded busybox and terminal emulator via the marketplace.
RECOVERY: I update.zip installed a CWM recovery successfully. The xda member fun_ has this great post for RK3066 devices. Follow the links to CWM-based Recovery images for RK3066 devices and download the UG007_CWM.zip for Ugoos UG007. Aterwards just rename to update.zip and push to /sdcard and install.
During this whole process I used a USB keyboard with small touch pad for *mouse*. The CWM recovery only works with keyboard, but I could have used only a USB mouse on drivers and root setup, because the device has an onscreen keyboard.
Overall the device works great. There are some cons:
First: There appears to be no microphone nor record ability with the stock ROM. I tried lots of bluetooth headsets which play music and movies fine but the microphones failed. I ordered and will try an external USB soundcard dongle later.
Second: There is a security problem because the screen never locks nor sleeps, with one random exception (clicking on items in notifications). The workaround for security is a wonderful application "Smart Lock Free" and its widget to lock/unlock all with one click.
Nothing else really bothers me, so I must say this device is an exciting Android Stick Computer.
Model: rk30sdk
Android version: 4.1.1
Kernel version: 3.0.8+ [email protected] #169 SMP PREEMPT Thu Dec 20 18:07:08 CST 2012
Build number: RK30_ANDROID4.1.1-SDK-v1.00.1015 rk30sdk-eng4.1.1 JRO03H eng.ant.20121220.180742 test-keys
UPDATE ONE: The device is available on Amazon and others. Search for "UG007 ii", verify 2 microUSB ports, verify Android 4.1.1, verify looks same as below:
Afunta(tm) Bluetooth Ug007 Mini Pc Android 4.1 Google Tv Dongle Dual Core Cortex A9 Wifi 1080p RAM 1gb+rom 8gb+3d (2 Micro USB Slots)
Price $56.99 USD from afunta-mall
or
New Version Bluetooth Ug007 II Mini PC Android 4.1.1 Google TV Dongle Dual Core Rockchip 3066 Cortex A9 Wifi 1080p RAM 1GB+ROM 8GB
Price $62.48 USD from geekbuying.com
The above are just two vendor examples, looks exactly like mine. There are many other good vendors. The geekbuying.com guys are interesting because on their website they released a 4.2.2 ROM for this stick. There are also many bad vendors and clones which look different and are not UG007 ii. Your mileage may vary. Good luck.
UPDATE TWO: I have now tested three USB sound cards. The only working USB soundcard, that survives a reboot still working, is the Syba SD-CM-UAUD USB Stereo Audio Adapter, C-Media Chipset, RoHS. With this USB soundcard the audio input (microphone) and output (speakers) work with the UG007 ii. See further information in next post.
I added the USB sound card. Now I am able to use a microphone on the UG007 ii. Great.
The (semi) working device is Syba SD-CM-UAUD USB Stereo Audio Adapter, C-Media Chipset, RoHS The microphone input works, audio output not.
UPDATE: Finally got audio input and output working with this device. Basically, plug and play is not always a reliable method. Instead reboot with device connected and audio in & out works.
I also got another fancy USB sound card from Syba that does not work for input nor output. This one finally worked. This one did **not** work for me. I did little troubleshooting.
UPDATE: After further testing I found this device also works, but sometimes crashes on plug and play. When I reboot with device connected the audio in & out works, and subsequent plug and play works. Typical problems are caused by plug and play device with recorder application open or music player open, or switching devices with plug and play without rebooting.
So, with a microphone connected on the first, I decided to try VOIP programs again. After installing Groove IP, same as before it crashed when launched. However, Talkatone works. It is complicated to get it working. Here is what I did:
Installed Talkatone, In the settings it gives under the *Phone* tab, I selected Call Settings. I changed Start Call on "normal". It was set to "BlueTooth (when available)", but I could never get the microphone working, listening with bluetooth headset and microphone input to the USB sound card. Bluetooth was wierd because I was able to hear on the headset with setting "Bluetooth (when available)" but neither the bluetooth nor USB sound card microphone input worked. Bluetooth devices never show in the Android Sound settings.
Under Android Settings, Sound, Sound Devices Manager. With the above USB sound card connected the options are:
Talkatone working configuration:
Sound input devices: USB PnP Sound Device (***selected)
Sound output devices:
ROCKCHIP HDMI (***selected)
USB PnP Sound Device (not selected)
Note: I switched my audio OUT setting to HDMI and connected a speaker to the back of my HDMI monitor. You, like me, are probably now saying WTF. Yes? While the microphone is working on USB PnP Sound Device it seems the audio output does not work on either of my USB sound cards. However, with Talkatone setup Start Call on normal, the HDMI audio output works with the microphone input on USB PnP Sound Device. LOL
UPDATE: If you reboot with USB sound card connected you can use USB PnP Sound Device output. But, plug-n-play may kill your output until reboot with connected.
I run tests using Music player for audio output, and the Sound Recorder for input. The Sound Recorder application can be *found* on the stick computer in the /system/app folder. It is bundled with the device but I was unable to find a launch icon. Information on Sound Recorder is Version 4.1.1-eng.ant.20121212.085830 Once run, I can subsequently find & run again using search on "SoundRecorder". Also, in the Play market the Sound Recorder Shortcut by Kayan Nurav gives an icon as a fix to launch Sound Recorder.
Using these configurations I can successfully make Talkatone voice calls with the UG007 ii. My voice quality depends on microphone sensitivity. The sound out via HDMI to speakers sounds perfect.
There are still some annoyances. After reboot or re-plugging the USB sound card: if you want Rockchip HDMI output the Android settings need to be fixed (as shown above). I frequently test sound output using the music player and test input with sound recorder because of frequent sound input and/or output failures requiring me to reboot. Definitely a work in progress, yet interesting.
UPDATE: Finally got audio input and output working with these devices. Basically, plug and play is not a good method. Instead reboot with device connected and audio in & out works. I tested a third USB sound card where audio input/microphone does *not* ever work. If you find some, please post further examples of working USB soundcards in this thread.
quick question
i want to use the stick computer as web/ftp server so i only need it on and there is no need to a TV except for the first time i use+configure
does the stick turn on and boot just by plugging the power ??
mf_ said:
quick question
i want to use the stick computer as web/ftp server so i only need it on and there is no need to a TV except for the first time i use+configure
does the stick turn on and boot just by plugging the power ??
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No, it does nothing with power plugged only. I must first plug HDMI and then power to get boot.
Bob Smith42 said:
No, it does nothing with power plugged only. I must first plug HDMI and then power to get boot.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
can you please do me a favor (im asking because not connecting to tv avoids extra electricity costs, since android can be controlled trough airdroid)
connecting the HDMI cable only to ug007ii and leave the other side hanging loose without connecting to TV
does it boot ??
mf_ said:
can you please do me a favor (im asking because not connecting to tv avoids extra electricity costs, since android can be controlled trough airdroid)
connecting the HDMI cable only to ug007ii and leave the other side hanging loose without connecting to TV
does it boot ??
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No. It does not power up when connected only to cable. But, if you turn off monitor and connect cable it does boot.
There is an old hack of putting resisters on DB15 video connectors and plugging into laptop external video ports. What this did was enable new screen resolutions on 1st generation netbook computers. It was something if done wrong could also ruin your video card. LOL
Thinking along the same lines there us surely some way to fake the HDMI monitor connection by hacking an HDMI plug.
Cant Wait
I just got the exact same unit you did I was expecting the UG007 cant wait to hook it up in the AM Thanks for all your postings it will be a great guideline for me.
Thanks Again
Thx, OP, for this thread~! It came in really handy after I purchased the UG007II and I was looking for a way to root and install CWM. I got this for mom for Mother's Day and she really loves it for watching Netflix shows & movies.
CWM for Official UGOOS 4.2.2 firmware
Has anyone else upgraded to the latest official 4.2.2 firmware? I have and it's very good. Smoother, faster, and everything still works, of course. I also got it rooted using the original method for the original Android 4.1.1 firmware.
But I'm having issues with CWM. I installed the original UG007 CWM through the Rockchip flash tool (as opposed to the update.zip method b/c it doesn't work with 4.2.2 anymore) but I can't actually create any Nandroids inside CWM. Things aren't being mounted & recognized correctly.
Does anyone know of any updated CWM recovery for 4.2.2?
i try everithing and cant connect to my pc de UG007 II
I didn't see anyone mention about this here so I thought I post about it in case someone is wondering or is searching about it in the future.
For anyone that is an audiophile or just wants better audio... I have tried a USB DAC with our Xperia Z1 and it works great! As usual you need a USB OTG cable and plug directly to the DAC (or DAC/AMP combo). The USB port does output enough current to power the DAC and even charge it (a little... I don't think the Z1 outputs the full 500mA). Android volume controls also work and it controls it. All audio goes through the DAC and no additional software is needed. I even tried it on CyanogenMod 11 when I had it installed briefly, works just the same!
In my attached pic, the DAC Amp combo is the iBasso D2+ Hj Boa along with Audio-Technica ATH-M50 Headphones. It shouldn't be limited to this DAC. Once you have DAC support confirmation it should generally work with any driverless USB DAC.
And yes the DAC sounds way better than the built in audio. The built in audio chip is okay... but there's no life/fidelity in the audio. And no amount of equalizer can fix that.
Must be a pain in the ass to carry around and those flaps make it worse.
Good to know
Sent from my HTC One using Tapatalk
Gitaroo said:
Must be a pain in the ass to carry around and those flaps make it worse.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Carrying around isn't that bad... you can jam everything into a large pocket. This is more for a table setup, like if you are sitting at a desk for work or traveling on a plane. And yes the flaps kinda suck... the downsides of waterproof.
I actually don't use this setup very often. I also have the new NW-F886 Walkman which already has a really DAC built in. I usually have that hooked up to a portable amp. Using the USB DAC/AMP on android is a fun test I like to do whenever I get a new phone. It's just good info for anyone that wants better audio! :laugh:
I already posted my comment about the USB DAC (iBasso D10, Cobra) in this thread, post #37
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2497518&page=4
I was very happy to hear to sound from my DAC, as soon I plugged it to the Z1, as soon I got it, Sept 2013.
iBasso D10 has feature to disable charging from USB. which may extend the Z1's battery life.
I recommend to use a right angled (L) USB OTG cable. and it fits much better or securely than the straight USB OTG cable.
Thank you.
bahathir said:
I already posted my comment about the USB DAC (iBasso D10, Cobra) in this thread, post #37
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2497518&page=4
I was very happy to hear to sound from my DAC, as soon I plugged it to the Z1, as soon I got it, Sept 2013.
iBasso D10 has feature to disable charging from USB. which may extend the Z1's battery life.
I recommend to use a right angled (L) USB OTG cable. and it fits much better or securely than the straight USB OTG cable.
Thank you.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Another USB DAC user :good:
Actually I am using a right angle connector in the pic but my case actually gets in the way of it. I think the one I have is too big... it's a DIY version of the micro usb connector so it maybe bigger than normal ones.
raginginferno said:
Another USB DAC user :good:
Actually I am using a right angle connector in the pic but my case actually gets in the way of it. I think the one I have is too big... it's a DIY version of the micro usb connector so it maybe bigger than normal ones.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I see. I am using generic OTG USB (F) and generic standard Mini USB cable, and I don't have any problem when using it, with the Z1 in soft casing.
Eventhough the digital audio stream is not 'bit perfect', ie, sound signal is mixed and resampled to 48kHz, but, it is enough to enjoy most of it.
As I mentioned in the other thread, I only listen to lectures and talk shows or podcasts, which most of them are sampled at 22kHz AAC (24kbps bitrate), so it the resampling effect/artifact is not significant.
The good thing to use DAC+headphone amp, we can get better dynamic range and able to drives headphones/earphones/IEMs at optimum level.
Thank you.
So now Z2 is out and it specifically mentioned it support USB DAC but not with Z1.
I have a usb DAC personally (Fiio E07k) and it works with xperia Z1 with usb micro to mini cable without any modification to the software.
Any difference between them Z1 and Z2 in terms of functionality?
I was actually thinking about picking up a USB Dac I am still using my home made CMoy amp with a Burr Brown OPA 2132 P was thinking it might be time to upgrade good know know the USB Dacs work with the Z1
Have been doing this since the Z1 came out. Now it is my reference portable system, sounds better than AK120 at a fraction of it's price.
The near fatal flaw of lack of memory space is getting fixed by 128GB microSD, I am happy.
Z2 and T2 USB Audio support
hikashi said:
So now Z2 is out and it specifically mentioned it support USB DAC but not with Z1.
I have a usb DAC personally (Fiio E07k) and it works with xperia Z1 with usb micro to mini cable without any modification to the software.
Any difference between them Z1 and Z2 in terms of functionality?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
As product owner for USB Audio in the Z2, I would like to explain about our USB support.
In the 2013 mid- and high-end products (Z, ZL, ZR, Tablet Z, Z Ultra, Z1, Z1 Compact) we support USB Audio from the Android Audio framework, which means that all audio is resampled to 48kHz/16 bits, and mixed in with notifications etc. This means that we have "bit-perfect" reproduction only for tracks with this sample rate originally (and such are not very common) and turn off all system sounds and all sound enhancements (and even then, I cannot guarantee that we are 100% bit-perfect).
In Z2 and T2, however, we have introduced a new mode, "High-res audio over USB", where the audio stream is sent directly to USB after unpacking/decoding (actually, when selected, this applies to all audio data, no only high-res, so internally it is called "Direct" mode).
The only exception is if a DAC does not support a particular sample rate, in which case it is sent to the audio framework in the previous manner - for instance, some DAC's which support 96kHz do not support 88.2kHz, strangely enough.
Anyway, in this feature we support 44.1kHz, 48KHz, 88.2kHz, and 96kHz in either 16 or 24bits using USB Audio Class 1, and also 192kHz and 176.4kHz using USB Audio Class 2 in Asynchronous mode. The file formats can be either WAV or FLAC for lossless compression, or MP3 or AAC (which decompresses to either 44.1 or 48kHz at 16bits). I guess other generic Android audio formats should work too but they are not in scope since I have never seen these at download stores.
One caveat with 192 and 176.4kHz files is that the Android downsampler does not handle more than 96kHz, so if you get such files, they will only play in High-res mode to a capable DAC, not in any other circumstances.
In this mode, since we bypass the mixer, ring signals and notifications etc are not passed to the USB DAC. If you want these in headphones connected to a portable DAC, you will need to turn off HigH-res mode and everything will then work as in the 2013 products.
I will be present in this forum for questions and problem reports when these devices are released. Currently we are testing with a limited number of DAC' and I will post a list of these soon.
XP-Audio said:
As product owner for USB Audio in the Z2, I would like to explain about our USB support.
In the 2013 mid- and high-end products (Z, ZL, ZR, Tablet Z, Z Ultra, Z1, Z1 Compact) we support USB Audio from the Android Audio framework, which means that all audio is resampled to 48kHz/16 bits, and mixed in with notifications etc. This means that we have "bit-perfect" reproduction only for tracks with this sample rate originally (and such are not very common) and turn off all system sounds and all sound enhancements (and even then, I cannot guarantee that we are 100% bit-perfect).
In Z2 and T2, however, we have introduced a new mode, "High-res audio over USB", where the audio stream is sent directly to USB after unpacking/decoding (actually, when selected, this applies to all audio data, no only high-res, so internally it is called "Direct" mode).
The only exception is if a DAC does not support a particular sample rate, in which case it is sent to the audio framework in the previous manner - for instance, some DAC's which support 96kHz do not support 88.2kHz, strangely enough.
Anyway, in this feature we support 44.1kHz, 48KHz, 88.2kHz, and 96kHz in either 16 or 24bits using USB Audio Class 1, and also 192kHz and 176.4kHz using USB Audio Class 2 in Asynchronous mode. The file formats can be either WAV or FLAC for lossless compression, or MP3 or AAC (which decompresses to either 44.1 or 48kHz at 16bits). I guess other generic Android audio formats should work too but they are not in scope since I have never seen these at download stores.
One caveat with 192 and 176.4kHz files is that the Android downsampler does not handle more than 96kHz, so if you get such files, they will only play in High-res mode to a capable DAC, not in any other circumstances.
In this mode, since we bypass the mixer, ring signals and notifications etc are not passed to the USB DAC. If you want these in headphones connected to a portable DAC, you will need to turn off HigH-res mode and everything will then work as in the 2013 products.
I will be present in this forum for questions and problem reports when these devices are released. Currently we are testing with a limited number of DAC' and I will post a list of these soon.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Wow. Very insightful. Thanks.
One more thing, will this High Res over USB feature carry forward to the Z1? Or it is a new hardware feature.
hikashi said:
Wow. Very insightful. Thanks.
One more thing, will this High Res over USB feature carry forward to the Z1? Or it is a new hardware feature.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I cannot comment on unreleased features, however, this feature is not dependent on the specific hardware in Z2. Generally, backporting new features into older products is always a question of resources.
XP-Audio said:
As product owner for USB Audio in the Z2, I would like to explain about our USB support.
In the 2013 mid- and high-end products (Z, ZL, ZR, Tablet Z, Z Ultra, Z1, Z1 Compact) we support USB Audio from the Android Audio framework, which means that all audio is resampled to 48kHz/16 bits, and mixed in with notifications etc. This means that we have "bit-perfect" reproduction only for tracks with this sample rate originally (and such are not very common) and turn off all system sounds and all sound enhancements (and even then, I cannot guarantee that we are 100% bit-perfect).
In Z2 and T2, however, we have introduced a new mode, "High-res audio over USB", where the audio stream is sent directly to USB after unpacking/decoding (actually, when selected, this applies to all audio data, no only high-res, so internally it is called "Direct" mode).
The only exception is if a DAC does not support a particular sample rate, in which case it is sent to the audio framework in the previous manner - for instance, some DAC's which support 96kHz do not support 88.2kHz, strangely enough.
Anyway, in this feature we support 44.1kHz, 48KHz, 88.2kHz, and 96kHz in either 16 or 24bits using USB Audio Class 1, and also 192kHz and 176.4kHz using USB Audio Class 2 in Asynchronous mode. The file formats can be either WAV or FLAC for lossless compression, or MP3 or AAC (which decompresses to either 44.1 or 48kHz at 16bits). I guess other generic Android audio formats should work too but they are not in scope since I have never seen these at download stores.
One caveat with 192 and 176.4kHz files is that the Android downsampler does not handle more than 96kHz, so if you get such files, they will only play in High-res mode to a capable DAC, not in any other circumstances.
In this mode, since we bypass the mixer, ring signals and notifications etc are not passed to the USB DAC. If you want these in headphones connected to a portable DAC, you will need to turn off HigH-res mode and everything will then work as in the 2013 products.
I will be present in this forum for questions and problem reports when these devices are released. Currently we are testing with a limited number of DAC' and I will post a list of these soon.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well that's a good point. But how LG G2 (which is marketed to play Hi-Res audio) differs from the Z1?
For the "High-Res Audio over USB" mode on Z2, well, it is still unsure whether Sony will be porting this into the Z1 with the KK upgrade. Right now, what's clear is that USB DAC is supported but with limited audio sampling and frequency.
Tested with Fiio e07. Working great.
Compatibility with Z1
raginginferno said:
I didn't see anyone mention about this here so I thought I post about it in case someone is wondering or is searching about it in the future.
For anyone that is an audiophile or just wants better audio... I have tried a USB DAC with our Xperia Z1 and it works great! As usual you need a USB OTG cable and plug directly to the DAC (or DAC/AMP combo). The USB port does output enough current to power the DAC and even charge it (a little... I don't think the Z1 outputs the full 500mA). Android volume controls also work and it controls it. All audio goes through the DAC and no additional software is needed. I even tried it on CyanogenMod 11 when I had it installed briefly, works just the same!
In my attached pic, the DAC Amp combo is the iBasso D2+ Hj Boa along with Audio-Technica ATH-M50 Headphones. It shouldn't be limited to this DAC. Once you have DAC support confirmation it should generally work with any driverless USB DAC.
And yes the DAC sounds way better than the built in audio. The built in audio chip is okay... but there's no life/fidelity in the audio. And no amount of equalizer can fix that.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hey there, firstly I have to say I am amazed at the fact I found something online relating Z1's with M50s, so thank you for opening this thread. My question might be a bit off tangent, but I'm currently looking at buying some M50s, and Im sure you know as an Xperia user, the headphone glitch is one of the most frustrating parts about the phone despite it being an amazing device. Do your M50s work with your phone, when plugging them in the standard jack?
Leungerz said:
Hey there, firstly I have to say I am amazed at the fact I found something online relating Z1's with M50s, so thank you for opening this thread. My question might be a bit off tangent, but I'm currently looking at buying some M50s, and Im sure you know as an Xperia user, the headphone glitch is one of the most frustrating parts about the phone despite it being an amazing device. Do your M50s work with your phone, when plugging them in the standard jack?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Headphones glitch? The only I can think of is if you use like iphone headphones it won't work because it uses the other mic/heaphone standard than the xperias do... is that what you are refering to.
In anycase what you are asking is not related. With any android phone, if you plug in any sort of regular (no mic) headphones the phone audio will go through the heaphones and the voice will be picked up by the mic on the phone. In the Z1 case, the bottom where the external speaker is. So it works just fine (I tested just in case). So if you are going to use it with voice calls, the phone cannot be on your pocket.
Btw side note, I am on cyanogenmod mod (it shouldn't make a difference) but unfortunately cyanogenmod no longer supports USB DAC. Kali mentioned that it screwed up the dock charger so he disabled usb dac support
z1 headphone comparability
raginginferno said:
Headphones glitch? The only I can think of is if you use like iphone headphones it won't work because it uses the other mic/heaphone standard than the xperias do... is that what you are refering to.
In anycase what you are asking is not related. With any android phone, if you plug in any sort of regular (no mic) headphones the phone audio will go through the heaphones and the voice will be picked up by the mic on the phone. In the Z1 case, the bottom where the external speaker is. So it works just fine (I tested just in case). So if you are going to use it with voice calls, the phone cannot be on your pocket.
Btw side note, I am on cyanogenmod mod (it shouldn't make a difference) but unfortunately cyanogenmod no longer supports USB DAC. Kali mentioned that it screwed up the dock charger so he disabled usb dac support
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the quick reply. I think I get your point, simplifying my question; I just wanna know if when you plug in your M50 standard headset in the normal jack at the top of the phone, audio plays properly. Sorry for the confusion lol. Also when did you get your z1?
Leungerz said:
Thanks for the quick reply. I think I get your point, simplifying my question; I just wanna know if when you plug in your M50 standard headset in the normal jack at the top of the phone, audio plays properly. Sorry for the confusion lol. Also when did you get your z1?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
LOL. That's a lot more simple question. Yes the Ath-M50 works just fine with the Z1 through the heaphone jack.
I got my Z1 in December. One of the first batches available in Canada.
XP-Audio said:
As product owner for USB Audio in the Z2, I would like to explain about our USB support.
In the 2013 mid- and high-end products (Z, ZL, ZR, Tablet Z, Z Ultra, Z1, Z1 Compact) we support USB Audio from the Android Audio framework, which means that all audio is resampled to 48kHz/16 bits, and mixed in with notifications etc. This means that we have "bit-perfect" reproduction only for tracks with this sample rate originally (and such are not very common) and turn off all system sounds and all sound enhancements (and even then, I cannot guarantee that we are 100% bit-perfect).
In Z2 and T2, however, we have introduced a new mode, "High-res audio over USB", where the audio stream is sent directly to USB after unpacking/decoding (actually, when selected, this applies to all audio data, no only high-res, so internally it is called "Direct" mode).
The only exception is if a DAC does not support a particular sample rate, in which case it is sent to the audio framework in the previous manner - for instance, some DAC's which support 96kHz do not support 88.2kHz, strangely enough.
Anyway, in this feature we support 44.1kHz, 48KHz, 88.2kHz, and 96kHz in either 16 or 24bits using USB Audio Class 1, and also 192kHz and 176.4kHz using USB Audio Class 2 in Asynchronous mode. The file formats can be either WAV or FLAC for lossless compression, or MP3 or AAC (which decompresses to either 44.1 or 48kHz at 16bits). I guess other generic Android audio formats should work too but they are not in scope since I have never seen these at download stores.
One caveat with 192 and 176.4kHz files is that the Android downsampler does not handle more than 96kHz, so if you get such files, they will only play in High-res mode to a capable DAC, not in any other circumstances.
In this mode, since we bypass the mixer, ring signals and notifications etc are not passed to the USB DAC. If you want these in headphones connected to a portable DAC, you will need to turn off HigH-res mode and everything will then work as in the 2013 products.
I will be present in this forum for questions and problem reports when these devices are released. Currently we are testing with a limited number of DAC' and I will post a list of these soon.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
thank you for the great explanation! this info is exactly what I was looking for. Does this also mean that I can send any audio out through usb? for example, Google Play Music streaming app, will the audio stream to my car's usb port? or does it only support locally saved files on the phone? Thanks!
I know there have been threads in the past about the Nexus 4 not being able to support outputting audio over USB, but now that stock Android 5.0 supports it, can the Nexus 4 do it?
I'm using the factory 5.0 images and I have an external DAC/amp that I want to use (Fiio e18) that's made for Android, but nothing seems to happen when I hook it up. I've read posts that the Nexus 4 physically can't output power over it's USB, which is fine because the DAC has it's own battery source... but can it at least output the audio?
I started with the stock kernel, but also tried the latest Franco kernel (r214) with no luck. Also, I verified the DAC itself works by using it with my laptop. I'm hoping there's just some hidden setting or patch I need to apply to get it to work... Has anyone else tried this yet?
kerb12 said:
I know there have been threads in the past about the Nexus 4 not being able to support outputting audio over USB, but now that stock Android 5.0 supports it, can the Nexus 4 do it?
I'm using the factory 5.0 images and I have an external DAC/amp that I want to use (Fiio e18) that's made for Android, but nothing seems to happen when I hook it up. I've read posts that the Nexus 4 physically can't output power over it's USB, which is fine because the DAC has it's own battery source... but can it at least output the audio?
I started with the stock kernel, but also tried the latest Franco kernel (r214) with no luck. Also, I verified the DAC itself works by using it with my laptop. I'm hoping there's just some hidden setting or patch I need to apply to get it to work... Has anyone else tried this yet?
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pls report your findings if you can make it happened!!
i can not help you with your problem but it is something that interest me too. i only can suggest to use a more feature enabled kernel like unleashed or hells core
pls report your findings if you make it work mate!
That's a good idea... unfortunately no dice with the latest unleashed kernel either (98u). It claims it supports USB OTG, so I was hoping that would be enough, but maybe there's more that needs to be done.
kerb12 said:
That's a good idea... unfortunately no dice with the latest unleashed kernel either (98u). It claims it supports USB OTG, so I was hoping that would be enough, but maybe there's more that needs to be done.
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one thing that you might not know. nexus 4 does support usb otg BUT cannot provide electricity via usb. you must use a y cable and provide external power so you it might not be possible to use your DAC!
Thanks, I did know that, but I figured that since my DAC is self-powered (it has its own battery) that I wouldn't need to do the y-cable trick.
Worth a try though, I'm going to order one and see if I can at least get regular USB OTG to work. Maybe once that's working it'll be easier to troubleshoot the audio.
Just wanted to update, I got the Y OTG cable so I could have external power at the same time... but still doesn't work. This is with stock 5.0.1 and unleashed 98u kernel. I went into Synapse and enabled the OTG setting as well. DAC doesn't get recognized, and I tried a few free apps that are supposed to do OTG checks, but they all came back that nothing is attached.
Usb otg is one thing and uab audio out is another. USB otg means that you can connect an USB stick or external hdd to your phone ( with or without external power) USB AUDIO OUT need special circuits from your internal Dac to the USB. If those are not implemented you will never have USB audio out. This is something witch depends on the manufacturer ( S4 mini with snapdragon 400 don't work with USB otg or USB audio out, htc mini 2 M8 works perfectly with fiio E18 as a audio surce for external DAC). So if you really need USB audio out please next time do your homework and read before buying a phone. P.S. Htc mini 2 M8 has the best audio ever and really you don't need an external dac. If you need more power just use your fiio as an amplifier with your phone.
Maybe you could find for your phone a apecial kernel modified for better audio experience. Flash that and use your headphones.
Good luck!
Thanks, yeah I don't need usb audio out... I've had the phone for over 2 years and I still really like it, so no plans on getting a new one just for this.
I believe it's physically possible to do audio out on the N4... I've seen random posts about people getting it to work, but they've all been on custom ROM's based on 4.4.x stuff. I'd really rather not try to reproduce that since 5.0 is running so much better on my phone, and I was just hoping with the new native Android support it might work out of the box. But alas, it looks like google locked down 5.0 on the N4 - even USB OTG storage doesn't work unless you put a custom kernel like unleashed on.
In the meantime, I've just been using it as a headphone amp like you suggest and it's a big improvement.
Looking at possibly purchasing an android head unit for my 2015 Chevy Cruze and would like to use my portable USB DAC to get a digital signal to my DSP.
Does anyone know if audio over USB is possible on any of these units?
Hi,
I can try to connect my old SteelSeries USB DAC that worked on other Android devices.
Tested, and DAC Controls work (Voli+/-, MUTE, MIC ON) which means that USB DAC is detected correctly, but unfortunately there is no settings for selecting it as output, but again I'm on Stock non root HA Firmware.
NOTE: I tested same DAC on Alcatel Idol 3 and as soon as I connected USB it switched output to DAC immediately so it works without a hinch.
Here is the device I tested on Amazon https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000WJ9K4G/ and some pics of device.
Is this supposed to be slapstick/humor?
You will need to elaborate your statement, so that I understand what you meant by it.
marchnz said:
Is this supposed to be slapstick/humor?
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If you are referring to my question, it was legitimate. After doing more research I have found the audio is all being controlled by the MCU and not by the Android operating system.
I was hoping it would work similar to my current signal chain which is Samsung Galaxy S8+ > OTG Adapter > Muse Portable DAC > MiniDSP.
Then, answer: Maybe I found it as interesting thing to test especially as I was missing a lot of Low Level Audio Access on Android.
I tend to agree on your findings in Alcatel Developer settings I can clearly set Audio Source for USB (see attachment) and it is Automatically selected when I insert DAC.in OTG like as you pointed for your S8+
Investigating it further and connecting to various Devices I've found one very very strange that Support is directly connected to Kernel "sound support soundcore module" and ALSA, to clam that I've done something interesting and connected the card to my QNAP NAS USB port to see what happen and on my surprise I got Audio OUT on my NAS Music App showed additional option for Audio Source "Internal Sound Card" and it worked flawlessly. So question is what we are missing in PX5 Kernel to make that working.