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Qualcomm Hopes USB-C DAC Dongle Will Alleviate Headphone Woes

Dec 7, 2017, 5:14 PM by Eric M. Zeman

Qualcomm today showed off the AQT1000, a tool that will help bridge the audio gap in devices that have a USB-C port but no 3.5mm headphone jack. The AQT1000 is an Aqstic Hi-Fi digital to analog converter (DAC). One end plugs into a phone's USB-C port and the other supports wired headphones. The onboard Aqstic DAC, pulled from the Snapdragon 845 mobile platform, delivers high-quality 384 kHz audio streams at 32 bits with a dynamic range of 123 dB. In addition to Qualcomm's aptX HD codec, the AQT1000 also includes native Direct Stream Digital (DSD) support, which is a high-quality codec known for creating warm tones. Qualcomm itself will not use the AQT1000 to make headphone; instead, it is offering the DAC to headphone and phone makers as an alternative to Bluetooth for mobile listening. Qualcomm expects OEMs will bring the DAC to market in devices early next year.

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Comments

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This forum is closed.

tzsm98

Dec 8, 2017, 10:56 AM

2006 Called, It Wants Its Pop-Port Back!

This silliness was part of what I was glad to see go when phones began to come with separate headphone jacks. The Nokia Pop-Port was an example of what needed to go away. Sony-Ericsson had their own proprietary multi-purpose port. Now we see the audio output and electrical input recombined. It didn't make sense in 2006, it doesn't make sense now.

crood

Dec 8, 2017, 9:30 AM

Missing the point

Dongles already exist. That's not the issue. The issues are:

Having to buy and carry around another thing to connect, which can be lost and/or damage.

or

The alternate is to replace a perfectly good set of headphones you already have

or

Deal with the quality drop and/or battery drain issues with Bluetooth

AND

Having to use the USB port for the headphones means not being able to charge the phone

bofis

Dec 7, 2017, 5:49 PM

Or have a headphone port with DAC built into the phone

I really cannot see myself buying a phone without a headphone port, and if anything, having a decent DAC is a feature I'd value.

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