Even with the exponential growth of the wireless headphone and TWS earphone segments, Dongle DACs are finding favor with music listeners who don’t want to take the wireless plunge at this point, and have zero desire to purchase an expensive DAP when they already have a smartphone in their pocket.
That last aspect of the conversation is the greatest selling point for Dongle DACs. Why spend additional money on a DAP when the savings from a high-quality Dongle DAC will give you a larger budget for a better set of headphones or IEMs?
What is a Dongle DAC?
A Dongle DAC is a small adapter that connects between a wireless device and wired headphones. Its purpose is to improve the digital audio quality of your smartphone or tablet and give users a higher quality headphone amplifier in the same package.
It accomplishes this by bypassing the DAC (Digital-to-Analog Converter) circuitry built into phones which are generally low quality. By offloading D/A processing, Dongle DACs offer a step-up in sonic performance and can also breathe new life into older devices.
Is it worth it?
We think so. If you use Apple Music, TIDAL, Qobuz and others, you’re wasting your money if you’re not taking advantage of the lossless and high-res music files that they offer.
Why are you spending the money on a hi-res music streaming platform and better quality headphones unless you care about sound quality. A high-quality Dongle DAC can result in a huge uptick in performance and also expand your ability to use harder to drive headphones.
Dongle DACs can also work with laptops. Desktop audio anyone?
Caveats
It is important to remember that not every Dongle DAC works with every phone so selecting the best option isn’t as simple as grabbing the best one and thinking that you just improved the sound of your headphones.
Apple users with older iPhones and iPads that have a lightning port should be especially cautious. Apple puts more restrictions on devices and demands licensing fees for a device to be Apple certified. There are also power issues in regard to the lightning port and Dongle DACs.
Although the latest iPhones and nearly all Android phones with USB-C ports are compatible with current dongle DACs, be aware that some dongles trade battery life for features so it’s still important to find the best balance for your use case.
Related video: DAP, Dongle DAC or DAC-AMP: Which should you choose?
Methodology
Eligible products must be currently shipping whether or not they were released in the current year. At least one eCoustics staff member must nominate a product within the category that they feel offers best-in-class performance at its listed retail price before it can be voted on by our Editors.
Honorable Mentions in 2024
Is the Dongle DAC market getting soft?
The explosive growth of the wireless earbuds market lost very little momentum in 2024 and it would appear that consumers are being much more selective when it comes to spending money on a high-end dongle.
Manufacturers seem to be aware of the waning interest because new model introductions slowed down considerably. The major players (with two major exceptions) focused on higher end models for the Head-Fi crowd who are more demanding when it comes to sonic performance and power.
The iFi Go Bar Kensei Dongle DAC at $499 is a perfect example of this and we also witnessed the resurgence of iBasso with a number of new higher priced models.
FiiO went for a shotgun approach with models priced for almost every segment and we’ll have to see how that plays out for them. The quality is certainly there but far too many options can be confusing for consumers.
So who really stood out in 2024?
Enter Questyle
Questyle has been in the high-end personal audio market for 12 years and the manufacturer builds its products in one of the most advanced production facilities in Shenzen. The company engineers products that are comparable and even superior to many of their North American and European rivals — both in terms of build quality and sonic performance.
Their Current Mode Amplifiers have already been a huge success in the desktop headphone amplifier market and that technology has gravitated to their portable headphone amplifiers with a DAC.
Their M12 and M15 dongles have been staff picks for several years because they work with a wide range of devices including iOS, MacOS, Windows, Android, and even some Linux systems.
In 2024, Questyle updated both models to include MFi certification for Apple whilst keeping prices in line with the earlier models. The M12i and M15i quickly supplanted the original models and our reviews confirmed that all of the features that we loved about the older iterations had been kept and the improvements in sonic performance were rather noticeable.
Editors’ Choice 2024: Questyle 15c
The market expected Questyle to introduce a higher performance Dongle DAC which would command more money — but they did something that was totally out of left field.
They reworked the M15i by replacing the ESS DAC with the classic Cirrus Logic 43198 chip and released the M15c. That change meant that the dongle was limited to 32-bit/384kHz PCM and DSD256 (the ESS supports 32-bit/768kHz/DSD512).
Audiophiles might bristle and push back with “that’s not the latest and greatest and doesn’t support X.”
Remind us again what percentage of your music collection is above 32-bit/384kHz PCM or DSD256?
We did a poll and found that 99.9% of our staff and close industry colleagues own almost no music above those specifications — and they are the target market.
Spotify Hi-Fi still doesn’t exist and TIDAL is struggling to stay in business.
One would expect the switch to an older less expensive chip to have an impact on price, but not as big an impact as it did — the M15c ($129) is less than half the price of the M15i ($299).
The M15c could accurately be described as being the “polite” model with a greater degree of warmth to its overall sonic signature and that includes smoothing over rough edges in poor recordings.
The “warmth” is unique to the 43198 chip for the simple reason that none of the other M-series models share that characteristic. It has been my experience with ESS-based models that they sound slightly cooler and even on the bright side of the spectrum.
The M15c moves the other way and that does tone down its detail retrieval — which may not be a bad thing if you are using wired IEMs or headphones that are a tad too aggressive sounding in the upper midrange and treble.
If you care more about tonal weight and texture — the M15c is probably what you will work better for you long-term.
After reading through the review, it should be rather obvious that $129 for the Questyle M15c is a ridiculously great buy. The M15i does offer better sound quality but you’ll pay a lot more for it.
The M15c is the Dongle DAC for the rest of us.
Pros:
- Very affordable
- Warm tonal balance mates with more neutral sounding IEMs and headphones
- Solid build quality
- 32-bit/384kHz PCM and DSD256 support which is 99% of the music available today
- Single-ended and balanced outputs for under $150
Cons:
- Older iPhone and iPad users will require the USB Type-C to Lightning adapter
- Warm tonal balance and smooth presentation might be dull sounding with the wrong headphones
- Limited to 32-bit PCM and DSD256
- Does not come with a case
Where to buy:
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J
November 6, 2022 at 7:50 pm
Uh, you missed the Apple Lightning DAC. It is by far the smallest and best bang for the buck. While it can’t do dog level, high end DAC numbers, it’s performance measurements are great. About $9. Buy two in case you loose one. I never have though.
USB C version is also excellent too.
https://www.apple.com/shop/product/MMX62AM/A/lightning-to-35-mm-headphone-jack-adapter
W. Jennings
November 10, 2022 at 4:43 pm
No we didn’t miss it as it is not compatible with non-Apple products due to the Lightning only connector. All of our picks work equally well on Android and Apple devices and we ruled out several devices for failure to work with Apple products so only fair to rule that one out based on its lack of support for anything other than Apple products.
WJ
Steve H
December 17, 2024 at 7:10 pm
Will, too many of us have measured and listened to the Apple USB C headphone dongle with Android phones. They have two types available. Still isn’t better than my LG V60 Thin Q with its internal DAC.
John
March 24, 2023 at 1:13 pm
Will, what’s your recommendation for best dongle DAC for iOS? I find that it’s not worth running balanced on them as they cut out at high volumes due to the available power via Lightning, and even unbalanced at high volumes. I’m using an S9 Pro and a ddHiFi TC44B.