[Notes] A Look at USB Audio Player PRO / USB Audio Recorder PRO
Today let me write up my impressions of using USB Audio Player PRO / USB Audio Recorder PRO.
This software lets most phones/tablets that support USB OTG use most USB DACs.
The reason I wanted to look into this software is mainly because… the sound quality of most Android phones is genuinely underwhelming…
Only a few very expensive or HIFI-oriented phones have really addressed this—even SAMSUNG and HTC phones don’t necessarily do a great job on sound quality.
Unlike APPLE’s phones or other devices, which all have a certain level of sound quality, so driving them straight is very OK. For portable use they’re already at a decent level, and if you really want to chase sound quality, there’s plenty of gear that directly supports these APPLE-series phones or tablets…
I also understand why this is: mainly because Android is used so widely, and many manufacturers develop their own new specs or designs, without something like APPLE’s essentially unified standard, so it’s hard to develop for completely…
As far as I currently know, some phones have gradually started to support connecting an external USB DAC via USB OTG—like the Samsung S3, and Note2 onward, which slowly gained support, and HTC’s M8 apparently does too. But not all USB DACs work; some with certain chips won’t… For example, my Dragonfly V1.0 and Hippo Cricri+ aren’t supported, @@
And support comes in a few flavors: some can play through the manufacturer’s built-in player, while others like KKBOX and SPOTIFY won’t work; and some let any sound play out this way… You’ll have to actually test it. In my own earlier testing, the Fiio E18 could play on the Samsung Note2, but it would often throw weird error-report bugs… Maybe because I didn’t do a double wipe when I upgraded before… Next time I have a chance I’ll redo a double wipe and test again.
Okay, so if your phone can’t directly connect a USB DAC via USB OTG, don’t lose heart just yet—refer to the instructions below and test.
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I n s t r u c t i o n s B e g i n
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First, check out the URL below:
http://www.extreamsd.com/USBAudioRecorderPRO/
This is the official site for USB Audio Player PRO / USB Audio Recorder PRO.
It lists some things to watch out for—like not buying those optical adapter things,
but buying a real OTG cable instead—and it has a support list of compatible USB audio devices and phones,
so check it first, ^^ -
Once you’ve confirmed your device is on the list and can run it, the bold-hearted can just buy it outright, @@
But personally I suggest going to the following first:
a. USB Audio Player PRO on the Google Play store
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.extreamsd.usbaudioplayerpro
There’s a free-trial download link inside; click in and download it,
though when I just tested it, the download didn’t work, so you can use method b.
b. USB Audio Recorder PRO on the Google Play store
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.extreamsd.usbaudiorecorderpro
It also has a TRIAL version; download it, then install.
But before installing, go to your phone’s “Settings” > “Security,“
and “check” the option to allow installs from “unknown sources.”
Of course this lowers security, but there’s no way around it for testing; you can turn this option back off after testing. -
Before testing, let me explain the difference between the two versions.
USB Audio Player PRO is mainly built for “playback.”
It can basically play wav/flac/ogg/mp3/aiff/aac/m4a/ape… and more, even supporting 24BIT and 32BIT—very powerful,
and the interface is more like a player. It can also:
a. “Software/hardware volume control” (important). USB Audio Recorder PRO can’t control volume via software,
so if the DAC you use has no volume knob, it’s painful… @@
b. “Gapless playback” (important), because USB Audio Recorder PRO can’t do gapless playback,
so there’s a fairly long gap between each track, about 30 seconds…
USB Audio Recorder PRO, on the other hand, is built for “recording.”
Its playback function exists only to confirm the recorded content, so it’s relatively basic,
but if you have recording needs, it’s still the go-to… -
Testing steps:
a. Prepare a USB OTG cable and a USB DAC, as shown below.
Below I used two portable DAC/amps to test: the Dragonfly V1.0 and the Hippo Cricri+.
b. Power on the device and plug it into the USB OTG cable first (important), because this makes it easier to detect the DAC.
c. Then plug the USB OTG cable into the phone’s MicroUSB port; it should show a USB device inserted, as below.
d. Open the USB Audio Player PRO / USB Audio Recorder PRO software.
- Below I’ll introduce USB Audio Player PRO first, then cover USB Audio Recorder PRO.
a. A prompt will appear: “Allow the app USB Audio Player PRO to access the USB device?”
Press “OK” (you can check “Use by default for this USB device” if you like).
b. The playback screen appears as below; at the bottom are the common functions—play, stop, loop, seek, and so on.
c. On the right of the playback screen there’s a strange silver knob for volume—up for louder, down for quieter.
It defaults to software volume control, but you can also disable it or switch to hardware volume control, etc.,
by going into Settings (the button toward the upper right), where Prefs has a Volume Control option to change.
For the Dragonfly, for instance, if the maximum via software control isn’t loud enough, you can switch to hardware control, as below.
d. The button toward the upper left of the playback screen opens music;
personally I always use folder playback (the second option, as below).
e. Play some music as a test. If there’s crackling or strange sounds, first try adjusting the Buffer size—
again go into Settings, where Prefs has a Buffer size option; try adjusting it (as below).
If it still doesn't work, "check" Force 1 packet per transfer in Prefs;
if that still fails, try lowering the Buffer, then "check" USB tweak 1;
if it still won't work, or you find your phone may lack performance, you can use "Force 16-bit."
If none of these adjustments work, email the developer, @@ f. In Settings there’s an EQ section, as below; feel free to play with it when you have time—personally I don’t use it, XD
e. During playback, there’s an indicator up in the menu bar you can tap directly to make adjustments—
this is something USB Audio Recorder PRO doesn’t have…
- The USB Audio Recorder PRO part
a. A prompt will appear: “Allow the app USB Audio Recorder PRO to access the USB device?”
Press “OK” (you can check “Use by default for this USB device” if you like).
b. The playback screen (MAIN) appears as below.
c. Since it’s recording-focused, there’s a folder in the top-left corner to open an audio file (WAV, AIFF, OGG, etc.),
or to change the recording save path/name.
At the bottom there’s a two-channel display of the recording/playback status, plus a slider to adjust the file’s time,
though on this screen you can’t play tracks continuously.
Crucially, you can’t adjust the volume… so only the Hippo Cricri+ can be used fairly normally, =_=
d. The I/O part is shown below—the formats for saving and outputting files.
Basically there’s nothing much to choose; it also auto-selects for you.
Only the Buffer part can be adjusted, same as above.
In my listening, the smaller the Buffer the better the sound quality; give it a try.
e. The Play List part is a simplified continuous player.
Basically, pick the file you want to play, hit play on this page,
and it’ll automatically play the other files in that folder in order—but with a 30-second gap between each, =_=
- Conclusion
If you really want good sound quality, don’t mind a few extra things to plug together, and happen to have a USB DAC on hand that supports USB Audio Player PRO, then I really recommend giving it a try! The sound quality improvement is quite noticeable—much better than using just a headphone amp!
If you have any questions about the settings or usage, feel free to discuss with me, @@