Using spare android phone as audio streamer

[ajuvignesh]

It won't. That's what I'm saying happened with both my phones. I even connected my phone to a powered usb hub and the phone started charging. But the moment I connected a DAC to the usb hub, the phone stopped charging and started using the DAC for the audio. So apparently both my android phones can either work in charging or work in USB host mode, but not both together.

Got it. Its sad the androids doesn’t work this way. With a full charge, how long the lenovo p2 can output audio to the dac before it runs out of charge? It has a massive battery. If your listening sessions are shorter like 1 or 2 hours,I guess it can work for you. Charging is a hassle though.

 

[amrutmhatre90]

I had used this cable to connect directly to the SMSL DAC I have.

https://amzn.to/3v2nJ92

Best way to get charging is to keep it on a wireless charger, but phone needs to support it.

Controlling Android device from another Android device is a pain, I had tried this when I had LineageOS on the RPI.

I gave up everything, got Volumio 3 installed. And got the premium version, I use Spotify for Indian and Tidal for western or other songs. Gave up on Apple Music.

Downside, too many subscription now. Spotify, Tidal, Volumio Premium but totally worth it.
Only Spotify premium can be used too without using Volumio Premium version if one doesn't want Tidal.

Volumio can be controlled by any device on same network. As you already have a DAC, 4k RPi will do wonders.



Just to add I use a LG V30 Plus as a music streamer too sometimes, it has a good DAC. And I directly connect it to the Power Amp.

 

[msankadi]

Of course it won't be bad but it will not be the best. But one can try a different OS too which doesn't have this limitation of either charging or acting as a USB host. Something like LineageOS. Check with @amrutmhatre90. I think he has experienced LineageOS.

Oh then that is not a concern I can easily install a different rom @amrutmhatre90 do you know?

 

[amrutmhatre90]

Oh then that is not a concern I can easily install a different rom @amrutmhatre90 do you know?

A custom rom won't make a difference on a phone.

What are you trying to achieve? If I am not wrong You want to use the DAC with a streamer and operate it with your phone, right?

 

[msankadi]

A custom rom won't make a difference on a phone.

What are you trying to achieve? If I am not wrong You want to use the DAC with a streamer and operate it with your phone, right?

All other things seem to have been figured out... The catch is to charge the phone while outputting music through the micro USB port

 

[amrutmhatre90]

All other things seem to have been figured out... The catch is to charge the phone while outputting music through the micro USB port

Keep it charged before listening music, on an average phone will be able to play music for 4-5 hours minimum in one go.

 

[Analogous]

It won't. That's what I'm saying happened with both my phones. I even connected my phone to a powered usb hub and the phone started charging. But the moment I connected a DAC to the usb hub, the phone stopped charging and started using the DAC for the audio. So apparently both my android phones can either work in charging or work in USB host mode, but not both together.

If the phone has wireless charging facility, placing it on a wireless charger pad while the usb is connected to the DAC might work. (Big IF)

 

[muzaffar559]

I had used this cable to connect directly to the SMSL DAC I have.

https://amzn.to/3v2nJ92

Best way to get charging is to keep it on a wireless charger, but phone needs to support it.

Controlling Android device from another Android device is a pain, I had tried this when I had LineageOS on the RPI.

I gave up everything, got Volumio 3 installed. And got the premium version, I use Spotify for Indian and Tidal for western or other songs. Gave up on Apple Music.

Downside, too many subscription now. Spotify, Tidal, Volumio Premium but totally worth it.
Only Spotify premium can be used too without using Volumio Premium version if one doesn't want Tidal.

Volumio can be controlled by any device on same network. As you already have a DAC, 4k RPi will do wonders.

View attachment 67417

Just to add I use a LG V30 Plus as a music streamer too sometimes, it has a good DAC. And I directly connect it to the Power Amp.

I am using raspberry pi 3b+ with allo digione and have volumio virtuoso subscription, I am facing issue with tidal connect. It keeps disconnecting. native tidal is working fine but it is not that good. Any solution for tidal connect drops. I have switched to moode just bcoz of this problem despite having virtuoso subscription.

 

[msankadi]

It won't. That's what I'm saying happened with both my phones. I even connected my phone to a powered usb hub and the phone started charging. But the moment I connected a DAC to the usb hub, the phone stopped charging and started using the DAC for the audio. So apparently both my android phones can either work in charging or work in USB host mode, but not both together.

I think this solution will work as a second best solution for me where the phone charges when it is not outputting music. My music session will be short only so no concern. Main concern is to not forget to charge in between sessions.

@mbhangui can you link the exact cable that got you the result of charging while it was not outputting music but started charging as soon as music stops? I will buy that one too then

 

[mbhangui]

@mbhangui can you link the exact cable that got you the result of charging while it was not outputting music but started charging as soon as music stops? I will buy that one too then

It is not that the phone starts charging when the music stops. You have to disconnect the usb cable going to the dac to make it charge. Or you have to go to the phone's settings and change setting to charging. I am posting the screenshot below the amazon link. From the screenshot itself one can guess that the USB doesn't support charging + any other function at the same time.

This is the same link that @ajuvignesh posted.

https://www.amazon.in/dp/B09P5FFG56/ref=cm_sw_em_r_mt_dp_CH9ZHGD091TP9RHJ72B1

 

[mbhangui]

Rather than trying to use an android phone as a streamer, the better option is to buy a Raspberry PI 3 (approx Rs 2900) and connect your dac to the USB port. The raspberry PIs make excellent streamers. Even the allo usbridge device is bascially a Raspberry PI3.

1. Buy a case (around Rs 300)
2. Use any 5v power supply (around Rs 300), but an existing phone charger with 2A or more will also do.
3. Buy a microsd card and (few Rs) and Install Rasbian OS from the official site (free)
4. Install raspotify for spotify (free)
5. Install shairport-sync for airplay (apple music) (free minus subscription cost)
6. Install mpd for qobuz, mqa, local music playback (free minus subscription cost)

and use your android phone to control the raspberry pi (spotify, apple music over airplay, mpd). The best thing about this setup is that the entire system can be controlled by any android phone, any IOS device (iphone. ipad), any linux laptop/computer, any macbook pro/air, any macmini. Maybe windows also, but I haven't used a windows device at home ever, so can't say.

Music for each and every room in my house now runs on mix of raspberry PIs and banana PIs and they play everything. Only for apple music, I use a mac mini, but that cannot be controlled flexibly like rest of the chain. However if you use airplay and are happy with 44.1k sampling rate, then apple music too can be flexibly used like spotify, mpd, mqa, qobuz, etc

If you are not familiar with linux you can install volumio, moode, etc with a negligible compromise to quality but you gain ease of use.

The whole setup above will cost < Rs 3500.

 

[msankadi]

Rather than trying to use an android phone as a streamer, the better option is to buy a Raspberry PI 3 (approx Rs 2900) and connect your dac to the USB port. The raspberry PIs make excellent streamers. Even the allo usbridge device is bascially a Raspberry PI3.

1. Buy a case (around Rs 300)
2. Use any 5v power supply (around Rs 300), but an existing phone charger with 2A or more will also do.
3. Buy a microsd card and (few Rs) and Install Rasbian OS from the official site (free)
4. Install raspotify for spotify (free)
5. Install shairport-sync for airplay (apple music) (free minus subscription cost)
6. Install mpd for qobuz, mqa, local music playback (free minus subscription cost)

and use your android phone to control the raspberry pi (spotify, apple music over airplay, mpd). The best thing about this setup is that the entire system can be controlled by any android phone, any IOS device (iphone. ipad), any linux laptop/computer, any macbook pro/air, any macmini. Maybe windows also, but I haven't used a windows device at home ever, so can't say.

Music for each and every room in my house now runs on mix of raspberry PIs and banana PIs and they play everything. Only for apple music, I use a mac mini, but that cannot be controlled flexibly like rest of the chain. However if you use airplay and are happy with 44.1k sampling rate, then apple music too can be flexibly used like spotify, mpd, mqa, qobuz, etc

If you are not familiar with linux you can install volumio, moode, etc with a negligible compromise to quality but you gain ease of use.

The whole setup above will cost < Rs 3500.

Yes everything is working perfectly on my nuc right now but I think it is now becoming a bit of hassle as it is being used as my htpc, audio streamer, torrent er, other pc tasks. As a result connecting the dac and removing it when it is used as htpc is becoming pain for me

Let me be on watchout for allo players by fms or I will get a new rpi in some time

 

[mbhangui]

Yes everything is working perfectly on my nuc right now but I think it is now becoming a bit of hassle as it is being used as my htpc, audio streamer, torrent er, other pc tasks. As a result connecting the dac and removing it when it is used as htpc is becoming pain for me

Let me be on watchout for allo players by fms or I will get a new rpi in some time

You can use a simple usb switch to share the dac between the NUC and your phone. I use this switch to share my revolution dac between a mac mini and allo usbridge.

https://www.amazon.in/Switch-Selector-Computer-Printers-Projector/dp/B07GMB46VN/ref=sr_1_5?crid=226O6PE4BJHW0&keywords=usb+switch&qid=1645339477&sprefix=usb+switch%2Caps%2C176&sr=8-5

 

[drkrack]

Raspberry PI 3 (approx Rs 2900) and connect your dac to the USB port

If you plan to use default USB ports on Rpi, buy Raspberry pi 4 not lower versions, it has a much better USB implementation for Audio than previous versions. In fact, the SQ advantage of Allo USB bridge signature (without Shanti LPSU) wasn't much over Regular Raspberry pi 4 4gb.

@OP @msankadi
I have used Samsung Note 10 for this purpose, but I have found my Spare Iphone 11 to be much better for using as Streamer Transport. Android OS 11 and higher seems to have some patch issues with USB Audio and custom Rom from Xda might needs to be installed with inherent risks.

My Software is Roon on both devices (Roon Allows any device to be remotely controlled by other devices running Roon, much like Spotify) . If you have a Spare iOS device, buy a lightning to USB A Female adapter and connect USB DAC. Small catch is Not all adapters work with USB DACs for iOS.
I can Confirm that this works without any issues.
Jihaan Lightening to Usb A Female

 

[msankadi]

You can use a simple usb switch to share the dac between the NUC and your phone. I use this switch to share my revolution dac between a mac mini and allo usbridge.

https://www.amazon.in/Switch-Selector-Computer-Printers-Projector/dp/B07GMB46VN/ref=sr_1_5?crid=226O6PE4BJHW0&keywords=usb+switch&qid=1645339477&sprefix=usb+switch%2Caps%2C176&sr=8-5

If you plan to use default USB ports on Rpi, buy Raspberry pi 4 not lower versions, it has a much better USB implementation for Audio than previous versions. In fact, the SQ advantage of Allo USB bridge signature (without Shanti LPSU) wasn't much over Regular Raspberry pi 4 4gb.

@OP @msankadi
I have used Samsung Note 10 for this purpose, but I have found my Spare Iphone 11 to be much better for using as Streamer Transport. Android OS 11 and higher seems to have some patch issues with USB Audio and custom Rom from Xda might needs to be installed with inherent risks.

My Software is Roon on both devices (Roon Allows any device to be remotely controlled by other devices running Roon, much like Spotify) . If you have a Spare iOS device, buy a lightning to USB A Female adapter and connect USB DAC. Small catch is Not all adapters work with USB DACs for iOS.
I can Confirm that this works without any issues.
Lightening to Usb A Female

Thank you usb audio works fine for me on lenovo p2 without any issues but the charging issue makes it an unusable solution as I want to minimize the manual effort needed to switch on songs...as my music listening habit is more in spurts....15 mins here and there throughout the day many times ...which is why I think a dedicated device which is just sitting there waiting for me to fire some music to it would make sense for me...the nuc is working fine as well but the challenge with it is that it has many other uses right now so I need to disconnect the plug to output full DTHDMA to my avr otherwise with USB that is restricted for some reason. Maybe I will get what @mbhangui has suggested and leave the other USB blank or connect to my ps4 instead of unplugging the USB cable.

Thanks a lot for all your inputs

 

[balavignesh002]

How do I connect USB audio and usb charging at the same time for the phone?

If your dac support Android Auto, you can stream and charge at the same time. This is a car audio feature, generally available in most of the Android headunits.

One more option is to stream through bluetooth and charge using any USB. Here the Bluetooth streaming has many codecs, the best I have used is LDAC.

 

[msankadi]

If your dac support Android Auto,

Do you mean my phone or dac? Is android auto wireless only or Wired too?

 

[balavignesh002]

Do you mean my phone or dac? Is android auto wireless only or Wired too?

Technically both.

 

[surfatwork]

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B009YPYORM

Something like this may work, but it's going to be iffy. Technically, in usb host mode, the phone has to "supply" power to the connected device. However when charging , obviously it has to "accept" power. Not doing that is going to be in violation of usb standards, afaik.
So even if you get the above cable, you will still need kernel support to circumvent normal usb protocols.

 

[ColinGraham]

How do I connect USB audio and usb charging at the same time for the phone?
Phone has 3.5mm jack but I would like to get the digital audio from usb otherwise the audio quality will take big hit. I am assuming i am right in this assumption please tell if I am not
I have to use another android phone to control the playback. I am guessing i can find a number of apps for that including team viewer remote. Any recommendations?