If you have a Samsung Note 4 you can at a relatively low cost create a very decent audio experience.

So lets take the wired option. The Note 4 supports USB Audio. That means you can connect a digital to analogue converter straight into the phone with no special permissions needed. Now if you have an iPhone this won’t work unless it is a MFI approved accessory by Apple. This means the price is elevated before you even try to do something this simple by quite a significant margin. This Apple margin adds around £300.

The first piece in the picture is a HiFiMeDIY Sabre Android USB DAC, Android Digital to Analog Audio Converter. This costs around £26 depending on where you buy it. You can buy this on Amazon Prime.

So this tiny piece is the key to incredible quality music. The Note 4 merely acts as a digital transport, the Note 4 sends the digital signal to the DAC.  You can plug your headphones directly into the DAC without the headphone amplifier that is shown above. More information on the DAC. 

“It uses a PCM2706 USB receiver chip and the Sabre ES9023 dac chip. Highlights about Sabre ES9023 dac chip: – The sound go straight out of the DAC chip and into your headphones or amplifier. It is not needed that the sound signal go through a capacitor to remove a DC voltage, there is no DC voltage to remove! This omits the need of a coloring cap which adds costs and reduces sound quality. – Jitter Eliminator! The ES9023 utilISed patented HyperstreamTM architecture and Time Domain Jitter Eliminator. – 112db DNR USB (receiver) PCM2706: – Accepts up to 48Khz/16bit Output levels: Open 2.2Vrms 4.7Kohm 2.1Vrms 1.8Kohm 1.9Vrms 510ohm 1.5Vrms 330ohm 1.3Vrms 30ohm 1Vrms Note: Normally amplifier inputs are from 10K to 100K ohm. Normal headphones are from 32 ohm to 300ohm.”

The enclosure is basic plastics. It is not encased in some fancy metals to save costs. The chip used is found in many high end options. One word of warning. The DAC needs about 5 hours burn in. So plug it in, play some music and leave it alone for 5 plus hours. It also works with many other android phones but not all.

Next in the loop is the Cayin C5 headphone amp. I have used the Fiio headphone amps previously but whilst the Fiio E12 or similar have more power, the Cayin has more finesse. And it is so worth it weight in gold. Any headphone in this setup will shine like never before. The Cayin C5 is available from an Amazon market seller EA Audio who are approved resellers of a few brands including Fiio. The Cayin C5 costs around £99. So for a small extra investment you can have a truly stunning audio setup.

Some technical information on what makes the Cayin C5 so good –

” The Cayin C5 is a portable headphone Amplifier that has a dedicated high-performance audio op amp OPA134 and LME49600 buffer composed of dedicated headphone amplifier, low noise, and a strong Driver. It has Japanese original ALPS volume potentiometer, and is durable and reliable. The Amplifier has build-perfect protection circuit, with the midpoint of drift. It can be used as a mobile power source to charge other mobile devices, for emergency standby use. With its durable aluminum shell, it keeps the internal workings safe and effectively shields interference. The Cayin C5 has a high and low gain bass switch, to meet the various needs of the headphones Technical Parameters: Rated output power: 800mW + 800mW (32 ohm load) SNR: ≥101dB (A-weighted) Life time: about 12 hours (32ohm load) Frequency response: 20Hz-100kHz (+- 1dB) Sensitivity: ≤500mV (gain H) Charge limit voltage: 12.6V Charging time: about 4 hours (off state, the use of DC5V / 2A charger) Total Harmonic Distortion: ≤0.02% (1kHz) Lithium battery capacity: 1000mAh / 11.1V Size: 136x63x15mm Weight: about 185g American TI company specializing in Hi-Fi Headphone Power Driver IC German company’s top Hi-Fi WIMA capacitors Japan’s top ALPS Hi-Fi level potentiometer Japan’s Fujitsu’s top-level Hi-Fi relay”

So to recap, the Note 4 is being used as a digital transport. The digital to analogue conversion is carried out by a small USB DAC and then the sound is amplified by a portable headphone amplifier.

But what if you want the freedom of no wires. The Note 4 has a high quality bluetooth codec called APT-X.  I recently came across the Plantronics BackBeat Pro headphones which have the decoders on board. These headphones can be used wired as well so you could use them with the equipment shown above.

I will write another article about the Plantronics but with a 24 hours battery life, noise cancellation and active sensors that stop the music for example when you take them off your head, and start again when back on, this is an example a high quality wireless audio solution.

The Samsung Note 4 is a fabulous piece of kit for audio lovers.