USB-C → 3.5 mm Headphone Adapter (Active DAC)
Specifications
| Category | Adapter |
|---|---|
| Brand | Pocket Audio |
| Material | Aluminum shell, gold-plated USB-C plug |
| Sizes | one size |
| Use case | Add a 3.5 mm headphone jack to modern USB-C phones, tablets and laptops. |
| Price (USD) | $29 |
Overview
Active USB-C to 3.5 mm TRS headphone adapter — a tiny DAC and headphone amplifier in a 25 mm shell. Plugs into the USB-C port on a phone, tablet or laptop that has no analog jack, presents a USB Audio Class 2 device, and outputs analog stereo over a 3.5 mm TRS jack.
Two implementation tiers exist in the market: a Cirrus Logic CS43131 single-chip integrated DAC-and-amp (the audiophile-grade option, ~32-bit / 384 kHz support), and a generic codec implementation (the bundled-with-phone option, 16-bit / 48 kHz max). The audiophile-grade implementation drives most IEMs and even some easy-to-drive headphones to listening levels.
Replaces the 3.5 mm jack that vanished from most phones after 2017. For a more powerful variant with balanced output see our USB-C dongle DAC. CCK / Lightning equivalent: Lightning → 3.5 mm.