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MiRin

I'm faced with the challenge of connecting an iRig Pro Duo audio interface to an Xperia X Compact.

Pro Duo has iRig's proprietary miniDIN connector (looks like SVHS). They don't seem to have a Type-C cable available yet, so I would have to use an adapter to connect to their current microUSB cable.

The problem is that for most adapters one can find comments both for and against OTG support. For audio input to an Xperia X Compact using a specific adapter I haven't come across any xperiences so far. Has anyone tested that a specific adapter either works or doesn't work for audio input?

Thanks!

MiRin

I'm finally in position to answer my question. The short summaries are:

Yes: X Compact can be used for USB audio recordings (with the iRig Pro Duo).

No: Not with the regular audio drivers, not with (at least the Xiaomi) USB-C microUSB adapters. If you need the audio interface for anything else than audio recordings, use some other hardware.

The longer version is:

Using the Type-A adapter from Google and batteries in the Pro Duo (for power supply), the lights in the audio interface turn on and the phone recognises it. On the USB connectivity menu it offers an option of "USB Midi", but the selection doesn't seem to stay on. I didn't test extensively, as I had no MIDI sw for the X Compact and I wasn't planning on using MIDI. No audio from the interface is seen by any regular software (Sony audio recorder, iRig audio recorder, Amplitube Free etc.).

ExtreamSD has some "special instructions for Sony devices" mentioning Z5 specifically, but following the instructions I didn't find the "button to detect USB device" on the X Compact. Either that menu is gone, or I just didn't find it.

I installed the USB Audio Tester from Google Play. Some sound came through, but with periodic noise bursts, which made it unusable. I could change the periodicity and length of the noise bursts with audio buffer parameters, but I didn't manage to make it go away entirely. Depressing.

Next, I proceeded to shell out the cash for the USB Audio Recorder PRO. This worked like a charm, from the very beginning. Kudos to eXtream for writing a driver, which works! They also have a multitrack recorder running on the same driver, but I didn't need it yet, so haven't tested it on the X Compact.

The USB-C to USB-A adapter cable from Google turned out to be manufactured by Foxconn. No problem with that, but my son bought the same adapter in the same Foxconn bag from dx.com for a fraction of the Google price. The choice is yours. 🙂

As the iRig Pro Duo also comes with a micro USB cable, I tried with a Xiaomi-made USB-C micro USB adapter. Even though the audio interface had it's own power supply, not even the lights came on in the Pro Duo when connected and I couldn't get any sign of life out of it, even with the USB Audio Recorder PRO. So, at least with this micro USB adapter, no way.

The end result is that I can make (and play back) USB audio recordings with an X Compact and an audio interface. This is nice, but what is not so good, is that USB audio is only working with the driver from one individual developer. As the driver is not generic, I cannot use USB audio with any other software, e.g. video recordings or audio effects (e.g. Amplitube, which iRig advertises with their audio interface).

The unfortunate final verdict is that if you want to generically use a USB audio interface for any purpose, a computer, an iOS device or a phone supporting "Samsung Professional Audio" is needed. For USB audio recordings, X Compact with a 5€ extra investment on software is fine.

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MarlonUk1

I think its best to test the adapters before buying, I mean if there are stores near you that have a test product..

MiRin

@nolramlb wrote:
I think its best to test the adapters before buying, I mean if there are stores near you that have a test product..

Sure, but one physical store will have 1-3 models and I've understood that if I just randomly plug in off-the-shelf Type-C adapters, I may end up frying some of my ports in the process.

Meanwhile, I've tried to do more of my homework. iRig support replied that they have successfully used this VicTsing adapter (as well as this Type-A adapter and this cable) with the Pro Duo. The same VicTsing adapter is available on other-language Amazons as well as e.g. Gearbest. The answer from iRig support was general, not specific to the X Compact.

The next problem is that Benson Leung, the nr. 1 USB-C test authority on the planet, only gave the VicTsing adapter 2/5 stars and doesn't recommend it. It is of course possible that VicTsing have updated their product after the test - many manufacturers have - but Benson has re-reviewed many other updated products and I couldn't find an updated review for VicTsing, so I'm not going to buy that one.

In another discussion on a 5-star microUSB adapter Benson notes that "OTG adapters like the one you are thinking about are not spec compliant and would never get my recommendation". These two statements together:

1) iRig has successfully used their audio interface with a 2/5-star microUSB adapter

2) In different reviews Benson Leung has repeatedly stated that microUSB adapters are charging and data transfer, but not OTG compliant.

...leads me to understand that OTG compliance is not necessary for using an audio interface? I think I originally got the idea, because the info on the driver of Audio Evolution Mobile talks so much about OTG and host mode compliance, but perhaps data transfer is enough?

The only thing that I can find Benson (a Google engineer 🙂 recommend for OTG is this Type-A adapter (from Google store :-). I forgot from my original post that I also do have the Type-A option, also that cable is included with the Pro Duo. I'm planning to go with that Type-A adapter and a couple of Xiaomi microUSB adapters (they got 5/5 from Benson, are cheap and available close by). In a couple of weeks I should know what worked and what didn't.

MiRin