I have a FiiO K5 Pro amplifier that is connected to my PC via USB.
However, since I don't want to be limited to one place and don't own a laptop, I wonder whether I can also operate it with my smartphone via a USB C to USB adapter (OnePlus 7 Pro). Provided there's a socket for the amplifier nearby, of course.
Technically it should be possible or am I missing something?
The problem is that USB is a universal port, which means your computer needs to know what's inside. It does this by having your amplifier tell your computer what it is and the computer selects the appropriate driver. Communication is only possible with a suitable driver.
Now Android is running on your mobile phone and, in contrast to Windows, you might not plug a USB stick into the USB port of Android devices, which means that the driver support is poor. So it can happen that your cell phone simply has no idea what to do with your amplifier.
I can't tell you right now if there might be generic drivers out there that generally support "amplifiers", or if he might even find drivers for that particular amplifier, but 80% of the time I assume it won't work.
All right, that sounds logical.
But you are welcome to try it, I don't want to rule that out completely. For example, I have a USB to Ethernet adapter on my Android TV box, which also works without any problems. These USB-C to jack adapters are basically nothing more than tiny DACs.
Such a cable (USB-C to USB-B) is cheap to get, maybe it will work and if not you can always send it back.
https://www.amazon.de/...B071KSTHYV (6.45 euro)
All right, I could have just had the simple idea earlier to check the manufacturer's website. It even states explicitly that the device supports USB OTG. 🤦♂️
Alternatively, there's also a line-in and a USB C to Aux adapter. I hadn't considered that either.
Nevertheless, thank you for your effort and the detailed answers!
LG and have a nice weekend.
The "problem" with the line-in via cinch or jack is that the conversion of a digital signal into an analogue one can take over from such an adapter. It will probably not be of the same quality as your amplifier, which means that the amplifier would only amplify the "bad" signal. I would therefore only consider the solution as a "last resort".
Interesting, that makes sense. Then I'll try the cable you mentioned. As you said, I can theoretically send it back immediately if it doesn't work.
