Access to external DAC iMM 6C

[Milos Drljaca]

I want to buy iMM-6C (with its own DAC), and Dayton audio recommend your Audio Tool app. I have one question. In case I'm using an android phone with the mentioned mic, can your app directly access the built-in DAC in the mic to avoid android sound control, because the usb C port at phones also has an analog output when the phone's built-in audio system is used (as another application USB Audio player PRO does when it comes to listening to music)? 

[Julian Bunn]

AudioTool uses Android's  AudioManager.STREAM_MUSIC channel to send out audio signals from the signal generator. If the phone is using the iMM-6C's DAC for audio output, then AudioTool's output will be sent to that DAC.

What is not clear to me is whether you need to do something special via the system settings on the phone to tell it that you want to use that DAC. I think this is independent of AudioTool: e.g. how do you set up the phone to play music via the iMM-6C's DAC. 

Julian

[Milos Drljaca]

It is not so important to me which DAC will play the output audio signal, I think it is more important here to use the internal DAC for ADC (analog-digital conversion) signal of the microphone signal due to the evenness of the response. Because even if I connect the adapter from USB-C to 3.5mm with built-in DAC, the phone will use its system components and the DAC inside the adapter will not have a function, that worries me about this microphone and the application. Another example in addition to the application mentioned above (USB Audio player PRO) is Tidal, which immediately asks if it has access to a USB device with DAC for playing music. 

Are there any significant differences between the different phones in the case of the regular iMM 6, which certainly uses only analog access (3.5mm), maybe my concern is unjustified? I'm worried about the influence of different phones on the microphone response, because they were certainly not taken into account by the manufacturer, but with the iMM 6C that problem should be solved by the built-in DAC, but the phone has to use it.

[Julian Bunn]

I'm not sure I understand your questions.

The iMM-6C contains an ADC (which converts the analog signals from its microphone to digital signals which are sent into the phone over USB) and a DAC (which converts digital signals coming over USB from the phone, to analog voltage levels for e.g. headphones). 

The iMM-6 is all analog, as you say ... the analog signal from its microphone is converted to digital PCM data by the ADC in the phone. And digital audio signals created in the phone are converted to analog by the phone's DAC before being sent out to the iMM-6 via the headset jack.

Could you describe a bit more what your concern is with the iMM-6C?

Julian