I'm given to understand that pretty much all #USBc #DACs (those lil' headphone dongles) sound the same, and it wouldn't surprise me. In 2026 there's not much excuse for using a low quality chip.

However.

I have two cheap ($4/$7 CAD) dongles and they are absolute trash. They have a load of self noise. One of them tries to hide this (unsuccessfully) with a squelch circuit - it turns itself off when there is momentary silence. It clicks when it comes back on, and it soft-ramps up (fades in). This seems to only happen at low volume.

My headphones are exceptionally sensitive, so maybe this isn't as noticeable on more typical consumer headphones? I doubt it. I think they're just junk.

Maybe all the DACs sound this bad.

Maybe it's a case of "all DACs over $X dollars preform the same", and I just haven't hit that threshold yet. I guess I'll try a semi-reputable $20 variety.