Wolfson DAC

The Wolfson DAC is a unique Digital to Audio converter that is universally acclaimed by audiophiles for it's rich bass and top-notch acoustics. While Wolfson mainly caters to the high end market, sometimes it's DACs find their way into ordinary and cheap consumer devices.

Samsung Exynos Processor

Surprisingly, Samsung uses Wolfson DACs with their vertically integrated Exynos SoC Android phones and tablets. These DACs have a direct line to the 3.5mm jacks, so no more crosstalk (like on iPods). The old Galaxy S units are dirt cheap at just $30 used, and Note 2 prices are dropping.

• Galaxy S (Original) - These phones may be dirt-cheap and ugly, but they have a direct line to the Wolfson DAC. Thanks to the influence of the Nexus S, these work great with Android 4.4. See the XDA Wiki for a full list of Galaxy S phones.
  • $30 - Sprint Epic 4G SPH-D700 - The best Galaxy S phone in my opinion. It has an SDCard slot, and even a full keyboard with number rows (great for notetaking, texting, or Linux chroots). Downside is that it only supports Sprint CDMA, but I only use it for typing and music anyway.
  • $30-50 - T-Mobile Galaxy Vibrant SGH-T959 - The best Galaxy S phone with GSM in the US (easily SIM-Unlocked).
  • $50-80 - Nexus S - Comes with Android 4.3 out of the box. Unfortunately, Nexus devices don't have an SDCard slot, which is a problem when most phones only came with 8/16GBs of storage.
  • Unfortunately, all Galaxy SII units used a (relatively) inferior Yamaha chip. It can also be difficult to distinguish between the two, so stick to the list above.
• Galaxy S III (International Exynos) - The new Exynos SGS3 phones use a somewhat improved Wolfson DAC. Unfortunately, Samsung uses Qualcomm 4G LTE SoCs for North American SGS3 units, so Exynos phones are only available internationally.
  • Note 2 - All Galaxy Note units use the Exynos SoC, and thus the Wolfson DAC. This is the one to get in North America.
• Galaxy S IV (International)
• Nexus 10 - Best audio comes together with best visuals. Still no SDcard slot, but at least there's
  • Samsung ARM Chromebook - Even ARM laptops can get in on the action. You can install Linux to it easily for a full desktop experience.
• Galaxy S V (International)

Note: The Android app Voodoo Sound unlocks the full power of the Wolfson DAC, by allowing you to fine tune all aspects of the acoustics.

FiLo

Most FiLo products use Wolfson DACs (there are a few exceptions, but they had good reasons), specifically tuned with direct DAC output.

• FiLo X1 - $100 audiophile-grade music player with Wolfson DAC. What a great deal.
• FiLo USB DAC - A USB audio device that can bypass the crappy DAC on your computer; or even Android device if you have USB Host.

iPods

Note: If you must have an iPod, we recommend that you buy one from RetroSonicFidelity, which hacks the iPods up for a direct line to DAC and adds flash storage. You could do it DIY for cheaper, but it's a lot more work. But if you're no Apple fanboy, the dirt-cheap Samsung Exynos Android phones have an improved direct DAC circuit (which sounds better) and a real OS.

All iPods up to the 5th generation used a Wolfson DAC. These are often prized by iPod users, and are pieces of computing history in any case.

Newer iPods and iPhones just don't use the Wolfson DAC, and fans are still split on whether Cirrus DACs are anywhere as good.

Note: Unfortunately, one major Achilles heel is that Apple used a cheap 3.5mm circuit that increases cross talk, instead of a direct line to the DAC. This can be fixed with the $250 Red Wine iMod, or RetroSonicFidelity's DIY Audiophile Mod (not published yet).

You probably want to install the Rockbox custom firmware to add more EQ acoustics tweaking, play FLAC files, and transfer music without iTunes (just dump it in a folder). However, the iPod must be formatted to FAT32 first (make sure to back up your files). The easiest way is to find a Windows computer, install iTunes, and have iTunes format it for you.

• iPod Classic - The original hard drive iPods that started it all.
  • 5.5th Generation A1136 - Uses a Wolfson WM8758. This model has a brighter screen, and is thinner due to the single platter hard drive. An easy way to tell the difference is to see if there is a Search function in the Music section.
  • 5th Generation A1136 - Uses a Wolfson WM8758. Install Rockbox from Linux
  • 4th Generation A1059 and A1099 - Uses a Wolfson WM8975.
• iPod Nano
  • 1st Generation

Tip: The Red Wine Audio Components company makes a special iMod for 4G/5G/5.5G iPods, to reduce crosstalk from the Wolfson DAC to the 3.5mm jack, due to the cheap circuitry used instead of a direct line to DAC. If you're a serious audiophile, check this out.

Tip: Hard drives are loud, fragile, and will go bad sooner or later. You also might want larger storage space for your FLAC collection. The hard drive can easily be replaced with a CompactFlash card, or for larger capacities, a ZIF SSD.

Tip: Used iPods usually have metal backs that are carpeted with scratches. However, you can polish them off easily by using $5 Nail Buffing Blocks, which you can find at your local drugstore. The back will get nice and shiny again; and this time, put a case on it.

Sources

• Macintosh HowTo - Which iPod has the best audio quality