I have a Samsung NOTE 8 (SM-N9500 Android 9).
I have recently tried the Cyrus Soundkey USB DAC/AMP with it and it is excellent for music. However, with phone calls, the Note 8 sends the audio to its built-in speaker/earpiece instead of sending it to the Soundkey. I even tried to force output to USB DAC with 'lesser audioswitch' with no success (see video).
In contrast, the Samsung Note 8 comes with USB-C earphones which can handle both music and calls. I am guessing that these earphones work in 'Audio Accessory Mode' ie. analogue audio straight through USB.
If my assumption is correct :
- Why does the Note 8 need to even use analogue output for phone calls when it can output digital audio via USB? Can't the phone call just be routed via a digital path?
- Is there a way to disable 'Audio Accessory Mode' and force the Note 8 to use pure digital output for everything including phone calls?
- Is there a device that can handle concurrently 'Audio Accessory Mode' and also be a DAC/AMP?
UPDATE #1
I also tried a phone call with the Cyrus Soundkey and a Galaxy A53 (Android 12) phone and it works perfectly! The audio is routed to the DAC and the mic used is the built-in mic inside the phone. So Soundkey is NOT the problem... it must be the android device.