Those all sound like good things to optimize to make a really good headphone driver, but they aren't strictly necessary are they? "Standard" line level analog a

Those all sound like good things to optimize to make a really good headphone driver, but they aren't strictly necessary are they? "Standard" line level analog audio has been a thing for what, 90 years? I could explain to an 8 year old how it works. It's very simple. Embedding an IC into a cable that talks USB 2.0 doesn't seem like a simplification to me. I'm a staff level embedded engineer, and I wish an 8 year old could explain to me how that all works. Any DAC still ideally does all the things you listed optimally, so you're just externalizing the same complexity by leveraging the marvels of modern technology. It's a pain to have to carry another dongle. They feel like they're going to damage my USB-C port when plugged in inside my pocket. Do buttons even work at all with those adapters? I'd rather the smartphone engineers build an awesome DAC and charge me an extra $15 for the phone, rather than have to buy a $15 dongle of questionable quality on Amazon, or a $50 dongle of even worse quality from Best Buy or something.