Apple USB-C dongle (US) vs Generic CX31993 dongles

Both are dongles, $9 against $12. This page puts them side by side on the only three things a maker can be held to — power, output impedance and noise — and then asks the question that actually matters: which headphones do they treat differently?

The Generic CX31993 dongles reaches 100 dB on 553 of the 567 models here, the Apple USB-C dongle (US) on 547.

Every published figure, next to each other

SpecificationApple USB-C dongle (US)Generic CX31993 dongles
Power into 32Ω30 mW60 mW
Power into 150Ω8.0 mW18 mW
Power into 300Ω4.0 mW9.0 mW
Power into 600Ω2.0 mW5.0 mW
Output impedance1 Ω unverified1.5 Ω unverified
Output noise6 µV unverified8 µV unverified
Price$9$12
Headphones it reaches 100 dB on
out of 567
547553

A figure marked not published is missing from the maker’s own material, which is not the same as being good or bad. Where one of these two publishes a number and the other does not, the comparison on that axis cannot be made at all — and saying so is more useful than guessing.

The headphones that tell them apart

6 headphones reach 100 dB on the Generic CX31993 dongles but not on the Apple USB-C dongle (US) — Beyerdynamic DT 880 Edition (600Ω), Beyerdynamic DT 990 Edition (600Ω), HiFiMAN Susvara Unveiled, 3 more.

547 of the 567 models here reach 100 dB on both. That is a power count and nothing more; whether either source suits a given headphone also depends on the two lines above.

Both pages in full

Each has a page of its own with a full headphone list and the provenance of every figure — worth opening here, because Apple USB-C dongle (US) and Generic CX31993 dongles have published no electrical specification at all and everything above comes from independent measurement: Apple USB-C dongle (US) and Generic CX31993 dongles. Or put either against your own headphones in the source comparison tool.