$10.99 Inc GST
A short braided lead that puts a headphone socket back on a phone or laptop that no longer has one. USB-C plug at one end, a 3.5mm socket at the other, with a digital-to-analogue converter inside the housing.
There are two kinds of USB-C to 3.5mm lead and they look identical.
A passive one is just wiring. It has no electronics, and it only works if your phone is willing to push analogue audio out of its USB-C port. Most modern phones will not. Current Google Pixels and recent Samsung Galaxy S models do not route their internal converter’s analogue signal to the USB-C port at all — plug a passive lead into one and you get silence, with nothing to tell you why.
An active one, like this usb c to 3.5mm adapter, carries its own converter. The phone sends digital audio, the chip in the housing turns it into something headphones can use, and it works on essentially any modern device regardless of what the port is willing to do.
That is the entire reason to pay more than a couple of dollars for one, and it is the thing almost no listing explains — including, until now, this one. If you have ever bought one of these and had it not work, this is why.
USB-C plug into your device. Your ordinary 3.5mm headphones into the socket. Nothing to charge, nothing to install, no app.
⚠️ It does not pass power. This is an audio lead, so you cannot charge while listening through it — that needs a two-port splitter, which is a different part.
A phone with no headphone jack, which is most of them now. The wired headphones you already own keep working.
A laptop with only USB-C ports, where the 3.5mm jack has gone the same way — a usb c to 3.5mm adapter is often the cheapest fix for a machine that is otherwise fine.
On a flight, into the seat-back system — though check the socket first, because some aircraft use a twin-plug arrangement.
In the bag as a spare, because a usb c to 3.5mm dongle is the accessory people discover they need at the worst possible moment.
Braided jacket and aluminium connector housings, which is not a given at this price — plenty of leads in this class are moulded plastic end to end. The braid is the part that survives being coiled into a pocket every day, and the strain relief where the cable meets the housing is where these normally fail.
Two colours: black and silver.
Microphone support. A headset with an in-line microphone needs the socket wired for four conductors rather than three, and the supplier has not documented which this is. We would rather tell you it is unconfirmed than have you buy it for video calls and find out. Ask us and we will check before you order.
A specific chip, bit depth or sample rate. The page says “DAC chip” and so does the supplier; neither says which one. If you are choosing on audio quality rather than convenience, that is worth knowing and we do not know it yet.
Stocked in Melbourne, not drop-shipped with a three-week wait. Order before 10am and it ships the same day via Australia Post with tracking and insurance, backed by our 90-day warranty.
And by a team who will tell you which kind you are buying. The active-versus-passive difference is invisible in a photograph and decisive in practice — it takes us one question and it saves you a dongle that does nothing.
Tell us what you are plugging it into, then order today.
USB-C plug into the device · 3.5mm socket for your headphones.
Works with essentially any device that has a USB-C port, because the converter is inside the lead rather than relying on the phone:
⭐ Why “essentially any” is a fair claim here and not on a cheaper lead. A passive adapter only works where the host pushes analogue audio out of its USB-C port, and most current phones do not — Google Pixels and recent Galaxy S models among them. This lead carries its own converter, so the host only has to send digital audio, which every USB-C device does.
⚠️ What it will not do:
Charge while you listen — it carries audio only, and a combined audio-and-charge lead is a different part. It also will not turn a USB-A port into a headphone jack, and it is not for a device whose port is Lightning or Micro-USB. Tell us what you are plugging into and we will match it.
⚠️ Microphone support is not confirmed. A headset with an in-line microphone needs the socket wired for four conductors, and the supplier has not documented whether it is. Do not buy it for video calls until we have checked — ask us and we will confirm before you order.
Core Connect Aust is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by any device manufacturer. Device and brand names are used here for compatibility reference only. This is a replacement audio adapter and is not a manufacturer-branded product.
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