Google’s working on a fix for the Pixel 6’s external DAC issues, but don’t expect it anytime soon

You better hope 2022 flies by

The Pixel 6 and 6 Pro are two of the best Android phones you can buy today, but we’d be lying if we said they were flawless. Google launched its latest devices with some underbaked software, leading to bugs, glitches, and even reduced cell reception. Most of those issues have been ironed out, but there’s one problem the company had yet to comment on publicly. If you’re an audiophile finding yourself frustrated with how external DACs work on the Pixel 6, we have some good news and some bad news.

As we reported back in December, Google’s latest flagship phones don’t play well when connected to a DAC over USB-C. Popular local music players like Poweramp crash whenever you try to start listening to a song or an album — and that’s if you’re lucky. Other apps create a loud screeching noise that seems guaranteed to blow out your eardrums. Clearly, external DAC support wasn’t at the top of Google’s priorities — most people rely on wireless headphones these days, let alone turning to DACs for top-tier sound quality. Still, it’s frustrating to learn your brand-new flagship phone won’t work with your pre-existing accessories, especially when there’s no rhyme or reason behind the lack of support.

After successfully launching the January update for the Pixel 6 and 6 Pro last week, Google is finally ready to turn its attention towards the audiophile community. A Pixel Community manager has confirmed a fix is in the works, more than a month after the issue gained traction on Reddit. Here’s the bad news: it’s not rolling out for phones until “later this summer.”

By our count, summer is exactly five months away — or 151 days, if you want to be specific. Who knows how the world could change in the intervening months? Maybe we’ll all be flying around in hovercrafts or living in biodomes on Mars. Maybe Mark Zuckerberg’s vision for the future will win out, and we’ll all be sucked into some kind of hellscape metaverse where you pay for food and shelter with JPEGs and Dogecoin. Will anyone actually care about DAC support when the mole people who live underneath the Earth’s crust invade and conquer humanity? I mean, probably — audiophiles are a dedicated bunch.

It feels a little ridiculous that external DACs won’t work with the Pixel 6 until, at the earliest, more than half a year after its initial launch. Google has delivered software patches earlier than expected before, though. If we’re lucky, a fix for this bug may arrive sometime between now and this summer. For now, we’ll just have to keep holding out hope.

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