Four Major Pros of the Headphone Adaptor, or Why the Lack of a Port Is Better for Wired Headphones

[MICHAELSD]

I've suspected this would be the case for months, and now that I finally have my hands on an iPhone 7 Plus and thereby a headphone adaptor I can make my case:

1. Most importantly, the headphone adaptor eliminates cable noise caused by using headphones plugged into an iPhone inside a pair of gym shorts or even some pairs of jeans. I've had experience-breaking issues from pants rubbing against the small part of a 3.5mm jack that's exposed on an iPhone 6/6s and very frequently causing static/noise. Downright irritating, but no longer an issue since the 3.5mm plug is fully encapsuled in the adaptor.
2. Better sound quality. The DAC (digital-to-analog converter) in the adaptor is better than it was in past iPhones. ~ 10% better, maybe more, with a nice pair of headphones. Seriously, there are audiophiles on the Head-Fi forums purchasing the adaptor to plug into their older iPhone 5/6's just for the audio improvement.
3. The adaptor provides a tighter seal, which makes it more difficult for a cable to be inadvertently unplugged. Almost every time I use wired headphones on the 6s while wearing jeans the plug is pulled out at least once while moving my phone in/out of my pocket.
4. Just noticed this one: the aforementioned higher-quality DAC the adaptor allows Apple to use also makes the audio output noticeably louder. With a good set of headphones the adaptor's DAC can reach unbearably loud levels.

The adaptor single-handedly fixes all the issues I had with using wired headphones with the iPhone 6s. They did remove the headphone jack at the right time as well since there are more than enough quality wireless headphones.

 

[Squirreladd]

I've suspected this would be the case for months, and now that I finally have my hands on an iPhone 7 Plus and thereby a headphone adaptor I can make my case:

1. Most importantly, the headphone adaptor eliminates cable noise caused by using headphones plugged into an iPhone inside a pair gym shorts or even some pairs of jeans. I've had experience-breaking issues from pants rubbing against the small part of a 3.5mm jack that's exposed on an iPhone 6/6s and very frequently causing static/noise. Downright irritating, but no longer an issue since the 3.5mm plug is fully encapsuled in the adaptor.
2. Better sound quality. The DAC (digital-to-analog converter) in the adaptor is better than it was in past iPhones. ~ 10% better, maybe more, with a nice pair of headphones. Seriously, there are audiophiles on the Head-Fi forums purchasing the adaptor to plug into their older iPhone 5/6's just for the audio improvement.
3. The adaptor provides a tighter seal, which makes it more difficult for a cable to be inadvertently unplugged. Almost every time I use wired headphones on the 6s while wearing jeans the plug is pulled out at least once while moving my phone in/out of my pocket.
4. Just noticed this one: the aforementioned higher-quality DAC the adaptor allows Apple to use also makes the audio output noticeably louder. With a good set of headphones the adaptor's DAC can reach unbearably loud levels.

The adaptor single-handedly fixes all the issues I had with using wired headphones with the iPhone 6s. They did remove the headphone jack at the right time as well since there are more than enough quality wireless headphones.

Stay away from the kool-aid.

Most of these solutions could be solved simply by adding better DAC. Believe it or not a number of phones have superior DACs then the iPhones.

Some people prefer the 3.5mm I do. I still have an iPhone 7. I would prefer a regular jack.

 

[Johnluke91]

Just noticed this one: the aforementioned higher-quality DAC the adaptor allows Apple to use also makes the audio output noticeably louder. With a good set of headphones the adaptor's DAC can reach unbearably loud levels.

So the adapter can bypass the volume limit imposed on European iphones?

 

[MICHAELSD]

So the adapter can bypass the volume limit imposed on European iphones?

This is in America so I would imagine the European volume limit mandated by the government would still exist.