I own a higher-end headphone, and the cord detaches from the set completely on both ends. I wonder if it's possible that the manufacturer/someone could make a 1/8" (from headphones) to lightning port. I wouldn't think it'd be that hard.
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Headphone to Lightning Cord?
- Thread starter C.clavin
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For audiophile, I will wait, if Apple really eliminated 3.5mm audio out, and allow/push more digital output audio, it will definitely open up market for more digital headphone/headset. DAC/amp will be placed next to ear by speakers so minimum power is needed to drive DAC and short distant will also draw less power to drive headphone speaker, not to mention eliminated noise/interference between iPhone and headset, since it is all digital. Almost like BT headset except it has wire for proprietary/Apple-certificaiton digital connection from iPhone to headphone/headset.
Philips has one already, but I will wait for other Audiophile company to follow.
Philips has one already, but I will wait for other Audiophile company to follow.
Bose is not an "high-end" audio company, it is an "high-price" audio company, though. Other than cancellation technology, they spend more money on marketing than perfecting to provide great audio "sounding" speakers to use in headset/headphone.
If noise cancellation is what you "need", sound is distance 2nd, go for it. If high-end audio sounds, with wide sound stage, clean incredible pin-point detail, clean non-booming bass, and deep deep bass extension, is what you looking for, there are better option for same or less price.
The resistance of the cable will still affect the dc power to the phones. And you can't hear any interference that might otherwise affect an unamplified, unbalanced audio signal.
Unless Apple plans a price cut on the phone, I'd say they owe us a top quality DAC internal that should easily outperform anything built in to all but the most expensive headphones.
Try:
http://www.amazon.com/Philips-M2L-27-Headphones-Lightning/dp/B00V4X6QGY
I will wait for other audiophile company to come up with digital headset.
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No. The OP asked for a cord that will connect existing high end headphones to the Lightning port.
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There won't be any normal analog audio signal between iPhone to DAC of digital headset, if it is digital. It is all digital signal. Resistance does not matter as much as analog in digital world.
DAC will be depend on the headphone maker, not Apple.
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You are right, I stand correct.
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That particular on is also an amp.
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You're not going to find one without an amp, but there are a few options:
A full-on case:
https://www.ampaudio.com/
The most portable product that I've seen so far (but not out yet) comes in the form of a kickstarter for a portable amplifier from Nexium:
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/311770269/aqua-worlds-lightest-headphone-amplifier
http://www.molu-aqua.com/
If you have a true audiophile set of headphones, you'll just want to go all out to get quality over portability:
http://www.amazon.com/Onkyo-DAC-HA200-Converter-Headphone-Amplifier/dp/B00N1SCNV2
I'll go ahead and reference this article from when the lightning connector was first coming out. It states (along with some other sites) that the lighting to 30-pin adapter contains a DAC in the converter itself because the new lightning connector only outputs digital audio, but the 30-pin supported analog. This means that no matter what, you'll need something beefier than just a cable to do the conversion. Apple's lightning dock with the 3.5mm jack out also has a DAC to do the same thing.
This is true for a number of reasons that you can see paralleled in digital video cables. Since USB-C uses the DisplayPort protocol, you can find simple pin-swap cables to connect DisplayPort devices, but if you want to do the same thing with HDMI, you'll need to get a blocky adapter. All of those box-like adapters have a digital converter to convert between the HDMI and DisplayPort protocols.
Another example is an HDMI to DVI cable. Since HDMI is just DVI with audio and extra features, they can just make a pin-swap cable to connect HDMI devices to DVI.
A full-on case:
https://www.ampaudio.com/
The most portable product that I've seen so far (but not out yet) comes in the form of a kickstarter for a portable amplifier from Nexium:
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/311770269/aqua-worlds-lightest-headphone-amplifier
http://www.molu-aqua.com/
If you have a true audiophile set of headphones, you'll just want to go all out to get quality over portability:
http://www.amazon.com/Onkyo-DAC-HA200-Converter-Headphone-Amplifier/dp/B00N1SCNV2
I'll go ahead and reference this article from when the lightning connector was first coming out. It states (along with some other sites) that the lighting to 30-pin adapter contains a DAC in the converter itself because the new lightning connector only outputs digital audio, but the 30-pin supported analog. This means that no matter what, you'll need something beefier than just a cable to do the conversion. Apple's lightning dock with the 3.5mm jack out also has a DAC to do the same thing.
This is true for a number of reasons that you can see paralleled in digital video cables. Since USB-C uses the DisplayPort protocol, you can find simple pin-swap cables to connect DisplayPort devices, but if you want to do the same thing with HDMI, you'll need to get a blocky adapter. All of those box-like adapters have a digital converter to convert between the HDMI and DisplayPort protocols.
Another example is an HDMI to DVI cable. Since HDMI is just DVI with audio and extra features, they can just make a pin-swap cable to connect HDMI devices to DVI.
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I will stick with wireless or at least wait till the have wired digital headphones with the lightning cable. The above adds too much bulk to carry around for the day or run with.
Those ends are for the headphone's funky connector (4pins per side) - not the 8-pin lightning connector, and it's all analog. The iOS part is because Samsung and Apple use different remote styles for the 3.5mm jack.
You are correct.
I meant to post this link:
https://www.audeze.com/products/el-8-collection/el-8-titanium
A video:
Cipher Cable
A complete 24-bit high-resolution
integrated AMP/DSP/DAC with Lightning
connector.
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Closer but still not what the OP requested since these are proprietary Audeze. And there is a converter in the middle as I said would be needed. It will be interesting what these end up costing when they are made generic to work with any headphones, and more importantly, what the sound quality and output power will be compared to the iPhone's internal jack.
