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iPhone 4 Audiophile Setup

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I appreciate all of the feedback that most of you have given. Based on a couple of recommendations in here I took a look at the fiio e11 but after reading a few reviews on that product and looking at the fiio lineup and many stated that the e11 is great but if u want something for more flexibility to look at the e7...many stated that if you are looking for something for a portable device and still use for USB out on my MacBook...so I ended up buying the E7 and a LOD cable by fiio as well. I'll report back what I think after I have been able to use...I also have some shure se530s that I hope this helps to improve my experience.
 
iPhone 4 audiophile setup: Step 1: Don't use an iPhone.

Guessing you don't know what audiophile means
 
A LOD and portable amp would be a start, in theory, but the weak point will remain the DAC. There's probably a way to bypass that, not sure what it is portably and affordably. The Onkyo dock might do this but it's expensive; the Wadia iTransport is another option, also expensive. If you use a laptop you can get an affordable USB DAC. If your Shure earbuds (which should sound amazing in theory) hiss or are sibilant with an external amp try an impedance adapter. That said, they shouldn't need an amp to sound great.

The difference between flac and V0 or 320kbps MP3 is basically nothing. No one can tell the difference double blind. So if you're not noticing a huge difference, it's not your equipment at fault necessarily. And past a certain point everything sounds bad due to trends in modern mastering...
 
Dre headphones, are POINTLESS. You're just depositing money into a bank account that already has millions of dollars...for mediocre headphones.

Best headphones would be from the real guys like Sennheiser (SP).
 
This is not a portable option, but I have one of these to go with my stereo system:

http://wadia.com/products/transports/171i/

The claim is that it bypasses the iPhone DAC. It sounds pretty good, but I haven't really put it through its paces as I mostly use other equipment to play back music.

But, periodically, there is a track I can only find on iTunes and it's nice to have for those purposes.
 
aphexacid said:
Audiophile and iphone shouldn't even be in the same sentence. Or any other phone for that matter.
Click to expand...

Nexus S (as well as most if not all modern Samsung phones) have Wolfson DACs. Those chips are as audiophile as you can get in the mobile department. Even more than dedicated audio players like Cowon, etc. especially if you have a kernel that supports Voodoo.
 
Hello, satchboogieg3. Here's my take on this:

1) You are using FLAC files, which is great! Try converting these to ALAC (Apple Lossless) using XLD (free). It might be more convenient for you to use the built-in Music player on your iPhone, using ALAC files allows this while maintaining the same quality encoding.

2) It's good that you know about headphone amplifiers; however, your Beats Studio headphones already have an amplifier circuit built-in. There will be no real benefit in running a separate amplifier. The Beats Studios have more than enough power at under half volume on your iPhone to provide a listenable experience. This is a good thing! Having to cary a headphone amplifier with you gets old real fast. Plus, it's less money to spend.

3) I said half volume before, but I'll mention it in its own separate point. The louder you listen, the worse the sound will get. 80dB is the ideal listening volume because your ear is set up to hear a flat curve best when the source is around that range. Beyond ~80dB, the low frequency (bass) notes drop precipitously. This is clearly counterproductive. Remember, never listen beyond half or so volume, I'd say less than that would be ideal, and regardless of source material (what song you listen to at the moment), because you already have an amp/poweramp section in the headphones. This correlates to real-life listening I've done with the Studios, they get too loud too fast.

4) As a bit of an aside, the reason that the audiophile community turns its nose up at the Beats series is because it a) offers a profoundly low performance/price ratio, b) it measures very poorly (as in, the graphs of its output are simply embarrassing to look at), and c) its amp/noise canceling circuitry is bad. By the nature of the hobby, any small nuance in the sound is enough to decide a good from a bad headphone, and noise-cancellation throws gobs of unlistenable distortion into the mix.

Just my two cents. I, myself, have a headphone which is not well regarded by the community, but I love its sound signature, and I think it looks snazzy: the Bowers and Wilkins P5. I also have more respected 'phones, such as the Westone UM2-RC and the ADDIEMs (Apple Dual-Driver In Ear Monitors). The most important thing is that you enjoy the sound! Happy listening!
 
omgitscro said:
Hello, satchboogieg3. Here's my take on this:
...The most important thing is that you enjoy the sound! Happy listening!
Click to expand...

Amen.

I do wonder how much people would spend on 'high-fidelity' audio equipment if they took a proper audiogram every so often as they got older.

Hmmm... App opportunity: collecting an audiogram with a given set of earphones and then using this to create a filter that compensates.
 
If your heart is set on using the digital out for your price range you might want to look at the offerings Fiio. I've been using the E7 with my Westone 4R's and it works well and the construction is good, it will only set you back about $100. The nice thing is you can dock it with the E9 and it becomes a DAC and you can use it with our laptop. The next level of amps will push you closer to the $400-500 range, stuff like RSA.

The best suggestion though is dump the Beats theirs lots of better headphones even at lower costs.
 
mKTank said:
Nexus S (as well as most if not all modern Samsung phones) have Wolfson DACs. Those chips are as audiophile as you can get in the mobile department. Even more than dedicated audio players like Cowon, etc. especially if you have a kernel that supports Voodoo.
Click to expand...

No kidding? I had a kenwood excelon auto head unit that had dual wolfson dacs years ago. I was never really impressed with it, and it didnt last long im my car. For a phone thats pretty cool though.
 
I really enjoyed my music a lot more (surprisingly) even through my iphone after connecting it through an LOD n my Fiio E11. Swear by my Grados.
 
I think at this point you've really gotten all that you could out of your system, I'm sorry to say it, but omgitscro is right about the preamp/amp in the beats studios. Adding the Fiio E7 (Which I own along with the Beats by dre (albeit for a VERY brief period of time lol) won't do much to improve the sound.

Listening to FLACs is a good start though.

If you're within the return period for the Beats studios, I might recommend that you return them and check out a pair of Shure SRH-840s they have some great price to performance ratio and will actually be cheaper than your beats, coupled with the Fiio E7 should give you an improvement as well.

Alternatively, I also recommend the Audio-Technica ATH-ES7, a great pair of "budget audiophile" <- (with the audiophile bit used VERY loosely lol) headphones. Many will agree the ES7s + E7's work very well together. Best part is, if you go with either of these "packages" you'll save money too!

If you can't return the beats, you're a little bit SOL as this is about as good as the quality will get for your music. Maybe turn off the sound enhancer in itunes and the EQ on the ipod? that's all i can suggest :)
 
I just received my Fiio E7 and I will tell you that I can tell a massive difference in my music and it is blowing me away. Whether it is just mental or it is an actual difference I could care less...I love the bass settings and it is a totally different sound from going through the headphone jack...the music is soooo much clearer. You all may think that my beats are consumer driven cannon fodder but I am on cloud 9 listening to them...Next I will have to try out my shure earbuds. Cheers to you all!
 
satchboogieg3 said:
I just received my Fiio E7 and I will tell you that I can tell a massive difference in my music and it is blowing me away. Whether it is just mental or it is an actual difference I could care less...I love the bass settings and it is a totally different sound from going through the headphone jack...the music is soooo much clearer. You all may think that my beats are consumer driven cannon fodder but I am on cloud 9 listening to them...Next I will have to try out my shure earbuds. Cheers to you all!
Click to expand...

Hey man enjoy your Beats, I just got a pair of Turbine beats and they sound damn good. Which app are you using on your iPhone for the FLAC files? I see one that's rated pretty good for $9.99 but am a bit hesitant.

Thanks!
 
1. Great sound quality is a very real, albeit elusive, goal. However, 99% of the "audiophile community" is complete garbage that runs entirely on industry propaganda, backwards rationalization, and the placebo effect.

2. Apple music players actually have among the best sound quality. To really get the most out of your iPod/iPhone though, you need to be running your sound out of the dock connector rather than from your headphone jack. And whether you get your sound from either output, you'll usually benefit from a headphone amp (some headphones/IEMs/earbuds won't benefit much, if at all, from headphone amps - also, if you get your sound from the headphone jack, your need for a headphone amp becomes much more noticeable).

3. I would criticize those Dr. Dre Beats headphones, but I have never A/Bed those headphones so I will reserve judgement. I suspect the vast majority of people here neither have as well and their criticism is more bandwagon jumping, i.e. it's cool to make fun of Dr. Dre Beats headphones even though I have never A/Bed them, let alone even know what "A/Bing" means.
 
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violence said:
iPhone 4 audiophile setup: Step 1: Don't use an iPhone.

Guessing you don't know what audiophile means
Click to expand...

You'd be surprised. I get a better source out of a out of an ipod classic than i can out of my 2011 MBP, when compared using the same DAC. The difference is very slight but I'm convinced I can tell a difference.

I'd be very suspicious of any recommendation from any body that claims to be an audiophile. It is all purely subjective. All I can suggest if listening is not possible to look for audio equipment that has stood the test of time. For me, the Sennhieser HD-600 and the Etymotic ER-4P are as I good as I'll ever get in terms of headphones. Many of the guys at Head-Fi are always after something new and the site itself promotes this idea that there will be always something better. (and more fatiguing) The music tends to be left behind as a result.

The wild card of course is the varying quality of music production and recording. Either you restrict your listening or just put up with much sub par sound quality.

Edit- I should have mentioned my current source, a circa 1990 high end Marantz with 15 bit TDA Phillips chips sounds noticeably better (via coaxial into the same Lavry DA-11 DAC) than the ipod/usb+mac/coaxial out of a onkyo dock combo I'd normally use. A good turntable would sound best to me.
 
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I have been using Flac Player...I tried a couple of the free players that others had recommended but I found most of the free players either static interruption in the music or they did not sort your media for you. If you don't mind organizing your media then go with one of the free ones (check reviews for sound quality) but I am the kind of person I just want to plug it in and go and flac player makes that easy.
 
Ah

VulchR said:
Amen.

I do wonder how much people would spend on 'high-fidelity' audio equipment if they took a proper audiogram every so often as they got older.

Hmmm... App opportunity: collecting an audiogram with a given set of earphones and then using this to create a filter that compensates.
Click to expand...

As an aside I used to work at a hearing aid manufacturer that had an anechoic chamber. It was unreal. You could hear your internal organs bleeping and blooping and squishing and it was very odd.

One of the audiologists there measured me and despite my years of playing in bands at high volume my high end had attenuated only slightly but it only gets worse as you age so from that point on I've played with earplugs ever since.

The guy said that the people had the most profound hearing loss were polka band drummers who also were artillery gunners in World War 2.

The most damage you can do is short, intense bursts of sound (like standing too near a crash cymbal when a cymbal happy drummer opts to nail the heck out of it) or gunshots or backfiring engines or jackhammers. That kind of damage you only can recover from so many times before you experience loss.

When I tried the Dre cans out just for fun I found that it seemed to emphasize the snare more than any headphones I'd ever heard, I found them to have a very odd soundstage and a really hard overall sound that hurt my ears - and it was odd for how expensive they were. It was even worse with electronic drums - the faux snares were just brutal. Maybe that's the point.

In my studio I monitor on studio monitors not headphones but for earbuds the Sony higher end MDR series are nice if you want to be economical. The Etymotics are nicer but as you spend more more delicate things seem. I seem to have a knack for destroying very expensive headphones.

And what I usually monitor on my iPhone is raw AIFF or WAV files right off the daw. Usually just to get feel for how my mixes will sound on consumer equipment. I'd recommend that to any musician or producer - see how changes you do at the recording console affect the listening experience on iPhone/iPod, car stereos, etc. You would be very surprised at what very minute adjustments can do.
 
Test Alac just to see

satchboogieg3 said:
Hello All,

I am new to the audiophile world and I feel a little bit out of my element. I am doing my best to educate myself but I am feeling a little overwhelmed with all of the information out there. Here is what I would like to do...I just bought a pair of Dre Beats Studio headphones and I also own an iPhone 4 that I primarily use for my music and I use an app on the iPhone to play my .flac files...I have found now that I am not getting the audio quality out of my beats that I could be because I am getting my audio directly from the headphone jack. I would like someone to suggest the accessories that I need to purchase to make my audio experience on my iPhone a great one.

I would like to focus on a couple of different factors and that is cost and portability. I would like the setup to be easy to use at home, on-the-go and traveling friendly as well as the setup to be $300 for all components including cables. Also, if someone could detail the number of cables I will need to purchase I would greatly appreciate it.

Thank you!
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I understand that you play FLAC in a special app. Try to rip a CD directly into ALAC and sync it to your iphone, just for comparisson. Play this from the ipod app...

I have not tested myself - and I don't really barther whether sound is perfect or almost perfect when on the move (at home I do :)). This due to noice around. Best I ever had: Nokia BH604 Stereo bluetooth. Not great because of their sound but because of the practical and cableless handling. I would recommend this approach anytime as opposed to cabled "hifi" earphones that drain the battery.

The DAC on a mobile device has limits - true. But adding more units to the setup??? where did mobility go?

Concerning silly replies... Your question is justified, but some people seem to feel better by convincing themselves they know better. Ignore and place those along with other religous discussions. Really annoying to browse a thread like this, just to find stupid answer all over. You know who I mean....

All the best
 
BeardedOrc said:
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If you think Apple fans are snobbish, you're in for a treat with the "audiophiles"...

Head over to head-fi.org but avoid using the words Bose, Beats and Apple earbuds in that forum. You will learn something if you're able to weed out the good posts...
Click to expand...

Or "budget". :D
 
hebhansen said:
The DAC on a mobile device has limits - true. But adding more units to the setup??? where did mobility go?
Click to expand...
Subjective matter clearly evidenced by the market for portable headphone amps.

hebhansen said:
Concerning silly replies... Your question is justified, but some people seem to feel better by convincing themselves they know better.
Click to expand...
Better is always subjective. Your statement is ironic considering how you apparently think your sense of "mobility" is better than the OP's. If the OP is willing to deal with additional equipment then who are you to tell the OP that he/she is wrong?
 
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