If the iPhone DAC/amp is so in need of help then improve it and make every headphone better. Don't just shuffle it into the cable and call it "audiophile."
Exactly, if this is a real problem to solve, besides the options we're all discussing in threads like this, the very best one would be to put the better quality DAC and AMP
INSIDE the iPhone. It has to have both anyway, so that it can work as a phone.
Since our ears can only hear analog (something this article seems to neglect to really pin down with recurring spin of "all digital"), the conversion happening
INSIDE vs. about 3 inches away is likely negligible in terms of yielding any better quality (by preserving the digital signal further down the pipe). That can make sense when the distance is measured in feet or meters, not a few inches.
What this is doing is creating redundancy. iPhones still must ship with a DAC & AMP and now there will be another DAC & AMP in the cable or headphones OUTSIDE the iPhone too. And we are expected to pay for that redundancy... and roll with the adapters necessary to make the same headphones work with everything else, including Apple's own Macs. Even this same biased "tow the company line" article, references how powering these better external DACs & AMPs with the iPhone battery will burn the battery more quickly. Is that what we want? "Thinner" with faster battery burn.. and an adapter(s) in tow so we can use the same headphones with anything else?
Why? What is in this for us consumers? This very slanted/biased article tries it's best to imply the answer is better quality audio by making it seem like that is attained by jettisoning 3.5mm and using Lightning. But the reality is that the better quality is driven by the better DAC & AMP in high-priced headphones, which, if desired by audiophiles, already exists and can be used in exactly the way described here.
End result: if we could
hear how much better it will sound in our own headphones, and it was obviously better, this switch away from 3.5mm would be more palatable. But options like Lightning-terminated and Bluetooth wireless headphones have been out a long time, getting relatively little press or consumer adoption because we can't obviously hear any or much difference. Some of us argue that Apple must lead us... must force this change upon us (because, apparently, we are too ignorant to be able to clearly hear the superior new alternative so we could naturally shift to something better). But I think one only hears the difference when better DACs & AMPs are involved, not because of which port is used. Put the same quality DAC & AMP
INSIDE an iPhone and the most ubiquitous audio jack in the world would send audio to our ears that sounds just as good.
I continue to believe this is just Apple doing two things:
- "thinner" is colliding with physical limits but still getting Apple priority. So the way to "thinner" is now kicking utility OUT of devices. This year it is 3.5mm. How long until it's the camera (already protruding) and/or battery? If one wants to spin the "antiquated" argument, both camera and battery are OLDER technologies than 3.5mm.
- Apple is playing the Sony game again- push proprietary on consumers to make lucrative profits selling adapters, new headphones and licensing B2B deals. If Apple really believes we need this change because it's better for us, the best option would have been to put the superior DAC INSIDE an iPhone. Then let consumer hook up via the same 3 options already available in iPhones today. Instead, there's a LOT of profit in trying to get millions to tens of millions married to a proprietary connector.
The first one is no surprise- doesn't thinner trump all with Apple? The second has obvious cash grab implications but it also sets up it's own impending collision with the first. Tip your current iPhone up and look at the size of the Lightning jack vs. the "thinness" of the phone you have now. How long until Lightning "as is" is too thick to remain in use?
