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Teardown Confirms Digital-to-Analog Converter in Lightning EarPods and 3.5mm Adapter
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Given the very tiny size of this DAC would it be any good?? I figure a DAC inside a phone or iPod/mp3 player would be bigger and therefore more powerful.
That's funny, especially considering they squeezed a processor as powerful as a pervious iPod Touch (2G originally, a higher capacity in the 1080p cable) into a lightning cable to convert the airplay codec to HDMI video
HobeSoundDarryl
macrumors G5
So how about quality of sound? In heated exchanges in thread after thread prior to the rollout, arguments flew hot & heavy that shifting the DAC & AMP outside of the phone meant better quality DACs & AMPs and thus better quality sound. In fact, this was one of the most common rationalizations in support of jettisoning the headphone jack. The adapter retails (RETAILS) for $9. So is THIS a better quality DAC & AMP than what has always been argued as "a good one" inside the iPhone?
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Serious questions here.
1) we know that the phone already ha a DAC and amplifier because it has speakers, why can't this be used for the headphones?
2) look at how small the DAC is in the Lightning connector! This is what they had to remove in order to free up a bunch of space? Couldn't they have just used a smaller DAC like this inside the phone?
I am just confused by everything involved in this. It's like when our mothers told us to eat vegetables. But instead of explaining that they are good for us and keep us healthy we got, "because I said so." In this case though, it's like we were told some random things that have nothing to do with the topic. We took out the jack because we needed space for the speakers (which didn't make it) a larger battery which doesn't encroach on the space, for waterproofing (again not true) and it just took up too much room. Oh but here is the tiniest thing you've seen in a while that does all of that stuff. We certainly couldn't keep it in that empty space. We need that for...
1) we know that the phone already ha a DAC and amplifier because it has speakers, why can't this be used for the headphones?
2) look at how small the DAC is in the Lightning connector! This is what they had to remove in order to free up a bunch of space? Couldn't they have just used a smaller DAC like this inside the phone?
I am just confused by everything involved in this. It's like when our mothers told us to eat vegetables. But instead of explaining that they are good for us and keep us healthy we got, "because I said so." In this case though, it's like we were told some random things that have nothing to do with the topic. We took out the jack because we needed space for the speakers (which didn't make it) a larger battery which doesn't encroach on the space, for waterproofing (again not true) and it just took up too much room. Oh but here is the tiniest thing you've seen in a while that does all of that stuff. We certainly couldn't keep it in that empty space. We need that for...
I bought a spare one for the car but haven't received my iPhone 7 yet but I can confirm it works on the 6 Plus and newer (I haven't tried a 5 yet). It would be interesting to compare the audio from the 3.5 and this adapter with an oscilloscope and see if the quality is any different.
I did some totally non-scientific subjective testing, and it sounded about the same as my 6S
So far the tests and reports from reputable sites indicate that the performance and sound of this adapter is extremely good - especially with highly sensitive in-ear monitors which are the mostly likely device to be paired with a portable phone.
I've been listening for the last few days with my Sony CD3000's which are old but still extremely highly regarded and the sound is excellent - essentially on-par with my external DAC I often use. This shows that a) Apple can do a lot with the size of their R&D departments and the quantities they buy in, and b) that they are probably pricing these at $9 to ameliorate the pain of this transition and to limit the influence of cheap knock-offs.
[doublepost=1474382674][/doublepost]
Extensive testing here. http://www.head-fi.org/t/627111/what-is-the-sound-quality-of-iphone-ipad-ipod-touch/285
I've been listening for the last few days with my Sony CD3000's which are old but still extremely highly regarded and the sound is excellent - essentially on-par with my external DAC I often use. This shows that a) Apple can do a lot with the size of their R&D departments and the quantities they buy in, and b) that they are probably pricing these at $9 to ameliorate the pain of this transition and to limit the influence of cheap knock-offs.
[doublepost=1474382674][/doublepost]
Extensive testing here. http://www.head-fi.org/t/627111/what-is-the-sound-quality-of-iphone-ipad-ipod-touch/285
For the size and power-consumption, the DAC in the iPhone has already been the best available. Those super-expensive high-end DACs are typically much larger and consume much much more power (and thus give off a lot of heat too). For something built-into the headphone wire, this is probably as good as it can get right now.
The 3.5mm plug is a gold standard, there's really nothing wrong with it. But it's disgusting how Apple is trying to FORCE a change with this just so they can sell more headphones and make money through licensing the lightning port.
So what, now we need to switch over to Apple's proprietary crap just because Apple wants to? Everyone can currently use their 3.5mm jack headphones and stick them into almost any other device... WHY does Apple want to pointlessly fragment this???
So what, now we need to switch over to Apple's proprietary crap just because Apple wants to? Everyone can currently use their 3.5mm jack headphones and stick them into almost any other device... WHY does Apple want to pointlessly fragment this???
so much courage.
Sadly I don't since I'm skipping this gen. When Apple switches to 3 year cycle, so do I
I'm somewhat confused... Not by the presence of a DAC in the lightning headphones, but by the presence of the third audio amplifier found previously in Chipworks' iPhone 7 teardown. An amplifier is used on an analog signal, but the signal leaving the port is still digital. What am I missing here?
EDIT: added emphasis
The third DAC is probably used to create thr hiss.
SPEAKER STILL NEEI'm somewhat confused... Not by the presence of a DAC in the lightning headphones, but by the presence of the third audio amplifier found previously in Chipworks' iPhone 7 teardown. An amplifier is used on an analog signal, but the signal leaving the port is still digital. What am I missing here?
EDIT: added emphasis
I'm somewhat confused... Not by the presence of a DAC in the lightning headphones, but by the presence of the third audio amplifier found previously in Chipworks' iPhone 7 teardown. An amplifier is used on an analog signal, but the signal leaving the port is still digital. What am I missing here?
EDIT: added emphasis
Speakers would still require audio amp...
I don't beeline lightning is capable of analog output. Don't quote me though. Someone who knows more than me will likely chime in.
You can continue to use your 3.5mm headphones or Bluetooth ones, neither of which involves Apple getting licensing money or necessarily selling more headphones
The HTC 10 has 2 separate high quality DAC's with very, very low cross talk.
They don't need 3 amps. Each speaker has a dedicated amp. It's possible the 3rd is used to further lower the noise floor but so far I haven't seen any conclusive evidence as to what it's doing.
Has anyone noticed that the Lightning Earpods' cord are made from a different material than the previous generation? Seems more like cheap plastic. Unfortunate, because I have always liked the choices in materials Apple has made in regard to cabling.
The quality of the DAC makes a huge difference.
I remember the hubbub around removing the floppy drive in the first iMac. There was an uproar, but people learned to deal with it. We eventually got flash drives and then wireless communication like AirDrop and the cloud. I think this will be a similar process, but would be better if it was a USB-C port instead of a lightning port. More standardized port, and more headphone options.
The DAC in the EarPods most likely worse than the iPhone's internal DAC on an absolute design basis. However, because the EarPod's DAC is external it likely can get by with a simpler/cheaper design because it doesn't have to contend with the noise issues of being inside a densely-packed device with lots of different PCB frequencies/power planes. On balance that probably means the quality is about the same.