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Valid point. However, by moving the DAC to the headphones, people can choose which one they prefer. If they want an el cheapo, $10 model, fine. If they want the uber-good, $1000 model, fine. This way, they're not stuck with whatever one Apple chooses to stick in it.

I had a lightning DAC long before iPhone 7. You have no idea what you're talking about.
 
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I have avoided posting about the headphone debacle. Here i go.
The headphone jack had to go in order to get all the things the iPhone 7 is in the package. I understand but but I wanted the jack and i am ok with a thicker phone. This all sounds so familiar the issue comes in phones exist like this and they simply do not sell. I admit they are not IOS phones but live on the other side of the aisle in android land. They are cheaper than an iPhone or galaxy and yet they still do not sell enough to keep the design churning. So we have a package requirement we IE apple invented. Thats great issue comes with we can not make the circuits small enough to do what we want at the price we are ok with. This leads to the grand compromise. The removal of the headphone jack. I understand the move I am not pleased with it but i understand it.

I sit here typing this on a macbook pro dongle city to get gigabit ethernet. Apple is just ok with stripping non-multi use ports away in order to cram in more battery or a cool new feature they hope makes you want to buy the product.

I just wished they had started this last year with a dongle for sale that was 24bit or something. Then when they tossed it in the box we were all familiar with it and how to work around the charge and listen issue.
 
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The internal speakers.

I guess Apple also killed the low end (<30$) wired headphone market for the iPhone with this move. Headphone manufacturers will have to pay the lightning licence fees and need to include a dac that matches at least the earpods. Without Apple scale i doubt this is possible.
I doubt we will see official ones (meaning paid the fees to apple) from smaller companies. Its probably cheaper and easier to sell bluetooth headphones paying the fees to the bt people and making something more universal. We already have a bunch of cheap stereo headphones form china that work good enough for workouts under $40 w the latest bt specs.
The move by apple was to remove the market of analog headphones and push fwd the bt market.
I guess another thing smaller companies could do is include a clone of the adapter, but I doubt they would go that way sine the official one is only $9.
 
The strangest thing happened. I got my iPhone 7 on Friday, and despite it having no jack, the sun has continued to rise every morning. Who knew?

So what's it like not being able to charge and use it at the same time? Or maybe you don't spend 4-6 hours on conference calls, and another 6 traveling and listening to music a day?
 
The internal speakers.

I guess Apple also killed the low end (<30$) wired headphone market for the iPhone with this move. Headphone manufacturers will have to pay the lightning licence fees and need to include a dac that matches at least the earpods. Without Apple scale i doubt this is possible.
I wouldn't say killed. I really hate to sound like this because I don't like the removal of the port, but I'd imagine those buying cheap headphones might not be using a super expensive phone. Computers also have those ports and I'd hazard a guess to say they're probably the second-most used area for wired headphones.

All just guesses mind you.
 
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???

Proprietary = license = profit = Apple

If Apple has been serious iPhone 7 would have launched with USB C, it didn't just another cash grab. Same applies to those that produce reputable third party chargers for IOS devices with specific components being licensed to Apple...

Q-6
 
If your iPhone falls over in the forest without a DAC ... does it still make a sound?


Not everyone realizes the Lightning port can't do analog out like the old 30 pin.

Heck, most people don't even know what digital vs. analog means. They plugin whatever mediocre headphones they own, using whatever adapter is needed, and play badly sampled MP3s :D
 
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?

These aren't the headphones anyone was referring to, not the free ones in the box.
 
That should have read 'a growing selection of battery limited, low sound quality, expensive, and easily lost wireless bluetooth headphones, or to have a massive ugly dongle hanging off their phone to charge and listen to audio at the same time'
It seems pretty obvious the decision makers at Apple don't travel in proper trains.
 
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omg, you said to stop... so people must do so.

said nobody, ever

I never said to stop, just funny to me that all the smack talk about "courage" only proves that it did take "courage".
[doublepost=1474386508][/doublepost]
I had a lightning DAC long before iPhone 7. You have no idea what you're talking about.

How did anything he said seem like he didn't know what he was talking about?
 
According to pocketnow testing this adapter cuts everything to only 16bit, seems 6s is better


Sounds like he's saying that BOTH the 7 and 6s are 16bit.

Also:

https://www.macobserver.com/tmo/article/digital-music-16-bit-44-khz-explained

"This difference between 16-bit/44.1kHz audio and anything greater than that has been tested (a lot... in double-blind tests) and we have yet to find any human that can reliably notice that difference. Bit depths greater than 16 bits and sample rates above 44.1kHz simply don't matter as long as the data is converted properly (and the industry's ability to do that conversion has improved substantially since those very first CDs were released at the dawn of the digital music era, though most of us at home don't have the skill or setup to convert and downsample properly)."
 
If there wasn't a DAC....how else would make sound?

Not everyone realizes the Lightning port can't do analog out like the old 30 pin.

Lightning is capable of outputting analogue audio as its pins are dynamically reconfigurable. Apple would merely need to enable an analogue bridge to the Lightning controller to provide it. So far they have not, and MFi specs don't allow it.

Apple could have easily offered an analogue out over Lightning as a much easier and more economical route during the 30-pin transition to Lightning, but instead put DACs and amps in their adapters and docks.

People who know this, were speciously reasoning that a DAC, ADC, and amp would not fit in the adapter, not to mention a DAC of comperable quality, particualrly for only $9.
 
Called it.

I don't know why people would think there's still a DAC and amplifier in the iPhone and there's an analog pass through from the iPhone to the headphones. Lightning is a digital connector. And even regular Lightning cables have circuitry inside them. When you compare the size (Lightning to 3.5MM is wider, longer and thicker) then it's obvious there's some additional circuitry inside.

This just shows what a bargain the $9 Lightning to 3.5MM adapter is.
 
So what's it like not being able to charge and use it at the same time? Or maybe you don't spend 4-6 hours on conference calls, and another 6 traveling and listening to music a day?

When i'm traveling I use this fantastic device called a lighting to USB- believe it or not this magical bit of kit actually comes with your iphone! What you do is plug the lightning end into the bottom of of your phone and the USB to your car stereo. It then plays music and charges at the same time! Even shows your artwork and such on the screen!

Unless of course you are referring to traveling by some other means, in wish case I don't know where you would be charging and listening at the same time... I suppose for the .000000000000001% of people who do that they could buy the adapter that lets you do both.
 
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???


Come on Mike, your too hooked on evil plots from your days as a crooked Philly cop. You can keep using your 3.5 mm jack headphones until you are pushing up daisies, or wearing cement shoes. If you aren't like most people who just use whatever comes with the phone, or if you haven't moved on to wireless headphones or stream through speakers, or if you have an older car, or if you don't want to take advantage of the great new stereo speakers on the phone, all you have to do is take two seconds and put that little two inch adapter at the end of the cord and never think about it again. You can then have a cold one, sit back, and gaze at the new display that DisplayMate tested and called "visually indistinguishable from perfect."
 
this is the golden question.

Apple puts pretty good dac's in their ipods, iphone, ipads. better than you'd expect perhaps - and those who appropriate good music quality really appreciate their effort there.

However, now, the existing DAC ( it's still in phone from speakers) isn't used - and each thing connected to the lightening port will need a dac. Are they putting any quality into that little adapter thing?

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/iphone-7-audio-quality.1997853/

29641769451_3c14275294_o.png
 
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So what's it like not being able to charge and use it at the same time? Or maybe you don't spend 4-6 hours on conference calls, and another 6 traveling and listening to music a day?

Sounds like you're one of those people (minority) who would be best served by a battery case because of how much time you spend in calls. Or if you and other employees spend so much time in conference calls, then why aren't you all using a desktop solution instead of your phone? Then you could, you know, edit documents, annotate, markup or other activities while collaborating in real time.
 
I think the real question is how does the adapter DAC compare to the old one that was built into the 6s. If I had to guess, it is probably a cheaper one, unfortunately.
 
If they really pulled the 3.5mm jack out to "evolve" then they would have improved their DAC to be able to handle HD audio (24-bit FLAC, etc).

This is all BS.
 
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Anyone know the technical spec of these (really tiny!) DACs? I assume the res is 24bit/96kHz but I'm not completely sure. I wonder if Apple now allows the iPhone 7 and these external DACs to playback high-res audio files via the music app as standard? Higher-end Android smartphones have allowed this capability for a few years now, its about time Apple did too I think.

After upgrading to iOS 10, I was recently able to playback a Classical music piece I have encoded as a 24bit/192kHz ALAC file from my Mac to the 5S via WiFi. The sound quality through these B&W P7 cans that I have, connected to the standard headphone jack on the iPhone was excellent! Despite the iPhone probably downsampling it to 48kHz as that's what Apple limits the sampling rate of music via the headphone jack to...I believe. Leaves me hopeful...
 
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