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What is the sound quality like when connecting 3.5mm to lightning on 7?
- Thread starter Zellio
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Why? The digital data will be converted to analog (via the lightning to 3.5mm adapter), so it should be exactly the same quality.
They may have cheaped out on the DAC/AMP components (since they have to fit in that tiny connector), so the adapter and new earpods may be way worse.
im not an expert, but as far as i understand, an analog plug will have defects, introduces noise to the signal. but digital plug won't.
You do realize that before the audio is digitised it goes through the audio jack in the guitar, then into the audio jack of the effects unit, exits the effects unit via an audio jack and into the audio jack in the amp, is then transmitted through the air as sound waves, which are then picked up by a mike and then enters the mixers audio interface via an audio jack?
If all these analog plugs introduce discernible noise at each stage why haven't professional audio engineers and musicians digitised the entire audio stack?
And using the extremely cheap and tiny DAC that comes in a $9 cable doesn't concern you at all?
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There's still an analog plug in the chain, it's just been moved one step away. The adapter is a digital -> analog converter. The components in the adapter used to be inside the phone. That's what they removed, and put into the adapter.
The question is, did they put a similar quality D/A converter in the adapter compared to what was in the phone. Technically, they probably could have used something better since it didn't need to be as small.
Just a correction - they did not remove the DAC from the phone. You still need one for the speakers.
Your human ears cannot hear digital. All headphones are analogue, a conversion must happen.
are we possibly jumping the gun a little bit? How do we know that there are no analog audio outputs on the lightning connector itself? It doesnt make a lot of sense to stick a DAC in a cable adapter when the iphone already has one built in. All the adapter could be doing is tapping an analog audio signal and converting the output plug to 3.5mm
So, before, the iPhone had a built in DAC for the headphone jack. But now, with audio coming from Lightning as a digital signal, will all headphones have to have a built in DAC? Is this better?
As a user of Shure SE846 and Westone W30 earphones if the dongle ouput is not as great (quality and voltage wise) as the built in audio chip of the iPhone 6 then i will be sticking to it until a 3rd party makes a proper lightning cable for my earphones.
Apple has outsourced the headphone port and i do not know if Cirrus Logic has been able to put a high quality dac/amp in such a tiny enclosure. If they are able to pull it then color me extremely impressed.
Apple has outsourced the headphone port and i do not know if Cirrus Logic has been able to put a high quality dac/amp in such a tiny enclosure. If they are able to pull it then color me extremely impressed.
It can be better, but it can also be a lot worse. Basically it will depend on the manufacturer how much they want to spend on the DAC. The iPhone's built in DAC was pretty good compared to the competition. Basically it could go either way.
I think it was Walt Mossberg but he is not what i would call an audiophile. It's nitpickers with high end earphones what would come in handy.
I will be purchasing the dongle myself this weekend and check how does it drive my SE846 and W30 earphones.
As many others have stated lately, no true audiophile has been using the headphone jack anyway so I'm not sure it is really going to matter all that much.
I personally am excited to see what this pushes bluetooth headphones to, and also to see what manufactures can come up with when they can pair their headphones with exactly the DAC they want. It will mean that manufactures can actually produce headphones that sound exactly as intended when used with an iPhone over lightning, not something that they have been capable of until now.
The lightning port is also supporting analogue audio. There is still a DAC built in, as mentioned before, otherwise the built in speakers would not work. The dongle is a mere adaptor from analogue lightning to headphone jack. This means there is most likely no direct benefit audio-wise from removing the jack from the phone. It all depends on the components built in by Apple.
Yes, you can also pass through digital audio through the lightning port and use it with an external dac or headphones like Audeze's that have a dedicated DAC built into their cable.
Realistically, a dongle for $9 does not have a DAC built in. Also the size seems to small for their MFI chip and a DAC.
I am more interested if the inline remote function still works with the dongle, but I expect that.
Also, the headphone jack of the 6s is rather good by comparison. For one the road cases it makes a dedicated DAC obsolete. Simply plugging in a headphone with a right angle connector and there was minimal stress induced when carrying the phone in the pocket. This will be tricky with the new dongle and its straight connector.
Yes, you can also pass through digital audio through the lightning port and use it with an external dac or headphones like Audeze's that have a dedicated DAC built into their cable.
Realistically, a dongle for $9 does not have a DAC built in. Also the size seems to small for their MFI chip and a DAC.
I am more interested if the inline remote function still works with the dongle, but I expect that.
Also, the headphone jack of the 6s is rather good by comparison. For one the road cases it makes a dedicated DAC obsolete. Simply plugging in a headphone with a right angle connector and there was minimal stress induced when carrying the phone in the pocket. This will be tricky with the new dongle and its straight connector.
If it turns out not great or you're not happy with it, FiiO is already working on releasing a headphone amp / DAC for the iPhone 7. Think they're hoping for a release this month too and should be relatively cheap at around $40-50 in comparison, if your headphones were a hundred or two (or more).
It seems like it could work well enough in a pocket if you leave your phone in your pocket upside down so the cable has no bending from the lightning port, and clip the unit on your pants/belt under your shirt (or if you have really large pockets maybe it'll fit fine too). You might even get less interference on the headphone cable, not running through your pocket.
It seems like it could work well enough in a pocket if you leave your phone in your pocket upside down so the cable has no bending from the lightning port, and clip the unit on your pants/belt under your shirt (or if you have really large pockets maybe it'll fit fine too). You might even get less interference on the headphone cable, not running through your pocket.