4 ms·

> Is this still true with latest iPhone? The latest iPhone doesn't have a DAC in it for headphones. The little 3.5mm-to-lightning dongle is active -- it contai

by hug 4y ago

> Is this still true with latest iPhone? The latest iPhone doesn't have a DAC in it for headphones. The little 3.5mm-to-lightning dongle is active -- it contains a tiny DAC/amp powered by the lightning port. Is the tiny lightning dongle a good DAC? The answer is largely "it's fine". Anyone who isn't on the cork-sniffing side of audiophile trends will find it acceptable, assuming the amp is capable of driving the load of whatever headphones you're plugging into it.

JohnJamesRambo 4y ago
The dongle always impresses me as slaying so many specialized DACs. https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/review-apple-vs-google-usb-c-headphone-adapters.5541/ https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/r...
- brewdad 4y ago
  It really is amazing the Apple, the poster child for overpriced dongles and accessories, has built such an incredible device for $9 MSRP.
inferiorhuman 4y ago
My experience was (and one of the reasons I miss the headphone jack is) that the dongle quality + Apple ear buds wasn't as good as the DAC the older iPhones had.
- hug 4y ago
  I don't want to deny that, when picking up the two & due to some trickery of your own brain, you prefer the iPhone 8, but I do doubt is that it is because of a measurable difference in audio quality.
  - inferiorhuman 4y ago
    Perhaps, but I was comparing Apple ear buds with the 3.5mm jack vs lightning ones. Presumably the drivers and whatnot would be similar. In general I don't think audio quality has ever been particularly important to Apple. The iPhone (and all smartphones really) is a jack of all trades gizmo not a device for high quality audio playback. I remember when I had a first gen iPhone and the call quality was atrocious with AT&T compared to my RAZR on Verizon. You get used to it over time but back to back it was pretty dramatic.
    - erwincoumans 4y ago
      If you have an iPhone and you care about its audio quality there are some DAC dongles, see also https://www.whathifi.com/advice/how-to-play-hi-res-music-your-iphone-0 https://www.whathifi.com/advice/how-to-play-hi-res-music-you... Quoting the article: "Next, you need a decent DAC such as the Audioquest DragonFly Cobalt, Cyrus soundKey or Chord Mojo 2 and a good pair of headphones, such as the Grado SR325x, Shure Aonic 3 or Austrian Audio Hi-X55. This is just a starting point, of course. Don’t be afraid to build up to a more revealing system. You could combine the Chord Hugo 2 DAC with a pair of Beyerdynamic T1 (3rd Generation) headphones for a more premium set-up. That might be a touch overkill and punishingly transparent for an iPhone, but these are hi-res files, after all."
      - inferiorhuman 4y ago
        Oh I don't particularly care about audio quality from the iPhone, most of the time I'm using it in a noisy environment. I've a decent pair of proper headphones but there's no way I'd wear them in public. More to the point I don't want dongles for my phone either. These are all solutions for Apple cheapening the product.
      - jensgk 4y ago
        The Audioquest DragonFly Cobalt is not very good: https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/audioquest-dragonfly-cobalt-review-portable-headphone-adapter.23015/ https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/a... The Apple USB-C dongle is better: https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/review-apple-vs-google-usb-c-headphone-adapters.5541/ https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/r...

by hug 4y ago

JohnJamesRambo 4y ago

The dongle always impresses me as slaying so many specialized DACs. https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/review-apple-vs-google-usb-c-headphone-adapters.5541/ https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/r...

brewdad 4y ago
It really is amazing the Apple, the poster child for overpriced dongles and accessories, has built such an incredible device for $9 MSRP.

inferiorhuman 4y ago

My experience was (and one of the reasons I miss the headphone jack is) that the dongle quality + Apple ear buds wasn't as good as the DAC the older iPhones had.

hug 4y ago
I don't want to deny that, when picking up the two & due to some trickery of your own brain, you prefer the iPhone 8, but I do doubt is that it is because of a measurable difference in audio quality.
- inferiorhuman 4y ago
  Perhaps, but I was comparing Apple ear buds with the 3.5mm jack vs lightning ones. Presumably the drivers and whatnot would be similar. In general I don't think audio quality has ever been particularly important to Apple. The iPhone (and all smartphones really) is a jack of all trades gizmo not a device for high quality audio playback. I remember when I had a first gen iPhone and the call quality was atrocious with AT&T compared to my RAZR on Verizon. You get used to it over time but back to back it was pretty dramatic.
  - erwincoumans 4y ago
    If you have an iPhone and you care about its audio quality there are some DAC dongles, see also https://www.whathifi.com/advice/how-to-play-hi-res-music-your-iphone-0 https://www.whathifi.com/advice/how-to-play-hi-res-music-you... Quoting the article: "Next, you need a decent DAC such as the Audioquest DragonFly Cobalt, Cyrus soundKey or Chord Mojo 2 and a good pair of headphones, such as the Grado SR325x, Shure Aonic 3 or Austrian Audio Hi-X55. This is just a starting point, of course. Don’t be afraid to build up to a more revealing system. You could combine the Chord Hugo 2 DAC with a pair of Beyerdynamic T1 (3rd Generation) headphones for a more premium set-up. That might be a touch overkill and punishingly transparent for an iPhone, but these are hi-res files, after all."
    - inferiorhuman 4y ago
      Oh I don't particularly care about audio quality from the iPhone, most of the time I'm using it in a noisy environment. I've a decent pair of proper headphones but there's no way I'd wear them in public. More to the point I don't want dongles for my phone either. These are all solutions for Apple cheapening the product.
    - jensgk 4y ago
      The Audioquest DragonFly Cobalt is not very good: https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/audioquest-dragonfly-cobalt-review-portable-headphone-adapter.23015/ https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/a... The Apple USB-C dongle is better: https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/review-apple-vs-google-usb-c-headphone-adapters.5541/ https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/r...