iPhone amps that have minimal interference?

[K_19]

Well, I recently bought an iPhone and a nice LOD from another Head-fier here, and was looking forward to using it with my ibasso T4... when I was hit with the nasty reality; the T4 does HORRIBLE with cellphone interference, creating nasty static once in a while that I simply cannot tolerate. So while I have really loved the T4 over the last few months, it simply won't be feasible to use it anymore since iPhone 3G is now my main portable source (and I'm not gonna put it in airplane mode since that loses the phone part, and not gonna wrap it in aluminum foil or anything either).

So here is what I am looking for:

1) First and foremost, a portable amp that will do very well against cellphone interference. I recognize it won't be perfect and it doesn't need to be (minimal interference I may be able to put up with), but I don't want abundance killer buzzing noise whenever there is a cellphone transmission.

2) Smallest form factor. T4's small as it is so it'd be hard to find another amp that small, but smaller would be much more preferable. Stuff like Hornet or Tomahawk would be too big for my needs. Maybe the new Pico slim or the rumoured T3?

3) Cheaper the better. I've realized that personally for me, portable amps are not something to spend crazy amount of money on. I'd go up to $200 if necessary, but any more than that may be overkill for my needs. Rules out amps like D10 or Pico.

4) Must do well with low impedence/high sensitivity stuff. Particularly because my main IEM is SE530 and T4 didn't do too well with it (ugh, the hiss).

5) Good SQ, obviously. I won't be interested in any amps that is inferior in SQ than T4. Yes, that rules out E5.

Thanks in advance!

[dnullify]

Just out of curiosity, have you considered the penguin amps?

I'm not at all suggesting it, as i haven't got mine yet...

just curious.

[K_19]

I've heard of the Penguin amps and have heard good things about it, but haven't really considered it. They might be bit too chunky for my needs I feel (they're size of Altoid cans like the Cmoys, IIRC? I do suppose they'd do very well against phone interference due to their aluminum box). I guess the size of the T4 got me really spoiled.

I think it'll probably come down to Pico Slim and T3 but I'm waiting on the word on the price for both of them. I have a feeling the Pico slims going to be on the expensive side, too, and I'll need verification on how it does with phone interference first.

[Bonthouse]

How about the new RSA amp? The Shadow.
I haven't heard it (duh) but it's small! Reviews will show how it behaves around RFI.

[K_19]

Knowing RSA it probably wouldn't be in my price range. but perhaps I'll need to raise the ceiling on the price a little in order to get a decent one.

Any other experiences? Someone here's gotta be using some sort of amp with their iPhones!

[Uncle Erik]

The interference is not necessarily the amp's fault. You could also be picking it up through the LOD connecting the iPhone to the amp. You can also be picking up the RFI through the cable to your headphone.

Changing your amp might not do any good. You need to pin down where the RFI is coming in.

[Bojamijams]

I thought the RFI interference was a known issue with the T4? I've heard it mentioned quite a few times as a 'con'

I remember also reading that the Shadow/pico slim wouldn't have that issue

[labrat]

Originally Posted by K_19

Well, I recently bought an iPhone and a nice LOD from another Head-fier here, and was looking forward to using it with my ibasso T4... when I was hit with the nasty reality; the T4 does HORRIBLE with cellphone interference, creating nasty static once in a while that I simply cannot tolerate. So while I have really loved the T4 over the last few months, it simply won't be feasible to use it anymore since iPhone 3G is now my main portable source (and I'm not gonna put it in airplane mode since that loses the phone part, and not gonna wrap it in aluminum foil or anything either).

So here is what I am looking for:

1) First and foremost, a portable amp that will do very well against cellphone interference. I recognize it won't be perfect and it doesn't need to be (minimal interference I may be able to put up with), but I don't want abundance killer buzzing noise whenever there is a cellphone transmission.

2) Smallest form factor. T4's small as it is so it'd be hard to find another amp that small, but smaller would be much more preferable. Stuff like Hornet or Tomahawk would be too big for my needs. Maybe the new Pico slim or the rumoured T3?

3) Cheaper the better. I've realized that personally for me, portable amps are not something to spend crazy amount of money on. I'd go up to $200 if necessary, but any more than that may be overkill for my needs. Rules out amps like D10 or Pico.

4) Must do well with low impedence/high sensitivity stuff. Particularly because my main IEM is SE530 and T4 didn't do too well with it (ugh, the hiss).

5) Good SQ, obviously. I won't be interested in any amps that is inferior in SQ than T4. Yes, that rules out E5.

Thanks in advance!

First of all, I doubt any amplifier are fully insensitive to the buzzing you get from an incoming call to a cellphone placed very close to the amplifier.
Secondly, have you tried to find out where the buzz really originates from?
Have you tried listening with your IEM's connected directly to the iPhone?
Or have you tried listening to the amplifier with the iPhone physically disconnected?
With and without the LOD connected to the amplifier?
Do some of these tests, with the iPhone receiving calls, and find out what can be improved.
I might be the amplifier or the LOD that is the worst culprit.
If so, you know what device to look to having replaced.
Or it might be the iPhone itself, in which case there is not much you can do!
Good luck with your testing.

[labrat]

Did a short test with the 3 amplifiers I had within close reach:
Larocco Pocket Reference, RSA Emmeline SR-71 (the original) and the Xin SuperMacro.
All had the buzzing noise when a cellphone was laying on top of them and an incoming call was received.
None had a player or a cable connected.
I really doubt you will be able to find a portable amplifier able to avoid this noise.

[ljokerl]

Didn't Nuforce claim at one point that their Icon Mobile was designed to stack with an iPhone without sending/receiving interference? I could be wrong though, maybe an Icon Mobile owner can confirm.

[oldskoolboarder]

Uncle Erik and labrat are right. You can try to find an amp that may help the filtering, but you won't get rid of it completely w/o shielding. The GSM buzz can easily be picked up from any type of speaker via any type of conductor (wire).

When my iPhone does a data connection, it can buzz my Cisco IP phone (speakerphone) or my subwoofer/home speakers, even when the AV receiver is off. BT headsets can even pick it up sometimes.

The only thing you can really do w/ the iPhone is use it in Airplane Mode when you listen to music and don't want to be shocked by the buzz.

[dnullify]

well, you don't want to wrap your phone in aluminum foil, but what about the amp?

I know the aluminum foil trick works, (my bro decided to test it out every time he got a call from me for a week).

i dunno... it's worth a try i suppose.

[K_19]

Originally Posted by Uncle Erik

The interference is not necessarily the amp's fault. You could also be picking it up through the LOD connecting the iPhone to the amp. You can also be picking up the RFI through the cable to your headphone.

Changing your amp might not do any good. You need to pin down where the RFI is coming in.

Good point about the LOD part. Haven't thought about it. I bought it from another member here and the LOD is built very well, but I'm not really sure about how it would perform against the RFI. Something I'll need to consider.

My IEM's connected directly to the iPhone do not have any buzzing problems whatsoever. My SE530's are actually connected to the Shure MPA adaptor, so it obviously doesn't have any problems. Once in a while I use my PFE's with it as well, and they don't have any kind of buzzing either. So it's probably not my IEM's.

I guess my best bet would be to try to find the amp with the best filtering and see if it is indeed more of the LOD's fault. Or else I'll just have to go ampless and sell off the LOD. I guess on the bright side, the 3G headphone out is at least decent on its own (compared to my old 1G touch anyway... that had some terrible hiss).

Thanks everyone for the input.

[jonathanjong]

Yea, I think the 3G's headphone out is decent by itself, actually. I've been going ampless lately, leaving my Icon Mobile at home. Needless to say, my 2Move and D10 haven't seen the sharp side of a LOD in a while.

[xkRoWx]

Yeah, I've been going ampless as well. Surprisingly the iPod Classic drives the PK1 pretty well, or at least, good enough non critical listening.