Plans for iPhone support?

[KB]

Hey guess what I got yesterday 9/9.... mmmm iPhone.

I can not make any promises but I am going to try. Hold please.

Also whats up with the low volume on the phone and the speaker phone is also quite low, what not drag and drop in iTunes. Oh my.

other wise I love it.

ken

[NewMexiCat]

Thanks Ken!

I will try to hold patiently!!!

Originally Posted by KB

Hey guess what I got yesterday 9/9.... mmmm iPhone.

I can not make any promises but I am going to try. Hold please.

Also whats up with the low volume on the phone and the speaker phone is also quite low, what not drag and drop in iTunes. Oh my.

other wise I love it.

ken

[KB]

Okay I made an iPhone cable , had to adjust the pin config but it works great just like any other line out dock I make. There are a few issues however. I have found that using it with the wireless on, (not in airport mode) it can be, IMO dangerous to your ears and possibly headphones. There is a very powerful EMF emission from the iPhone. This is made audible by your headphones and can be very loud. Therefore, when I use the ipod feature I turn airport mode to on and there is no issue. The iPhone will ask you to do this sometimes also and you can opt to say no and it still works but the EMF noise can be bad. The other issue is that the iPhone will not direct the audio signal on through the line out dock unless you turn the phone off, plug in the cable which automatically boots the phone back on. If you just plug the cable into the phone it will play music through the speakers only. I am currently working on seeing if I can get around this but for now I do have a LOD cable that does work. Thankfully, the boot up time is fast.

Additionally in comparison to my 6G, the iphone has a lower output than that of the 6G. I cannot discern any audible SQ difference from the iPhone and the 6g but I have to preface this statement with the fact that the output level is lower on the iphone so I have to turn the volume up when switching from the 6G to the iPhone.

I have to say it is very cool though to be able to use an external amp with my iPhone. For one thing that recessed headphone jack is very annoying. By using an external amp, you can be free to use whatever headphone you want.

I will post some picture later.

Ken

[NewMexiCat]

Awesome Ken! Where do I sign up?!

[KB]

[manaox2]

wow, that looks awesome Ken. Now, after some reading, I heard that someone managed to sell you an iPod touch as well. Can you tell us if the iPod touch has the same issue with line out docks as the iPhone? I think I have read of at least eight other people with the same question.

Oh, and what exactly would using an iMod dock cable do to the sound quality of an iPod touch or an iPod classic by introducing capacitors into the signal line. I'm curious as I've heard people who plan to do this as well.

[KB]

Originally Posted by manaox2

wow, that looks awesome Ken. Now, after some reading, I heard that someone managed to sell you an iPod touch as well. Can you tell us if the iPod touch has the same issue with line out docks as the iPhone? I think I have read of at least eight other people with the same question.

Oh, and what exactly would using an iMod dock cable do to the sound quality of an iPod touch or an iPod classic by introducing capacitors into the signal line. I'm curious as I've heard people who plan to do this as well.

Hey Manaox2,

Good news the iPod Touch is not different from any other iPod in that it works just lovely with a regular ALO line out dock.

I was amazed by how thin the thing is, and I find it to sound very nice. It might make its way to a certain person for exploration

The iMod cables should only be used in conjunction with a iMod. If your not using it with a imod there will be zero benefit from using it.

Thanks

Ken

[GUNS]

That's great news about the iTouch! Defanatly means that i'll be picking up a line-out cable from ALO Does it work the same as the other iPods in the sense that it is sending out a purer signal, or is that not an issue with the iTouch? I guess that we will have to wait for Vinnie before we really know, but if possible would you mind testing the differences between the line out and the headphone out? Apparently the iTouch uses the good ol' Wolfson DAC aswell which is defo good news!

[dslknight]

Any new updates on this? I'm just curious to see if there are any plans to make this available for purchase in the near future.

[NewMexiCat]

Originally Posted by dslknight

Any new updates on this? I'm just curious to see if there are any plans to make this available for purchase in the near future.

Ken was gracious enough to sell me his "beta" iPhone cable to test out for myself, and I have been quite pleased with it. It works basically just as he has described it and I have found the sound quality of the line out to be far superior to that of the iPhone's "proprietary" headphone jack.

The only drawback to the cable (and this is Apple's fault, not Ken's) is the steps you have to go through to make it work, i.e., power down the iPhone before plugging it in and placing the iPhone in "Airplane mode" to avoid some nasty interference on the line. To me, those drawbacks are tolerable since the iPhone has a fairly quick boot up time and it would be kind of a pain to answer a phone call on the iPhone when you have a line out routed to an amp and the iPhone in your pocket or a bag.

The big plus for me is the drastic improvement in sound quality. When listening to the iPhone with my UE5c's through the headphone jack (with the stupid adapter, of course) I was getting quite a bit of background hiss, even with the volume turned all the way down. That has been eliminated with the ALO Line Out plus my amp. At this point I'm using the iBasso T2. Now that I have a line-out solution, I may be looking for a Tomahawk or the new Pico in the future.

Anyway, I'm not sure what Ken's plans are regarding future marketing of the line-out cable. I know he is frustrated by the quirky nature of the iPhone and the fact that it is not "plug and play" simple like the iPod. However, I think the demand for the iPhone cable (at least in these parts) would be great given the sonic benefits and the fact that Ken's cable is the best way to avoid Apple's stupid recessed headphone jack.

[dslknight]

Thank you for your review of the cable! For me it would come down to either the Shure adapter/mic cable (I really don't want to take an exacto knife to my e500 plug) or the ALO cable. Even with the hassle of powering down the iPhone, having to deal with background hiss would be even worse so I'll continue to wait.

[KB]

Originally Posted by dslknight

Any new updates on this? I'm just curious to see if there are any plans to make this available for purchase in the near future.

Yes I am making these for people as the need comes. If anyone would like one of these I just follow the basic pricing structure of a normal ipod line out cable. Cryo dock, Super Cotton dock, or Jumbo Cryo. There is a few added steps in making them but I can not justify asking people to pay more. I will have to ask folks to bear with me as I do not have these laying around done so I will be needing a day or two to fill the order. So if anyone wants one just send me a email audiolineout@gmail.com

Thx

Ken

[KB]

Originally Posted by NewMexiCat

Ken was gracious enough to sell me his "beta" iPhone cable to test out for myself, and I have been quite pleased with it. It works basically just as he has described it and I have found the sound quality of the line out to be far superior to that of the iPhone's "proprietary" headphone jack.

The only drawback to the cable (and this is Apple's fault, not Ken's) is the steps you have to go through to make it work, i.e., power down the iPhone before plugging it in and placing the iPhone in "Airplane mode" to avoid some nasty interference on the line. To me, those drawbacks are tolerable since the iPhone has a fairly quick boot up time and it would be kind of a pain to answer a phone call on the iPhone when you have a line out routed to an amp and the iPhone in your pocket or a bag.

The big plus for me is the drastic improvement in sound quality. When listening to the iPhone with my UE5c's through the headphone jack (with the stupid adapter, of course) I was getting quite a bit of background hiss, even with the volume turned all the way down. That has been eliminated with the ALO Line Out plus my amp. At this point I'm using the iBasso T2. Now that I have a line-out solution, I may be looking for a Tomahawk or the new Pico in the future.

Anyway, I'm not sure what Ken's plans are regarding future marketing of the line-out cable. I know he is frustrated by the quirky nature of the iPhone and the fact that it is not "plug and play" simple like the iPod. However, I think the demand for the iPhone cable (at least in these parts) would be great given the sonic benefits and the fact that Ken's cable is the best way to avoid Apple's stupid recessed headphone jack.

NewMexiCat,

Thanks for the feedback for everyone. !

I have bought several aftermarket products on line that claim to work with a iPhone and iPod, but all of them did not work with my iPhone and when I used the cable it simply played out of the internal speakers. So a far as I can tell thus far the cable I am making is the only thing out side the dock that comes with the iPhone that can actually allow you to use the line out signal. All be it annoying to have to power down the phone to get it to work.

Again thanks

Ken

[Britbonic]

Ken,

Glad to hear that you were able to make this work. Of all the line out guys, I would have guessed that you would be the first one to crack this. Nice work. My primary amp use is on planes so using airplane mode not an issue. However, I also have a lineout set up in the car where I'm happy to trade off the GSM noise in exchange for not using the stupid headphone jack.

2 questions:

1. Can we assume that if the cable works for the iPhone that it also works for an iPod?
2. Any chance to retrofit existing line out cables to work with the iPhone? As I already have a nice Cryo Dock would prefer to get that upgraded rather than buy another one.

Thanks

John

[lolos]

Originally Posted by Britbonic

Ken,

Glad to hear that you were able to make this work. Of all the line out guys, I would have guessed that you would be the first one to crack this. Nice work. My primary amp use is on planes so using airplane mode not an issue. However, I also have a lineout set up in the car where I'm happy to trade off the GSM noise in exchange for not using the stupid headphone jack.

2 questions:

1. Can we assume that if the cable works for the iPhone that it also works for an iPod?
2. Any chance to retrofit existing line out cables to work with the iPhone? As I already have a nice Cryo Dock would prefer to get that upgraded rather than buy another one.

Thanks

John

x2