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What is the sound quality of iPhone, iPad, iPod (Touch)? - Page 9

post #121 of 125
4/29/13 at 6:09pm

Bigshot, with the iPhone 5, the line-out uses a separate DAC in the adapter, hence my question if that adapter sustains the sound quality normally attributed to an iPhone line-out.   If not, the adapter line-out + AMP may be inferior to a better off-board DAC + amp.  Without being able to hear any of these devices first, and almost every review being "NIGHT AND DAY!", I thought I would ask on this sub-forum as people seem a bit more....fact driven.  As for loudness of the headphone out, I do find on some of the bigger headphones to sound "better" through the Tomahawk.

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post #122 of 125
4/29/13 at 6:36pm
I just looked at that lightning adaptor. It looks like it just outputs to HDMI or USB. Both of those would require an external DAC. The difference in sound quality is going to be negligible. If I had an iPhone 5, I would just use the headphone out and amp it if my headphones required it. If the volume got high enough without an amp, I'd just plug in direct. Audiophiles who value complexity might think differently than me.
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post #123 of 125
4/30/13 at 12:47am
IMO, the sound from amping from the DAC (wolfson wm8533) in the lightning adapter sounds better than amping from the headphone out. I could hear an improvement in soundstage and instrument separation. The sound also sounded more natural (that from the iphone 5 sounded "digital" to me).
Edited by araragikoyomi - 4/30/13 at 4:03am
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post #124 of 125
4/30/13 at 1:00am

I'm likely upgrading to either an iphone 5 or 5S (depending upon when it's available). I have a fiio E6 already. Will the E6 pair well with the iphone 5?

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post #125 of 125
5/3/13 at 10:42am
Quote:
Originally Posted by bigshot View Post

I just looked at that lightning adaptor. It looks like it just outputs to HDMI or USB. Both of those would require an external DAC. The difference in sound quality is going to be negligible. If I had an iPhone 5, I would just use the headphone out and amp it if my headphones required it. If the volume got high enough without an amp, I'd just plug in direct. Audiophiles who value complexity might think differently than me.

I didn't notice any change in sound due to the lightning adapter. 

 

But the lightning adapter is still a really good idea. It's somewhat smaller and thinner than the previous adapter, and it makes for slimmer devices like the Shuffle, Nano, and Touch. I'd like to think there's an improvement in sync times, but who knows?

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