Quote(emphasis mine):

jeremylaurenson said:

  Spending $3B and keeping folks like Reznor around (Whose all over not screwing up quality) will all help push in the right direction.

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I wouldn't be so sure:
http://productionadvice.co.uk/nine-inch-nails/

shoving a bunch of PCB and a dac into a headphone that will do ANC?  Why not just make it wireless?  I mean you're already stuffing the cups with everything... a battery and bluetooth or some other proprietary wireless transmitter wouldn't hurt.
 
Woah!!! Some wire can carry 48Khz digital file??? So could usb's for the past how many years?  I bet a lot of people will be very excited about this ground breaking technology "Apple continues to revolutionize the way we hear our music with their ground breaking technology." 
EDIT: also inb4 the fanboys who claim 48Khz is vastly superior to the 44.1Khz that they've been used to.

So I'm guessing Apple bought the beats because of the new cable attachment and beats would have sold far more units than apple?

Not to mention the cable is probably worth more than the headphones. Lightning cables cost a pretty penny.

I think for really slim devices the 3.5mm headphone jack gets increasingly in the way of design and form factor, so the lightning port can be way to get around this...it's certainly flatter...

kurochin said:

  A new biginning, or the beginning of the end?
http://www.slashgear.com/apple-lightning-headphones-on-the-horizon-04332021/

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More overpriced junk?

Did anyone figure out if this new development will make the actual digital signal available on the lightening connector in a way it can be used, or if it will continue to be converted to an analog "Line In" via a DAC in the connector plug?  Thanks!

It's alright guys, Apple will have you covered with an adapter for $30!

ruthieandjohn said:

  Did anyone figure out if this new development will make the actual digital signal available on the lightening connector in a way it can be used, or if it will continue to be converted to an analog "Line In" via a DAC in the connector plug?  Thanks!

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I seriously doubt it.  IIRC companies that want to make DACs for apple products currently need to get some licencing rights or something.  I'm sure someone here can explain it much better than me.

linglingjr said:

  I seriously doubt it.  IIRC companies that want to make DACs for apple products currently need to get some licencing rights or something.  I'm sure someone here can explain it much better than me.

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Technically not. Cayin was one of the first to do this, correct me if I'm wrong, but they actually took the components of a lightning camera connector and basically put it on the interior. So while you have V-Moda vamps and whatnot that are $600, cayin (while exclusively an iDevice Dac/amp) remains only $175-200

Hmm kinda of interesting 
 
Audio Technica has a headphone that functions as a Dac as well, it's nice to hear their using their Lightingcables along with their new headphones, let's hope the sound is half decent

In 1980, Dr. Jim Flanagan of Bell Laboratories proposed and then built a transducer that had the DAC built right into the speaker! It was a series of concentriic rings around the membrane, wired appropriately so that based on the combination of bits that were on in the digital sample, the right rings of the speaker would be displaced.

Abstract here: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/j.1538-7305.1980.tb03056.x/abstract

We report initial experiments on voice-band acoustic transducers (receivers) designed to accept digital (pcm) signals and directly convert the received bits into analog acoustic output. We describe experimental designs for 4, 5, and 6-bit digital receivers and for an acoustic system that functions as the desampling filter for the decoded signals. We report measurements on the frequency response, amplitude linearity, and signal-to-quantizing noise for the digital receivers and show that these quantities fall into expected design ranges. Though relatively primitive in their initial forms, the transducers accomplish direct digital conversion with acceptable fidelity and suggest a further means for minimizing per-line equipment complexity in digital voice systems.

redcarmoose said:

  This out 16 hours ago. New mfi specs!
 
http://9to5mac.com/2014/06/03/apple-introduces-mfi-specs-for-lightning-cable-headphones-support-arriving-in-future-ios-update/
 
 
The Lightning headphones will be capable of receiving lossless stereo 48 kHz digital audio output from Apple devices and sending mono 48 kHz digital audio input. The input means that the headphones will also support a microphone for audio input following Apple’s upcoming update. Manufacturers will be able to take advantage of Apple Headphone Remote controls like Volume Up/Down/etc, as well as other buttons for launching specific apps such as iTunes Radio or initiating playback controls on iOS. In addition, the headphones can be made to work specifically with a companion iOS app and launch a specific app when connected to an iOS device.
 
 
 
 
The DACs top out at 48kHz. Hopefully we will see HD DACS coming out next year.

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This is what Logitech headsets were doing with USB in 2003? New?

redcarmoose said:

   
 
 
This is what Logitech headsets were doing with USB in 2003? New?

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ikr, logitech and Audio Technica 

mshenay said:

ikr, logitech and Audio Technica 

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Headphones which do 24/96 DAC will be the cool thing. Just taking the digital out of the I devices and doing in house headphone DA.They will wait till they sell everyone 48 kHz models then release the good ones.lol


Doing it in the headphones would effectively result in a cable-less process leading to higher SQ!