[TrixRabbit]

resolved, ty <3

 

[Redcarmoose]

I did a side by side study of two DACs. This may not be fair, but the results were dramatic.

1) Apple Dongle
2) Cambridge Audio DACMagic Plus


The way I did the test was to use the same YouTube video.


I had one video playing on my IPod Touch, the exact same video playing on my MacBook Air. The Dongle was connected to a two RCA feed to the Asgard One. The Cambridge Audio DACMagic Plus was RCA out to the Asgard One. I used Sony MDR-Z1R in single ended mode (included cable).


I didn’t have a way of volume matching electronically, still it didn’t matter. Someone may say that the Dongle was the straight signal and the DACMagic Plus had embellished tone?

Not sure how or what was embellished, except the DACMagic Plus was emotional and immensely superior. It was not even funny. The real DAC had volumes of soundstage and imaging where the Dongle was a compressed over all image. The Dongle has less bass texture as well as the highs were thin and contained less detail. If this is from source, or amp line level in the DAC, don’t know?

Miles and miles apart.

 

[globobock]

I did a side by side study of two DACs. This may not be fair, but the results were dramatic. 1) Apple Dongle 2) Cambridge Audio DACMagic Plus The way I did the test was to use the same YouTube video. I had one video playing on my IPod Touch, the exact same video playing on my MacBook Air. The Dongle was connected to a two RCA feed to the Asgard One. The Cambridge Audio DACMagic Plus was RCA out to the Asgard One. I used Sony MDR-Z1R in single ended mode (included cable). I didn’t have a way of volume matching electronically, still it didn’t matter. Someone may say that the Dongle was the straight signal and the DACMagic Plus had embellished tone? Not sure how or what was embellished, except the DACMagic Plus was emotional and immensely superior. It was not even funny. The real DAC had volumes of soundstage and imaging where the Dongle was a compressed over all image. The Dongle has less bass texture as well as the highs were thin and contained less detail. If this is from source, or amp line level in the DAC, don’t know? Miles and miles apart. Last edited: Sep 6, 2021

I did a side by side study of two DACs. This may not be fair, but the results were dramatic. 1) Apple Dongle 2) Cambridge Audio DACMagic Plus The way I did the test was to use the same YouTube video. I had one video playing on my IPod Touch, the exact same video playing on my MacBook Air. The Dongle was connected to a two RCA feed to the Asgard One. The Cambridge Audio DACMagic Plus was RCA out to the Asgard One. I used Sony MDR-Z1R in single ended mode (included cable). I didn’t have a way of volume matching electronically, still it didn’t matter. Someone may say that the Dongle was the straight signal and the DACMagic Plus had embellished tone? Not sure how or what was embellished, except the DACMagic Plus was emotional and immensely superior. It was not even funny. The real DAC had volumes of soundstage and imaging where the Dongle was a compressed over all image. The Dongle has less bass texture as well as the highs were thin and contained less detail. If this is from source, or amp line level in the DAC, don’t know? Miles and miles apart. Last edited: Sep 6, 2021

 

[globobock]

I'm currently doing a side-by-side comparison of the original apple dongle with a third-party one. Same price, but the third-party dongle has a nice thick nylon clad.
I would say that the apple one is... louder. And less hiss. In terms of soundstage etc, I really can't tell yet.

Using IE80 and ATH-MSR7 on Tidal.

 

[Redcarmoose]

Well, there IS a bunch of different Apple Dongles, as well as hundreds of others. What I observed with mine was great with certain IEMs and gave a particular sound. It even seemed apparent that maybe many of IEMs are designed around the character of the Apple Dongle. That....or it’s so well designed that the IEMs and Apple Dongle seemed to go together?

Still there was other systems I had that offered a variable of replay. That variation is subjective as to if a person would find it good or not? Though the above test with the Asgard One and Cambridge Audio DACMagic Plus seemed fairly straight forward as to which was better. Often DAPs will offer a warmer response, as well as a V shaped reproduction which is debatable if better. But truth to be said soundstage and damping can show the limits of the Dongle.

Depending on the application it depends. Your obviously not going to drive all hard to drive headphones with it alone. Also it’s questionable as to the qualifications it has as a stand alone DAC hooked up to an amp. For many uses it works fine but there are situations where the Apple Dongle offers a questionable response.

It could be many things? It could be expectation bias, as well as actual issues with SQ? There are folks that want outside of the box reproduction, where the signal is fuller or even maybe more musical? There may be others that claim to hear even more detail from a DAC which may even seem brighter than the Dongle? Such items are on offer as a variation of the Dongle personality. As always whole systems are responsible for the sound.

 

[globobock]

Just an straight-of-the-box observation: it (the original dongle) sounds nice with the IE80, but too bright with the ATH-MSR7.

 

[megabigeye]

One of the few things I don't like about the iPhone dongle is how flimsy it is. It gets loud enough (loud enough, not loud-loud) and sounds fabulous with my DT 1990, but the poor thing looks like it's about to come apart at the seams.
Nothing a Bic pen can't solve!

Just make sure the spring goes over the existing strain relief.
I might put some heat shrink on it to neaten it up a little... Or maybe not.

 

[sajunky]

Well, it also works as a HF antenna!

 

[globobock]

One of the few things I don't like about the iPhone dongle is how flimsy it is. It gets loud enough (loud enough, not loud-loud) and sounds fabulous with my DT 1990, but the poor thing looks like it's about to come apart at the seams.
Nothing a Bic pen can't solve!

Just make sure the spring goes over the existing strain relief.
I might put some heat shrink on it to neaten it up a little... Or maybe not.

How did you get it into the coil?

 

[megabigeye]

How did you get it into the coil?

Just spread the ends of the coil slightly with my thumbnail and then twist it on like I would a keyring. The cable casing is very soft, so you have to make sure the wire doesn't puncture the cable. And then I gently twisted it over the strain relief areas being careful not to twist the cable too much.

Also, it's not actually from a Bic pen, but a Zebra. Don't know if that'd make a difference.

 

[Dobrescu George]

I felt like I never talk about how to get good audio on iPhones, so here's my review on a lightning dongle, the Maktar Spectra X2. The name may not ring a bell, but NextDrive surely should, and they renamed to Maktar Spectra now, the company offering what I consider to be a really good sound for those who prefer the apple to the robots~

https://www.audiophile-heaven.com/2022/01/maktar-spectra-x2-power-for-apples.html

 

[daytrader]

I felt like I never talk about how to get good audio on iPhones, so here's my review on a lightning dongle, the Maktar Spectra X2. The name may not ring a bell, but NextDrive surely should, and they renamed to Maktar Spectra now, the company offering what I consider to be a really good sound for those who prefer the apple to the robots~

https://www.audiophile-heaven.com/2022/01/maktar-spectra-x2-power-for-apples.html

Sure looks good!
Not very good reviews on Amazon though. A Plus it has a amp/dac inside, which is nice if you need it but not if you don’t.

 

[mainguy]

guys Ive heard this can output more power with UAPP, but thats not on iOS, is there a way to squeeze more juice from it iOS?

 

[chesebert]

You like the dongle because you have easy to drive cans and you were using entry level garbage. It’s a fantastic value at $9 (I got 2 of these) but it’s not even entry level audiophile quality.

 

[psikey]

Just gone back to an iPhone as a Music Source (iPhone 13 mini 256GB) and decided to try the cheap Apple dongle. Using for streaming Audio Apps, currently Spotify, Tidal and trial of Apple music.

Had Mojo and Hugo2 for a while but only drive easy IEMS and found the Fiio BRT5 excellent wired & wireless (balanced) so just use that normally. Previously/recently had the Sony ZX507 too.

IEMS's used for listening test Noble K10U, Shure SE846, Fiio FD7.

To summarise my feelings (no demanding IEM's or headphones):

• As good as any built in phone 3.5mm including the LG V30 I had.
• Also had a Dragonfly Red & Cobalt, why? For more power only I'd suggest
• Sound signature is bright compared to ZX507 or BTR5, clean neutral, not as musical.
• Zero background noise, decent sound stage, wide enough. Plenty of clean impactful bass. Highs can get a bit shrill on some tracks.
• Does justice to all three of my high to very high level IEM's but still think the BTR5 has the edge mostly down to my listening preference of slightly warm & Musical.
• Obviously limited to 24/48 max and no native DSD but I can rarely tell difference with 88/96/192 vs 24/48 anyway.

For some reason Spotify and my FD7's sounds particularly good with it

PS. Its different Sound Sig to the ZX507 and still prefer my BTR5, but for the price it seems very decent if you only drive IEM's.



Have one of these Tea DAC/AMP's coming to try too as perfect fit with the iPhone mini (grey version though)