[JoeFonebone]

Has anybody tried to connect an iPhone (running iOS7) to a DAC or USB/SPDIF device (with or without a powered hub) via the Apple Camera Connector Kit? The CCK did not work with the iPhone with iOS6 and there were rumors that it would with iOS7.

 

[jazzman7]

Was about to create the thread when I saw this.    
 
The answer is YES, it works.  I am listening to music through Apple's Music app, connected to the CCK, then a short USB cable to the HRT microStreamer, through the headphone out.   The microStreamer supports the iPad without a hub and with the latest firmware on the DAC.  
 
iPhones and iPod Touches with iOS 7 appear to work like iPads as far as outboard DACs are concerned.
 
Very cool!

 

[disillusion]

Which iPhone and iPod Touch have you gotten to work with the microStreamer? 
 
Thanks.

 

[jazzman7]

iPhone 4/iOS 7 is the only setup I've tried.  I've checked that the microStreamer works with both the iPad 2 and the iPad mini using their respective CCKs for some time (I did it first under iOS 6).  I haven't updated either iPad to iOS 7.  
 
I don't have a 5th gen iPod Touch (the only Touch that supports iOS 7), but I would not expect that to act differently on this.  
 
The 30-pin CCK is a solid chunk of plastic that lengthens the iPhone 4, which is the main drawback.   
 
I'll have an iPhone 5s in the house on Friday and will try the microStreamer with the Lightning CCK on that.

 

[equalz]

this is interesting! i'm sure some cable modding could get it down to size... 

 

[disillusion]

Thanks that's interesting. I have an iPhone 4 too, but am hesitant to upgrade because of the reviews I've seen so far. Maybe I'll play around a bit when I get a new primary phone.
 
I found this japanese article which seems to indicate that some USB dacs (but not the iBasso D55) would work with iPhone 5 and iTouch 5 connected to a Lightning to 30-pin and CCK.
http://www.phileweb.com/news/d-av/201309/19/33759.html

 

[shotgunshane]

Interesting news. Sounds like the new leckerton and cck might be in my future.

 

[ThePrince425]

This is really awesome news! A next great step would be a lightning to mini usb OTG

 

[blueangel2323]

Good news (for now), but was this intentional or a "bug" that Apple is going to disable with the next iOS update?

 

[disillusion]

No idea but AFAIK most iPads have always supported USB dacs that don't draw too much power/current through the CCK, so maybe they are streamlining the iOS features across devices?

 

[blueangel2323]

That's true. If they wanted to disable USB audio through the CCK, they would've disabled it for the iPad instead of letting it work on the iPhone now too.

 

[AHorseNamedJeff]

AGGH! While this is awesome new for many, this infuriates me that apple wont allow IOS 7 for the iphone 3gs!

 

[blueangel2323]

Time for an upgrade. 3GS is too slow to run iOS7. I think I'm going to upgrade my iPhone 4 to a 5 or at least a 4S, as it feels slow at times (even before upgrading to iOS7) and I'm running out of space for my music.

 

[AHorseNamedJeff]

But I enjoy my 32GBs of storage.... I hope my dad upgrades his 5 so I can get it...

 

[jazzman7]

After further testing, I find that there are good reasons for limiting iOS 7 to newer devices.
 
I tried playing 24bit/96kHz files via iTunes sharing on the iPhone 4/iOS7 through the microStreamer.  The files play, and the 96k LED lights up, but there is stuttering.  The stuttering does not show up on 16/44.1 files.  Also, I have tested 48kHz files and they play cleanly at 48kHz on the microStreamer (48k LED lights up) using Apple's Music app.  Not all players do this, however (for example, Equalizer by audioforge resamples to 44.1kHz even with 48kHz files). 
 
The processor on the iPhone 4 is a single-core A4 at 800MHz.  The processor on the iPhone 4s is a dual-core A5 at 800 MHz.  The iPad 2 has a dual core A5 with a speed bump to 1GHz, and I have verified that the iPad 2 can do 96kHz playback through the CCK.  So, hopefully the iPhone 4s will do 96kHz playback cleanly given its similarity to the iPad 2. 
 
I may test the iPhone 4s at some point as we've got one in the family -- haven't done the OS upgrade on it.