iPhone 5 as a source

[bixby]

Quote:

Don't overreact, I can read English and the Macworld article hasn't gone beyond my reading skill yet.
You missed the whole point that I was trying to make, not on whether it will have a DAC in the adapter or not, but whether that DAC will be good enough and offer comparative advantage over double amping. If it is a cr*pping sounding DAC that only meant to get by the old accessories owner, then it won't be much of a point, isn't it?

You have hit the main concern exactly!  If they have found a way to put a very good sounding DAC circuit in the adapter I think folks will be thrilled.  If not, then we are back to the old iPod lineup or some new, lower cost and hopefully very good sounding third party dacs to help us out (when using lightning coupled devices).

 

[qusp]

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Seriously, am I the only Head-Fier who can consistently type 'lightning' with two n's ?  From the Cypher Labs blog on, I'm setting  seeing 'lighting adapter' all over the place - aaaarrgggghhhh ........  

 
how about seeing with 2 e's and no t's? Seriously, if your going to be a spelling Nazi, best make sure there's no obvious mistakes in the 'correction'

 
ya this whole thing is pretty frustrating, no chance i'll be joining MFi program, with the high cost and preliminary rectal exam… I just hope they dont break all the ways to get digital out so they can offer exclusivity, because otherwise the thing looks pretty excellent! I was all prepared to hate it/them, but its pretty spiffy.
 
So lets hope the lightning->USB actually allows connection to peripherals using the USB standard and that they dont break the airfoil play by allowing only registered devices to connect that way as well. if theres going to be a digital connection, wireless seems a good idea to me

 

[estreeter]

Quote:

 
how about seeing with 2 e's and no t's? Seriously, if your going to be a spelling Nazi, best make sure there's no obvious mistakes in the 'correction'

 
 

That was deliberate, and you were the only one who picked it up ! Gold star time. 

 
My point is that the word they were misspelling (sp?) was sorta important, given that it was the subject of two very active threads. My misspelt word was clearly a single typo, but 'lighting' was appearing to the extent that I began to think some folk thought that was actually the name of the interface. 

 

[qusp]

ahh, I figured it mightve been mobile autospell fail, so no it wasn't clearly deliberate at all, since there was not even any pun/Aussie sarcasm (often missed by our US brothers). Had it been part of a punchline it would have been more obvious. As it is it simply looks incorrect …
 
understood though, some of the spelling around here is atrocious, even in thread titles and it makes search engines useless too.

 

[Texpect]

Any first hand impressions guys? Just wondering how it sounds as I'll get mine next week

 

[MacedonianHero]

Quote:

Any first hand impressions guys? Just wondering how it sounds as I'll get mine next week

 
First hand impressions...sounds better than my iPhone 4 with my SE535s and Westone 4s. Better bass, mids more liquid and treble is fantastic. Just wish I could use my LOD / Pico Amp with it. 

 

[estreeter]

MH, did you find it a little thin initially ? 
 
http://www.head-fi.org/t/628129/iphone-5-audio-quality-with-headphones-is-it-better-than-the-iphone-4s

 

[MacedonianHero]

MH, did you find it a little thin initially ? 

http://www.head-fi.org/t/628129/iphone-5-audio-quality-with-headphones-is-it-better-than-the-iphone-4s

No I didn't.

 

[elfary]

Quote:

 
First hand impressions...sounds better than my iPhone 4 with my SE535s and Westone 4s. Better bass, mids more liquid and treble is fantastic. Just wish I could use my LOD / Pico Amp with it. 

 Did you notice any hiss just during the unlocking sequence ? I mean when with iems plugged you slide your finger to unlock...is a burst of hiss till the home screen is loaded ? 
 
Had that issue with my iPhone 4S since i upgraded to iOS 6. Thus yesterday i got it exchanged for a new unit runnin' iOS 5 and the blackness is the same as usual and that hiss is gone.

 

[burnspbesq]

My initial reactions, listening with UERMs, were similar to MH's. The first words that came to mind were "crisp" and "open." On music with a lot of high-frequency energy, like "Macedonia" from the Strength in Numbers album The Telluride Sessions, the 5 really shines.

Midrange is excellent. The 5 is very good at sorting out instruments playing in unison or playing the same line an octave apart.

Bass is well-extended and accurate but just a tiny bit lacking. On "So What" from the classic Miles Davis album Kind of Blue, Paul Chambers'bass recedes a little too much during Miles' and Coltrane's solos.

Soundstage is neither spectacularly wide nor especially deep, but it is well-defined and rock solid. On "I Carry Your Heart" from Moss' self-titled album, it's easy to map the five voices left to right (Theo Bleckmann farthest left, then Lauren Kinhan, Peter Eldridge, Kate McGarry, and finally Luciana Souza farthest right), and they stay put.

It had no difficulty driving the 21-ohm UERMs far louder then I would normally listen. I didn't try it with full-size headphones, but I suspect it will struggle to drive 600-ohm dynamics and really struggle to drive orthos.

In quick, informal comparisons, the 5 blows away the 4S and goes toe-to-toe with the current iPod Touch. It's just a bit less refined than the iPod Classic. It suffers by comparison to the current iPad, but that's not really a fair comparison.

On balance, this is a very fine portable source. Props to Apple and Cirrus.

 

[Vibemerchant]

On balance, this is a very fine portable source. Props to Apple and Cirrus.

Thanks for your impressions. My iPhone 5 should arrive next week at about the same moment as my V-Moda M-100; sounds like they'll be making a nice combo (unamped).

P.S. The Cirrus DAC and other components at iFxit: www.ifixit.com/Teardown/iPhone-5-Teardown/10525/1

 

[Buckster]

Quote:

My initial reactions, listening with UERMs, were similar to MH's. The first words that came to mind were "crisp" and "open." On music with a lot of high-frequency energy, like "Macedonia" from the Strength in Numbers album The Telluride Sessions, the 5 really shines.
Midrange is excellent. The 5 is very good at sorting out instruments playing in unison or playing the same line an octave apart.
Bass is well-extended and accurate but just a tiny bit lacking. On "So What" from the classic Miles Davis album Kind of Blue, Paul Chambers'bass recedes a little too much during Miles' and Coltrane's solos.
Soundstage is neither spectacularly wide nor especially deep, but it is well-defined and rock solid. On "I Carry Your Heart" from Moss' self-titled album, it's easy to map the five voices left to right (Theo Bleckmann farthest left, then Lauren Kinhan, Peter Eldridge, Kate McGarry, and finally Luciana Souza farthest right), and they stay put.
It had no difficulty driving the 21-ohm UERMs far louder then I would normally listen. I didn't try it with full-size headphones, but I suspect it will struggle to drive 600-ohm dynamics and really struggle to drive orthos.
In quick, informal comparisons, the 5 blows away the 4S and goes toe-to-toe with the current iPod Touch. It's just a bit less refined than the iPod Classic. It suffers by comparison to the current iPad, but that's not really a fair comparison.
On balance, this is a very fine portable source. Props to Apple and Cirrus.

 
thats interesting comparison cheers
 
I can't hear a difference my Iphone 4 vs my wifes Ipad 3 - they sound the same to me

 

[Buckster]

just re-tried a comparison Ipad 3 and Iphone 4 and ok there is some difference but not sure which I prefer - very similar though
 
bass is a bit fuller on the Ipad 3, treble sounds a bit more mature - less ragged at the top end
 
Iphone 4 sounds more open though
 
its very close

 

[burnspbesq]

just re-tried a comparison Ipad 3 and Iphone 4 and ok there is some difference but not sure which I prefer - very similar though

bass is a bit fuller on the Ipad 3, treble sounds a bit more mature - less ragged at the top end

Iphone 4 sounds more open though

its very close

At the risk of beating the plaque commemorating a long-since-dead horse, files matter. A 48/24 AIFF ripped from vinyl or a 44.1/16 ALAC down-sampled from a hi-res download will reveal things that even a 320K mp3 won't.

 

[lee730]

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At the risk of beating the plaque commemorating a long-since-dead horse, files matter. A 48/24 AIFF ripped from vinyl or a 44.1/16 ALAC down-sampled from a hi-res download will reveal things that even a 320K mp3 won't.

True but the fact that you'd be using an ipod or apple product for that matter will be the bigger limiting factor in this situation. For such files there are much better options like the DX100.
 
Anyways I've been hearing conflicting comments regarding this new iphone5. Some seem to enjoy it more while others are saying its a downgrade from the iphone4 sound quality? I'm wondering if this is due to the phone not being burned in? Or placebo due to being happy with a new toy?