[FrostyMMB]

Quote:

...I noticed a clear reduction in 3D spaciousness with the iPhone 5, a more 2D presentation than with the iPhone 4's output...

 
I hear the same going from the iPhone 4 to the iPhone 5. The iPhone 5 lacks depth, width, and air by comparison. Upper bass and mids are more forward, and the treble is unrefined. Less transparent, less emotional, and more digital overall. Apple Lossless on the iPhone 5 sounds worse than LAME -V0 on the iPhone 4. This is a disappointment considering how great the new iPad sounds.

 

[iluvmusic]

Quote:

 
I hear the same going from the iPhone 4 to the iPhone 5. The iPhone 5 lacks depth, width, and air by comparison. Upper bass and mids are more forward, and the treble is unrefined. Less transparent, less emotional, and more digital overall. Apple Lossless on the iPhone 5 sounds worse than LAME -V0 on the iPhone 4. This is a disappointment considering how great the new iPad sounds.

wow that was harsh..lol   my 4S sounds nice but my favorite is the ipod touch 4G  very warm natural sound

 

[iluvmusic]

My ipad3 is also great and has higher output for sure but the ipod touch still wins for SQ

 

[Inks]

RMMA results provided by GSM-Arena
 
 

[tr] [td] Test[/td] [td] Frequency response[/td] [td] Noise level[/td] [td] Dynamic range[/td] [td] THD[/td] [td] IMD + Noise[/td] [td] Stereo crosstalk[/td] [/tr] [tr] [td]  [/td] [td]  [/td] [td]  [/td] [td]  [/td] [td]  [/td] [td]  [/td] [td]  [/td] [/tr] [tr] [td] Apple iPhone 5 (headphones attached)[/td] [td] +0.00, -0.26[/td] [td] -90.6[/td] [td] 90.6[/td] [td] 0.0035[/td] [td] 0.111[/td] [td] -56.2[/td] [/tr] [tr] [td]  [/td] [td]  [/td] [td]  [/td] [td]  [/td] [td]  [/td] [td]  [/td] [td]  [/td] [/tr] [tr] [td] Apple iPhone 4S (headphones attached)[/td] [td] +0.05, -0.10[/td] [td] -91.3[/td] [td] 91.3[/td] [td] 0.0068[/td] [td] 0.071[/td] [td] -66.7[/td] [/tr] [tr] [td]  [/td] [td]  [/td] [td]  [/td] [td]  [/td] [td]  [/td] [td]  [/td] [td]  [/td] [/tr] [tr] [td] Apple iPhone 4 (headphones attached)[/td] [td] +0.01, -0.07[/td] [td] -90.4[/td] [td] 90.4[/td] [td] 0.0036[/td] [td] 0.092[/td] [td] -68.4[/td] [/tr]

 
The 5 is the worst of the 3, not significantly though. If the output impedance of the 4 is 1ohms, 2ohms for the 4S, my guess is a 4-5ohm ouput impedance for the IP5. 

 

[CoryGillmore]

Quote:

RMMA results provided by GSM-Arena
 
 

[tr] [td] Test[/td] [td] Frequency response[/td] [td] Noise level[/td] [td] Dynamic range[/td] [td] THD[/td] [td] IMD + Noise[/td] [td] Stereo crosstalk[/td] [/tr] [tr] [td]  [/td] [td]  [/td] [td]  [/td] [td]  [/td] [td]  [/td] [td]  [/td] [td]  [/td] [/tr] [tr] [td] Apple iPhone 5 (headphones attached)[/td] [td] +0.00, -0.26[/td] [td] -90.6[/td] [td] 90.6[/td] [td] 0.0035[/td] [td] 0.111[/td] [td] -56.2[/td] [/tr] [tr] [td]  [/td] [td]  [/td] [td]  [/td] [td]  [/td] [td]  [/td] [td]  [/td] [td]  [/td] [/tr] [tr] [td] Apple iPhone 4S (headphones attached)[/td] [td] +0.05, -0.10[/td] [td] -91.3[/td] [td] 91.3[/td] [td] 0.0068[/td] [td] 0.071[/td] [td] -66.7[/td] [/tr] [tr] [td]  [/td] [td]  [/td] [td]  [/td] [td]  [/td] [td]  [/td] [td]  [/td] [td]  [/td] [/tr] [tr] [td] Apple iPhone 4 (headphones attached)[/td] [td] +0.01, -0.07[/td] [td] -90.4[/td] [td] 90.4[/td] [td] 0.0036[/td] [td] 0.092[/td] [td] -68.4[/td] [/tr]

 
The 5 is the worst of the 3, not significantly though. If the output impedance of the 4 is 1ohms, 2ohms for the 4S, my guess is a 4-5ohm ouput impedance for the IP5. 

Disappointing...The headphone out sounds good to me with my MD Tributes...I wonder if this data will affect my ears though lol. Has anyone been able to test the lineout of the iP5?

 

[Inks]

Depends on the stuff you plug into as well, the MD Tribues have a linear impedance phase, they don't change much in sound between DAPs. Bigger differences will be heard with sensitive, low impedance, wild impedance phase, Balanced Armature IEMs. 

 

[CoryGillmore]

Quote:

Depends on the stuff you plug into as well, the MD Tribues have a linear impedance phase, they don't change much in sound between DAPs. Bigger differences will be heard with sensitive, low impedance, wild impedance phase, Balanced Armature IEMs. 

I thought your name looked familiar! Didn't I buy my Tributes from you? Or I bought or sold something involving you...what was it?
 
EDIT: After going through my PMs, it was you I bought my MDs from! Ha! Lol. I'm about to warranty them BTW. Tributes have horrible build quality. I hope I love my replacement Trumpets as much as I've loved my Tributes

 

[elfary]

What a bummer. What worries me the most is the slight bump on the lows with the AKG attached.

Given the impedance distribution of these cans we can conclude that output impedance will be higher than 2 ohms for the first time in years. Stereo crosstalk also takes a step back.

When these measurements are backed by other set of tests my 64gb 4S' lifetime will be officially extended for a year.

Honestly i was not expecting the output impedance bump.

Really disapponted. Steve i miss u!




It's good to be anywhere!

 

[Nectar]

Quote:

 
I hear the same going from the iPhone 4 to the iPhone 5. The iPhone 5 lacks depth, width, and air by comparison. Upper bass and mids are more forward, and the treble is unrefined. Less transparent, less emotional, and more digital overall. Apple Lossless on the iPhone 5 sounds worse than LAME -V0 on the iPhone 4. This is a disappointment considering how great the new iPad sounds.

 
This is what I've read from some people on the net, that they prefer the older 4 for SQ which surprised me a bit considering Apple's flair for constant incremental improvements.  

 

[CoryGillmore]

Does anybody know of anyone making Lightning to 3.5mm cables for plugging an iPhone 5 into an amp? I mean I'll pick up one of the adapters too, but I'd also like to pickup a totally new cable that I could use without the adapter. Of course this all depends on how the lineout of the iPhone 5 will sound when plugged into an amp. Anybody have any info?

 

[ClieOS]

Does anybody know of anyone making Lightning to 3.5mm cables for plugging an iPhone 5 into an amp? I mean I'll pick up one of the adapters too, but I'd also like to pickup a totally new cable that I could use without the adapter. Of course this all depends on how the lineout of the iPhone 5 will sound when plugged into an amp. Anybody have any info?

You might have missed the crucial detail that Lightning connector is 'all digital'. That means no line-out (which is analog) in the connection anymore.

What you need is an Lightning-to-30pins adapter (which has a small DAC inside) between the iPhone5 and your LOD. Whether it will sound better than just LOD on a 4S is still up for discussion. The bigger issue is, I think Apple is still using special authentication chip in their adapter so making an aftermarket Lightning adapter with better DAC might not be as easy as we like it to be.

 

[CoryGillmore]

You might have missed the crucial detail that Lightning connector is 'all digital'. That means no line-out (which is analog) in the connection anymore.
What you need is an Lightning-to-30pins adapter (which has a small DAC inside) between the iPhone5 and your LOD. Whether it will sound better than just LOD on a 4S is still up for discussion. The bigger issue is, I think Apple is still using special authentication chip in their adapter so making an aftermarket Lightning adapter with better DAC might not be as easy as we like it to be.

Ah..thanks for clearing that up, good sir. That kinda sucks...I think. Right? Hopefully it sounds good with the adapter. Has there been a firm release date on the adapters yet. I'm anxious to plug this thing into my SR-71a. Also...I got wasted drunk last night and dropped my bare named caseless iPhone 5 on concrete. Now my precious iPhone has a scratch on the bezel . Thankfull it came with a weird rattling noise when I got it and terrible battery performance so I'll be able to get it replaced at the Genius Bar no problem lol.

 

[kessomatt]

Ah..thanks for clearing that up, good sir. That kinda sucks...I think. Right? Hopefully it sounds good with the adapter. Has there been a firm release date on the adapters yet. I'm anxious to plug this thing into my SR-71a. Also...I got wasted drunk last night and dropped my bare named caseless iPhone 5 on concrete. Now my precious iPhone has a scratch on the bezel . Thankfull it came with a weird rattling noise when I got it and terrible battery performance so I'll be able to get it replaced at the Genius Bar no problem lol.

FYI the rattle is normal. Think it's the vibration mechanism. My 4s had it too.

I did some a/b testing withe the 5 and 4s before I sold it and I was hard pressed to hear a difference in sq. I used my vmoda m80 and ultrasone 580's. I did notice it seeming more clear(or digital as others said) but I could not tell the difference between the 2 for the most part. Not enough to return the 5.

 

[jasonb]

Bummer, i guess ill keep my 32 gb iPhone 4. Hopefully the next one will have better audio quality. 

 

[elfary]

Doing the math with GSMarena loaded graph my best guess is that iPhone 5 impedance will be around 3.5 Ohms.