[jakobdam]

fjeena > 
 
 

i was wondering, do u get a lod cable for the fiio, but instead of 30pin with a micro usb on the other side?? coz ive already ordered a lightning to micro usb adapter(£15). or would it be worth it for me to pay the extra £10 and get a 30pin?? 

 
 
I would say ... maybe. But the main issue is that LOD is impossible for the iPhone 5, due to the lightning port only being able to carry digital. This means that a DAC MUST be present in the converterplug, and I don't believe that a decent DAC can be had at either 15 or 25 GBP. 
 
With LOD, you use the DAC inside the iPhone 4s (or ealier) - but those days are over.
 
So; maybe a really nice DAC will come out, for the Lightning port - but to me it doesn't matter unless they can squeeze it into something in the size of my FIIO E02i Rocky. 

 

[elfary]

Finally i purchased an iPhone 5 without selling my iPhone 4S in order to compare both headphone outs with my music (aac 320) and my iems (UM3x and SE420).
 
To cut a long story short:
 
Last night my wife put me thru a blind test listening to the (fabulous sounding) album Aja by Steely Dan (MFSL Edition)
 
The outcome was embarrassing yet revealing: 4 misses out of 5 tries. I could no tell apart both iPhones.
 
Hence in my view paired with balanced armature iems with a mild impedance distribution the 5 sounds so damn close to the 4S that sound quality is non issue.
 
It's important to note that on the 5 you need almost two more "points" of volume to achieve the same sound pressure level that the 4S reaches with two less steps. I'd say that the iPhone 5 is powerful and the 4S very powerful.
 
Now i must sell one of the iPhones but i won't make the decision based on the sound quality.
 
The 5 is very good to these ears. The advantages of the 4S (lower Z, more output power) might show with wild impedance iems like (TF10's, SE535s) or with dynamic headphones but it doesn't seem to help to neither my UM3x or SE420. And if it helps them i just can not hear it.

 

[Dumbleroar]

So would an amp improve to iphone 5 then or is the dac the issue on it? I'm going to be upgrading my 4s when the new iphone 5s/6 comes out. Bit wary of upgrading if I'm going to be listening to music on a crippled device.

 

[Saraguie]

Quote:

Finally i purchased an iPhone 5 without selling my iPhone 4S in order to compare both headphone outs with my music (aac 320) and my iems (UM3x and SE420).
 
To cut a long story short:
 
Last night my wife put me thru a blind test listening to the (fabulous sounding) album Aja by Steely Dan (MFSL Edition)
 
The outcome was embarrassing yet revealing: 4 misses out of 5 tries. I could no tell apart both iPhones.
 
Hence in my view paired with balanced armature iems with a mild impedance distribution the 5 sounds so damn close to the 4S that sound quality is non issue.
 
It's important to note that on the 5 you need almost two more "points" of volume to achieve the same sound pressure level that the 4S reaches with two less steps. I'd say that the iPhone 5 is powerful and the 4S very powerful.
 
Now i must sell one of the iPhones but i won't make the decision based on the sound quality.
 
The 5 is very good to these ears. The advantages of the 4S (lower Z, more output power) might show with wild impedance iems like (TF10's, SE535s) or with dynamic headphones but it doesn't seem to help to neither my UM3x or SE420. And if it helps them i just can not hear it.

Well done........thanks for the A/Bing.

 

[goodvibes]

Shouldn't but a listen should clearly show if so.

 

[KT66]

Quote:

The real game changer lies in the new connector - all digital and faster. Soon all kind of tempting stuff will emerge that will make good use of it.

6 months later and what is there that's reasonably priced now?

 

[moodyrn]

Quote:

Well done........thanks for the A/Bing.

Lol, so he finally came to that conclusion. That's really funny now since several months ago we were in a long debate about both of them and I kept saying it really didn't matter since they sound extremely close. His argument was about what was on paper and mine was about what I was actually hearing. It's funny how actually doing blind testing can reveal very surprising results.

 

[Saraguie]

Quote:

Lol, so he finally came to that conclusion. That's really funny now since several months ago we were in a long debate about both of them and I kept saying it really didn't matter since they sound extremely close. His argument was about what was on paper and mine was about what I was actually hearing. It's funny how actually doing blind testing can reveal very surprising results.

It sure is.....and then there is the cable blind test.....have you ever come across it? FWICR $500 cable vs $15. cables and there was no diff.

 

[moodyrn]

Yes I did but ssshh, don't wake them up.

 

[Saraguie]

Quote:

Yes I did but ssshh, don't wake them up.

Mummmms the word 

 

[elfary]

Update:
 
In the end i sold the iPhone 5 and kept the 4S.
 
The lack of line out was the main reason. The fit into my made for idevice speakers was lousy in a couple of instances and the speakers seemed to sound better when fed my the 4S line out vs the Lightning adapter. So the iBasso T3 did.
 
Certainly the less output power did not help. And neither did the higher output impedance.
 
On a new blind test with the UM3x more often than not i guessed what i was listening to (Specially on albums with subbass information). Thus with wild armatues (XB4 or TF10) the difference is gonna be audible for sure.
 
And since audio is my main interest forking out money for a slightly (and i remark slightly) worse user experience was not acceptable to my intellect.
 
It was a bit of a pain to have to carry around the 30 pin adapter and getting worse ergonomy and not so good sound against the ease of the 4S. Interestingly enough the same 30 pin adapter sounds better when plugged to my iPad Mini.
 
On a side note i also like better the glass back of the 4S and the chassis is less prone to scuffs. It was the last Jobs product and a classic gadget in my book.

 

[moodyrn]

Lol, lol, lol.

 

[Saraguie]

Quote:

Lol, lol, lol.

Hehehehehe

 

[alphabetagaga]

Quote:

Update:
 
In the end i sold the iPhone 5 and kept the 4S.
 
The lack of line out was the main reason.

 
what about lack of storage on the 4s vs the possible 64gb on the 5? is the lack of line out really more important?

 

[Vidmaven]

Quote:

 
what about lack of storage on the 4s vs the possible 64gb on the 5? is the lack of line out really more important?

The iPhone 4S comes in  a 64GB version.