iPhone 5 sound quality

[SilverEars]

   
Plug some headphones into the optical in/out.

I didn't know that, I'll check it out.

 

[Tympan]

   
JH13 Pros, all Apple Lossless I ripped from my own CD collection.
 
Now, to preempt things a little bit, I've been around and owned a lot of stuff all across the value spectrum and I do hear differences in different sources.  iPhone 4 and 5 isn't one of those situations.
 
What was really interesting is using the Sensaphonics 2X-S in the line-out versus headphone jack on an iRiver 120.  Now that was an implementation that clearly had differences between the headphone out and line-out.  But that's another story altogether.
 
Best,
 
-Jason

Well, these are very resolving ciems and good enough recording (!!!) I apologize if I start sounding like a control freak (lol!) but did you do:
- a direct A/B comparison 
- at the same volume
-with the same song (same format)? 
(I'll spare you the blind test and 50K Analyzer)...
 
Because there is no way you would not hear the difference at least in the bass department (!!!) 
Are you sure?
Are you sure it was controlled enough?
Like ABSOLUTELY SURE you're not pulling some subjective imaginary uncontrolled deficient memory stuff on me!?!  (lol!)

 

[SilverEars]

  Well, these are very resolving ciems and good enough recording (!!!) I apologize if I start sounding like a control freak (lol!) but did you do:
- a direct A/B comparison 
- at the same volume
-with the same song (same format)? 
(I'll spare you the blind test and 50K Analyzer)...
 
Because there is no way you would not hear the difference at least in the bass department (!!!) 
Are you sure?
Are you sure it was controlled enough?
Like ABSOLUTELY SURE you're not pulling some subjective imaginary uncontrolled deficient memory stuff on me!?!  (lol!)

I did, and like I said I agree with your impressions.  I did think it sounded thin or not warm is the term?  I don't know about 4, but I thought the same for 4S, kinda thin.  5 did definitely lack the bottom end or the bass.  Does this mean our ears are wrong because the FR is flat and no drop in the low frequencies, I don't think so.  

 

 

[Tympan]

  I did, and like I said I agree with your impressions.  I did think it sounded thin or not warm is the term?  I don't know about 4, but I thought the same for 4S, kinda thin.  5 did definitely lacked the bottom end or the bass.  Does this mean our ears are wrong because the FR is flat and no drop in the low frequencies, I don't think so.  

No I know SlverEars, I was responding to jjcha 

 

[Tympan]

Well, quite frankly, humor aside, and with the due respect to everyone's personal impressions and whatever method for comparing equipment, I am very surprised many don't hear much difference between the iphone 4 and iphone 5. I am starting to wonder if this is something that has to do with my iems... 

 

[SilverEars]

  Well, quite frankly, humor aside, and with the due respect to everyone's personal impressions and whatever method for comparing equipment, I am very surprised many don't hear much difference between the iphone 4 and iphone 5. I am starting to wonder if this is something that has to do with my iems... 

What you heard is what you heard, and there are lots of possibilities.  We can't figure them out, but hopefully some day we can explain everything.  

 

 

[Tympan]

 

[bigshot]

I did think it sounded thin or not warm is the term?

If the player sounded thin in the bass and not warm, you would see at least a 5dB dip in the response curve centered around 100Hz. If the lack of bass was clearly audible, it would be more like a 15dB dip. But that isn't there in the iPhone. Every review I've seen of it shows a ruler flat frequency response. Every review I've seen of every Apple product shows a ruler flat response.

It's much more likely that you just prefer a bass boost. There's nothing wrong with liking colored sound. But it doesn't mean that there is anything wrong with the iPhone. Most mid range headphones have slight mid bass boosts built in between 80Hz and 100Hz to compensate for not having much in the sub bass. That might just be what you are used to hearing.

 

[bigshot]

I am very surprised many don't hear much difference between the iphone 4 and iphone 5. I am starting to wonder if this is something that has to do with my iems... 

Impedance/Sensitivity mismatch. Try amping the headphone out and see if it goes away.

 

[SilverEars]

If the player sounded thin in the bass and not warm, you would see at least a 5dB dip in the response curve centered around 100Hz. If the lack of bass was clearly audible, it would be more like a 15dB dip. But that isn't there in the iPhone. Every review I've seen of it shows a ruler flat frequency response. Every review I've seen of every Apple product shows a ruler flat response.

It's much more likely that you just prefer a bass boost. There's nothing wrong with liking colored sound. But it doesn't mean that there is anything wrong with the iPhone. Most mid range headphones have slight mid bass boosts built in between 80Hz and 100Hz to compensate for not having much in the sub bass. That might just be what you are used to hearing.

I believe I had CIEM at the time and typically listen with ODAC/O2 as my desktop setup which is regarded as a transparent setup which measures well according to the designer's blog if you know who he is.  I have A/B tested my iphone 4S, 5, Galaxy S4, and other USB DACs against it, it comes out on top for some reason.  The response is flat also, and it sounds spacious with more low end to my ears.

 

[bigshot]

A DAP, amp or DAC that *isn't* transparent is the exception to the rule. Most solid state electronic components are audibly transparent. You can swap one or another in, and they should sound the same. The tranducers (headphones and speakers) are the wild cards in any system. If you hear differences, odds are it's your perceptions playing tricks on you, or the difference is in your transducers.

If you have a stack of components that sound the same and one that sounds different, odds are the one you rate as "on top" of all the rest is NOT audibly tranparent.

If I ever found a player or amp that wasn't audibly transparent, I'd return it. I've had dozens and dozens of audibly transparent components over the years, and the last time I had one that wasn't audibly transparent was back in the analogue era 25 years ago.

That said, if you don't pay attention to the impedance of your headphones and make sure it's addressed, you'll never get a fair comparison, because you'll be hearing the mpedance mismatch in the headphones, not coloration in the solid state components.

 

[SilverEars]

bigshot, what is your favorite audio gear?  What do you enjoy listening to?

 

[bigshot]

My custom made 12 inch five way studio monitors. They were made in the mid-70s. They are capable of doing just about anything with the proper equalization.

I mostly listen to classical music.

 

[SilverEars]

Is there anything you don't like the sound of?

 

[bigshot]

OOO! I get to make a "I hate" list! That's fun!


I don't like the sound of unequalized speaker systems, even high end ones. And I'm not impressed with subwoofers that peel paint off the walls.

I don't like the sound of headphones with mid bass bumps, in your face midrange or artificially boosted high end. I want balanced across the whole range.

I don't like headphone cables that are too short to reach.

I don't like badly engineered or remixed rock recordings like the Led Zeppelin and Rolling Stones remasters. Why change things in the sound if you aren't making it better? Doesn't the original mix matter as much as the music? What's the point of hot mastering to raise volume when it ruins the sound?

I don't like the sound of inner groove distortion on LPs.

I don't like the sound of digital compression artifacting.

I don't like the sound of audiophile equipment with rolled off high ends designed to sound "warm"/"analogue". (ie: some tube amps)

I don't like cables with shorts in the connectors that are difficult to reach behind my rig.

I don't like remotes with a million buttons on them. Too hard to use in the dark.

I don't like controls buried in nested video submenus.

I don't like to pay an arm and a leg for something that is functionally identical to cheap stuff.

I don't like having to dig through thousands of albums to find the one I want.

I don't like when the wifi network craps out in the middle of a song or my media server crashes.

I don't like it when my dogs bark in the slow movements (woofers)