iPhone 5S SQ issues

[krismusic]

I am finding that the HO from the 5S is pretty similar to my 4S. However, hooking up an amp through the HO of the 5S is substantially inferior to the LOD of the 4S.
Anyone tried the 30pin adapter and got a LO from the 5S? Any opinions? 
This Lightning malarkey is a PITA. It could be a real step forward in minimalist connections except that Apple seem to have locked out third party cable suppliers.

 

[_js_]

The lightening to 30 pin adaptor has a DAC built in.  IIRC it is a Wolfson DAC, comparable in quality to the built-in DAC in the 5, 5C, and 5S audio codecs (all different, actually, and all made by Cirrus Logic).  But, in any case, Apple wants control over these sorts of things, not just the adaptor but the cables as well.  It's standard Apple stuff, and can be seen in any number of different lights.  Personally, I don't think there's any question that the Lightening connector is technically superior over the old 30 pin or micro-USB, and is especially future-proof for various reasons (among them being dynamically reassignable pins).  When flash memory is fast enough in the iPhones and iPods, I think you'll see Lightening-to-USB-3.0 and Lightening-to-Thunderbolt cables.
 
In any case, going from HO to an external amp will mean double amping your signal, which is never ideal, to say the least.  On the other hand, you can get digital out direct to an outboard DAC/AMP combo.  Or you can use the adaptor and get analog line out on the usual pins of the 30 pin port.

 

[krismusic]

Thanks very much for that clear explanation of what is going on. I am currently using HO out but a friend put me wise. IPhone set to max volume gain on amp set to minimum and volume controlled from amp. Sounds much better. I have an adaptor on order. Thanks again.