[pekingduck]

I bought Neutron last week but found out it doesn't support iTunes playlist folders on my 6... What a bummer 

 

[Baroninkjet]

I tried the same albums streaming on Spotify extreme vs Apple lossless files in iOS player, and  Spotify won every time. It will be interesting to try Neutron one of these days.

 

[smaragd]

For what it's worth... Neutron has the ability to play streams as well.... be interested to hear if anyone with premium spotify has been able to stream via Neutron...

 

[moedawg140]

I bought Neutron last week but found out it doesn't support iTunes playlist folders on my 6... What a bummer 

Whenever I made playlists (that is how I manage my iTunes music) through iTunes and/or the iPhone itself (I'm using the iPhone 6) Neutron is able to recognize it on its own. I did have a slight issue with it recognizing a new playlist that I created and all I had to do for it to recognize the new playlist was to close the app, and open Neutron again, and it was able to find and play the new playlist.

Other than that, I'm not sure why Neutron wouldn't be able to read your playlists, because that is what Neutron and most music/media playback apps are able to do from the get-go.

 

[fatwok]

I am thinking of upgrading my iphone 4 to 4s with 64gb of storage.  How do the 6 and 6+ compared to the 4s?  has anyone done a direct comparison?

 

[Zoom25]

I didn't know there were fancy apps for better sound on iOS. I use Amarra and Audirvana Plus for computer use and the processor/engines actually do make a noticeable difference. I didn't think iOS had the capability for that. Can you use Neutron for streaming Sony's Music Unlimited?
 
Also, how do these apps sound when the iPhone is used as a transport to another DAC.

 

[moedawg140]

For what it's worth... Neutron has the ability to play streams as well.... be interested to hear if anyone with premium spotify has been able to stream via Neutron...

Based on what I've read, Spotify music can only be listened through their specific apps because the music is DRM encrypted. I also read that there are certain extensions that exploit and bypass the DRM encryption.

Regarding streaming via Neutron, you would have to point Neutron to something like an audio file directory (like your own home server through a url). There are probably other ways, but the few sites that I tried streaming via url did not work for me. I would rather use Spotify itself to stream, as having to copy and paste each music or playlist file url in Neutron is not the most convenient. I only use Neutron to playback local files on my iPhone 6, and that's it. Everything else regarding audio playback, I use Spotify Premium.

 

[LFC_SL]

Mobile Spotify Free = Shuffle play

Desktop and Tablet Spotify Free = Any song on demand

Premium = No adverts, no time limits and blah blah. See website

For me Spotify free on the mini retina is amazingly too generous because I hardly ever hit the limit between CD rotations, podcast subs and other things taking up my time. The occasional advert is small price to pay (although now more frequent than initial invitation trial back in the day)

 

[moedawg140]

I didn't know there were fancy apps for better sound on iOS. I use Amarra and Audirvana Plus for computer use and the processor/engines actually do make a noticeable difference. I didn't think iOS had the capability for that. Can you use Neutron for streaming Sony's Music Unlimited?

Also, how do these apps sound when the iPhone is used as a transport to another DAC.

Not sure. To find out though, I would either contact Neutron support, or purchase the app and try it out myself to see if Sony's Music Unlimited (or any other service) was compatible with Neutron.

When I demoed multiple DACs and amps at the L.A. Head-Fi meet using Spotify Premium and Neutron (using the iPhone), both sounded great.

 

[moedawg140]

Mobile Spotify Free = Shuffle play

Desktop and Tablet Spotify Free = Any song on demand

Premium = No adverts, no time limits and blah blah. See website

For me Spotify free on the mini retina is amazingly too generous because I hardly ever hit the limit between CD rotations, podcast subs and other things taking up my time. The occasional advert is small price to pay (although now more frequent than initial invitation trial back in the day)

Free is great, don't get me wrong, yet on Spotify - Free you can not choose the Extreme setting (320kbs). With Premium I have unlimited skip tracks and can fast forward and rewind as well. I also help the company out by paying them, so hopefully they will create a better listening experience for everyone.

 

[Dixter]

  I didn't know there were fancy apps for better sound on iOS. I use Amarra and Audirvana Plus for computer use and the processor/engines actually do make a noticeable difference. I didn't think iOS had the capability for that. Can you use Neutron for streaming Sony's Music Unlimited?
 
Also, how do these apps sound when the iPhone is used as a transport to another DAC.

They sound great to another DAC....  another app that good and also plays FLAC and DSD is  Onkyo HF Player.... it will play back itunes and FLAC or DSD....  but it does not stream so you should have one of the iphones with the larger storage capacity ...

 

[krismusic]

I am thinking of upgrading my iphone 4 to 4s with 64gb of storage.  How do the 6 and 6+ compared to the 4s?  has anyone done a direct comparison?

I haven't heard the 6 but the 4S was nicer to my ears than the 5S.

 

[moedawg140]

They sound great to another DAC....  another app that good and also plays FLAC and DSD is  Onkyo HF Player.... it will play back itunes and FLAC or DSD....  but it does not stream so you should have one of the iphones with the larger storage capacity ...

I agree, after checking it out, I can say there is not enough of a discernible difference in sound quality to rule out either. Onkyo, to my ears sounds great as well and is the only application that comes close or even on par with the sound quality of Neutron Player.

The Onkyo HD Player pack (FLAC, WAV, DSD playback) is an IAP of $9.99, which comes with the Neutron app when you purchase it. The Onkyo app does start off free though, so that is great if you do not intend to play high res music from the player - if you do, plan on paying $9.99.

I do like the EQ user interface as well as the "Featured EQ" presets - fun to try out. There may not be as many comprehensive and thorough settings/options as Neutron, but both apps sound great regardless of anything other than the processing/upsampling modes being set to 64-Bit/turned on - both are pure portable bliss.

 

[Jnjy]

Just sharing my 2c.
Immediately noticeable to me is that the 6+ seems to have a V-shaped character compared to the 5. I guess this experience echoes reviews saying "more detailed" due to bumps in high and low regions. I'd say though that the warmer quality of the 5 sounds definitely more natural to me and that I'd ironically consider more detailed. Fearing the more natural response of the 5 is lost, I got alternative apps with EQ to see if the 6+ can follow a 5-like response and so far seems it can. Another interesting observation is after EQ, impact and tightness also follows the 5 character. Without EQ, I'd say the 6+ sounds slow and bloated vs the 5.

Cheers

Ok. Now that iOS 8.0.2 and 8.1 is out, I'm hearing major differences vs iOS 8.0.0. Keeping it short, the 6+ now sounds very close to how iPhone 5 does. Airy, present sub bass, natural not boosted midbass, great mids.

Somebody in the Apple audio dept must have done some work.

 

[pekingduck]

Whenever I made playlists (that is how I manage my iTunes music) through iTunes and/or the iPhone itself (I'm using the iPhone 6) Neutron is able to recognize it on its own. I did have a slight issue with it recognizing a new playlist that I created and all I had to do for it to recognize the new playlist was to close the app, and open Neutron again, and it was able to find and play the new playlist.

Other than that, I'm not sure why Neutron wouldn't be able to read your playlists, because that is what Neutron and most music/media playback apps are able to do from the get-go.

Neutron IS able to recognise my playlists but they aren't arranged in folders created under iTunes.