[andromeda1954]

I have the new iphone 6s plus and my wife just received her iphone 6s . Both phones are absolute free of buzzing hissing or clicking or whatever . I tried everything  swiping up the  controlcenter, adjust the  brightness slider back and forth . switch between apps while playing Glenn Gould Goldberg Variations 15a Canone alla Quinta Andante . Nothing ,the SQ is just amazing on both devices .I personally prefer the 6s plus above the 6 plus soundwise . I use the Sennheiser Ie800 and the HD 800. I also did connect the 6s plus to my iFI iDSD micro and again no problem .Maybe the Sennnheisers are not sensitive enough although both are considered to be sensitive, which also applies for the iFI DSD Micro . Apple sold almost 20 million new Iphones 6s and 6s plus. How many are affected with the buzzing issue? I think it is barely an issue for Apple, not a issue like bendgate was . The the biggest part of the iphone 6s and 6s plus are good. and give no problems Maybe a small part of the first series likely have a manufacturing error.  A part of the first series of the 6 and the 6 plus had camera problems .   

 

[a_recording]

@elfrey, I don't disagree with you. I'm just trying to give some perspective to our lurkers.

 
I think it's important to give perspective as well. As I've said from the beginning, most people in most situations with most earphones won't hear the noise. But it's also not a great idea to generalise from your own experiments to say that the noise is not a problem as long as you don't touch the phone at all while listening. At least on a number of IEMs I own, it will pick up noise from normal background operations during music playback.
 
Is it going to render the phone unusable? No. Is it worse than previous generations? Yes. Is it a $1000 phone? Yes.
 
Remember that Apple is a company that likes to let people in to write stories about how their engineers fret over the noise their mouse feet make. Obsessiveness and attention to detail is meant to be a company culture for them. Or at least its marketed that way.
 

By the way, does anyone know what is the best way to give Apple feedback on this, short of calling them? Or is calling really the only way?

 
Without starting off a repair case on phone support, you can just send a bug report via http://www.apple.com/feedback/.
 
My expectation is that they will just issue a silent revision and issue guidelines to their employees to replace the phones for customers who come in with this specific complaint. Since the issue is confined to such a small number of people (both in terms of awareness and scope), its probably the most frictionless way to handle this for them.

 

[headfry]

I fully agree with those that have been finding their 6s and 6s pluses free of this "buzzing" issue (I am sure the issue exists for some
headphones, probably sensitive in-ears, on some examples of these phones, however I would venture that plenty of other makes of phones can be found to have this or worse).
 
For the record, I have not heard ANY buzzing or anything other than fantastic sound quality out of my iPhone 6s Plus, at least the equal of my iPad Air, maybe better. I listen with Grado SR80e's and SR325e's and enjoy both immensely - straight out of the headphone jack.
BTW, for those that can afford the 325e's and are audiophiles at heart, I recommend shooting for those instead of the 80e's for critical listening and best long term enjoyment, however the 80e's are great for the price and very comfortable.
 
So, I'm not denying that some iPhone 6s's together with certain types of headphones may exhibit this, however in my opinion
this has been way over-sensationalized and is all out of proportion to the few affected. Every time an iPhone comes out, it seems
that someone has to find some problem and go viral with it.
 
Yes, it's an expensive phone. To me and to most of the audiophiles (and all kinds of other users out there), worth every penny.

 

[seires]

   
I think it's important to give perspective as well. As I've said from the beginning, most people in most situations with most earphones won't hear the noise. But it's also not a great idea to generalise from your own experiments to say that the noise is not a problem as long as you don't touch the phone at all while listening. At least on a number of IEMs I own, it will pick up noise from normal background operations during music playback.

This is probably going to sound rude or noob. But do we have a relatively more friendly and precise number of the sensitivity to determine if the buzzing will be audible (say 15 db) on a certain earphone? In the description of the video, it's said that a gain of 80db is used, but I don't quite know how to 'translate' it into this.

 

[a_recording]

 
this has been way over-sensationalized and is all out of proportion to the few affected. Every time an iPhone comes out, it seems
that someone has to find some problem and go viral with it.

 
As far as I know this forum is basically the only place where people are actively talking and swapping notes about this issue. You would expect this kind of discussion about an issue that only really affects users with some fancier IEMs (so far we have not been able to nominate a single pair of headphones that can pick up this noise, which is sort of interesting in itself). It's not being splashed on the front pages of Gizmodo or Macrumors etc. etc. Seems like an appropriate level of 'buzz' to me.
 

  This is probably going to sound rude or noob. But do we have a relatively more friendly and precise number of the sensitivity to determine if the buzzing will be audible (say 15 db) on a certain earphone? In the description of the video, it's said that a gain of 80db is used, but I don't quite know how to 'translate' it into this.

 
I'm afraid we don't really have that as an easy number. It's been oddly inconsistent. I picked up the buzzing on an earphone with a 100dB sensitivity and 24 ohms of impedance (XBA-C10), which isn't all that sensitive just going off the rated figures. Considering that sensitivity varies at different frequencies, you would first have to look at the impedance / frequency response graphs of an earphone to have a guess whether or not it will be affected.
 
Easiest way so far just seems to be from user reports. Maybe I should start a spreadsheet with all the affected un/affected models.

 

[headfry]

your reply is precise and well stated, accepted.
 
 
 
FWIW, I like your avatar...very cool

 

[vwinter]

Hmm, now we may be on to something. Will need to test force touch and my Legend.

So ultimately no impact to critical listening, as one doesn't use the app switcher or Facebook or safari during critical listening. But casual listening while browsing social media and the internet may be impacted for some with very sensitive iems.

Yea any screen interaction for me with the Heaven V amplifies it, but I feel like it's just there as a conduit. There's probably shielding but no one expected this level of EMI caused by whatever.

@elfrey, I don't disagree with you. I'm just trying to give some perspective to our lurkers. Everything on the internet tends to be utter trash or unicorns and rainbows, especially when Apple and/or Android is involved. So while certainly a step backward in this particular aspect of iPhones, IMO it doesn't relegate it to unusable. I think it sounds great, comparable but different to my 5S, but certain user situations may make it a no go for some. I'd definitely recommend doing what you did, test for yourself at a store or buy with option to return if not satisfied, to see if the issues are relevant for each user. I'd also say there has been trend the last couple of years of more uber sensitive iems, so any noise is more an issue today than it would have been in the days of the iPhone 3 and 4.

By the way, does anyone know what is the best way to give Apple feedback on this, short of calling them? Or is calling really the only way? Maybe I'll shoot Gizmodo an email about it. That would certainly grab attention with all the opinionated shouting they do.

This was my exact initial thought. Still considering it. Link the thread, the videos, why not. If anything it could be one of those "does yours do this?" posts.

I fully agree with those that have been finding their 6s and 6s pluses free of this "buzzing" issue (I am sure the issue exists for some
headphones, probably sensitive in-ears, on some examples of these phones, however I would venture that plenty of other makes of phones can be found to have this or worse).

For the record, I have not heard ANY buzzing or anything other than fantastic sound quality out of my iPhone 6s Plus, at least the equal of my iPad Air, maybe better. I listen with Grado SR80e's and SR325e's and enjoy both immensely - straight out of the headphone jack.
BTW, for those that can afford the 325e's and are audiophiles at heart, I recommend shooting for those instead of the 80e's for critical listening and best long term enjoyment, however the 80e's are great for the price and very comfortable.

So, I'm not denying that some iPhone 6s's together with certain types of headphones may exhibit this, however in my opinion
this has been way over-sensationalized and is all out of proportion to the few affected. Every time an iPhone comes out, it seems
that someone has to find some problem and go viral with it.

Yes, it's an expensive phone. To me and to most of the audiophiles (and all kinds of other users out there), worth every penny.

Yea, the two YouTube videos, one Reddit thread, and the unruly mob scene here with the 14 whole pages and the 10 or so of us posting is completely out of hand.

 

[a_recording]

I'm sure you know this, but given Gizmodo's usual way of operating, if you do pass something on to them, try to give them a clear perspective of the scope of the problem and the mix of findings contained even in this thread. Besides my videos and this thread, these other URLs might be useful as well:
 
http://forums.macrumors.com/threads/6s-static-on-car-stereo.1923079/
http://www.head-fi.org/t/627111/what-is-the-sound-quality-of-iphone-ipad-ipod-touch/180#post_11983967
 
This is such a technical and nit-picky kind of issue. Based on past experiences I've tried to be very careful not to sensationalise this issue or make statements without some kind of confirmation from other users. 
 
It's frustrating: on the one hand, I want people to know about this because it's a performance regression and if Apple thinks that people won't notice it when they mess around with the headphone out, then all future models of iPhone might have issues as well. Future models that I would personally like to buy and enjoy.  On the other hand, it's such a small thing that people will inevitably dismiss it when they don't hear it on their own gear, which will be the case for almost anyone.
 
We still don't even know if this is batch related or design related. But I think we're hitting a wall here as far as finding out more information.

 

[elfary]

May be starting a list with the earphones that allow to pick up the buzzing might help to find a pattern:
 
Based in my own experience:
 
Shure Se535 - 119 db/mW 36 ohms Impedance (at 1000Hz)

 

[speakerphone]

http://www.seeko.co.kr/zboard4/zboard.php?id=m_device&no=39

iPhone 6S measurement
*Measurement by dScope III, All results measured in accordance with AES17

 

[shotgunshane]

Looks 3.3 ohm output impedance on the 6s, which is AK territory

 

[krismusic]

http://www.seeko.co.kr/zboard4/zboard.php?id=m_device&no=39

iPhone 6S measurement
*Measurement by dScope III, All results measured in accordance with AES17

I'm a total dunce when it comes to graphs and specs. Can anyone enlighten me as to what these measurements mean?

 

[elfary]

I'm a total dunce when it comes to graphs and specs. Can anyone enlighten me as to what these measurements mean?

 
Since they have measured the headphone port without a headphone/dummy load connected the measurements mean nothing at all.

 

[vwinter]

Since they have measured the headphone port without a headphone/dummy load connected the measurements mean nothing at all.

Second set of screenshots are with a 32 ohm load, mx400 listed. Have been that way since I skimmed in the AM.


Meh about the 3.3 ohm impedance =/, but not totally unexpected. I guessed 2-3.

Does anyone know any technical considerations or compromises that would make them want to not get the output impedance below 1ohm?

 

[seires]

 
 
I'm afraid we don't really have that as an easy number. It's been oddly inconsistent. I picked up the buzzing on an earphone with a 100dB sensitivity and 24 ohms of impedance (XBA-C10), which isn't all that sensitive just going off the rated figures. Considering that sensitivity varies at different frequencies, you would first have to look at the impedance / frequency response graphs of an earphone to have a guess whether or not it will be affected.

 
Sony listed the sensitivity of xba-c10 to be 106dB. Maybe they're just boasting. Where did you get the 100dB figure?