iPhone 7 Will Revolutionize Portable Audio for the First Time in a Decade

[theveterans]

There's always the SE model.

 

[dbaker1981]

There's always the SE model.

The problem I always had with the 5s and then again with the SE when I tried it was that the antenna or radios just didn't work well with my cell carrier. I could not hardly get any reception at my work. But the design looks wise was awesome I thought.

 

[Wilderness]

 
That's not how it works on a Mac. Android devices will not show up in the same file browser like you see in Windows. You have to use a freeware tool called Android Transfer Program or "ATP" for short. While you also simply drag and drop files into ATP, it has a nasty habit of freezing up if the amount of files you are transferring is too big. It will also hang sometimes if the device goes into screen lock mode. Some Android devices work better than others but in my personal experience each one had it's own quirks when it came to using ATP. My prior AK240 would not transfer more than about 20 GB of files at a time and would only work with certain USB cables.

I use the Export for iTunes app to sync my iTunes playlist from my iMac to my Sony ZX2 DAP.  It works well and is easy to use.  The developer is responsive, too.
 
Syncing with that app takes about 26 minutes for my 3,350 song playlist.  That is a long time compared to syncing from my iMac to an iPhone, but it never freezes and it works every time.
 
The app is in the Appstore.

 

[CanadianMaestro]

I liked the 5s design myself.

I have the 4, and have no urge to "upgrade". It's fabulous.
(Haven't even upped the iOS on it!)

 

[Double-A]

CanadianMaestro, if Apple went back to that look with the iPhone 8, would you consider upgrading your phone? (Let's just leave the question of whether it has or doesn't have a headphone jack out of the equation).

 

[Wilderness]

 
Certainly, it would be even easier if Apple directly supported FLAC in the built-in Music app, but frankly, I have found the Music app has degraded in quality sufficiently enough since my first iPhone (3GS) that I don't find third-party players to degrade my experience, but in fact, to upgrade it.
 
As for transferring music using third party software, again, that isn't much of a different experience than syncing the Apple-blessed solution of iTunes.  
 
I used to use sync my music from iTunes to my phone, but now I just use iTunes Match and download my iTunes content on demand, or stream it.
 
Thus, lossless music isn't part of that experience in any case, since, at least from my memory, ALAC is not supported in iTunes Match -- you'll get AAC-256 versions of the music.
 
In any case, I rarely use anything besides Tidal for lossless on my iPhone. 

I use the JetAudio app to play music on my iPhone and iPad.  The app is free but then it has in app purchases such as the Bongiovi sound profile, which I got for just $2.99.  I then selected the Phoenix sound option, which is recommended.  This combination produces fantastic sound, even with AAC files, that blows away the iOS stock music player.  It also looks a lot better and even offers the option of full screen art.  It will also play high resolution music, although without art and only in folder view, and doing that would require a capable external DAC such as the Dragonfly Red or Black.

 

[Wilderness]

Third-party apps give you FLAC on iOS.

Had Android before for about 6 months - Samsung Galaxy S3, loved the screen, but like many, prefer iOS experience to Android experience.

Has anyone found a third party app that will play lossless on iOS devices and show the album art?  And sync playlists?  I found an app that will play lossless but it does not show art with those files.  The app I use, JetAudio, will automatically show all of the music from the stock player (and the album art) but those files are all lossy AAC.

 

[bflat]

 
I use the Export for iTunes app to sync my iTunes playlist from my iMac to my Sony ZX2 DAP.  It works well and is easy to use.  The developer is responsive, too.
 
Syncing with that app takes about 26 minutes for my 3,350 song playlist.  That is a long time compared to syncing from my iMac to an iPhone, but it never freezes and it works every time.
 
The app is in the Appstore.

Cool. I'll check it out as there may still be an AK DAP in my future even though I swore I would never buy another LOL.

 

[CanadianMaestro]

CanadianMaestro, if Apple went back to that look with the iPhone 8, would you consider upgrading your phone? (Let's just leave the question of whether it has or doesn't have a headphone jack out of the equation).

No, AA.
 
iPhone for me is for calling and messaging/emailing.
For portable music, I use iPod Classic-160. Under-appreciated but very musical on the go.
 
cheers

 

[Double-A]

No, AA.

iPhone for me is for calling and messaging/emailing.
For portable music, I use iPod Classic-160. Under-appreciated but very musical on the go.

cheers

I like to use a subscription to Apple Music to listen to my music. I know, it isn't audiophile quality. But I also don't claim to be an audiophile, so that is OK.

 

[bosiemoncrieff]

1. so i'm curious about the competition between great portable player/dac/amps (pono? most phones pre-7) vs dac/amp/transducers (n90q—and AKG, if you're reading this, PLEASE give us lightning connectors—EL8 titanium, etc). If IP7 is any indication, we're moving to the latter paradigm.
2. I've heard that EL8 multiple times at the apple store. I just can't get into it. The sound is only ok, and it doesn't do great isolation. I wish someone other than Bose could do excellent noise cancellation. EL8T is a paltry $100 less than the discounted HD800s we're seeing links to on the HD800 thread? Give me a break.
3. Finally, what phone has best built in amp/dac? They  may be on the way out, but what's the gold standard?

 

[elfary]

Now my only great expectation is for Shure to produce my loving and reasonably priced SE215 as wireless version with W1 chip!! This will be the end for me!

My dear Elfary this one's for you!

I think I am gonna write an email to Shure begging them to consider...

Funnily enough, as i emailed them earlier this week when they sent me new SE846s i was tempted to suggest them to develop a Lightning to MMCX cable: little lower required, just low distortion and low Zout,

 

[bmichels]

I recently tried to connect my iPHONE 6 to the WA8 dac/amp.  
 
Worked fine, but... the volume control of the iPhone was still operational.  
 
--> Is there a way to output digital with fixed volume in order to use only the volume control of the extenal DAC/AMP ?
 

 
.

 

[CoryGillmore]

  I recently tried to connect my iPHONE 6 to the WA8 dac/amp.  
 
Worked fine, but... the volume control of the iPhone was still operational.  
 
--> Is there a way to output digital with fixed volume in order to use only the volume control of the extenal DAC/AMP ?
 

 
.

You did this via Lightning connector and still had volume control on the phone? That should only happen when using the headphone out or AUX (in the car). But I connect via USB in the car so no volume control on phone, as it should be.

 

[dbaker1981]

• so i'm curious about the competition between great portable player/dac/amps (pono? most phones pre-7) vs dac/amp/transducers (n90q—and AKG, if you're reading this, PLEASE give us lightning connectors—EL8 titanium, etc). If IP7 is any indication, we're moving to the latter paradigm.
• I've heard that EL8 multiple times at the apple store. I just can't get into it. The sound is only ok, and it doesn't do great isolation. I wish someone other than Bose could do excellent noise cancellation. EL8T is a paltry $100 less than the discounted HD800s we're seeing links to on the HD800 thread? Give me a break.
• Finally, what phone has best built in amp/dac? They  may be on the way out, but what's the gold standard?

In a month the best phone for music will no doubt be the LG V20. I'd say right now the best is the HTC10.