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

[raptor18]

  This is a guess or a fact?
I ask because it sounds like an ad...
 
The problem is not that we need better dacs in headphone cables but that iPhones have crap dacs in their overpriced devices.
The only benefit is going to be for headphone makers who will benefit from finding a good synergy between their HP and the DAC they make.
 
I dont like this, but lucky for me, I never liked apple products anyway.

 
I don't agree with you, they are really good.

 

[SparkOnShore]

Apple has struck out since Steve passed. This is just another desperate example of "innovation". Wireless headphones? Dropouts of signals, hacked phone calls,...let the list of headaches begin. I'll stick to my iPhone-4 and trusty Focal Sphears. Wired.

Jony Ive -- what happened to you?

All these problems that you write apply to Bluetooth standard which is inferior for sure. Apple made their own wireless standard by this W1 chip which we hope does not present the problems of Bluetooth. We will see. Be patient, all of you...

 

[SparkOnShore]

And one more thing; You all write about innovation and research, complaining that Apple is not innovating anymore. Well, yesterday you watched a company that introduced, for the first time, a new wireless transmission protocol, in order to get over Bluetooth inherited problems which can never get resolved. That's a big sign of innovation!! I would prefer for sure a completely wireless audio without the Bluetooth problems, over tangling cables! We will wait and see how the W1 chip behaves, but the battery times given by Apple for Airpods are showing us a positive first sign!

 

[franzdom]

I have a feeling that such information is not forthcoming from Apple.

I think for most of us on Head-Fi, we won't likely rely on that adapter when we are concerned about audio fidelity, and some of us already use third-party DACs anyway with our iOS devices, and in all likelihood, they are better than the $9 adapter.

 
I think the real question is: will upgrading to iOS 10 mean the port on 6S won't work with third party DAC's like Mojo?

 

[steffi]

Mojo is not working with Lavriables on my iPhone 6 Plus with iOS 10 GM
 
It does work with CCK and Mojo supplied cable.

 

[franzdom]

 

[shotgunshane]

Per The Wirecutter:
"We confirmed that the adapter supports three-button inline mic/remote pods, so you can use the headphones you already have with no change in performance. And Apple representatives told us that the adapter should also support existing headphone-jack accessories like the Square credit card reader."

 

[Wiljen]

The issue that I see as the biggest drawback to the lightning as data out to a dac/amp built into the headphone cable, is that is requires that the entire system be powered off the phone battery or that some additional large bulky box full of batteries be carried in order to have enough power to drive anything with more than a few ohms resistance.  Having tried portable dac/amps (fiio, dbasso, xduoo) with both iphone 6s and HTC m9 I can say without reservation that they drain the device much faster than when plugging headphones directly into the jack on the device.   The immediate thing I see plaguing the lightning connected dac/amp combos is having enough current to really drive the system without causing battery life on the phone to drop like a rock.

 

[RugbyPlayer]

And one more thing; You all write about innovation and research, complaining that Apple is not innovating anymore. Well, yesterday you watched a company that introduced, for the first time, a new wireless transmission protocol, in order to get over Bluetooth inherited problems which can never get resolved. That's a big sign of innovation!! I would prefer for sure a completely wireless audio without the Bluetooth problems, over tangling cables! We will wait and see how the W1 chip behaves, but the battery times given by Apple for Airpods are showing us a positive first sign!

You're assuming companies will go all in with the w1 chip when in fact most won't. The the real rub is the fact that the w1 is inside the headphones, not the phone itself. There are already high end Bluetooth headphones, that still aren't as good as wired.

There's other inherent is issues to bluetooth. Mostly the size and space in headphones for circuitry and proper isolation now that the battery and dach and amplifier are suddenly in a much smaller pcb you will always have a less electronically isolated power supply feeding that dac and amp.

I also don't buy that the w1 will fix all of Bluetooths problems. WiFi has been around A LOT longer and still has major connection and signal strength issues. The w1 will not save Bluetooth it's just forcing a bunch of people to replace their gear if they want the iPhone 7 and innovating where it didn't need to happen. Bluetooth will always improve with or without this move by apple

 

[SparkOnShore]

You're assuming companies will go all in with the w1 chip when in fact most won't. The the real rub is the fact that the w1 is inside the headphones, not the phone itself. There are already high end Bluetooth headphones, that still aren't as good as wired.

There's other inherent is issues to bluetooth. Mostly the size and space in headphones for circuitry and proper isolation now that the battery and dach and amplifier are suddenly in a much smaller pcb you will always have a less electronically isolated power supply feeding that dac and amp.

I also don't buy that the w1 will fix all of Bluetooths problems. WiFi has been around A LOT longer and still has major connection and signal strength issues. The w1 will not save Bluetooth it's just forcing a bunch of people to replace their gear if they want the iPhone 7 and innovating where it didn't need to happen. Bluetooth will always improve with or without this move by apple

I totally disagree with you. First of all Bluetooth had plenty of time to improve and it did not. It's a protocol that cannot offer high quality audio, drains battery like hell, has inherited interference problems, delays between audio and video, continuous hiccups etc. And yes I believe that W1 chip protocol may prove to be better in all above aspects. We will see. And yes I believe that this innovation should happen because it's funny to carry around cables, have them hanging down your ears, in a world of mobility and all cellular services!

And lastly, I am certain that other companies will follow sooner or later, as they did with Apple all previous times. But even if they don't follow, if Apple produces high quality audio wireless headphones using their own protocol, it's just fine with me, under the condition that as said it will improve from the obsolete Bluetooth...

 

[jaxtherogue]

I totally disagree with you. First of all Bluetooth had plenty of time to improve and it did not. It's a protocol that cannot offer high quality audio, drains battery like hell, has inherited interference problems, delays between audio and video, continuous hiccups etc. And yes I believe that W1 chip protocol may prove to be better in all above aspects. We will see. And yes I believe that this innovation should happen because it's funny to carry around cables, have them hanging down your ears, in a world of mobility and all cellular services!

And lastly, I am certain that other companies will follow sooner or later, as they did with Apple all previous times. But even if they don't follow, if Apple produces high quality audio wireless headphones using their own protocol, it's just fine with me, under the condition that as said it will improve from the obsolete Bluetooth...

From all reports the W1 chip is not a new protocol but Apple's own implementation of Bluetooth. Bluetooth with a wrapper for easier pairing and state reporting. And according to the Apple website it's AAC to the AirPods- so lossy.
 
Not quite so innovative.

 

[RugbyPlayer]

I totally disagree with you. First of all Bluetooth had plenty of time to improve and it did not. It's a protocol that cannot offer high quality audio, drains battery like hell, has inherited interference problems, delays between audio and video, continuous hiccups etc. And yes I believe that W1 chip protocol may prove to be better in all above aspects. We will see. And yes I believe that this innovation should happen because it's funny to carry around cables, have them hanging down your ears, in a world of mobility and all cellular services!

And lastly, I am certain that other companies will follow sooner or later, as they did with Apple all previous times. But even if they don't follow, if Apple produces high quality audio wireless headphones using their own protocol, it's just fine with me, under the condition that as said it will improve from the obsolete Bluetooth...

You do know that the w1 chip is in fact still using the Bluetooth protocal right? And saying Bluetooth hasn't improved is outright bogus

 

[bosiemoncrieff]

re bluetooth, my bottom line is lossless or bust. talk to me when it can transfer flac reliably for an hour at a time without connection blips.

 

[catspaw]

   
I don't agree with you, they are really good.

http://archimago.blogspot.com/2014/10/measurements-apple-iphone-4-iphone-6.html
 
No, they are not. Other way, a Dac in a cable would not outperform them.

 

[CanadianMaestro]

  re bluetooth, my bottom line is lossless or bust. talk to me when it can transfer flac reliably for an hour at a time without connection blips.

I'm with you on this, mate.