[PL4Y3R 0N3]

In the spirit of the quickly approaching iPhone 7, I wanted to see about starting a thread discussing the idea of lightning port headphone cables. There are already a few out there but I predict a large spike in the amount of them either directly before or after its release.
Personally I am exited by the idea. I feel like if they do it properly it Gould be a huge success in phone audio quality as the lightning adapter allows for built in amp/dac in the headphones cable. But it could be a flop if they cannot get enough companies on board and there are a disappointing number of headphones. If that's the case people will be stuck using an adapter that will probably be very easy to lose.
What's your opinion?

 

[donato]

In the general market (i.e. non-audiophile), not really sure what the upside is for everyone.  Sound quality isn't the primary concern if MP3-quality files are typical source.  Having to carry a dongle is a pain, esp. once you lose it.  Maybe bluetooth audio is the way people want to go (so again, I assume sound quality not number one priority), but having to charge your headset seems like a pain to me, but what do I know.
 
For myself, I don't generally use my phone as a source for music (use a DAP), but I do also have an Audioquest Dragonfly Red and an Oppo HA-2 which will both connect via lightning cable so I'll use that.

 

[PL4Y3R 0N3]

In the general market (i.e. non-audiophile), not really sure what the upside is for everyone.  Sound quality isn't the primary concern if MP3-quality files are typical source.  Having to carry a dongle is a pain, esp. once you lose it.  Maybe bluetooth audio is the way people want to go (so again, I assume sound quality not number one priority), but having to charge your headset seems like a pain to me, but what do I know.

For myself, I don't generally use my phone as a source for music (use a DAP), but I do also have an Audioquest Dragonfly Red and an Oppo HA-2 which will both connect via lightning cable so I'll use that.

I think a nice touch would be an adapter with some sort of clip to stay on the jack. The thing that would be good for the consumer would be that the headphone companies would be able to make higher impedance headphones I believe.

 

[mcnicks]

I imagine Apple sees the future is low power Bluetooth for consumer headphones and much else. I would be surprised if they weren't thinking about how to remove the lightning dock and the external buttons as well.

 

[PL4Y3R 0N3]

I imagine Apple sees the future is low power Bluetooth for consumer headphones and much else. I would be surprised if they weren't thinking about how to remove the lightning dock and the external buttons as well.

Removing the physical home button would be a mistake I think. I dislike phones that have no physical home button because physical home buttons are faster and more convenient than having to try to get a bar to appear at the bottom (which usually takes like 8 tries.) j think it would be cool if they left the space there but removed the physical, pressable button, but I could see that having problems, lots of problems.

 

[mcnicks]

I was thinking more about the way they implement trackpads and force touch displays just now: buttons with no physical mechanism that use haptic feedback.

 

[PL4Y3R 0N3]

I could see it but I could also see the pain it would be. Accidentally tapping the home button, slow reaction times, the whole nine yards.