Yeah, totally like Samsung. www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2521284/Samsung-attempts-silence-report-Galaxy-S4-catching-angry-customer-uploads-UA-cam-video.html
do you know how long ago the s4 was? they learned from their mistakes and haven't done that since the s4 Apple still doesn't admit to their mistakes thus making Samsung the better company.
No, the difference in audio quality is not noticeable through the adapter. Now if you use straight lightning you get... "When using a Lightning connection, headphones manufacturers can use their own higher quality digital signal processor, digital-to-analog converter (DAC), and amplifier in order to create a deeper, more full sound. Traditional headphones have to rely on what the iPhone can do with its own analogue circuitry. Lightning headphones? Not so much." www.redmondpie.com/lightning-vs-3.5mm-headphone-jack-5-reasons-why-apple-made-the-right-decision-with-iphone-7/ Which will wield better sound quality than the previous iPhone could.
Granted you need to invest on a good pair of headphones but that is one of the reasons Apple pushed this setup...money. And you can't blame them because it is a business after all.
That's true. But that means it doesn't matter if we use a headphone jack, usb-c or lightning. It depends on the headphones/headset you buy and how well they're made.
Even so, doesn't seem very worth all that money if it's hardly noticeable in comparison. Most people that truly care about their mobile audio probably already have one of those portable amplifiers for their high tier analog headphones. This may take a decade or 2 to replace analog.
Trying to keep all of this above board. It's a shame when we've got that rush to put out content, means its more likely things like this will happen, but we gotta keep that record straight.
8 років тому
This is why I love Pocketnow. The verge would never do this kind of video.
A lot of reviewers said how the 3.5mm jack was old, and moving to digital audio was good. It may be really a 'courage' as Apple said. I do not mind ditching the 3.5. What I do mind is that Apple replaced it with a proprietary solution. If Apple replaced it with a standard outlet like USB type C, it could really have been a progress. We all know that no other phone companies will ever adopt the Lightning, so this means that there will never be universal headphones that you can use with the iPhone 7 and also with the devices from other manufacturers as you could do with the 3.5. If you praise Apple for this move, how will you respond if other companies follow this "courageous innovation" and create their own digital audio outlets? You use headphone1 for an iPhone 7, headphone2 for a Samsung TV, headphone3 for a Dell laptop, headphone4 for a Lenovo Android tablet.... see the problem?
Totally agree with this, and i use an iPhone. On one hand it's great knowing that hardware and software work together. But on the other, the exclusivity for the sake of profit and not true innovation is kinda like an anchor on progress. Apple probably should have used USB C, or at least in the next 2 years. Guess they'll keep digging their hole until people are unwilling to follow them. Everyone hates iOS 10, but I know Apple won't go back because that's admitting a mistake on their part (just like how they refuse to acknowledge the iPhone 6 screen issue). At least android works out the bugs as they go whereas Apple always seems to create their own problems :/
+Jamie Stone Huh??? From the S1 to the S7, they had been using the microUSB. Only till Note 7 they changed to USB-C. How is that "Android phones change there charging ports all the time"? They only changed once. They just moved on to a newer USB standard. Also remember Apple 30 pin to Lightning?
First time on your channel, and I just wanted to say I think it is really cool of you to go back and say you messed up on the iPhone audio information. I really enjoy and respect people who put out true information and reviews about the tech we all love.
I got give it to Pocketnow and Juan: not many tech bloggers would make a video correcting a mistake they did on a previous video. Most of them just make tons and tons of mistakes and when people point them out they just ignore and call them "haters" Good job Pocketnow P.S. - Since your team is getting smaller, where can I apply for a job? :D
What ever the case is, the fact that a phone that costs so much can't give you better audio than the previous model, unless you spend more money on expensive headphones, when you compare it to the htc 10, or the lg v20 or others that have DAC's and give you better audio out of the box , you have to ask why Apple don't do the same, and we probably know the answer to that.
My respect for Juan is just increasing and increasing.The way he delivers his reviews,the details,the minutiae and most important of all CORRECTIONS(updates) just proves how great a tech reviewer he is.A Fantastic job Juan.Love it!
I tell ya what, this guy is impressively good in every single one of his reviews/videos. I don't own or plan on owning an iPhone, but I watched this twice! Not only did he have a great opening with his admittance of error and humble honesty, but he remains engaging, entertaining, and VERY efficient and objective. I find it impressive how fluidly he goes back and forth between sharing specs and data and the opinions he forms on those. Keep up the good work Juan! And nice little shout out to the Honor 8 ☺
Just to add my two cents..This is ridiculous! Someone correct me if I am wrong on this: Before the whole removal of the headphone jack fiasco, you were assured of having a decent quality DAC because there was one built into your iPhone and connected to the headphone jack. There was no need to worry about your headphones providing their own quality DAC. Now the DAC in your iPhone only drives the internal speakers! This means that the Lightning headphones you buy for the iPhone 7 will be even more expensive because they have to provide their own DAC. What a ridiculous ripoff. #Courage!
Ok. Glad I came back to see this correction. I wish you would've annotated the other video. Also I've done my own subjective testing and I recommend anyone to use the adapter with a decent pair of headphones on their iPhone 6, then switch between built in jack and the adapter. There's a noticeable difference in audio quality, favoring the lightning jack.
Appreciate the accurate information and honesty. A Lot of tech reviewers get things wrong and never correct themselves or even admit they were wrong. Thanks Juan
Nice update. The DAC you tested tho, *is* the DAC most people will end up hearing when using 3.5 mm headphones AND it's measurably worse than what went before That's a little sad.
Excuse me...I still use my iphone 6 for songs cause indeed it sounds better and sooner the flac is coming in Apple music ..the DAC system become important now
Juan, I think you might still be thinking about the limitations of ANALOG audio(a stereo in/out per device). Digital audio passes the smarts to the earphones/speakers. Digital audio will allow multi speaker VR head sets, multi channel outputs, smart head sets etc. It is not about the jack, it is about the analog port that needs to die so that smart audio to have its revolution.
THIS, i've been saying this to my friend who's thinking about buying the iphone 7. me myself almost never use the headphone jack on any phone, because i use an external DAC (Chord Mojo) but to other people the removing of the headphone jack means that you'll be buying a DAC everytime you buy an earphone, which mean it'll be more expensive! no more 5$ earphone (VE monk, i'm looking at you)
On the flipside, while more expensive, an external DAC can produce better audio. However it's not like you can't just use a USB-C port to do the same thing
Mojo is really good. I tried one that a co-worker brought in once. I personally use an Oppo HA-2 paired to my iPhone 7 which i also think is good and quite portable.
Bernard Sanders I was actually considering HA2 & Mojo before ended up with Mojo. Most important reasonable I chose Mojo is because it is more capable to drives more headphones. However, HA2 is more portable and stack nicer with mobile. I also wish somebody can come out with a specia case for Mojo that can stack nicely with smartphone.
It's interesting that there's a DAC in the headphone adapter and honestly that's how I envisioned it when Apple made the announcement. I'm actually glad that it's that way because it simplifies everything in my head. That the lightning port is the same in the iPhone 7 as is in the iPhone 5. Honestly I wouldn't be surprised if some headphone manufacturers believed it to be a benefit that they can now supply a DAC with their headphones. Because now they can guarantee a base level of quality no matter what source the user plugs them into. Which was a genuine concern when you took good headphones and plugged them into a shitty source. Now at least there's some sort of solution for that in one small corner of the world.
You guys are the best tech Chanel on youtube, only great people recognize its mistakes. Thank you so much in name on humanity for show... well, some humanity :)
The DAC being in the adapter makes sense. While using it on my 7 the lighting end of the adapter gets slightly warm compared to the 3.5 mm headphone jack end
Juan, totally understand your logic man. I was kinda confused myself as to why the audio sounds fantastic on the Phillips fidelio headphones opposed to the included headphones.
More like, headphone audio will still be the same if you use the apple-provided dongle. If you get better lightning headphones, it'll depend on the DAC (audio processor) that those headphones will bring.
I was originally under the impression you guys were aware that the audio jack connector had a built in DAC on board in your original video, thus realizing that the results you guys got were obviously based on the quality of the audio jack connector that apple included, which was bound to give you mediocre results because let's be honest, why would apple include a decent quality connector? The fact they're charging $9 for it probably means it cost them $1 to produce. Glad you guys fixed the error. Would be great to see you guys follow up with great new audio products that come out which take advantage of the digital connections going forward.
Ok now this changes my mind about the iPhone 7. When I heard that it was not digital audio coming out of the iPhone 7 I wasn't sure it was even worth all the hassle of all the changes that need to be made in order to use the iPhone 7 audio devices. Now it might be worth it!
Honestly really happy about this new DAC exploration. Now there will be more audio companies making nice DACs for the iPhone and getting even better quality. (And when using earbuds I'm not really caring about sound quality. As long as it sounds decent I'm fine. )
Well this maybe a good news for the audiophiles. They spend a lot on audio accessories. And those hi res portable media player, be it an Walkman, or PONO or Astell and Kern, all has a very limited and kinda frustrating user interface. Now they can get a good quality lightning headphones and I think that would be a good solution for them.
ROFL you are such a troll my brother. You had me laughing the whole time. You not only confused me more about DAC's, TACS or whatever else you said, that I honestly don't care about audio. ;) But you put out some funny content bro, keep it up!
Thanks for taking the time to further explain the DAC topic. I obviously want to enjoy lossless audio quality with Apple Music, so can you recommend an affordable DAC to use for the iPhone? I have the Lighting to 3.5mm headphone jack adapter I also have the Apple EarPods but what about an affordable DAC that will connect with my iPhone so I can get that higher audio quality?
So lemme get this right. Despite the fact that there is an internal DAC in the iPhone 7 it is only used to power the speakers and any headphones plugged into the 7 will be dependent on the quality of the dac built into the headphones. Furthermore it forces you to use the apple adapter if you want to continue using your wired headphones
@2:40 you said it's 1 number less than iPhone DAC whereas in the top left part of the video it's 338S100104 for Lightning DAC which is about 99999 whole number more qualified than the iPhone DAC. Just pointing it out!
Wait. There should be portable DACs supporting lightning but not mfi certified. To me that means analogue output is indeed possible through the lightning port, otherwise mfi certified deviced wouldn´t cooperate since the digital audio output on the lightning port is encrypted. Sorry I forgot what DAC that was and I´m too lazy to search for it now. But it was something from far east for audiophiles and the company was complaining about Apples policies.
Well it seems like most people are annoyed about losing the headphone jack but I am curious. This video leads me to believe that accessory makers could also make an adapter with a really good DAC incorporated right? So if you get a better converter with a better DAC does this mean it will improve the performance of regular headphones?
Sidenote: srgb mode on the HTC one a9 is incredibly color accurate to the point where my eyes say "where's the color" oh and this device also has a headphones jack with superior audio.
I have honestly never cared about headphone playback from my phones until Juan came along. I used to buy dollar store ear buds or use my phone's speakers. But when you think about the ingenuity and detail put into to the production of quality sound it's no wonder people "geek out" about it.
Even if it is the same DAC in the cabel, the audio quality will be worse, because the plastic cover will not give enough protection from interference of other signals as an aluminum cover for instance would
That was great Juan and i do appreciate it but i wish you would acknowledge the fact you got a big spec wrong with the HP Elite X3. Both you and Jules made several references to the fact it was *only* 1080P FHD and kind of poo-pooed the phone for a lack of high end specs for 2016 when in fact it has very high end specs including a 1440P QHD display.
Correct me if I'm wrong but Is that mean "Even the lightning headphones wouldn't be using internal DAC, but instead they have to process to analog within the headphones itself? So, the internal DAC is ONLY FOR SPEAKERS?"
Another thing about your original video....16bit is totally fine. I doubt there are many DACs that can actually put out anything above 20bit audio, let alone 24 or 32 bit. The reality is that the bit depth determines noise floor/maximum signal strength, and really 24bit audio isn't 100% certifiably better than 16 bit.
Ah! It makes a lot more sense now to me. You now what- for quite some time audio fanatics have tried to bypass the crappy internal dac in phones, and now its kind of a reality.
I thought the iFixit teardown found 3 DACs in the iPhone 7 ? If it is actually outputting pure digital audio then that is awesome! Even a "cheap as chips" DAC like the one in the earpods can output good quality sound so imagine what a high quality DAC in a set of Bose/Sennheiser,Audio Technica etc will output? Or even plugging your phone into a home stereo with a seriously good DAC and amp. The future is here! Just need to wait a few months for the audio manufacturers to catch up. I'll be waiting for the 7s anyway unless a manufacturer can sway me back to Android with something incredible ;)
One thing to consider here is if there are lighning extension cables available, you can potentially reduce the audio noise from a long analog cable by using a long digital cable instead. Not that there's a big need for that or that the difference will be particularly significant, but theoretically, since the digital signal is more immune to noise, keeping the length of the analog cable as short as possible should have the effect of minimizing noise. Then again, do you really need to send your audio signal from your phone over 300 feet of cable? And are 300 ft lightning cables available? Plus, are the lightning connector digital drivers in the iphone capable of driving 300 ft of cable length?
Max length of USB-C is 5m,(16ft?). A good shielded analog connector can go up to 50m before noticing anything. (Usually analog is better that digital on distance, although digital can use repeaters with no loss of quality)
This leaves the headphone company with providing the best DAC and AMP in the cord to provide the best sound to their speakers. Which is good cause with an Aux cord the phone controls it. Now it can be perfectly matched to what model of headphones you buy!
So I guess buying Sennheiser IE 80 in-ears is a waste of money for iPhone 7 with the standard adapter, right? Not to mention the awkward connection with the L shaped jack.
Thanks for clarification. Which means, yes. iPhone 7 is Crap for any Audiophile who cares for Hi fidelity. There was a time, where iPhoe had the best audio output.... well.
Smh. You're talking out of your ass and clearly not an audiophile. First, iPhones or any iPods even never had the best audio output, no clue what time you are talking about (Cowon users laugh at you). Second, the fact that you don't have to use the probably okay-ish for most people iPhone 7 DAC actually means that the iPhone 7 may just actually suit the audiophiles on the contrary because they can just bring their own DAC in the chain.
I never disputed the points you make so I'm not sure why you feel the need to say them. Yeah sure the 6s is probably the better offer as it gives the audiophile all the choices available. I am just correcting the ignorant above about why iPhone 7 is not NECESSARILY crap and may actually be perfectly fine for audiophiles.
Official music app can't but iOS does have apps that can play FLAC. I'm not sure why you think there would be this kind of limitation on 3rd party apps.
8 років тому+2
+PPN462 agreed, I'm just saying that removing the jack did nothing good in anyway in terms of sound cause you can still use Bluetooth and external DACs but it removed the most important and usable feature which was a standard audio jack.
so the Apple earpods have their own dac and amp in the remote probably and also now we have to buy only original adapters and not some cheap ones (9$ isn't bad I accept but I'm putting it out there.) also there can be a number of better adapters from 3rd parties that support more power hungry headphones. the major problem here is that we now need to analyse the quality of individual adapters and check the quality of the sound they offer (frustrating)
no no no no. A difference in a part number does not mean a difference in audio quality. Different part numbers can exist for a whole host of reasons (different packaging, pinout, etc). Analysis of the analog output is the final test, and your previous video indicated they were very similar. (which is kind of disappointing in and of itself). Too bad they didn't UPGRADE the adapter DAC and make the sound better. THAT would help negate the bad press about losing the analog jack.
I guess they need to do the same to a regular lightning cable and check if the same board is not also there.. maybe it has nothing to do with the converting to analog connector but rather a part of the regular lightning connector?!
Honestly this could give apple the chance to make a better audio adapter with a better DAC possibly hifi supported lightning adapters? I could see this happening for a good amount of cash though.
HI Would you please run the test on the lighting port on both ip 6S and the ip7 ? I'm sure the iPhone 7 sound quality is lower than the iPhone 6s, I run many test, and all of them shows that the iPhone 6s has better sound quality using the lighting port as well.
can you do an audio quality test on the gs7 edge using the adapt sound feature? by default the audio on the s7 is a bit flat... but after the audio setup I noticed something really different... audio is now more louder and crispy... also dynamic range seems to be improved. I'm very curious of what's happening with the audio on my device.. is something on the DAC or... I don't know... but I want more information about that. my s7 is the exynos variant. coming from and m8 audio will never be the same.... but after the adapt sound trick I'm pretty happy with the sound quality on the s7 edge
in terms of part numbers, its possible that it is also just a different style of casing. or a different pin layout. but regardless, well done on making another video to fix up mis-information in the previous video. not many people would do that!
also i suspect that there are going to be a LOT of hifi companies making portable DAC's for the iphone (Fiio is one of the cheaper ones) and no doubt they'll be out soon. and will vary from $10, to as much as you are willing to spend
Since it is outputting digital signal, high end headphones will sound a lot better since it should be able to use a more high quality dac than what was previously in the phone. And low end headphones will sound as good since you can just use the dac provided in the adapter. I am actually starting to understand Apples logic
I really respect people that acknowledge their mistakes and fix it rather than pretend nothing happened. It builds trust.
Yeah like Samsung but people hating on them
Yeah, totally like Samsung. www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2521284/Samsung-attempts-silence-report-Galaxy-S4-catching-angry-customer-uploads-UA-cam-video.html
do you know how long ago the s4 was? they learned from their mistakes and haven't done that since the s4 Apple still doesn't admit to their mistakes thus making Samsung the better company.
I have a friend that says THE exact same thing. loool
Batman _ 1939 😁
I have new found respect for u guys. U didn't ignore ur error in a previous video. Instead u made a new one to keep us informed
Hats Off Guys👍👍
Well I'll probably leave the hat on, I'm having a terrible skin day ;-)
JuanBagnell lol 😁 didn't mean it that way...
ROFL
so removing the headphone jack wasn't just annoying it also degrades the audio quality great
No, the difference in audio quality is not noticeable through the adapter. Now if you use straight lightning you get...
"When using a Lightning connection, headphones manufacturers can use their own higher quality digital signal processor, digital-to-analog converter (DAC), and amplifier in order to create a deeper, more full sound. Traditional headphones have to rely on what the iPhone can do with its own analogue circuitry. Lightning headphones? Not so much."
www.redmondpie.com/lightning-vs-3.5mm-headphone-jack-5-reasons-why-apple-made-the-right-decision-with-iphone-7/
Which will wield better sound quality than the previous iPhone could.
Granted you need to invest on a good pair of headphones but that is one of the reasons Apple pushed this setup...money. And you can't blame them because it is a business after all.
That's true. But that means it doesn't matter if we use a headphone jack, usb-c or lightning. It depends on the headphones/headset you buy and how well they're made.
Even so, doesn't seem very worth all that money if it's hardly noticeable in comparison. Most people that truly care about their mobile audio probably already have one of those portable amplifiers for their high tier analog headphones. This may take a decade or 2 to replace analog.
Chiller Miller or buy a phone with a high quality DAC! Like the lg v20
Dude, you're like my favorite audiophile. I like all the audio related videos you do. Keep up the good work!
Thanks for the professional work and being able to recognize your mistakes. This is why I follow you guys at poketnow for about 3-4 years now !
Trying to keep all of this above board. It's a shame when we've got that rush to put out content, means its more likely things like this will happen, but we gotta keep that record straight.
This is why I love Pocketnow. The verge would never do this kind of video.
A lot of reviewers said how the 3.5mm jack was old, and moving to digital audio was good. It may be really a 'courage' as Apple said. I do not mind ditching the 3.5. What I do mind is that Apple replaced it with a proprietary solution. If Apple replaced it with a standard outlet like USB type C, it could really have been a progress. We all know that no other phone companies will ever adopt the Lightning, so this means that there will never be universal headphones that you can use with the iPhone 7 and also with the devices from other manufacturers as you could do with the 3.5. If you praise Apple for this move, how will you respond if other companies follow this "courageous innovation" and create their own digital audio outlets? You use headphone1 for an iPhone 7, headphone2 for a Samsung TV, headphone3 for a Dell laptop, headphone4 for a Lenovo Android tablet.... see the problem?
When other companies follow there is not a chance it will be proprietary equipment. Only apple pull that shit
Android phones change there charging ports all the time at least Apple do keep it the same for a good couple of years just look at the note 7 and s7
Apple is all about proprietary if it means they get the all the profit
Totally agree with this, and i use an iPhone.
On one hand it's great knowing that hardware and software work together. But on the other, the exclusivity for the sake of profit and not true innovation is kinda like an anchor on progress. Apple probably should have used USB C, or at least in the next 2 years. Guess they'll keep digging their hole until people are unwilling to follow them. Everyone hates iOS 10, but I know Apple won't go back because that's admitting a mistake on their part (just like how they refuse to acknowledge the iPhone 6 screen issue). At least android works out the bugs as they go whereas Apple always seems to create their own problems :/
+Jamie Stone Huh??? From the S1 to the S7, they had been using the microUSB. Only till Note 7 they changed to USB-C. How is that "Android phones change there charging ports all the time"? They only changed once. They just moved on to a newer USB standard.
Also remember Apple 30 pin to Lightning?
First time on your channel, and I just wanted to say I think it is really cool of you to go back and say you messed up on the iPhone audio information. I really enjoy and respect people who put out true information and reviews about the tech we all love.
I got give it to Pocketnow and Juan: not many tech bloggers would make a video correcting a mistake they did on a previous video. Most of them just make tons and tons of mistakes and when people point them out they just ignore and call them "haters"
Good job Pocketnow
P.S. - Since your team is getting smaller, where can I apply for a job? :D
What ever the case is, the fact that a phone that costs so much can't give you better audio than the previous model, unless you spend more money on expensive headphones, when you compare it to the htc 10, or the lg v20 or others that have DAC's and give you better audio out of the box , you have to ask why Apple don't do the same, and we probably know the answer to that.
Kudos for making the corrections and holding fast to the fact you guys have solid data to back up your pov. 👏🏽
Mad props for making an update video! You don't see a lot of tech reviewers going the extra mile like that!
My respect for Juan is just increasing and increasing.The way he delivers his reviews,the details,the minutiae and most important of all CORRECTIONS(updates) just proves how great a tech reviewer he is.A Fantastic job Juan.Love it!
I tell ya what, this guy is impressively good in every single one of his reviews/videos. I don't own or plan on owning an iPhone, but I watched this twice! Not only did he have a great opening with his admittance of error and humble honesty, but he remains engaging, entertaining, and VERY efficient and objective. I find it impressive how fluidly he goes back and forth between sharing specs and data and the opinions he forms on those.
Keep up the good work Juan! And nice little shout out to the Honor 8 ☺
Well that makes sense. If you buy cheap accessories, you'll most likely get poor performance.
***** You are correct.
Wrong! iPhone cable, earpods and the dongle all have poor quality.
joes04redrx8 Sony > Bose imo
Well what kind of DAC did you expect in a $10 dongle?
Just to add my two cents..This is ridiculous! Someone correct me if I am wrong on this: Before the whole removal of the headphone jack fiasco, you were assured of having a decent quality DAC because there was one built into your iPhone and connected to the headphone jack. There was no need to worry about your headphones providing their own quality DAC. Now the DAC in your iPhone only drives the internal speakers! This means that the Lightning headphones you buy for the iPhone 7 will be even more expensive because they have to provide their own DAC. What a ridiculous ripoff. #Courage!
Ok. Glad I came back to see this correction. I wish you would've annotated the other video.
Also I've done my own subjective testing and I recommend anyone to use the adapter with a decent pair of headphones on their iPhone 6, then switch between built in jack and the adapter. There's a noticeable difference in audio quality, favoring the lightning jack.
Appreciate the accurate information and honesty. A Lot of tech reviewers get things wrong and never correct themselves or even admit they were wrong. Thanks Juan
Insta-like because I already know I am going to enjoy your video.
Nice update. The DAC you tested tho, *is* the DAC most people will end up hearing when using 3.5 mm headphones AND it's measurably worse than what went before That's a little sad.
apple changed one little thing, all of a sudden the whole world became audiophiles
Excuse me...I still use my iphone 6 for songs cause indeed it sounds better and sooner the flac is coming in Apple music ..the DAC system become important now
Very glad that Pocketnow has the courage to correct previous wrong info to the public 😀
Fantastic video! I was thinking about this today but I wasn't expecting an update video.
2:38 Lightning DAC = 338S00104
The video shows 338S100104
('1' between 'S' and '0')
Juan, I think you might still be thinking about the limitations of ANALOG audio(a stereo in/out per device). Digital audio passes the smarts to the earphones/speakers. Digital audio will allow multi speaker VR head sets, multi channel outputs, smart head sets etc. It is not about the jack, it is about the analog port that needs to die so that smart audio to have its revolution.
Knowing your mistakes is the first step to improvement. Thumbs up for that. And thank you for the informational video.
If you listen till the end you can hear the isnake hiss
What's your definition of hiss?
I've yet to hear it and I own one.
THIS, i've been saying this to my friend who's thinking about buying the iphone 7. me myself almost never use the headphone jack on any phone, because i use an external DAC (Chord Mojo) but to other people the removing of the headphone jack means that you'll be buying a DAC everytime you buy an earphone, which mean it'll be more expensive! no more 5$ earphone (VE monk, i'm looking at you)
On the flipside, while more expensive, an external DAC can produce better audio. However it's not like you can't just use a USB-C port to do the same thing
Just buy the Chord Mojo and pair with iPhone 7! So it works for most headphones :)
Mojo is really good. I tried one that a co-worker brought in once. I personally use an Oppo HA-2 paired to my iPhone 7 which i also think is good and quite portable.
Bernard Sanders I was actually considering HA2 & Mojo before ended up with Mojo. Most important reasonable I chose Mojo is because it is more capable to drives more headphones. However, HA2 is more portable and stack nicer with mobile. I also wish somebody can come out with a specia case for Mojo that can stack nicely with smartphone.
The only review who give in depth reviews of sound quality of phones! Hope you get to review the Xperia X Compact!
It's interesting that there's a DAC in the headphone adapter and honestly that's how I envisioned it when Apple made the announcement. I'm actually glad that it's that way because it simplifies everything in my head. That the lightning port is the same in the iPhone 7 as is in the iPhone 5. Honestly I wouldn't be surprised if some headphone manufacturers believed it to be a benefit that they can now supply a DAC with their headphones. Because now they can guarantee a base level of quality no matter what source the user plugs them into. Which was a genuine concern when you took good headphones and plugged them into a shitty source. Now at least there's some sort of solution for that in one small corner of the world.
Juan, you really impress me with your journalism and you are really outshining your counterparts! Keep it up!
And that's why PocketNow is my favorite tech channel!
You guys are the best tech Chanel on youtube, only great people recognize its mistakes. Thank you so much in name on humanity for show... well, some humanity :)
The DAC being in the adapter makes sense. While using it on my 7 the lighting end of the adapter gets slightly warm compared to the 3.5 mm headphone jack end
It took guts to admit that you were wrong and not just ignore the mistake. I respect you for keeping us informed. Keep up the good work 👌
Juan, totally understand your logic man. I was kinda confused myself as to why the audio sounds fantastic on the Phillips fidelio headphones opposed to the included headphones.
M2L model has the Dac built in
Conclusion. Headphone audio is still just okay like mostly every other phone. Got it.
More like, headphone audio will still be the same if you use the apple-provided dongle. If you get better lightning headphones, it'll depend on the DAC (audio processor) that those headphones will bring.
I was originally under the impression you guys were aware that the audio jack connector had a built in DAC on board in your original video, thus realizing that the results you guys got were obviously based on the quality of the audio jack connector that apple included, which was bound to give you mediocre results because let's be honest, why would apple include a decent quality connector? The fact they're charging $9 for it probably means it cost them $1 to produce. Glad you guys fixed the error. Would be great to see you guys follow up with great new audio products that come out which take advantage of the digital connections going forward.
Ok now this changes my mind about the iPhone 7. When I heard that it was not digital audio coming out of the iPhone 7 I wasn't sure it was even worth all the hassle of all the changes that need to be made in order to use the iPhone 7 audio devices. Now it might be worth it!
Honestly really happy about this new DAC exploration. Now there will be more audio companies making nice DACs for the iPhone and getting even better quality. (And when using earbuds I'm not really caring about sound quality. As long as it sounds decent I'm fine. )
Perhaps it's better to have 2 Lighting Ports AND 3.5mm audio jack. Use whichever you prefer... End of audio argument!
Well this maybe a good news for the audiophiles. They spend a lot on audio accessories. And those hi res portable media player, be it an Walkman, or PONO or Astell and Kern, all has a very limited and kinda frustrating user interface. Now they can get a good quality lightning headphones and I think that would be a good solution for them.
Juan you should specify that the Exynos S7 has a excellent DAC and AMP. It is the Qualcomm version that only uses a default DAC.
Mighty big of you owning and following up. Keep up the great work!
Gud job as always....nd keep doing the gr8 wrk...admitting the midtake nd giving the right info to the audience!!!!👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻
ROFL you are such a troll my brother. You had me laughing the whole time. You not only confused me more about DAC's, TACS or whatever else you said, that I honestly don't care about audio. ;) But you put out some funny content bro, keep it up!
Thanks for taking the time to further explain the DAC topic. I obviously want to enjoy lossless audio quality with Apple Music, so can you recommend an affordable DAC to use for the iPhone?
I have the Lighting to 3.5mm headphone jack adapter
I also have the Apple EarPods but what about an affordable DAC that will connect with my iPhone so I can get that higher audio quality?
So lemme get this right. Despite the fact that there is an internal DAC in the iPhone 7 it is only used to power the speakers and any headphones plugged into the 7 will be dependent on the quality of the dac built into the headphones. Furthermore it forces you to use the apple adapter if you want to continue using your wired headphones
@2:40 you said it's 1 number less than iPhone DAC whereas in the top left part of the video it's 338S100104 for Lightning DAC which is about 99999 whole number more qualified than the iPhone DAC. Just pointing it out!
Wait. There should be portable DACs supporting lightning but not mfi certified. To me that means analogue output is indeed possible through the lightning port, otherwise mfi certified deviced wouldn´t cooperate since the digital audio output on the lightning port is encrypted. Sorry I forgot what DAC that was and I´m too lazy to search for it now. But it was something from far east for audiophiles and the company was complaining about Apples policies.
Great review Juan will the beats headphones work
Hehe Juan, your pronounciation is not bad :) Tinhte.vn is the biggest tech site in Vietnam, anh 'tinh te' means subtle, tacful, FYI :)
Well it seems like most people are annoyed about losing the headphone jack but I am curious. This video leads me to believe that accessory makers could also make an adapter with a really good DAC incorporated right? So if you get a better converter with a better DAC does this mean it will improve the performance of regular headphones?
Sidenote: srgb mode on the HTC one a9 is incredibly color accurate to the point where my eyes say "where's the color" oh and this device also has a headphones jack with superior audio.
I have honestly never cared about headphone playback from my phones until Juan came along. I used to buy dollar store ear buds or use my phone's speakers. But when you think about the ingenuity and detail put into to the production of quality sound it's no wonder people "geek out" about it.
Even if it is the same DAC in the cabel, the audio quality will be worse, because the plastic cover will not give enough protection from interference of other signals as an aluminum cover for instance would
Respect for correcting your previous video
wtf was that scratching at the very end??
i tought my phone speaker broken 😂
so if I understand correctly, you got the fact about where the audio d/a conversion takes place, but it still sounds crappy. good to know
Interesting. So the lightning earpods also have their own small DAC in their lightning connector?
That was great Juan and i do appreciate it but i wish you would acknowledge the fact you got a big spec wrong with the HP Elite X3. Both you and Jules made several references to the fact it was *only* 1080P FHD and kind of poo-pooed the phone for a lack of high end specs for 2016 when in fact it has very high end specs including a 1440P QHD display.
Thank you. Pocketnow is great; I like my quality of music and these video really help.
It's awesome that you correct yourselves and much more awesome that we even better news. Thank you!!
very humble to produce this video!
Since I have to get lightning or Bluetooth headphones...what do you recommend? Not to expensive though. Just an extra one to carry around.
2017-9-20 Happy 1 year anniversary of this review!
Correct me if I'm wrong but Is that mean "Even the lightning headphones wouldn't be using internal DAC, but instead they have to process to analog within the headphones itself? So, the internal DAC is ONLY FOR SPEAKERS?"
Another thing about your original video....16bit is totally fine. I doubt there are many DACs that can actually put out anything above 20bit audio, let alone 24 or 32 bit. The reality is that the bit depth determines noise floor/maximum signal strength, and really 24bit audio isn't 100% certifiably better than 16 bit.
Is it safe to say, you are actually purchasing a soundcard+headphones each time you buy a lightning compatible headphone?
Appreciate your honesty man. Well done on that video :)
Ah! It makes a lot more sense now to me. You now what- for quite some time audio fanatics have tried to bypass the crappy internal dac in phones, and now its kind of a reality.
I thought the iFixit teardown found 3 DACs in the iPhone 7 ? If it is actually outputting pure digital audio then that is awesome! Even a "cheap as chips" DAC like the one in the earpods can output good quality sound so imagine what a high quality DAC in a set of Bose/Sennheiser,Audio Technica etc will output? Or even plugging your phone into a home stereo with a seriously good DAC and amp. The future is here! Just need to wait a few months for the audio manufacturers to catch up. I'll be waiting for the 7s anyway unless a manufacturer can sway me back to Android with something incredible ;)
Is the lightning headphone also has the same audio processor at it's lightning end as in the adapter? Please do a tear down of it..
Awesome now I can keep using my HTC 10
One thing to consider here is if there are lighning extension cables available, you can potentially reduce the audio noise from a long analog cable by using a long digital cable instead. Not that there's a big need for that or that the difference will be particularly significant, but theoretically, since the digital signal is more immune to noise, keeping the length of the analog cable as short as possible should have the effect of minimizing noise. Then again, do you really need to send your audio signal from your phone over 300 feet of cable? And are 300 ft lightning cables available? Plus, are the lightning connector digital drivers in the iphone capable of driving 300 ft of cable length?
Max length of USB-C is 5m,(16ft?). A good shielded analog connector can go up to 50m before noticing anything. (Usually analog is better that digital on distance, although digital can use repeaters with no loss of quality)
This leaves the headphone company with providing the best DAC and AMP in the cord to provide the best sound to their speakers. Which is good cause with an Aux cord the phone controls it. Now it can be perfectly matched to what model of headphones you buy!
So I guess buying Sennheiser IE 80 in-ears is a waste of money for iPhone 7 with the standard adapter, right?
Not to mention the awkward connection with the L shaped jack.
Thanks for clarification.
Which means, yes. iPhone 7 is Crap for any Audiophile who cares for Hi fidelity.
There was a time, where iPhoe had the best audio output.... well.
Smh. You're talking out of your ass and clearly not an audiophile. First, iPhones or any iPods even never had the best audio output, no clue what time you are talking about (Cowon users laugh at you). Second, the fact that you don't have to use the probably okay-ish for most people iPhone 7 DAC actually means that the iPhone 7 may just actually suit the audiophiles on the contrary because they can just bring their own DAC in the chain.
But I was under the impression that iOS did not have any apps that played lossless flac files?
I never disputed the points you make so I'm not sure why you feel the need to say them. Yeah sure the 6s is probably the better offer as it gives the audiophile all the choices available. I am just correcting the ignorant above about why iPhone 7 is not NECESSARILY crap and may actually be perfectly fine for audiophiles.
Official music app can't but iOS does have apps that can play FLAC. I'm not sure why you think there would be this kind of limitation on 3rd party apps.
+PPN462 agreed, I'm just saying that removing the jack did nothing good in anyway in terms of sound cause you can still use Bluetooth and external DACs but it removed the most important and usable feature which was a standard audio jack.
so the Apple earpods have their own dac and amp in the remote probably and also now we have to buy only original adapters and not some cheap ones (9$ isn't bad I accept but I'm putting it out there.) also there can be a number of better adapters from 3rd parties that support more power hungry headphones. the major problem here is that we now need to analyse the quality of individual adapters and check the quality of the sound they offer (frustrating)
you know what, it takes balls to admit your mistake. Juan, hats off. love your content.
no no no no. A difference in a part number does not mean a difference in audio quality. Different part numbers can exist for a whole host of reasons (different packaging, pinout, etc). Analysis of the analog output is the final test, and your previous video indicated they were very similar. (which is kind of disappointing in and of itself). Too bad they didn't UPGRADE the adapter DAC and make the sound better. THAT would help negate the bad press about losing the analog jack.
Is this pure digital output present on all older iPhones that posses a lightning connector as well?
Thanks for the clarification... Great stuff, but jus a shame that it's still pretty bad idea to remove the audio jack lol
I guess they need to do the same to a regular lightning cable and check if the same board is not also there.. maybe it has nothing to do with the converting to analog connector but rather a part of the regular lightning connector?!
is it true that the ligthning connector shuts off when not in use and needs reconnecting to function again?
Surely the solution is to use removable cables on the headphones and have both a lightning input and a 3.5mm input, the latter bypassing the DAC.
Respect & hats off to you guys professionalism
Good info. Just tried a pair of galaxy earbuds this morning and the sound was terrible.
Damn you got me too. I would never would have guessed that there was a little DAC in there...
Juan how is the audio quality through the lightning connected earphones?
Is that the hissing sound of your iPhone? Does it affect the recorded videos????
but there is also a third dac on iphone 7, what is that been use for? Maybe testing the connector on other iphone to see if it is any different.
Dude your awesome & I appreciate the hard work you do
Honestly this could give apple the chance to make a better audio adapter with a better DAC possibly hifi supported lightning adapters? I could see this happening for a good amount of cash though.
if you want good audio go for the LG v20 if you want something cheaper go for the zte axon 7
that's awesome that was exactly what I was commenting on the last video! This video is great!
HI
Would you please run the test on the lighting port on both ip 6S and the ip7 ?
I'm sure the iPhone 7 sound quality is lower than the iPhone 6s,
I run many test, and all of them shows that the iPhone 6s has better sound quality using the lighting port as well.
Love these videos, you got a new subscribe
can you do an audio quality test on the gs7 edge using the adapt sound feature? by default the audio on the s7 is a bit flat... but after the audio setup I noticed something really different... audio is now more louder and crispy... also dynamic range seems to be improved. I'm very curious of what's happening with the audio on my device.. is something on the DAC or... I don't know... but I want more information about that. my s7 is the exynos variant. coming from and m8 audio will never be the same.... but after the adapt sound trick I'm pretty happy with the sound quality on the s7 edge
in terms of part numbers, its possible that it is also just a different style of casing. or a different pin layout. but regardless, well done on making another video to fix up mis-information in the previous video. not many people would do that!
also i suspect that there are going to be a LOT of hifi companies making portable DAC's for the iphone (Fiio is one of the cheaper ones) and no doubt they'll be out soon. and will vary from $10, to as much as you are willing to spend
Since it is outputting digital signal, high end headphones will sound a lot better since it should be able to use a more high quality dac than what was previously in the phone. And low end headphones will sound as good since you can just use the dac provided in the adapter. I am actually starting to understand Apples logic