[BobC]

WTF am I'm I suppose to do with my $400 Ety's and $600 Beyer's ? 

Need to go bluetooth I guess?  Or switch to Samsung   

Further proof that sound quality doesn't matter to most people....

[*Scotty*]

Apple will include an adapter for the headphones so they can plug into the remaining bottom jack. They have instantly created a market for audiophile version of same.
 I gave up on the apple "experience" when I traded in my iPhone 4 for a samsung S4. I loved the i4 but hated the baggage that came along with it.
Scotty
edited to be relevant

[TomS]

WTF am I'm I suppose to do with my $400 Ety's and $600 Beyer's ? 

Need to go bluetooth I guess?  Or switch to Samsung   

Further proof that sound quality doesn't matter to most people....

It comes with a Lightning to 3.5mm adapter.

[Delacroix]

Hum...another fiddly part to lose?

[TrungT]

Upgrade to Iphone 7 with Apple Plug.
 

[Letitroll98]

Typical Apple arrogance, why I don't own any Apple products except a 15 year old iPod Nano.

[Hugh]

It comes with a Lightning to 3.5mm adapter.

Yup.

[jhm731]

WTF am I'm I suppose to do with my $400 Ety's and $600 Beyer's ? 

Need to go bluetooth I guess?  Or switch to Samsung   

Further proof that sound quality doesn't matter to most people....

If you're concerned about sound quality, you should get one of these:

http://www.audiostream.com/content/audioquest-dragonfly-red-and-dragonfly-black#S52lVYUP7RsTRXCu.97

[Armaegis]

Moving people away from analog connections is paving the way for more extensive digital signal manipulation. It won't be long before all consumer grade audio will have virtual enhancements yadda yadda that actively change depending on your environment.

[Phil A]

I've heard a bunch of people express concern with the new design who use headphones.  Is a non-issue as I never use them (in fact over the past year, I've given away a few pair of headphones).  I do think they should have kept it. If I used headphones and had a good pair I liked it would not make me happy.

[dB Cooper]

Not to derail the thread but I just bought a Dragonfly Black and am probably returning it. I don't understand all the glowing reviews. It has good "detail" in that "etched" kind of way, and instrumental separation and soundstaging are goof, but... I haven't heard digital like that since a friend brought over his first gen Magnavox 14 bit CD player in the mid '80's. the lows are brittle and thin, the mids are as hard as day old dog ***, and the highs are piercing. I don't get it. I have run everything from compressed files to some very good 24/96 files through it. My humble Schiit Modi just pummels it for the same price, it's just that the Dragonfly is portable. 

[Bemopti123]

Moving people away from analog connections is paving the way for more extensive digital signal manipulation. It won't be long before all consumer grade audio will have virtual enhancements yadda yadda that actively change depending on your environment.

I agree.

While wireless transmission is FAR from perfect, the issue with headphone or physical ports is that they can become damaged, worn out.  All physical/mechanical connections have a certain cycle or lifespan.  The headphone port of my MBP 13" 2011 is not holding the plug well after all the plug ins and out.  Now, I use a Meridian DAC USB into a miniplug and into speakers in order to get steady and improved sound.

The issue that I have with the Apple lightning connector is that it impedes charging while you are listening to it.  With wireless audio this will be a non issue. 

I hope there will be an advent of battery powered high quality portable DAC converters with miniplug ins for those who are looking for the convenience of wireless while dealing with the lighting charge issue. 

 

[Bemopti123]

Not to derail the thread but I just bought a Dragonfly Black and am probably returning it. I don't understand all the glowing reviews. It has good "detail" in that "etched" kind of way, and instrumental separation and soundstaging are goof, but... I haven't heard digital like that since a friend brought over his first gen Magnavox 14 bit CD player in the mid '80's. the lows are brittle and thin, the mids are as hard as day old dog ***, and the highs are piercing. I don't get it. I have run everything from compressed files to some very good 24/96 files through it. My humble Schiit Modi just pummels it for the same price, it's just that the Dragonfly is portable. 

I also question the glowing reviews of these DACs.  I smell some fabricated reviews of the Dragonflies.  Now, the Chord MOJO, that I feel is a fine DAC.

[dB Cooper]

I've heard a bunch of people express concern with the new design who use headphones.  Is a non-issue as I never use them (in fact over the past year, I've given away a few pair of headphones).  I do think they should have kept it. If I used headphones and had a good pair I liked it would not make me happy.

Well, it comes with a 1/8'' adapter, which is fine if you have a headphone dedicated to the phone, in which case you just leave the adapter on the headphones. If you move the adapter around, switch headphones etc, it's inevitably going to get lost and/or be somewhere else when you need it. I understand the decision from the point of implementing water resistance, but if people would just stop using their phones in the rain and dropping them in the toilet (Fun Fact: RICE DOESN'T WORK), it wouldn't be such a problem.

It's partly to make water resistance easier to do and partly to push wireless headphones which cost ~$50-100 more than comparable wired 'phones. I use headphones and have a pair I like- but I also have a pretty fresh SE with a headphone jack. (Another fun fact: CABLES AREN'T 'JACKS').

[Folsom]

I'm sure headphone companies are in on this... nothing like a massive repurchase.

I think 1/8 jacks are a lot tougher than the lightening jack, too. Coincidence? Heh... when it comes to the plug most likely to have external forces on it...

What do you need digital stuff for? A noisier mute button? Dumpy volume, digital, polluting your music?

[dB Cooper]

I work at a certain company I can't name and I can tell you that in a Lightning plug/jack damage scenario, 99% of the time it's the easily replaceable plug that buys the farm.

The problem with the phono plug is that they oftentest this in the summer time you got in mind solder flux shark are your batteries cause go to get my hit great Down below 40 for some stupid jerk:-) some stupid jerk David you Yell at me good you know sorry  break off in the socket in a way that leaves insufficient plug exposed to extract them, necessitating a $$$ logic board replacement due to failure of a 2 cent part. This doesn't happen much if at all with the lightning plug. Phone jack itself usually doesn't break, although I remember this one guy who had a quarter inch thick boutique aftermarket cable on his Grado headphones which put so much stress on the jack in handling that it broke it right out of the logic board. Result, no sound- and a repair cost of a couple hundred dollars plus whatever he spent on the boutique cable buying himself the problem.

[mfsoa]

Not to derail the thread but I just bought a Dragonfly Black and am probably returning it. I don't understand all the glowing reviews. It has good "detail" in that "etched" kind of way, and instrumental separation and soundstaging are goof, but... I haven't heard digital like that since a friend brought over his first gen Magnavox 14 bit CD player in the mid '80's. the lows are brittle and thin, the mids are as hard as day old dog ***, and the highs are piercing. I don't get it. I have run everything from compressed files to some very good 24/96 files through it. My humble Schiit Modi just pummels it for the same price, it's just that the Dragonfly is portable. 

Hi dB - You are a knowledgeable audiophile so I doubt you did this, but I wanted to check - When I got my Red I plugged it in and music came out, but it sounded much as you describe. But when I selected the right driver in Windows the SQ changed dramatically for the better. Can you confirm that you selected and used the Dragonfly driver for your listening? It's hard to imagine that Gordon could make a modern Sabre dac chip sound like a crappy mid-80s dac if he tried.

But hey, I don't have your ears and expectations so as long as the correct driver was used I have no issue with your conclusions.

-Mike

[dB Cooper]

I will look into that but two things...

• I use a Mac (will look into recommended settings there) but...
• I mainly bought this as a portable DAC to play FLAC and/or ALAC files on my iphone (because of the form factor) and am not aware of setting options being available in that application

I will do a litlle more investigation before I give up. I did briefly hear the one the customer brought in through his B&W headphones, on my 44.1 downsampled Version of HDTracks remaster of 'Kind of Blue' through my phone and it sounded okay in that very short listen. It connects using a lightning to USB adapter. There is no analog audio connection over USB AFAIK so I am 99.99% certain that it is using the DAC in the Dragonfly and not the built-in one on the phone.

Anyway, not to derail the thread. Thanks for the input (no audiophile pun intended).

[ctviggen]

Typical Apple arrogance, why I don't own any Apple products except a 15 year old iPod Nano.

Totally agree with you.  Apple has by far the most hubris of any large company.   There's no reason to get rid of the jack, and if you've ever tried to use bluetooth, it's flaky.  Sometimes it works perfectly, sometimes it doesn't.  For instance, in both my cars, I have to wait a few minutes once I start the cars to play music.  Otherwise, things get messed up.  I can't see the wireless headphones being any better. 

The good news for Apple is they own the licensing for these, so they'll get money for them. Also, they own Beats, so they'll get even more money.  You have to pay to be able to charge and use wired headphones at the same time:

http://qz.com/778294/itll-cost-you-40-to-listen-to-music-and-charge-your-apple-aapl-iphone-7-at-the-same-time/

It's pure insanity, with no real benefit other than to pad Apple's pocket.

I don't like Google, I think they take way too much data on you; I can't stand Amazon for the same reason; I think Microsoft is similarly bad; but Apple is by far the worst.

[Phil A]

Don't know if anyone has seen this  - http://www.twice.com/video/57/62793