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Apple Lightning Headphone Adapter Reviews

amirm

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Went to buy one and was shocked to see so many negative reviews of it on Apple's own site!

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Is apple really this blind to their own user feedback? 1.5 star average review?

Why not make a higher quality one that won't break for a few more dollars?
 

Tircuit

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Went to buy one and was shocked to see so many negative reviews of it on Apple's own site!

View attachment 18776

Is apple really this blind to their own user feedback? 1.5 star average review?

Why not make a higher quality one that won't break for a few more dollars?


I've never had trouble and I put mine through the ringer. On and off different headphones and IEMs, amps . . . I mean I have to unplug it just to charge the phone, so it gets a lot of handling. If anything. there's less leverage to stress the cable's jacks than regular headphone jacks.

But the complaints are all over the place:

They are cheap and "very fragile" but do they break? "Not compatible with 3-button controls" is more likely a problem with the controls. My Senn Momentum controls work fine as did Phillips. But a cheap 3rd party cable for my Final E4000 died after a week.

I bet a lot of the hate at its root is probably about having to use a lame dongle at all and losing the headphone jack. The dongles suck. You can't charge your phone while listening to your headphones. If you misplace it, you can't listen to your headphones (and it gets lost easily).

There's obviously another DAC and amp in the phone itself that powers the speakers so it is odd that the the dongle is needed at all. No room for a jack, really?
 

Tircuit

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I've never had trouble and I put mine through the ringer. On and off different headphones and IEMs, amps . . . I mean I have to unplug it just to charge the phone, so it gets a lot of handling. If anything. there's less leverage to stress the cable's jacks than regular headphone jacks.

But the complaints are all over the place:

They are cheap and "very fragile" but do they break? "Not compatible with 3-button controls" is more likely a problem with the controls. My Senn Momentum controls work fine as did Phillips. But a cheap 3rd party cable for my Final E4000 died after a week.

I bet a lot of the hate at its root is probably about having to use a lame dongle at all and losing the headphone jack. The dongles suck. You can't charge your phone while listening to your headphones. If you misplace it, you can't listen to your headphones (and it gets lost easily).

There's obviously another DAC and amp in the phone itself that powers the speakers so it is odd that the the dongle is needed at all. No room for a jack, really?

We'll after 1-4 years of use mine finally died the way you'd expect - - an intermittant connection in the cable part. But only after a few years of 5-day a week use to and from work, so not bad! (I can't say exactly how old it was because I've gotten one on my last three iPhones and they all look the same.)
 

MZKM

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But only after a few years of 5-day a week use to and from work, so not bad! (I can't say exactly how old it was because I've gotten one on my last three iPhones and they all look the same.)

Also, it’s 9 bucks. That’s less than what people spend in a week at Starbucks. If it lasts 2 years, that’s only a little more than a penny a day.

My only complaint is it’s a little awkward when holding the phone in landscape.
 

UWinWithWin

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It is the worst rated product in the history of Apple I believe. Although, I think they are trying to push forward on the wireless market.
 

shanecoughlan

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Went to buy one and was shocked to see so many negative reviews of it on Apple's own site!
View attachment 18776
Is apple really this blind to their own user feedback? 1.5 star average review?
Why not make a higher quality one that won't break for a few more dollars?

I have never had an issue across several generations of phone...and I never changed the dongle. Now I have a backlog.

I suspect at least some of the reviews are powered by general hostility to the dongle as a concept. Admittedly it is awkward if you are not mostly Bluetooth (which I am, except with sport earphones), but the sound quality and build quality are both fine.
 

MZKM

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I have never had an issue across several generations of phone...and I never changed the dongle. Now I have a backlog.

I suspect at least some of the reviews are powered by general hostility to the dongle as a concept. Admittedly it is awkward if you are not mostly Bluetooth (which I am, except with sport earphones), but the sound quality and build quality are both fine.

Many likely aren’t even verified. I think the KEF Blade 2’s are available on Amazon, and it has many 1 stars of people just comparing that a speaker costs as much as a new car.
 

Bronco

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Well, since my Mojo has appeared to take a dump on me in the middle of my vacation, I’m trying one of these for the first time until I can get home and sort things out. Sound quality doesn’t seem too bad thus far.
 

bravomail

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And yet... it measures superbly. I hate losing the headphone jack, but I can’t fault its performance.

https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...pple-iphone-lightning-headphone-adapter.7665/

Bought it from Amazon at $7! :D It sounds OK - tested it with this year (2019) Samsung Android Phone (A70 - highly recommended). Clean but anemic. Very weak. Built-in headphone jack sound runs circles around it.
Update: after testing HiByMusic and AIMP with critical listening - it is a good adapter. The problem was with Youtube video (aka source). I recommend this adapter. The amazon version seems to be not fake.
 
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solderdude

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No idea.... just googled fake dongle... I know most of the cheaper Apple products have knock-offs. I figured the dongle would be no exception.
 

bogart

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My wife gave me some replacement Apple lightning adapters for Christmas and they were absolutely not genuine. They were incredibly poor performers! I didn't measure, but it was easy to spot:
1. High distortion even at low volume
2. Rejected by iPhone after 60 seconds of use

Since Apple requires authentic accessories, my conspiracist side says they could degrade performance for non-authentic ones, but why bother? My guess is it was just junk :)

Edit: @bravomail - in my case, the performance was so obviously degraded that it didn't require invasive means. Rejection by the phone is probably a pretty good indicator.
 

SIY

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was wondering the same thing. Nobody in Amazon reviews there complained about fakes. I was very suspicious considering the price difference. Is there a nondestructive way to verify?

Maybe. Mine came with my iPhone and drives the hell out of the headphones I use (Superlux HD681 and 1MORE Triple Driver Over Ear).
 

bravomail

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No idea.... just googled fake dongle... I know most of the cheaper Apple products have knock-offs. I figured the dongle would be no exception.
Update: after testing HiByMusic and AIMP with critical listening - it is a good adapter. The problem was with Youtube video (aka source). I recommend this adapter. The amazon version seems to be not fake.
 

urfaust

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I managed to make it work with the usb-c port on my nvidia gpu but not on the motherboard output.

However, fine for my use, i can clearly feel the additional punch and level compared to the motherboard output (realtek garbage) for my iem's. I would say at the same level im -20 clicks lower on the windows volume. It will come super handy for the phone on the go.
 

SaySomeThing

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iphone earpiece jack is a lousy product, it is a scrap. There is NO QC for TPE material used by this product. Good grade of TPE mat'l should be able to last for quite long. apple and its suppliers just wat to make profit by selling more such products to users. such strategy will not work!!! Reject them!
 

AdamG

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iphone earpiece jack is a lousy product, it is a scrap. There is NO QC for TPE material used by this product. Good grade of TPE mat'l should be able to last for quite long. apple and its suppliers just wat to make profit by selling more such products to users. such strategy will not work!!! Reject them!
Welcome Aboard @SaySomeThing.
 
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