Apple lightning to 3.5mm or native headphone jack?

[BillyD]

I have an iPad Pro 12.9 (2015) and I want to use the HD800S with it. It has a headphone jack and I can also use a lightning to 3.5mm adapter (not the USB-C to 3.5mm adapter).

1) Without an external dac, using the Atom with it will be double amping right? Is that bad?

2) I know the USB-C adapter measures very well and I know this one measures very well too but I heard that it's actually worse than the native headphone jack and that this adapter uses software src for the sample rate. Is this true and which of the 2 inputs would be better?

 

[Doodski]

1) Without an external dac, using the Atom with it will be double amping right? Is that bad?

The difference in sound up to medium loud levels between the two amplification methods will probably be minuscule. For your cel tel double amping should be fine, the sound will be good and you'll have the additional power output of the Atom. No worries there.

 

[BillyD]

The difference in sound up to medium loud levels between the two amplification methods will probably be minuscule. For your cel tel double amping should be fine, the sound will be good and you'll have the additional power output of the Atom. No worries there.

Cool so I don’t need a dac to improve sound quality right?
Also does it get bad if you get louder than that? Not that I play music really loud but just want to know.

 

[FrantzM]

Seems the internal DAC in the Ipad is quite good... Don't bother using the Lightning to 3.5 mm adapter... And the Atom is very capable of driving your HD800S to deafening levels ...
However the HD800S, needs EQ, so does the vast majority of headphones. There are very few EQ solutions for IOS. I believe the Qudelix X-5K in place of the Atom could be a better solution, it has been favorably reviewed by Amir and can drive the HD800S to absurd levels while allowing you to EQ. Almost same price as the Atom.

Peace

 

[Doodski]

Your cel tel DAC will sound good. If you want the best then get a external DAC or a DAC-amp combO. Your headphones are pretty nice and so you maybe want the best. If budget is important then just go with the cel tel DAC.

 

[BillyD]

Your cel tel DAC will sound good. If you want the best then get a external DAC or a DAC-amp combO. Your headphones are pretty nice and so you maybe want the best. If budget is important then just go with the cel tel DAC.

Yeah I plan to get a dac at some point. Just wondering what I should do as a temporary solution. I am looking at Topping E30 or Topping DX3 Pro + right now.

 

[BillyD]

Seems the internal DAC in the Ipad is quite good... Don't bother using the Lightning to 3.5 mm adapter... And the Atom is very capable of driving your HD800S to deafening levels ...
However the HD800S, needs EQ, so does the vast majority of headphones. There are very few EQ solutions for IOS. I believe the Qudelix X-5K in place of the Atom could be a better solution, it has been favorably reviewed by Amir and can drive the HD800S to absurd levels while allowing you to EQ.

Peace

Cool. I was looking at Neutron Player I might buy that. I think it has a lot of EQ capabilities and is bitperfect too.
Also why would the Qudelix be better? You mean in terms of SQ or does it do some eq like you mentioned? Cause I know the Atom is as good as it gets in terms of transparency.

 

[FrantzM]

System-wide EQ qith the IOS is not easy... Neutron Player playing files within Neutron player will likely work. I don't know how it would deal with other music apps, say Spotify or Apple Music or Qobuz or ... apps on the iPad... i use the Boom app and am not pleased with it. it does have some connection with Spotify but is not fully integrated. My Playlists from Spotify do not appear and if I use a different music "source" /app , say Qobuz, Boom doesn't work with these ... perhaps Neutron does ...IDK.

Peace

 

[maverickronin]

I'm going to second the Qudelix. Get it and a 2.5mm balanced cable for your HD800s and you're golden.

 

[BillyD]

I'm going to second the Qudelix. Get it and a 2.5mm balanced cable for your HD800s and you're golden.

Seems great but if I get a dac I will probably get a desktop one and use it with my pc and iPad. Also is the Qudelix recommended in this situation because it does eq or for better sound quality too? Cause I know the Atom is as transparent as the come.

 

[maverickronin]

Seems great but if I get a dac I will probably get a desktop one and use it with my pc and iPad. Also is the Qudelix recommended in this situation because it does eq or for better sound quality too? Cause I know the Atom is as transparent as the come.

I'm recommending it because the ability to EQ is the most important factor in overall SQ. I'm not really an Apple person, but AFIK there's no way to system wide EQ on iOS w/o jailbreaking it, so that leaves external DSP hardware for most people.

The Atom is a great little amp, and since it's mains powered it can put out more power singled ended than the Qudelix can balanced, but it's only an amp. It's great for a PC setup where there are already many different EQ options.

 

[Oukkidoukki]

Why not buy lightning apple dongle and just try n compare...10 bucks. In my ipad air 2 2016...I compared and keep using apple dongle. I think it is little better. Combined with 02 jds it drives big cans, great quality. Put Atom there and it will be great.

 

[BillyD]

Why not buy lightning apple dongle and just try n compare...10 bucks. In my ipad air 2 2016...I compared and keep using apple dongle. I think it is little better. Combined with 02 jds it drives big cans, great quality. Put Atom there and it will be great.

Actually I already have one and I did compare. This could all be in my head but I felt like the dongle was a little bit more resolving and made the soundstage a bit wider. I was just afraid that maybe if this is true that it is artificial and not supposed to happen because I think the measurements from Archimago show that while it is decent it's just that, decent. And the measurements he did for the iPad Air looked better. Also I think it always stays at 48khz through src which he also mentions.

 

[Oukkidoukki]

Well, there might be minor step up from apple dongle, I might hear it when I compare it to desktop setup……But really it is so accurate and good allready that you dont need more. With atom it is true high end headphone experience, so forget about it and enjoy.

 

[BillyD]

Well, there might be minor step up from apple dongle, I might hear it when I compare it to desktop setup……But really it is so accurate and good allready that you dont need more. With atom it is true high end headphone experience, so forget about it and enjoy.

Great advice thanks. It really does sound incredible tbh, better I think than it does on my PC. Also as far as players on ios, I am using foobar2000 and HibyMusic at the moment. Are they bitperfect on ios? Like with WASAPI exclusive on PC?

 

[Oukkidoukki]

Probably not, ios with apple dongle 48khz max.......it sounds good anyhow. Don't know if u can push higher samplerate thru ios and lightning with other dongle dac etc.

 

[bravomail]

I have an iPad Pro 12.9 (2015) and I want to use the HD800S with it. It has a headphone jack and I can also use a lightning to 3.5mm adapter (not the USB-C to 3.5mm adapter).

1) Without an external dac, using the Atom with it will be double amping right? Is that bad?

2) I know the USB-C adapter measures very well and I know this one measures very well too but I heard that it's actually worse than the native headphone jack and that this adapter uses software src for the sample rate. Is this true and which of the 2 inputs would be better?

neither. Apple USB-C adapter if u need to. If u r planning to feed it to Atom, then get proper external DAC.