The Apple dongle has been my main headphone amp driving my HD6xx for about 7 years, ever since Apple got rid of iPhone headphone jacks. I’m happy with the dongle. It drives my low-sensitivity headphones louder than I would ever want, and I could barely hear any difference in sound quality between it and headphone amps costing >100x more (such as the discontinued Oppo HA-1), aside from headroom and perhaps barely perceptibly deeper and tighter bass.
My only problem with it is that usually after a short period—ranging from a few months to a year—the connection becomes so flaky that I need to replace it. I keep my iPhone in my pocket, and as I walk around, the movement sometimes causes the sound to cut out, and I need to unplug and replug the dongle to get the music playing again. This starts becoming more and more frequent, until the dongle only works when plugged in with one of the sides up, and eventually it becomes unusable, and I have to buy a new one.
During this 7-year period, I’ve gone through maybe a dozen of these things. Now I’m still financially ahead compared to the old class A headphone amp I sold for >$1,000, and even much cheaper alternatives that cost $150. So I’m still going to continue using these. However, I’m curious if others who rely on the Apple dongle as their main headphone amp have the same experience with them wearing out in a few months. I use it on average 1-2 hrs per day.
My only problem with it is that usually after a short period—ranging from a few months to a year—the connection becomes so flaky that I need to replace it. I keep my iPhone in my pocket, and as I walk around, the movement sometimes causes the sound to cut out, and I need to unplug and replug the dongle to get the music playing again. This starts becoming more and more frequent, until the dongle only works when plugged in with one of the sides up, and eventually it becomes unusable, and I have to buy a new one.
During this 7-year period, I’ve gone through maybe a dozen of these things. Now I’m still financially ahead compared to the old class A headphone amp I sold for >$1,000, and even much cheaper alternatives that cost $150. So I’m still going to continue using these. However, I’m curious if others who rely on the Apple dongle as their main headphone amp have the same experience with them wearing out in a few months. I use it on average 1-2 hrs per day.
