Ipad Mini 4 with Lightning to USB 3 adapter - measurements or evaluations?

[jaynyc]

Hi. Does anyone here know of any measurements, analysis or evaluation of an Ipad Mini (4) with Apple Lighting to USB 3 Camera Adapter as audio source to feed an external DAC?

 

[Dana reed]

I haven't used an iPad with this adapter, but I have used both an iPhone SE and an iPod touch with the adapter. The two devices I've used most with them are the Chord Mojo and the Schiit Eitr (a USB->SPDIF converter). I don't have any measuring equipment but I can say they sound fairly transparent, meaning I can't tell the difference between using that adapter and say, connecting a computer directly to one of these devices. One thing I've noticed is that occasionally I get skipping or momentary dropouts with iOS devices using this or the USB2 adapter on any DAC I've used with it. It seems sometimes related to if I'm using another app at the same time as listening (like browsing on Safari), but I can't pin it down exactly. For the iPod, I typically fresh reboot it and don't use any other apps except the music player (either the builtin, Spotify, or Onkyo HF player) for best results.

 

[jaynyc]

@Dana reed thank you. If either the Chord or Eitr have their own power sources, have you ever tried using a ‘data only’ USB cable from the Lightning adapter?

 

[Dana reed]

@Dana reed thank you. If either the Chord or Eitr have their own power sources, have you ever tried using a ‘data only’ USB cable from the Lightning adapter?

I use the data only cable with the iPod touch and the Mojo all the time when I have them strapped together and it works fine whether I have the mojo charging or not. For the Eitr, since it's by my bedside, I use the USB 3 one and my phone and I have the phone charging overnight while playing music through the eitr and into my other DAC/Amp setup.

 

[Figuy1017]

Id also like to know if a ipad/ipod via cck > dac is worth upgrading to say a sotm or ultrarendu