Looking for advice: Apple lightning to 3.5mm DAC or a standalone DAC

[Narenvaidee]

I've a pair of GoldenEar AON3s powered by Cambridge Audio SR10. I love the warm, immensely listenable for hours characteristic of this combo. I'm currently using an old WiDAC (Crystal Acoustics) to stream music from iPhone.

The problem: I want to change to a better DAC - the dynamics and sound stage are not good with the WiDAC. How do I know this? I connected an old CD player to the amp and listened to the same set of songs from the CDs. So, I think the DAC is the blocker here. Also, when listening via the DAC, I had to crank up the volume to more than -40db, while the same songs when played from the CD, I don't have to go beyond -48db.

Considerations: Have been looking for a cheap DAC, like the SMSL Idea/Topping D10, etc. However, I believe my iPhone can handle none of them - 'device drawing too much power' is what I might see.

I stumbled upon the Apple USB-to-3.5mm review and the results and comparisons were intriguing.

So, the question: Can I use the Apple dongle instead of the WiDAC? Or, will I still continue to have the 'cranking up volume' issue with restricted dynamics with the dongle? Would you suggest taking a different route? Again, my one and only music source is Apple Music from my phone.

Please help me chose the right DAC. Much appreciated!

Thanks!

 

[Willem]

I am not sure that what you are hearing is the DAC.First, are the masterings that you are comparing the same? AN old CD may have an older mastering with greater dynamic range that what you are streaming from the IPhone.
Second, you may well be hearing the effect of level differences. Levels should be within 0.2 dB from each other and that is very hard to achieve without some meter. If you do not do that, the louder source will always sound better.

 

[yue]

To directly answer your question, you can either use the 3.5mm headphone jack (pre iPhone 7), or use a lightening to 3.5mm adaptor (after iPhone 7). The former measures and sounds a lot better than the latter, as the latter is fixed at 48khz and use software src when playing 44.1khz music.

The usb c to headphone adaptor does not work directly with your iPhone and you need to purchase additional dongle(camera kit dongle).

 

[Narenvaidee]

Also, will the input impedance in the amplifier affect the gain? See the screenshot below:

The output of the WiDAC (and the iPhone/dongle) isn't 2 volts. Will this affect the dynamics, soundstage and volume when fed through the amp? How can I improve the sound overcoming the above-mentioned restrictions?

 

[SiW]

To directly answer your question, you can either use the 3.5mm headphone jack (pre iPhone 7), or use a lightening to 3.5mm adaptor (after iPhone 7). The former measures and sounds a lot better than the latter, as the latter is fixed at 48khz and use software src when playing 44.1khz music.

The usb c to headphone adaptor does not work directly with your iPhone and you need to purchase additional dongle(camera kit dongle).

Is the Apple usb c to headphone adaptor better than the lightening to 3.5mm jack dongle?

 

[artnoi]

I found this measurement report of Apple Lightning Audio Adaptor A1749 for about a year ago.The measurements look nice to me and for the $9 price tag. I love these lil adaptors, because they are so easily purchased lol. The fact that it is made by the same company who made my phone is just reasonable, so it just works out of the box flawlessly with iOS. Never had a glitch or intermittent connection/ software bugs. All of my desktop/mobile DACs have connection problems at some point, but not a single time with Apple adaptors.

I don't know about other smartphone audio adaptor experience since I only have Lightning devices, but my experience with iPhone and other mobile portable DACs are worse, i.e. connection problems, glitches, power drain, etc. And the reason I like them a lot is convenience lol, just plug and play, without ever worrying.

Actually I'm thinking about buying one Apple USB-C audio adaptor since I don't know how much is My Mac laptop's output impedance is or how they perform in audio (saw older models had like 10ohm or so). I have a lot of these lil adaptors lying around the house, since none of my family members use wired headphones so when they bought phones I just asked for these adaptors. Unfortunately they no longer include it with 2018 iPhones anymore.

They are easily lost though, I lost three of them already, but thank god they are so easily purchased everywhere in the world (I usually lost one when traveling), so when I lost it I'm not in anxiety about where to get new one immediately, since it is the only way to get headphone output out of my bare phone. I personally consider this a very solid point for a tiny, affordable mobile DAC/Amp unit .

 

[yue]

Is the Apple usb c to headphone adaptor better than the lightening to 3.5mm jack dongle?

Yes. It supports native 44.1 88.2 48 and 96 kHz.

 

[SiW]

Yes. It supports native 44.1 88.2 48 and 96 kHz.

Excellent

 

[Dad_Jokes]

Yes. It supports native 44.1 88.2 48 and 96 kHz.

Is this still the case?

For an iPhone XR, I should buy an OTG lightning to USB-C. And then the USB-C to 3.5 headphone Jack?

Instead of buying the lightning to headphone Jack?

I stream Amazon Music HD and want to get the native depth/rate but also get the best mobile DAC performance. Or, rather, the best bottom line sound quality in a mobile setup.