Several articles about Apple’s Lightning to 3,5mm Headphone Jack Adapter are tickling the audiophile internet. These include: Heis’s appraisal of it attached to volume-capped European phones, Larry Ho’s Facebook thread (thank you Marcus) , which lambasts its jitter rate, Inner Fidelity questioning whether or not it utilises an onboard ADC to convert the signal to analogue before amplifying it in-house for the headphones, among others.
Read moreHeise.de measures Apple's Lightning to 3.5 mm Headphone Jack Adapter
Whilst reading Friday's Daring Fireball blurb on the subject, I surfed to the above table at Heis.de.
The age of freedom - bluetooth
Here is the Nuforce's BE6i's nose
Informed opinions suggest that the next iPhone divest itself of the headphone jack - which is a bugger those with loads invested in earphones (though Lear and Westone and Noble Audio, among others, have solutions), and it's a bugger because Bluetooth is a gobbles battery; many wireless earphones manage mere hours of playback. And, poor Bluetooth implementation hisses like the Dickens.
Read moreSpotify vs. Apple Music: Is there a difference in sound quality?
Ty Pendlebury's comparative review of Spotify and Apple Music is getting eaten alive by pedantic commenters. Why? Broad, sweeping statements:
Read moreRMAA: iPod nano 7G running various loads
While the iPod nano doesn't get everything right, it nails many, if not most, of the important bits (pun!) necessary to play your expensive earphones and headphones back really well. Follow the below link for full RMAA results of the iPod nano 7G running various loads.
RMAA: iPod nano 7G various loads
Back to the first-gen iPod nano
Remember this guy? I do. And I've been loving mine since 2005 or 2006 (honestly I can't remember). Anyway, the first-generation iPod nano is the subject of this week's Headfonia: Back To The Future.
The 1st-gen iPod nano is the most beautiful, simplest-to-use pocketable iPod, ever. Here's a spoiler:
“The nano requires a bit of work, but it is more than just an amazing MP3 player. It is an icon. And my love and devotion to it is Biblical.”
Check it out: BACK TO THE FUTURE FRIDAY: THE ORIGINAL IPOD NANO
A few words about the upcoming iPad and Mac Event
In his OHM AIR debut, Thomas Tsai posited that Apple had the potential to 'disrupt' the hi-res audio market. Currently, hi-res files in: WAV, AiFF, and ALAC, can be played back in iTunes. But none of those files work as-is, on an iPod or iPhone.
Read moreHeadfonia: a look back at the the original Apple iPod shuffle 512
My gadget is smaller than yours, big boy. It's true. And that is only one of the reasons I love the original iPod shuffle. I swear, there are dozens of audiophile reasons, too; but I ain't listing them here. You can find a few of them at Headfonia:
Back to the Future Friday: the original Apple iPod shuffle (512)
MacRumors: hi-res 24/192 possibly coming to iTunes
Neil Young's successful Pono has proved that there is a market for hi-res with mass-market appeal. If Apple can levy the necessary brunt behind the music-sales market to push competitive pricing to the masses -- not to mention, if rumour is founded -- 2014/2015 may be the first year of a penetrative market for hi-res audio.
Of course, Apple need to upgrade iOS software to properly handle the needs of hi-res audio. You can be sure, Ω will follow this closely.