Re: iPhone 7 disappointing audio...?

[Dane Trethowan]

That's news to me too, interesting but then again it makes sense, 
speakers are farther away from each other.

Some of the best stereo I've heard from a tablet was from the Apple iPad 
Mini 4, outstanding given its size.



On 19/10/2016 12:23 PM, Hamit Campos wrote:
I found the stereo axeptable when I heard it at the apple store at the Danbury 
Fair Mall. I'llv  say that it isa cheep trick though. They just used the ear 
peace for the right channel I'm assuming it is. So it's like Okay apple 
seriously now you do this? I also now see more point to the gripe people have 
about the HeadPhone jack. I thought they had put the other speaker there or 
something. But I totally didn't expect what they infact did.

-----Original Message-----
From: Pc-audio [mailto:pc-audio-boun...@pc-audio.org] On Behalf Of Mary Otten
Sent: Tuesday, October 18, 2016 3:49 PM
To: PC Audio Discussion List <pc-audio@pc-audio.org>
Subject: Re: iPhone 7 disappointing audio...?

I think the extra attachment you can get for that LG phone is a JBL speaker of 
some kind. Not sure about any sort of extra DAC. I will also be very curious 
what you think of the P9, although it is frankly out of my price range. I don't 
care how good it is, there must be limits. Smile. I went from an iPhone 6s to a 
7+, so I have a size difference in my phone, which might make for some of the 
differences in sound between the two. The 7+ is certainly louder than the 6S, 
and I do think it sounds better. The stereo image of course is a joke. I have a 
Nexus six android device for comparison. The iPhone sounds better. The stereo 
image if you want to call it that, on the Nexus is actually better, probably 
because the speakers both face the same direction. But the Nexus is so 
incredibly lacking in bass, that they might as well not have bothered with the 
stereo at all. The single iPhone speaker in my 6S sounded better than the Nexus 
with its dual stereo speakers.
Mary


Sent from my iPhone

On Oct 18, 2016, at 12:33 PM, Dane Trethowan <grtd...@internode.on.net> wrote:

A most interesting read!

I've always been impressed with the internal speakers on Apple iPhone though - 
like you - I've never taken them seriously for music listening but for speech 
and Voiceover the internal iPhone speaker is superb.

Now I have an iPhone 6 because of my Arcam DAC - the same as yours - and I had 
an iPhone 6S at one time.

I think - could be wrong - that the quality of the iPhone 6 speaker isn't quite 
as good as that of the 6S but none the less iits an improvement on the 5S and 
so its gone on right up through the iPhone series so I'm not at all surprised 
to hear that the speakers of the iPhone 7 sound good, that's the only thing 
that's tempting me to go out and buy an iPhone 7.

I'm not at all surprised to at your comments regarding the Lightning Dock to 
3.5MM jack converter but - as Apple have never ever provided high quality 
Earbuds with their iPhones anyway - its therefore not surprising that Apple 
didn't provide a high quality DAC but - having said that - I think Apple should 
have stated this and perhaps sold a higher quality converter - say for a couple 
of hundred dollars - so the user would at least have the choice of an upgrade.

LG does this with one of their phones, its a modular phone - can't remember the 
name of it - but the user has the choice of using what's available or buying 
other options to enhance the quality of audio, photos etc.

I have a set of Philips cans here that plug straight into a Lightning connector so - 
if and when I get a chance - I'm looking forward to connecting these to an iPhone 7 
and doing some comparisons with that cheap nasty lightning to 3.5MM jack converter 
<smile>.

I like you have a pair of P7's, love the things and - may as well tell you now - 
I'm off to listen to the B&W P9's shortly.



On 19/10/2016 6:17 AM, John Gurd wrote:
I got an iPhone 7 a few days ago and had it away with me on a weekend
break with limited opportunities to play with it.

  
Well, on this list there’s always someone who wants to know what the
phone speaker sounds like. To dispense with that question quickly,
it’s the best sounding iPhone (that doesn’t have a Plus in its name) I’ve heard 
so far.
Not surprising, as it has two tiny speakers instead of one so Voice
Over and books on Voice Dream Reader sound very pleasant. I don’t
listen to music on a phone speaker and am always surprised when
people give this aspect of audio serious consideration.

  
Of course the iPhone 7 is the infamous one where they got rid of the
audio jack. So I took my trusty B&w P7 headphones, my ancient and
cheap but much-loved (for sentimental reasons) Koss Porto Pros and my
Bluetooth Plantronics BackBeat Pros and the lightening ear pods that
ship with the device. No DAC except the little lightning to 3.5mm
convertor supplied by Apple.

  
Here are my first impressions and I have to emphasis they were
entirely subjective with no attempt at rigor. Imagine my shock when I
tried my P7s and thought they sounded awful! The mid-range was thin
with a hardness I never noticed before. The base was there but not
particularly extended. The music sounded kind of flat with no real
involvement. For the first time I felt I knew what was meant when
components were described as unmusical. When I then tried my Koss
Porto Pros whose basic design hasn’t changed since the 1980’s and
which at one point retailed at around £25 I actually thought they
sounded better but with the qualities described above still present,
perhaps with more space and a warmer tone. The Bluetooth BackBeat
Pros sounded the best with musicality restored and a warmth replacing
the hard midrange. The Apple earpods were what you would expect: a good reason 
for buying decent headphones for your Apple device.

  
The culprit, of course, was the $9 DAC provided by Apple for those
folk who will insist on owning headphones with a 3.5mm plug. The
frustrating thing was that as I was away from home I couldn’t try any
other lightning to audio DAC. I did have my Arcam MusicBoost case but
as it is made for the thinner iPhone 6 I didn’t fancy having my new
iPhone 7 permanently wedged in it. Out of desperation I did gingerly
try to insert it but gave up when it became clear it would end in disaster.

  
What I didn’t do (and still haven’t done) was try the above
headphones with the audio jack on my old iPhone 6 to see if it really
did sound worse on the iPhone 7 or if it was just a trick of the mind
because I was expecting better. Since arriving home I have tried my
P7s with the Oppo HA 2 DAC and the iPhone 7 and I am glad to say they
were back to being absolutely stunning. That’s a relief. I then tried
them again with the little Apple supplied DAC converter and although
they weren’t as shockingly bad as my first impression they still
sounded seriously under par, and that also when for my little plastic
Porto Pros. Yet I still feel even the Porto Pros sounded better with
the old audio jack. It mostly came down to that sense of hardness and lack of 
musicality I felt I detected.

  
Well, what do you expect for what amounts to a $9 DAC, I hear you
say. Most people who have a cheap pair of headphones won’t notice or
care and will just want them to work. I am quite sure that some
headphones will even sound better for it. But as I don’t always want
to carry a separate and cumbersome DAC around with me for casual
listening I do wish Apple had spent just a little more on their convertor.

  
John Gurd