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azinman2

So use the dongle?

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Hello 2007. https://i.imgur.com/NqxYlb0.jpg

What is this a photo of? Looks like some sort of barrel jack to AC mains adapter?

It's a custom edge connector to 3.5mm audio dongle.

That looks like a Sony Ericsson proprietary connector (called FastPort)[1] to 3.5mm audio jack to me.

[1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FastPort

The dongle: probably has a poor quality DAC, gets lost easily, and prevents the phone from being charged or tethered to a computer.

I imagine it doesn't have any DAC. The DAC is still inside the phone, just like on previous iphone, the dongle is just a physical adapter to the 3.5mm standard.

I had assumed it had a DAC since I haven't seen apple use lightning for analog audio yet. I could be wrong, but couldn't find any source for clarification (upon googling). This slide from yesterday seems to suggest lightning is being used for digital out: https://cdn0.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/ghvFaov2v5hQ-mZ8y-r6VM5oTWI...

Does it actually have a DAC, or does it just provide a physical interface to one of the Lightning pins which gets connected to a DAC inside the phone?

I assumed it had a DAC, but can't find a source that says either way.

Then the lightning dock.

The dongle is a passive converter the lightning interface has a pinout for analog audio.

Do you have a source saying that the analog over lightning is being used here? Because the slide I posted in my other reply says it is "digital audio" over lightning, which I assume to be true for both lightning earpods and this adapter (though I very well could be wrong).

The size of it plus the spec has lanes for analog audio.

Wait for a tear down but it isn't a DAC.

Isn't it the exact same size as the lightning earpods though? The spec does has analog audio, but I've yet to see it used (by apple or a third party)

I have doubts that the EarPods are digital also it's not stated anywhere. Some of the lightning docks had some circuitry in them but no DACs. The lightning to 30pin converter works with older DAC-less audio setups/docks.

Overall my hunch is that it's not digital only yet.

>I have doubts that the EarPods are digital also it's not stated anywhere.

They specifically said in the announcement that the earpods are digital not analog: https://youtu.be/G6I-IKYEVMI?t=21045

Hmm not sure most of the "digital" stuff was not about the earpods but about the wireless ones AKA the "AirPods" The ones that come with the iPhone 7 in the box are the regular earpods we have now just with a lightning connector, there have also been a few videos going back to july about the 3.5mm connector some of them taken it apart it doesn't seem to have anything in it.

o.0 Did you click the link? It goes to right when he starts explaining Earpods switching to lightning, with "digital audio" written in the slide, and reiterating "digital audio" multiple times.

Articles about the Lightning headphone spec from a couple of years ago suggest that it only includes digital audio. They even specify a DAC that should be used.

https://9to5mac.com/2014/06/03/apple-introduces-mfi-specs-fo...

Yeah, use the dongle unless you need to charge it at the same time.

Wait a month, or maybe even a week (manufacturers are pretty quick these days). There will be an adapter that lets you do both.

If there's one thing to be said about Apple products, it's that there's no shortage of doohickeys that connect to them.

Does the dongle add latency?

Unlikely; the audio had to be converted from digital to analog on the phone previously so now that's being moved to a dongle so it's still the same process (roughly). If it does add latency I would bet it's very unnoticeable (like sub milliseconds when compared to the built-in solution).

Entirely possible. Onboard DACs use I2S which adds basically zero latency; one of the ways of getting audio out over Lightning is to use USB which requires additional latency-causing buffering. It's possible that there's another lower-latency way of getting audio out over Lighting but only Apple knows.

Fair enough. Now I'm interested in this topic but am not an electrical engineer so I've skimmed through about 5 wikipedia articles semi related heh

An Android phone costs less than the dongle.

I know you're joking, and I'm not agreeing with the headphone jack decision, but the dongle is $9.

http://www.apple.com/shop/product/MMX62AM/A/lightning-to-35-...

I have four android phones. None of them cost me a dime. They all have headphone jacks.

> None of them cost me a dime

How so? If they were through carriers, you probably still paid for part of it through your monthly bill, and part of it was subsidized by your carrier.

Either way cmdrfred's

> An Android phone costs less than the dongle.

is incorrect. Most people are paying for their phones in some way, whether Android or iOS, whether directly or via their carrier, and the dongle is free with the phone.

Unless these were gifts, you paid for them. If the phones were "free" or just a penny from a mobile carrier, the real price of the phone was hidden in the monthly service charge. That's why you had to sign a long-term service contract to get the "free" phone.

Thank goodness the carriers have been moving away from that kind of deceptive pricing.

The dongle comes for free in the box[0].

> In the Box

>> Lightning to 3.5 mm Headphone Jack Adapter

[0]: http://www.apple.com/iphone-7/specs/

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