03-17-2021, 03:08 PM
(This post was last modified: 03-17-2021, 03:37 PM by FrankMiller.)
(03-17-2021, 02:05 PM)fab10 Wrote: Just to confirm-
Are you saying that the lightning-to-3.5mm connector is lossy while the USB c-to-3.5mm is lossless?
Lossy data transfer can be a serious issue here because it can kill the subliminal messages. That is also why Bluetooth is not recommended.
I’ll copy Shannon’s quote for reference:
Quote:If they're using lossy compression, they're also very likely stripping out the very low volume audio (kills masked subliminals) and stripping out the very high pitch audio (kills ultrasonic subliminals).
Lightning-to-3.5mm is lossy in terms of FLAC (for MP3 audio output this type of connection will do just fine). The issue originates from the fact once the lighting connection is used for audio output, the iPhone's internal DAC is bypassed. And we are passing over the data to headphones over a 3.5mm cable (an 'obsolete' audio data transfer medium). It won't render the audio useless though. But you might not be able to appreciate the added audio quality difference between a FLAC and a MP3 audio. Now, how much this 'data loss' will affect those 5-7% that the IML FLAC sub audio has over its MP3 version, I guess only @Shannon and his tech could answer. In theory the Lightning-to-3.5mm connection could support up to 48kHz.
USB-C-2-Lightning cable can support a much higher bitrate audio data transfer, so the FLAC audio will be far less degraded. 'Lossless' FLAC transfer from an iPhone would only be possible with the use of an external DAC. A good and portable one will set you back 1.500USD+ so in that case it would be better to get a portable FLAC player and studio quality wired headphones.
Over Bluetooth you could get a better data transfer than what the 'Lightning-to-3.4mm' offers, if for example a codec such as aptX, aptX HD is used (many over the higher end wireless head phones do now support these). However, the iPhone, being Apple and 'unique', doesn't support these codecs...
