Yeah, we get it. Bits are bits, but why do we hear differences in sound from different devices? It can't all be fictitious, right?
Old phones as streaming sources
I'm curious how many of you have converted old phones to streamers. I have found that when I remove the sim card and shut off blue tooth and wire the phone to a dac with an appropriate USB adapter cable, my old iphone 6s makes a pretty good streamer. Just wondering what others experiance has been. It is a really economical way to source digital to a 2nd or 3rd system. You can even cut electronic noise further by running on battery power when listening and shutting off the screen once the music is rolling. Going one step further would be to transfer local files to the phones memory and turn off wireless altogether. I have not done this but theoretically it should help. I usually just run the Qobuz app and stream from that to my Chord Mojo. What's your experiance?
Showing 9 responses by lanx0003
It's strange. While it is understandable that the perception of sound quality is subjective, it cannot deviate too much. I wonder if this has something to do with the settings? https://www.makeuseof.com/how-to-improve-sound-quality-on-iphone/ |
I have started using iphone (13) as a streamer a long while ago before purchasing Ifi ZS as a dedicated streamer. When playing music through an iphone and an external DAC, its SQ is better than the following different setups: iphone > window laptop/Mac Air > iphone w/ Apple dongle > iphone internal DAC When compared with the Ifi ZS, I am pleased to report that, through the same external DAC, the iPhone sounds almost on par with the Ifi in my system (Buchardt S400 ii / Parasound amp / Schiit DAC). The Ifi ZS has a bit more body in mids but iphone is no slouch. The bass is as weighty (try China Hok-Man Yim: ’Poems of Thunder’ eg), high ends/mids are as neutral, soundstage is as wide, and the noise floor is dark as well. When streaming from Qobuz in particular, the app works much better than a UPnP application like MConnect for Ifi. I continue to use the Ifi ZS simply because I prefer playing music from an SSD / HDD. I collect hi-res files and don’t stream as much. |
Jitter in audio or video streams is indeed measured in milliseconds (ms), representing the variation in the time it takes for data to travel from the source to the destination. The acceptable level of jitter before causing distortion can vary depending on the specific application and standards, with some says 30 ms. How would the aforementioned Jittle test measured in dB be translated to time delay? thx. |
OP, debating whether the iPhone is a decent streamer with audiophiles who own expensive streamers in the thousands or even tens of thousands may not be worthwhile. Individuals should experiment if they are interested. People tend to defend the significant expense they have already incurred, and it's unlikely that they will admit the potential diminished return value proposition that a seemingly free streamer like the iPhone may offer. Iphone as a streamer amazes me in the following aspects:
Apple has already integrated and established these specifications in the iPhone quite some time ago to support online music streaming and local music playing, predating the availability of both cheap and expensive streamers in the market today. One might raise the question, 'So what? How about the most important aspect - sound quality?' To that end, I have personally tried and attested, as have several others. I'll leave it to you to explore if you are interested. |
I hope you don’t mean the processor power is the fault. The SGC sonicTransporter i5 you have runs on an Intel i5 processor at 3.6 GHz. The Ifi ZS runs at 1.4 GHz, and the Raspberry Pi is becoming more powerful, with the Pi-5 at 2.4 GHz. Several mid-end streamers like Innuos, hi-end like Aurender also use increasingly powerful CPUs such as Intel quad-core processors running at 2.5 GHz. As a comparison, the CPU speed on iPhones, ranging from 1.8 GHz on the iPhone 6s to 3.5 GHz on the iPhone 14, is by no means an overkill. A more powerful CPU is not a fault; how the circuit is optimized and implemented to achieve better sound quality is the key. I would wager that the trend among higher-end streamers will lean towards processors that are more powerful yet low in power consumption with better energy efficiency etc... @mdalton I myself would never use a phone as my streamer because a modern IPhone is overkill for what is actually a very simple process ... Current iPhones run at 3.5 ghz, the Raspberry Pi is 1.5 ghz, and the Apollo 11 computer ran at .043 mhz (lol!) |
@mdalton All the ’phone’ conversations we’ve exchanged, including those with Op, are not an attempt to substitute the cell phone as the main streamer. Instead, it’s an open discussion on the ’possibility.’ I have Ifi ZS myself, two of them, with one fed by Ifi iPower X and the other on a 25 VA LPS by Lhy. Both serve me well, but I find my iPhone 13 is no slouch either. Whether it is used as a backup is strictly up to you, but I want to emphasize that it should be a personal choice rather than a prejudice. I want to give the iPhone a fair trial and do it justice.How you like your D70 Pro Octo? I have tried couple of sub. $500 Topping dac and return / sell all of them due to basically flat SS (lack of depth). Curious about Octo given all the rave reviews. |
sorry, i thought you were talking about $600 on the topping dac alone and led me to think the 'Octo'. I did try e70 Velvet and it did throw deeper SS relative to previous topping dac I had but not really stand up to the Schiit dac whose house sound I like better. I kinda give up the mass production chifi dac now including smsl. I may jump up to Denafrips Pontus II after I sort out which streamer I want to upgrade to as a whole digital source package. @jastralfu I do not have that level of DDC/DAC combo as the benchmark to do the comparison. However, to do justice to the iPhone 13, I switch it to airplane mode (but leave Wi-Fi on for Qobuz), turn off all notifications, Siri, and all other possible interferences I could think of. The test track was 'Fever' by Chantal Chamberland. With my iFi-ZS (with Lhy LPS) and Schiit Modius combination, paired with Burchardt S400 II, I would agree with you that the SS disparity is noticeable, but I also notice a volume level difference. The iFi-ZS volume output level is a bit higher. After I match the volume, the SS disparity is somewhat less. I would say it shrinks from a bit beyond the speakers down to right on the speaker. However, even though I was doing low-level listening, the bass articulation from both is pretty much on par. The midrange body is slightly less on the iPhone, but not by much. The treble details and airiness from the iPhone are impressive too. I would expect these disparities to be intensified with more revealing source components, as you have. |