Old phones as streaming sources

It's strange. While it is understandable that the perception of sound quality is subjective, it cannot deviate too much.

@lanx0003 Sure it can.  I’ll mention that power supplies consistently are reported to have a significant impact on the sound of a streamer, and I never listened to my ZS without the iPowerX so I suppose that could account for at least some of the differences we heard although there are obviously numerous other variables involved.

particularly in light of the science and measurements of some credible audio professionals that support the OP’s position. 

And who would that be?

Point being some devices not created for the audiophile world can still deliver world class performances and don't have to cost an arm and a leg.

World class performance?  Really???  I think not, but you believe what u wanna believe.  Your iPhone6s is streaming shite no matter how good you think it might be.  But u be u.  Peace out. 

What I tend to scratch my head over is how some folks pay manufacturers (who avoid said due diligence) so much for devices that aren’t verifiably (audibly) different.

@benanders  Speak for yourself.  Plenty of us have heard big improvements moving up to streamers from Aurender, Innuos, etc.  Maybe it’s time you tried something better than your Raspberry Pi and see/hear for yourself. 

with an appropriate USB adapter cable, my old iphone 6s makes a pretty good streamer.

Sorry but no, it doesn’t. It sucks. I started that way with my iPhone6 and also thought it sounded pretty good through Qobuz, but when I graduated to a relatively modest iFi Zen streamer the difference was night and day and performance was on another level entirely. Doing various tweaks or whatever to the iPhone is just polishing the turd IMHO and is probably a waste of time for relatively little benefit. If you wanna use it in a second or third system for non-critical listening it’s good for that, but for any more serious listening it’s an absolute bottleneck to performance and don’t kid yourself into thinking it’s not. I think even adding something as simple and inexpensive as a Wiim Pro would be a considerable improvement over your iPhone. That was my experience anyway and hope this helps.

So, did you compare running the iPhone direct into the DAC8 versus going through your Aries?  If you don’t hear a significant improvement through the Aries, well, let’s  just say we greatly differ in our experiences.  And yes, I bought an upgraded LavriCable silver Lightning/USB cable to upgrade from the Apple Camera Adapter to run directly into my Musician Pegasus R2R DAC and it was a big improvement, bit it still in no way approached the performance going through the iFi Zen streamer.  So I stand by my own listening experience that compared to a decent streamer the iPhone sucks relatively as a streaming source, but I also mentioned it’s fine in less critical situations and is indeed very listenable in that situation.  But IME it in no way compares to running a dedicated streamer — not even close.  Hey, you asked “What’s your experience” and I gave it to you.  If your experience is different or you disagree that’s fine, but I stand by what I heard/said. 

The iPhone 5 was known to have a very good dac built in. Just as the play station 1 was known to be a very good cd player. 

@audioguy85  Good for what they are maybe, but not good compared to anything designed specifically for audio.  C’mon man. 

@lanx0003 I’ll just say my experience was way different.  I thought using my iPhone into my DAC using Qobuz sounded really good.  Then I brought up my old Oppo player to use as a CD transport into my DAC and playing CDs totally eclipsed the performance of streaming with my iPhone — not even close, and to say I was disappointed and discouraged is an understatement.  Several people here strongly suggested I get a separate streamer, so I bought an iFi Zen Stream (with their iPowerX power supply) and the performance immediately leapfrogged CDs and went to another level entirely.  Again, not even close.  Comparing playing through the Zen versus direct with the iPhone was like listening to hi res vs. MP3.  Again, not even close.  Not saying you didn’t hear what you heard at all and I’m sure you did, but it is in stark contrast to my experience so thought it worth sharing.

In other words it does not appear to me that there are strong technical reasons that a modest streamer such as a phone can't produce good audio if run through a quality dac...and that is what my ears have been telling me.

@bruce19  Do tell, what other streamers have you compared to the iPhone?  Frankly, with your self-professed very compromised hearing your credibility on this topic is pretty low from my perspective.

Hey @soix unlike some others on this forum I don't hold myself out as a self-annointed expert.

I’m not a self-anointed expert, but it’s pretty clear if you listen to people here who have better streamers from the likes of Aurender, Grimm, Innuos, etc. that streamers matter and the iPhone is not a great streamer — in fact it pretty much sucks IME.  It’s functional but so is a Toyota Corolla — doesn’t make it a great car.  The iPhone is a functional streamer and trying to elevate it past that is just silly talk.  You can’t hear past 11kHz so not surprised you can’t hear the difference, but that’s you and not most of us.  

@lanx0003  What you fail to recognize is that noise is the mortal enemy of good streaming, and an iPhone is about the noisiest source possible for streaming.  Streamers go to great lengths to minimize noise while the iPhone does nothing in that regard and has tons of electronics — as well as being a phone — running as it’s streaming music.  No bueno.  I started streaming with an iPhone and it’s fine but it’s absolute crap relative to a decent streamer.  It’s a Jack of all trades and master of nothing, especially when it comes to audio.

@mdalton By that logic you can feed a $10k DAC with an iPhone and be no better off if you use a good Aurender, Grimm, Innuos, etc. streamer.  Is that your contention?  I don’t think there are many people here with good DACs who would use an iPhone as a streaming source.  I did, and it sucked and would assume most others would find the same.  But hey, if an iPhone works for you then rock on dude.

though I would never recommend an Aurender or its ilk as I think they are dramatically overpriced for what you get

@mdalton Yeah, that’s just absurd IMHO.

You also didn’t spend a bunch on a streamer, opting for the zen, which seems smart to me

Yeah, I didn’t but even without the DDC I heard a huge improvement over an iPhone/iPad.  Hey, but if you think an iPhone is a great streamer then you do you.  If you can’t hear the difference I feel pretty sorry for you.