Just ordered a FiiO i1 Dac/Amp dongle. This works like the adapter that Apple supplies with the iPhone 7, 8, X but according to the reviews is much, much better; $39 USD. I will have it next Tuesday. FiiO i1 dongle
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One of the nice things about the Apple lighting to 3.5mm cable is that it is only like 1 inch. This doesnât add very much to your headphone cable, and doesnât make it bulky. The Fiio i1 you linked looks very long. Interested to see how it sounds, but I don;t know if I would get it just because the cable is so long!
I do think it would have been a better solution if theyâd made the FiiO i1 as short as possible and just included an extension cable for those that wanted it. While in my particular case the extra cable length is useful (routing it through the PAN on a ScottEVest jacket), itâs irritating otherwise.
Per @transmasterâs comment that reviews say it is âmuch, much betterâ than the standard Apple Lighting to 3.5mm adapter, Iâd have to advise some caution. Itâs a little better, in qualitative terms, in most areas but itâs not an in-your-face improvement across the board in my opinion.
Also the FiiO i1 seems to offer less power output about 30mw into 16 ohms vs. the 31mw into 32 ohms from the Apple adapter (so, about half). With IEMs this is unlikely to be an issue, but otherwise it might be.
One final comment ⌠donât try pairing it with the CA Andromeda ⌠turns them into a bass-bloated mess.
Not only is it much smaller, the iPhone dongle already measures very well. Easily audiophile-grade - any improvement is likely to be marginal at best, and indistinguishable when out and about.
The iEMatch can deal with the issue of Andros sounding bloated, but now youâve attached two dongles to the end of your cable⌠
Isnât that what Apple wants? A string of dongles running for miles all for you to listen to some music?
You could use an iEMatch, but in this particular combination while it fixes the bass bloat I found it sucked the life out of the music.
Thatâs a 50/50 thing, I find, with the iEMatch ⌠sometimes it works wonders, sometimes itâs entitely the opposite.
I have the i1 now. It is indeed much better than the Apple dongle. It includes volume controls and a microphone. Both terminations are metal. The lightning plug end fits in the Otterbox Defender case with room to spare. Below are the particulars on it. It is definitely worth &39.99 and them some. The sound is great with my Shure SE-215, and even better with my Etymotic hf3âs. The only real issue I have is the fact like the Apple adapter it is powered by the iPhone and it does reduce the battery life. I do not expect it to power my AKG 240âs. I have a FiiO E17K (E17) Alpen 2 it powers my 240âs to mind bending volume levels. I wish I could hook to to my iPad, and iPhone using its coaxial input.
http://m.fiio.net/en/products/67
The BTR1 is what is very interesting. It is a self contained Bluetooth DAC/Amp that you plug in your earphones. I would purchase it right now but it is Bluetooth 4.2, 5.0 is just now appearing. The iPhone 8, snd X support it. (http://m.fiio.net/en/products/77
Despite initial claims to the contrary, the BTR1 doesnât support the AAC codec ⌠which means on an iOS device (including iPhone 8 and X) it runs in SBC mode ⌠which is distinctly inferior sounding to either AAC or, better yet, aptX.
And when I say âdistinctly inferiorâ, I actually mean âpretty crummyâ ⌠true for SBC regardless of source.
Living in the Apple ecosystem myself, Iâm looking at the FiiO Q5 ($350) now â it has balanced output and âaudiophile gradeâ Bluetooth. Itâs also Apple certified. Even if not the absolute best audio quality, for everyday listening it might eliminate a lot of player, cabling, and dongle issues. Iâd likely use it more as a home pre-amp than as a mobile device (but both).
I decided not to get it. I am upgrading to an iPhone XS Max and it has BT 5.0. The BTR1 just supports 4.2.
Digging around in my âportable audio drawerâ this morning, looking for something else entirely, I came across this thing again. And since I have some new IEMs, and am currently spending a lot of time sitting around with not much to do but âwaitâ, I stuck it in a pocket so I could play with it some more.
Itâs been a while since I used it last ⌠but either iOS (or the newer iPhones) have changed something that the i1 doesnât now like, or it has developed a fault (while sitting unused).
With nothing playing the i1 periodically makes odd noises and chirps. They do NOT occur when playing music, but just navigating the phone with no music playing they DO. And with no particular rhyme or reason.
The âFiiO Controllerâ app, which is supposed to let you do firmware updates, appears to have vanished from the App Store, so no way to see if thereâs an issue/udpate there.
And then, back to back with the standard Apple Lighting-to-3.5mm adapter, the Apple dongle now sounds better than the i1. At least driving the AAW Canary. I donât know if thatâs a synergy thing, if Apple have changed something in their adapter or, again, if the i1 is now having issues.
Itâs a shame there isnât a more compelling ultra-small DAC/amp for iOS. The options that are there, are either a pain to buy, or Iâve moved on from, and regardless need the CCK adapter (which is an ungainly pain in the arse).
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Many 1 star reviews on Amazon, with no compatibility for iOS 11.3 or laterâŚ
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Indeed!
It does âworkâ on iOS 13.2.2 (which isnât to say it wonât break on 13.2.3) for music replay (not tested the mic or controls) ⌠though the odd sounds when not playing music are disconcerting (and they donât happen playing digital silence).
But it no longer conveys any advantage over the $9 Apple part that I can hear.
Shame there arenât other good/better, direct, options.
I was just looking at this on amazon and headfi an hour ago! So disappointed to find out it barely works with new iOS. The Apple version is flimsy junk; the usb and the headphone jack are both flimsy and stop working as well after a few months. Really want a reliable connection I can buy once and forget it.
The FiiO i1 isnât any sturdier ⌠the cable is no more substantial than the $9 Apple option.
That said, Iâve not had one of the Apple ones fail yet. Iâm sure they do if they get tugged or snagged etc. But the one currently in the pouch with the QC20i goes all the way back to the iPhone 7 (came in the box), and has about a quarter-million flight-kilometers and well over 500 combined flight/airport hours on it.
Itâd be nice if things like the DragonFly didnât need the CCK. Wonât buy another that does, especially not after the Cobalt. Same with things like the E1DA 9038S.
At $9 for the Apple part, I bought a handful, stuck them in the pouches/cases with whatever theyâd be driving, and forgot about them. If I was worried about failure, Iâd stick a 2nd one in with the primary set and ⌠forget about it.
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My FiiO i1 works OK with 13.3 but I rarely use it. Instead I purchased a adapter that has both the 3.5mm amp plug in, and a lightning plug for charging. I no longer have to worry about syncing with iTunes on my PC, it is no longer needed and I deleted it. My favorite earphone the Etymotic again has detachable cables. Now they use the same plug as the Shure earphones, my 2nd favorite.Earphone. Shure makes a 5.0 Bluetooth cable. The only problem I have with it is itâs price.