DAC for an iphone 6

[shep1968]

Hi all. I currently stream via wifi from my computer or iphone into an Apple Airport into my Naim amp. All my music either on my phone or stored on my external hard drive is in apple lossless format. The weak link in streaming is the AE. Can i buy a product, presumably a DAC, that i can plug into my iphone and will take the music digitally directly from it without the iphone doing any of the work. Will this if it is possible make the sound quality better than the current streaming and closer to the sound quality i get from my Naim CD player.

 

[MajorFubar]

Your iPhone will be compatible with any USB DAC via the camera connection kit, but if the DAC is bus-powered, you'll probably need to buy a powered USB hub to power it, because the iPhone's accessory load is limited to something stupidly low like 50mA. IMO yes it will generally improve the sound, depending on the DAC you buy of course.

I'm currently streaming ALAC CD rips from my iPad 4 through a HRT Music Streamer 2+ (using a powered USB hub) into a pair of wireless Sennheisser RS180 headphones, and frankly it's easily as good as any CD player I've ever heard. Not that I've heard loads costing megabucks.

 

[shep1968]

Your iPhone will be compatible with any USB DAC via the camera connection kit, but if the DAC is bus-powered, you'll probably need to buy a powered USB hub to power it, because the iPhone's accessory load is limited to something stupidly low like 50mA. IMO yes it will generally improve the sound, depending on the DAC you buy of course.

I'm currently streaming ALAC CD rips from my iPad 4 through a HRT Music Streamer 2+ (using a powered USB hub) into a pair of wireless Sennheisser RS180 headphones, and frankly it's easily as good as any CD player I've ever heard. Not that I've heard loads costing megabucks.

So i need a lightning connector to USB cable, a powered USB bus and a connection from the bus into a dac? Will that read directly from the iphone and ignore volume controls etc?

 

[MajorFubar]

Yes, in a nutshell. Though to be fair there are possibly low-power Lightning DACs around that would wholly simplify the process, but I'm not familar with them (if they do exist at all) or how better they would be than your AEX; perhaps someone else can contribute who knows more about that.
But to use any regular bus-powered USB DAC , you'd plug the DAC into a powered USB hub, then plug the hub into your iPhone via the Apple camera connection kit (which is basically a short overpriced lead with a lightning plug at one end and a USB socket at the other). That's it. It's exactly the set-up I'm using here as I type, but with an iPad 4 not an iPhone 6 (makes no odds, i don't think). Beyond that, it just works: your new DAC takes over completely, until you unplug it again.

 

[richardw42]

In what way is the AE the weak link ?

 

[shep1968]

Cant I use the standard lightning connector, that has a standard USB connection on it or do i need a connector with a female end on it?