iPhone and Macbook with Cambridge CXA80

[raiders4life12]

iPhone with Cambridge CXA80
What are the ways I can connect an iPhone 6s to the Cambridge CXA80? it has USB type B fyi Also what is the best way to connect a Macbook? Thanks a lot

 

[chebby]

iPhone with Cambridge CXA80

What are the ways I can connect an iPhone 6s to the Cambridge CXA80?

3.5mm (analogue) jack input on the front and Bluetooth with their (optional) USB BT100 receiver.

Obviously you could connect anyone else's Bluetooth adaptor/receiver to any spare set of RCA phono inputs. (About £20 upwards.)

You could connect an AirPort Express or Apple TV3 - using optical cable to your amp and ethernet to your router - and then use AirPlay. (Apple TV3 best in my experience.)

You could buy the Arcam AirDAC for AirPlay. (Bit expensive.)

 

[Leeps]

You might want to check out the Audioquest Dragonfly DACs. (See the link below). One or two of the models offer a direct connection to the Lightning output of the iphone. I know it doubles up on how many DACs your system will have, but it still might be one of the cheapest options. It's not wireless, but in many cases, a wired system will offer a more stable connection.

Airplay offerings (via an Airport Express) would depend on the speed of your network and how many other people's networks are in your vicinity. I personally find Airplay too unreliable, which is why for the most part I directly connect my ipad to my AV receiver when streaming. However many others on this forum will find Airplay perfectly acceptable.

http://www.whathifi.com/news/audioquests-new-dragonfly-usb-dacs-work-phones-and-tablets

 

[davedotco]

The CXA80 has a USB Type B input. Use a standard USB Type B (printer cable) to directly connect to your macbook, very simple.

It does not have a Type A (letterbox) input for an iThing and being apple, Airplay is much better implemented than Bluetooth. Get an Airport Express, £59 from the refurb store. Run into the toslink input on your amp. A wired connection is a pain in this context for an iPhone,

 

[raiders4life12]

would the iphone lightning to usb adapter/camera connection kit and a usb a to usb b cable work?

 

[davedotco]

would the iphone lightning to usb adapter/camera connection kit and a usb a to usb b cable work?

The Connection kit will give you an output suitable for a USB Type A input, which the CX80 does not have.

Not only is it a different shape to the Type B, the data transfer protocols are entirely different,

As said above, AEX is the way to go.

 

[raiders4life12]

So this usb cable:

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/audioquest-forest-2-5-usb-a-b-cable-black-green/1267664.p?id=1218245470853&skuId=1267664

And this adapter:

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/apple-lightning-to-usb-camera-adapter-white/7006933.p?id=1218821195498&skuId=7006933#tabbed-customerreviews

will not work?

 

[davedotco]

So this usb cable:

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/audioquest-forest-2-5-usb-a-b-cable-black-green/1267664.p?id=1218245470853&skuId=1267664

And this adapter:

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/apple-lightning-to-usb-camera-adapter-white/7006933.p?id=1218821195498&skuId=7006933#tabbed-customerreviews

will not work?

I refer to my post above.

It means that the data (music file) is organised differently when transfered from a usb to when it is transfered from an iThing connector.

The way the data is recieved is therefore different too, to make this clear different connectors are used.

What do you have against using an AEX?

 

[raiders4life12]

My wifi is not reliable enough to use an airport express the amp is not near the router. I also wanted to use the same usb that i am going to use with my MacBook. Also I wanted to use USB so I could use the Cambridge DAC instead of the iPhones.

 

[davedotco]

My wifi is not reliable enough to use an airport express the amp is not near the router. I also wanted to use the same usb that i am going to use with my MacBook. Also I wanted to use USB so I could use the Cambridge DAC instead of the iPhones.

Get an Airport Express and buy or borrow a long ethernet cable.

Set the AEX up with the cable, then once this is done you can remove the Ethernet cable and just transmit to the AEX over Airplay. Set the channel to something like 36 in the 5Ghz band to avoid regular wi-fi traffic, works beautifully.

As I keep saying, the digital out from a macbook usb is fundamentally different from the digital output from an iThing. There are good reasons for this though it is beyond my area of expertese to explain why.

Using an AEX means that the dac in the iThing is not used, you can use the dac in the AEX or output digital optical to your Cambridge dac, your choice.

 

[raiders4life12]

Ok. Sounds good.

Thanks

 

[raiders4life12]

My wifi is not reliable enough to use an airport express the amp is not near the router. I also wanted to use the same usb that i am going to use with my MacBook. Also I wanted to use USB so I could use the Cambridge DAC instead of the iPhones.

Get an Airport Express and buy or borrow a long ethernet cable.

Set the AEX up with the cable, then once this is done you can remove the Ethernet cable and just transmit to the AEX over Airplay. Set the channel to something like 36 in the 5Ghz band to avoid regular wi-fi traffic, works beautifully.

As I keep saying, the digital out from a macbook usb is fundamentally different from the digital output from an iThing. There are good reasons for this though it is beyond my area of expertese to explain why.

Using an AEX means that the dac in the iThing is not used, you can use the dac in the AEX or output digital optical to your Cambridge dac, your choice.

So I got my amp and I can confirm the iPhone does work with the camera connection kit and usb a to b cable to my amp for the record.

 

[MajorFubar]

So this usb cable:

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/audioquest-forest-2-5-usb-a-b-cable-black-green/1267664.p?id=1218245470853&skuId=1267664

And this adapter:

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/apple-lightning-to-usb-camera-adapter-white/7006933.p?id=1218821195498&skuId=7006933#tabbed-customerreviews

will not work?

I refer to my post above.

It means that the data (music file) is organised differently when transfered from a usb to when it is transfered from an iThing connector.

The way the data is recieved is therefore different too, to make this clear different connectors are used.

What do you have against using an AEX?

I think you're both saying the correct things but you're inadvertently getting your tails in a twist. Plug a camera connection kit (aka USB convertor) into an iDevice and you essentially give it a USB A socket. Connect that to a powered DAC (or in his case, his amp) with a regular USB cable, and providing you have iOS 8 or later, the iDevice will happily stream music to the USB DAC all day long, just as though you'd plugged the DAC to a computer. I've proved it in the past by plugging my iPad into my HRT II+ via a powered hub (which he doesn't need because the DAC is in his amp)

EDIT: damn...just seen he got it working via this method in the last post before mine.

 

[davedotco]

So this usb cable:

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/audioquest-forest-2-5-usb-a-b-cable-black-green/1267664.p?id=1218245470853&skuId=1267664

And this adapter:

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/apple-lightning-to-usb-camera-adapter-white/7006933.p?id=1218821195498&skuId=7006933#tabbed-customerreviews

will not work?

I refer to my post above.

It means that the data (music file) is organised differently when transfered from a usb to when it is transfered from an iThing connector.

The way the data is recieved is therefore different too, to make this clear different connectors are used.

What do you have against using an AEX?

I think you're both saying the correct things but you're inadvertently getting your tails in a twist. Plug a camera connection kit (aka USB convertor) into an iDevice and you essentially give it a USB A socket. Connect that to a powered DAC (or in his case, his amp) with a regular USB cable, and providing you have iOS 8 or later, the iDevice will happily stream music to the USB DAC all day long, just as though you'd plugged the DAC to a computer. I've proved it in the past by plugging my iPad into my HRT II+ via a powered hub (which he doesn't need because the DAC is in his amp)

EDIT: damn...just seen he got it working via this method in the last post before mine.

This was never an issue, we know this will work.

It is really just the inconvenience of having your iThing tethered to your amp by cable. If, like me, you sit 12-15ft from your amp and speakers, using an AEX is so much neater and useable.