Related equipment:
1. Cowon Plenue D – A case for the Cowon Plenue D
– Cowon Plenue D RMAA 24-bit
2. iPhone 6 – RMAA 24-bit
3. AK Jr – Who you calling junior?
– AK Jr RMAA 24-bit
4. Ultrasone IQ – Ultrasone IQ and IQ Pro
Four articles in a row, three slotted as reviews, one as a small photo break. Try as he might to see the bright lights, inside is a jaded mess. Let’s blog a bit, eh?
Today that man yanks out an old product, a product meant for handy telephony, but which he purchased in 2015 and 2016 specifically to play tunes. That product is the iPhone 4s.
Man expects groans and pushback from Holier than Though audiophiles. Dilution of their hobby by consumer goods is anathema, and chief among consumer brands is Apple. Still, man yanks it out, sharing both measurement and anecdote.
Black or white – which I prefer changes with the weather. White looks great outside, in natural light. Black is super sexy inside.
I’m sorry Steve, the iPhone 4 isn’t, in any physical way, like an old Leica. But, like an old Leica, it is iconic and timeless. It doesn’t fudge lines into amorphous curves. It doesn’t flaunt antennas or cameras. It sits flat on a table and can be propped on its side. Its form follows its function. It is machined beautifully and slides into the front pockets of skinny jeans.
Perfect.
Measurements and more on the next page:
derbigpr
I still keep my old 4S just for music listening reasons on the go. I always said the phone was worth the price just as a music player alone, everything else it does is just a bonus. I did blind tests with Iphone 4S playing lossless files comparing it to DAC’s that cost 700-800 dollars, plugged into Musical Fidlity M1HPAP amp and using Beyerdynamic T1 headphones. There’s nothing about the 4S performance that would suggest it’s a phone, it’s just a very clean, very honest and musical presentation. It’s one of those devices that makes you want to listen to a song until the end once it starts, unlike some devices that just make you skip the music from one track to another looking for something that would impress you, but you never find it. The fact that Apple managed to extract such musical performance (and let’s not forget power, since iPhones have considerably more powerful amps inside than other phones, and even some portable players like Fiio X1) from a device that is this small and does so many things is amazing.
ohm image
Agreed. It is lovely.
Vs
What type of files are you listening and what software are you using for listening losless files?
ohm image
I listen to everything from lossy MP3 and AAC to ALAC, FLAC, and on occasion, to DSD. For lossless (ALAC, WAV, AiFF) I use the regular music player. Otherwise NePlayer.
Mike
I have an iPhone 4s to go with my British made minirig speakers and subwoofer for my wheelchair. I encoded all my files in aiff which is lossless & listen to Mainly female vocal. Christina Perry, The Corrs, Katie Melua, Celine Dion, plus The Eagles, Queen, Elton John. It sounds brilliant through & I’m using high quality custom built interconnects. The vocals are oustanding & come across beautifully & instuments are portrayed exceptionally with accurate soundstaging & authority, especially guitars. The emotions & breathiness In Katie Meluas “The Closest thing to Crazy” are breathtaking & really draw you into the song. I did try some FiiO Bluetooth DACs amp the BTR 3 & The BTR1 they didn’t make any perceptible difference in sound quality even when listening using my Sennheisser momentum 2’s instead of the Minirigs. However my friend lent me the absolutely amazing iFi xDSD Bluetooth amp & headphone Dac & using it as a headphone amp connected to my iPhone 4s and my Sennheisser Momentum 2’s I was totally blown away. Not descriptive I know but they were just wow. Connected to my version 1 Minirigs the difference wasnt quite as good though they are version 1’s & version 4’s are available now which are supposed to have an even better dynamic range. But the iFi xDSD retails at £399 so isn’t cheap but well worth the money if you can afford it for HI-Fi quality sound if your source files are lossless & your headphones are of sufficient quality.
Headfonia_L.
Great read , Nathan!
ohm image
Did you _read_ it?
dalethorn
I’m tempted by the new iPhone SE, but I have the 128 gb iPod Touch and Oppo HA2, so I guess that’s compact enough.
ohm image
The iPhone SE is a disaster for me. I put an order in for it three weeks ago and Softbank still have me on hold. Either Apple didn’t make enough, or not enough came to Japan. But yeah, your system is compact. I prefer to go naked, but using an decent/good amp like the HA2 certainly can help in some situations.
LinuxProphet
ditto Dale!
But I have filled mine to capacity with Hires files and now I am hungry for the 9.7 iPad Pro w 256GB memory! These ever-hungry files.
dalethorn
I’m not sure if the new smaller Pro is available with 256 gb, but that could be a good option for smaller size carry…
derbigpr
IMHO SE is not worth over 5S unless you need the slightly better camera and will notice that it opens things 0,05 seconds faster after you tap the screen. The phones feel identical in hand and in use. SE is MARGINALLY faster only when you load it up with a bunch of apps opened at the same time, or are doing something like gaming. As far as audio circuitry goes, it’s not officially confirmed, but I did talk to a guy who knows his shit when it comes to Apple (used to work there as an electrical engineer, so he even gets a bit of inside info) and he claims the audio section should be absolutely identical to the one in 5S.
dalethorn
Since the SE is fat for its length and width, it looks like they prioritized for the newer camera and a decent battery capacity.
ohm image
Which sounds perfect for me. My pre-order is still a long ways out.
Barun C
Very enjoyable writeup and visuals Nathan. I personally have never owned an iPhone and probably never will, but I got to say your article is making me think about it.
I have been using the HTC One M8 for couple of years and it performs quite well as a music player with Neutron and USB Audio Player PRO. In the mobile phone world I am eagerly waiting for project ARA as I think that is the next leap for smartphones and if it happens successfully then we might see phones becoming comparable to mid-hi tier DAPs.
BTW if you get a chance try out the LG G5 Modular phone, I believe it has a dedicated DAC/AMP module (32-Bit/384 Khz).
On a different note, are you going to publish RMAA results on your reviews here as well, or it is only for blog writeup?
derbigpr
Well, you don’t have to wait, if you want a phone that compares to mid-fi DAP’s (talking about stuff up to 500-600 dollars), there’s already iPhone 5S, 6 and 6S on the market, as well as iPod’s. I’ve had loads of smartphones, always flagships, from Samsung, LG, HTC, Motorola, Sony, etc. iPhones are the only ones that I’d consider full on audiophile devices. They just have that something in sound that you get with better hi-fi gear, as I said in my other comment, I can’t explain it, but the sound is just so clean, effortless, smooth and natural that it makes you want to listen to music on it. HTC’s are pretty good too in terms of sound, but lack driving power for headphones. Samsung is hit and miss, some are good, some atrocious, since they use different hardware components for different markets even if they’re the same model phones. Sony was pretty good too on their last few models, but there’s something artificial about their sound, kinda V-shaped and I’m sure they have some DSP’s running to make their phones sound more “hi-res” even when you shut everything off.
Barun C
Well I have not heard the 6 & 6S but I have heard the 5S and it is not that great with highly sensitive IEMs and same goes for the HTC One M8. Sony used to make very decent sounding walkman phones 7-10 years ago, which I believe is still better than the stuff currently available in the mobile phone market today.
LG came out with a ESS DAC & AMP chip based phone V10, which made bit of noise in the hi-fi forums and a lot of people consider it very competitive to modern day high end android based DAPs. (Another example. Vivo Max 5 Pro with Cirirus Logic CS 4398 DAC )
ohm image
The 5S (from memory here) hisses a bit more than the 4S does, but otherwise sounded pretty good. I prefer the 4S, but I reckon it’s more of a personal thing. The 5s measured pretty well but not quite as good as the 4S or 6.
I am firmly entrenched in the Apple economy so I’d never consider moving to another brand, even if it had the perfect hardware.
Barun C
I know and I respect your opinion, everybody has a choice, E.G I’ve never owned a laptop, which is not a MacBook because they simply are better in software hardware integration and they last for at least 3 times more than any other windows based laptops out there (Exceptions can be there but rare & not consistent)
For the reasons mentioned above I will never get a Non-Apple laptop. Similarly iPad is the best tablet ever made period, but in the phone segment I am not a fan of apple products, as I don’t believe that paying that extra premium gets me any thing worthwhile like the iPad or the MacBook. It’s just my opinion. On the other hand I am a bit disappointed with Apple as in the last few years they have not done anything innovative.
ohm image
Barun C,
I don’t require you to respect my opinion – not in any discussion, whether or not you and I agree. But I do appreciate that you often chime in with support or with clarifications on things I missed. I value your input. All the time.
We happen to disagree on Apple being innovative, but that doesn’t matter. Apple are swift to take up technology they know has a future (with some mild flops in their past) and slow to take up technologies that they believe don’t have a future.
I have no idea what you mean by ‘innovative’ so my argument is a stretch to assume that you mean latest-gen hardware or crazy things like curved screens.
I know I might be way off the mark.
Anyway, I’ve got a MacBook in my future (to better focus my cameras). Currently, I firewire into my 2012 iMac, and look over my shoulder or return to the desk in order to focus my camera perfectly. The MacBook would go on my camera stand (50kg of steel) so I could focus really fast.
I agree with you re: macbooks. Such great values for their longevity and great to good on their software. I got into the iDevice scene back at TouchMyApps and haven’t looked back. As a semi objective audiophile, I love that objectively I’m giving up very little at normal listening up vis-a-vis hi-end players and amps. But I gain all the good stuff: great apps, file support, gapless, and accessories out the wazoo.
I am with you (perhaps) in thinking that Apple have missed a few opportunities, or have adjusted their hardware in negative ways. (After all, I dislike the iPhone 6 as much as I’ve disliked anything to this point.)
Barun C
Anyway, am eagerly waiting for the Ocharaku Sakura Plus review. I have been using the Nami for more than 18 months now and it is still my favorite home use IEM.
BTW stay safe Nathan, have been hearing a lot of earthquake news from Japan (Kumamoto).
dalethorn
Apple makes the iPhone as resistant to hacking and Internet corruption as their laptops. Apple iPhone 6s-plus is innovative enough that I have 2500 video clips, 2500 music tracks, 3500 photos, over 1000 documents, 100 apps, and other things at my fingertips wherever I go, with incredible reliability. The digital out connects to various DACs/amps with ease for home listening. I would never consider going back to the hodgepodge mess that’s Android or Microsoft. I just don’t have the time for that. And all of my files on the phone play perfectly on my iPad as well as my Macbook. Seamless.
Barun C
Good for you, but so does my 2 year old HTC One M8 with stereo speakers, 120+apps,, 6000+ ALAC/FLAC/AIFF music tracks, innumerable raw photos and HD videos with 1-1.5 days of battery life and it costed me only $500 (Unlocked) inclusive of an external 200 GB Micro SD. It has seamless integration with a MacBook,PC, Smart TVs and on top of it I can now add external drives without rooting.
On the part of Privacy I think Apple is way ahead and Android still sucks at it, but on the part of the UI Apple are very late to arrive at basic things like Widgets & Multi Tasking. Granted in the late 2000s Android was way behind iOS, but today even with Android M it is now neck to neck.
Apple’s seamless experience comes at the cost of no open source and a premium price tag. Also the iPhone 6 & 6s look eerily similar to HTC One M7 & M8, I wonder why.
But in any case to each its own I suppose. I am enjoying my One M8 and you like iPhone 6S.
dalethorn
That’s really awesome to hear. I hope to hear of more users doing that, without the need for hacking the system.
dalethorn
I don’t concern myself with “to each his own” etc. I’m not competitive that way. Any usable system with so much excess power to go as these phones have is fine, as long as users are comfortable with them. If someone were having angst about choosing between Apple and HTC or whatever (I used to have an advanced HTC), and wanted some hard advice, I would work the boards for a few days to get a feel for the user experiences, so I’d know which require more technical skill to get the most out of, plus other important user parameters. Without that vetted information, I have nothing to go on except my former HTC experience and my current Apple experience. There are tradeoffs with each, obviously I think, but I don’t know if there are ready-to-read reviews comparing them, by someone who isn’t dedicated to one or the other. If there are such reviews, that could be a valuable resource.
just_pch
What are your thoughts on using the headphone out on Apple devices as a line out? I own an iPod touch 5g and I am curious if there would be any benefit or sense in getting an Alo Rx to go with it.
ohm image
I have very little experience with the iPod touch gen 5, so I can’t be of direct help. That said, if the output is low in hiss, and you really would like to use an amp, the least expensive way to amp is to run a 3,5 cable from the headphone out to an amp. I assume that the iPod touch gen 5 is the same gen as the iPhone 4s or 5, which is good. The outputs on both are good, but I personally favour the 4s.
And, from my testing (I need to test it again), the headphone output actually scores better (in hardware tests) meaning it will be good/great for any good/great headphone amp.
just_pch
Thanks for the reply. It just seems that with all the fuss about double amping I should be getting a dap with a line out, but I don’t want to give up Spotify functionality. Maybe you could cover this topic and conduct measurements in one of your articles, that would be cool.
ohm image
Thanks again for the response. I may do a small article about that – or at least reference it.
dalethorn
According to Apple, the headphone out can be considered a line out and has no compromise in quality. But since it has a volume control in-line at the headphone jack, I prefer to use the Lightning to 30-pin adapter to a FiiO 30-pin to 3.5 mm plug, which gives a true line out. That apple adapter replicates the iPod’s internal DAC. Hopefully it’s as good.
ohm image
He has a proper audio analyser; I’ve just got one of the best budget DAC/ADCs on the planet. Line outs are not guarantees of good performance. Certain Sony and Cowon line outs fell off bass or treble, and many return performance much worse than an unloaded headphone output.
Some are even noisy. I’ve measured the LO of my iPod 5G, iPhone 4s, iPhone 6 (with lightning-30-pin), and a few more, often with my eyebrow cocked.
FAPCITYUSA
This is how I feel about the iPhone 5/5S/SE. The design is timeless. The size is perfect. It feels substantial yet utilitarian.