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Comment by andremedeiros | Hacker News Reader

I’m not knowledgeable at all, but I suspect there would be a DAC I could buy that’d make my iPhone sound just as good. Am I way off base?

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The $9 headphone adapter is better than most audiophile DACs. Audiophile equipment is a scam (one sign is the "balanced" audio output, which they pretend is better but isn't) and Japan's high res audio brands are also scams.

You might want an external amp for high impedance headphones for electrical compatibility reasons, but an amp and DAC are not the same thing.

> one sign is the "balanced" audio output, which they pretend is better but isn't.

Maybe for a MP3 player it does not matter, but in general the physics behind balanced analog audio is quite sound (pardon the pun). It is a simple trick that provides better resistance to interference.

Every XLR cable on the floor at a show is balanced and it is not because the sound guy fell for audiophile marketing, it is because it works and costs next to nothing.

Indeed it does, but that doesn't really apply to headphones since the cable is short and there's not a lot of EMF interference.

It does have one theoretical advantage - the maximum voltage from a battery powered device can be higher which might be useful for a very high impedance headphone if they're too quiet.

Apple's own 3.5mm adapter is actually pretty reputable in the audiophile community for being a surprisingly good DAC. If it has enough output power to drive whatever you use, you don't need anything else (the cable is pretty thin and fragile though, might want to get something else if you care about that)

It's not as cumbersome as wrapping together an iPhone and a Sony PHA-3 with rubber bands.

basicly any fiio will do. But often a good dongle will be enough if you only got basic in ears. The amps are helpful for headphones with higher impedance rating and therefore need more oomph on the line to make them move.

Yes but iPhones already have a pretty good DAC so you're not gaining much.

Doesn't matter what DAC they have unless you're listening on the built in speaker, because you can't plug anything into it.

Actually the lightning to 3.5mm adapter has a tiny little DAC chip in it, and it's also a very good one.

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