Hi guys
Sorry for taking up space with what in comparison is an amateur thread. I'm hoping that it may help anyone as un-clued as me who just wants decent sounds from an I-phone and are struggling to find any relevant material.
So I have now picked up an Apple lightning to 3.5mm adapter. I am no expert at critique so have put things in Laymans terms, i'm hoping you experts out there can shed some light and advice.
So, i used the same track, Weeknd 'I feel it coming' using my HD 598's.
Firstly i used the Ibasso DC03 with it's USB A adapter and plugged that into the apple lightning to USB A camera adapter. A right pain, not very portable! Basically having two dongles hanging out the back of my I-Phone SE! The EQ was set to 'off'. When the bass kicked in after about ten seconds it was distorted and muffled. I tried switching the EQ and adjusting the volume and still horrible distorted bass. Out of interest i played the same song on Tidal using the DC03 and it's USB A adapter through my laptop. It sounded pretty good and definately an improvement versus no Dac/Amp. No hissing or distortion at all. Please can anyone tell me why this is?
Secondly I listened to the track again with the Apple lightning to 3.5mm jack. There was no hissing or distortion, again this was with EQ off. Sound was as good as the DC03. Volume was about 20% less i'd say.
I then used both setups to listen to Mayday Parade's 'Miserable at best'. This time the DC03 sounded much cleaner and open than the apple dongle.
So i'm struggling really to say which works best. I'm hoping you guys out there can offer an opinion. Thanks again.