USBC DAC recs for iPhone 15 pro (Apple Music to 5.1 system)

[DarkKnight6989]

Hey all, still a newbie with a lot of this. Recently finished putting together a 5.1 system, sounds great.

I want to start playing high res audio from Apple Music and went down the rabbit hole of DACs and I am at a loss as to where to go.

General consensus seems to be that apple’s own USBC dongle is more than good enough with a couple of other recommendations going the way Topping e30ii, moon drop dawn pro and the KA13.

I want to note that I’m never going to be doing any high res listening with headphones, just my stereo.

 

[BoredSysAdmin]

Hey all, still a newbie with a lot of this. Recently finished putting together a 5.1 system, sounds great.

I can't be bothered to look at your post history (assuming you've posted the details) - what AVR did you go with for your 5.1? It may already support Apple's Airplay so you don't need any usb dacs.

 

[DarkKnight6989]

I can't be bothered to look at your post history (assuming you've posted the details) - what AVR did you go with for your 5.1? It may already support Apple's Airplay so you don't need any usb dacs.

My first ever post here baby.

No my AVR unfortunately does not support Airplay, just Bluetooth. (Sony STRDH790)

 

[BoredSysAdmin]

My first ever post here baby.

No my AVR unfortunately does not support Airplay, just Bluetooth. (Sony STRDH790)

then I recommend buying the Apple TV 4k (wifi+eth) version - It would be a far better investment than a specialty dac, especially since you're not interested in hi-res audio.

 

[Swerd]

Congrats on your new system, and welcome to Audioholics!

I want to start playing high res audio from Apple Music and went down the rabbit hole of DACs and I am at a loss as to where to go.

BSA already gave good advice. His advice on computers in general as well as integrating computers or phones to an AV system are quite good.

Your instincts that high res audio and add-on DACs are rabbit holes to be avoided are spot on. Stick with that. Other than that, I've got nothing else to add.

 

[Trell]

then I recommend buying the Apple TV 4k (wifi+eth) version - It would be a far better investment than a specialty dac, especially since you're not interested in hi-res audio.

And with the Apple TV 4K he can play multi-channel music which is much better than just stereo (assuming good mix/mastering).

 

[William Lemmerhirt]

ATV4k is one of the best things I’ve added to my system.

 

[Trell]

ATV4k is one of the best things I’ve added to my system.

Same for me, but (you knew that word was coming ) the Apple TV app requires people logging in on the Apple TV itself to change who is watching. This in contrast to other streaming services that lets you select profiles in their apps. So I discontinued the Apple streaming service.

 

[BoredSysAdmin]

Same for me, but (you knew that word was coming ) the Apple TV app requires people logging in on the Apple TV itself to change who is watching. This in contrast to other streaming services that lets you select profiles in their apps. So I discontinued the Apple streaming service.

For me, Nvidia Shield (which unfortunately no longer supports Airplay) or Apple TV 4k are just gateway boxes or in computer terms a router - that translates one type of data to another. As for both, I would just use Plex Client and its profiles to choose multiuser content.
But since OP mentioned the source to be Apple Music, then Apple TV 4k is really the only option. DACs would work too, but require a physical connection to AVR, where Airplay won't

 

[Trell]

But since OP mentioned the source to be Apple Music, then Apple TV 4k is really the only option. DACs would work too, but require a physical connection to AVR, where Airplay

Getting multichannel output from external DACs would be an issue as well due to DRM.

 

[Trebdp83]

Hey all, still a newbie with a lot of this. Recently finished putting together a 5.1 system, sounds great.

I want to start playing high res audio from Apple Music and went down the rabbit hole of DACs and I am at a loss as to where to go.

General consensus seems to be that apple’s own USBC dongle is more than good enough with a couple of other recommendations going the way Topping e30ii, moon drop dawn pro and the KA13.

I want to note that I’m never going to be doing any high res listening with headphones, just my stereo.

If you want to fall into the hole of hi-res via Apple Music, you will need a very long rope to get out. If you want sample/bit rate match from Apple Music, you will need an external DAC connected to an iOS device. The Apple TV 4K supports Lossless, but NOT hi-res from Apple Music and it will output EVERYTHING at 24/48 by default. While Macs now support Hi-Res over HDMI, the Apple Music app in a Mac will NOT match Sample/Bit rate for output.

When going with an external DAC, or the USB-C dongle, the signal will be put through ADC at the receiving end using any kind of DSP. Some might try going USB to optical from an iOS device into a receiver but most optical ports on receivers are limited to 96/24 these days. ALAC over a NAS or USB is often limited to 96/24 as well.

There are those that want as little molesting of a signal as possible in their system and like seeing 192/24 displayed on an external DAC. If that is the case here, an external DAC is the only real option using Apple Music from an iOS device.

If not overly concerned with Hi-Res, again, the Apple TV 4K does support Lossless two channel tracks and it also supports lossy Dolby Digital 5.1 and Atmos/Dolby Digital Plus tracks from Apple Music. The Apple Music app in an iOS device can be used to select music and hand it off to the Apple TV 4K when both are connected to the same network. Any Hi-Res tracks will have their Lossless version played by the Apple TV 4K and you won't know the difference.