IPhone sound quality gets worse each generation

[Captain Jack Sparrow]

There must be some users here with a mix of new and old iPhone models.

The 2016 iPhone SE (1st generation) was the last iPhone model with an integrated headphone output.

The DAC in my iPhone SE (1st generation) is awful. Compared to my 11 year old iPhone 4S, this sounds so much nicer with the same lossless audio files. It can also push headphones much louder.

My iPhone 4S is running iOS 6 (2012), and my iPhone SE is running iOS 13 (2019).

I thought digital audio files would sound the same, regardless of the device that’s playing it. Couldn’t be more wrong. Yeah, I get that Apple wants me to buy their super overpriced Lightning-to-3.5mm headphone adapter, it’ll still probably sound worse.

Bonus annoyance: the iPhone 4S was the last iPhone model with the Apple 30-pin dock connector, this included an analog audio line output. It’s great for using with amplifiers. You can’t do this with newer iPhones, because the Lightning port does not include an analog line output.

I keep my trusty iPhone 4S operational, purely as a music device. I also feel that its interface is much better than current iOS versions.

Thoughts? Or am I the only one who’s noticed?

 

[Quadophile]

I have the iphone 13 and Google Pixel 8 which I got just yesterday. The Iphone is my main phone and Pixel is my secondary phone. I prefer the photo quality of Pixel and video of the iphone. I was not not happy with the bluetooth wireless headphone sound quality back in the days but technology has made great progress and with the newer codecs for high res audio low latency bluetooth configuration the sound quality through a good pair of wireless headphones is very very good. I use the Sennheiser HD450SE for music listening and a pair of Sony WCH-510 for casual computer use. I still have my reference headphones which are wired and they sound phenomenal (Sennheiser HD-600). I had reviewed these babies sometime back and you can read the review here

I personally suggest you need to move on and embrace the newer technology. I do not mean you should splurge and buy everything at once, go easy and upgrade when you are able to.

If you have any questions, I would be happy to answer them as best as I can.

 

[Captain Jack Sparrow]

I have the iphone 13 and Google Pixel 8 which I got just yesterday. The Iphone is my main phone and Pixel is my secondary phone. I prefer the photo quality of Pixel and video of the iphone. I was not not happy with the bluetooth wireless headphone sound quality back in the days but technology has made great progress and with the newer codecs for high res audio low latency bluetooth configuration the sound quality through a good pair of wireless headphones is very very good. I use the Sennheiser HD450SE for music listening and a pair of Sony WCH-510 for casual computer use. I still have my reference headphones which are wired and they sound phenomenal (Sennheiser HD-600). I had reviewed these babies sometime back and you can read the review here

I personally suggest you need to move on and embrace the newer technology. I do not mean you should splurge and buy everything at once, go easy and upgrade when you are able to.

If you have any questions, I would be happy to answer them as best as I can.

Thanks Quadophile!

Honestly, I’ve been having an audio nightmare recently, but still, my now-vintage iPhone 4S gives me the sound I want.

I don’t have any interest in wireless headphones, primarily due to one bad experience that permanently ruined them for me. Most likely due to how bad AD2P audio sounded. I’m still not even sure if newer Bluetooth protocols can stream lossless audio?

Whatever, even if they can, wireless headphones are yet another non-replaceable lithium battery that will fail after 2-3 years of use. My old wired headphones (complete with electrical tape on the cables) are over 8 years old.

I rest my case, removing the analogue headphone jack was one of the most money making ideas by Apple, any other manufacturer who follows should be ashamed.

But sadly, due to less and less app support, it looks like it’s time to replace my daily phone. It will be the iPhone SE (2022) model. I’ll purchase this with the upcoming Black Friday discounts.

Several problems with this. First, and foremost, there’s no physical headphone jack. So I have to use the Lighting to 3.5mm jack adapter. This sucks because it blocks charging while listening to music. No information on its internal DAC chip, but it’s probably not as good as the iPhone 4S.

Then, if I want to use it with the home theater sound system, it still needs a special Lighting to 3.5mm aux cable. Note that this is different to the headphone jack adapter. Unhelpful as always, Apple Customer Support couldn’t confirm whether the output is line level or headphone amplified.

The way it’s going, looks like my iPhone 4S still has many years left as the household music device. But I do want to find the best ways of getting the true quality of lossless audio files from modern devices, despite these limitations.

 

[Quadophile]

Pixel 8 series to have lossless audio

 

[Captain Jack Sparrow]

Pixel 8 series to have lossless audio

Without any fanboy-ness, call it personal preference, but I don’t want move to Android. Many reasons for this, most which aren’t relevant to the topic.

At least 60% of my music library is Apple Lossless, having migrated from FLAC a few years ago. I also have many iTunes “Plus AAC” M4A purchases that I would lose by moving to Android.

Surely there must be a way of getting truly lossless audio via the Lightning port as it’s digital?!

If this isn’t the case then that’s disgusting on Apple’s part. And that would mean that the iPhone 4S was Apple’s last “proper” audio device.

iPhone 4S supported audio up to 24-bit 48KHz on its internal DAC. If there’s genuinely no line-out on the “new and improved” Lighting Jack, then technology went backwards.

Edit: while I’m here, I wish they’d bring back type 2 “Chrome” cassette tapes and vinyl 33/45 records cause I miss them!

 

[Captain Jack Sparrow]

Well here we are in 2024. I finally ended up getting the new iPhone SE (3rd generation - 2022 model). As there’s no audio DAC circuitry in this, it’s at the mercy of the Lightning connector, which has the DAC inside the cable.

What a colossal disappointment, my fears were correct. Audio was softer and distant, missing so much detail. Can’t really describe it in any other way than it just sounded less fuller. Keep in mind that I’m using the exact same audio files across all devices.

I will be returning the Lightning to 3.5mm cable for a full refund. Not only is the audio quality poor, there’s also no “true” line-out support. As usual for Apple, one step forward, five steps back.

My good old iPhone 4S will continue to serve its music duties for many years to come.