Fantastic Upgrade iPhone: I’m spending a lot of time listening to my music through the iPhone and Android phone that is connected to the set of headphones that are wireless or that I’m testing out to test for Tom’s Guide. To listen to music for personal enjoyment, however, I’ve found myself reverting to wired headphones in order to keep me focused on the sound quality of high-end audio with a pair of analog headphones.
While they’re experiencing a sort of a revival, wired headphones are still a niche market in the predominantly wireless environment we live in. Certain brands such as Sennheiser have, however, continued to provide a variety of traditional wired headphones like the brand-new HD Open-Back 660S2 headphones targeted at audiophiles, as well as wireless versions like the amazing Sennheiser Momentum 4 wireless.
Earbuds with a wired connection have also been included in the latest release lineup of Sennheiser from the robust IE 600 in-ear monitors that were launched in the summer of 2022 through the low-end Sennheiser IE 200, which was unveiled in January(opens in a new tab).
How can I improve the quality of my iPhone audio-quality: DAC delight
Wireless has always been superior to wired in terms of sound quality as far as out-and-out is concerned But how do connect wired headphones or earbuds on a smartphone when there’s not a headphone port?
It was a bit of a coincidence that I received recently an Astell & Kern HC3 DAC/headphone amplifier, a USB-C plug-in device that can boost the quality of your audio from your smartphone. I set to work, connecting it to my phone’s Lightning port (via the USB-C to Lightning adapter included) and then connected the braided cable from the IE 200 earbuds into the DAC’s 3.5mm headphone connector to listen to how they sounded.
I’ve tested a variety of DACs using my iPhone previously but it seems that AK HC3 is the most affordable. It’s really cool, too it’s one thing to keep an eye on is that the USB-C-toLightning adapter may occasionally fail to connect to the iPhone port, and stop playback. It’s an extremely fragile setup certainly and I had to set the iPhone along with my DAC on an even surface to ensure connectivity could be maintained. However, the audio benefits are worth the effort.
Despite the low cost for this set-up compared to other DACs that are portable and wired headphones I’ve heard, the sound produced by this AK HC3 and Sennheiser IE 200 pair is much superior to their price of $379 could suggest. Stereo soundstages were well and evenly distributed between my ears, and there was a fantastic impression of an acoustic environment around instruments, with delicate details exposed wherever they were in the mix or in the frequency range.
I have noticed that certain wireless earbuds have the inclination to play music that is like it has been enhanced in some manner However, those from the Sennheiser or Astell & Kern combo just do a great job of playing music as naturally a way as it is possible.
The music I was listening to Daft Punk’s/Hans Zimmer’s “Outlands” from the movie Tron gave me everything I needed to know about DAC and earbuds’ frequency range. The guitar that played on “Cinema Paradiso (Main Theme)” by Pat Metheny demonstrated to me how the earbuds connect with my music of choice. It’s not perfect however and certain frequencies felt tinny on certain songs, however, I’d bet that the pair is superior to similarly priced headphones in terms of the quality of high-fidelity audio engagement.
While I was of the opinion that this combination enhanced the sound quality of the streamed music that was compressed from Spotify However, throughout my listening sessions, I noticed myself settling for lossless downloads on Tidal. There’s more depth and depth to the music I select to listen to on this site and songs from my carefully selected playlist brought me closer to the studio-quality sound I’m looking for. For less than I anticipated.
What exactly is a DAC
Do not fret if you’ve never had the pleasure of hearing about a DAC You’re not alone. Simply put the term, it’s DAC is a “digital-to-analog converter that, like its name suggests is a device that takes the digital audio signal (from streaming music services for instance) then converts the signal into an analog signal.
You can see that it’s analog signals and not digital ones that drive the speakers in the audio player you’re playing to. Therefore, some kind of conversion must occur between audio signals that have served by the digital music file you’re listening to as well as the analog-driven speakers which produce the sound that is heard by your ears.
DACs can be found in all sorts of audio playback equipment, including the top smartphones as well as the top laptops and top tablets, but the addition of a standalone DAC can always make it make sound better.
It is possible to wonder what additional DAC can improve the audio quality of a digital gadget when it is certain that the digital signal conversion process is done with precision by the DAC within the device you’ve got your headphones connected to. It’s true that music may not sound as great as it would via the built-in DAC on a variety of devices. Adding the best DAC such as Astell and Kern’s AK HC3 can result in the best audio quality for high-quality audio enthusiasts and music lovers alike.
