Digital out from Iphone 6 to DAC? (bypassing iPhone internal DAC)

cortico

I was wondering if you could give me some direction here. I want to connect my iPhone 6 into a PS Audio DAC, which sound pretty dam good.

The idea is to use the digital signal bypassing the iPhone built in DAC, since the my DAC is from mid 90's it only has a coaxial and optical (Toslink) inputs.

How would you approach this?
Thanks in advance!

cstmar01

Unless wadia made a new unit I haven't heard of anything on the market recently that will do this. Wadia made the first device with this feature but was made for the 30 pin devices not the lighting connector.

tonyb

Can't he wi-fi it to another device then to the dac ?

tonyb

So he can't say buy a cheap apple tv and stream the audio to it, then connect the apple tv to the dac ?

tonyb

Yeah, not the most optimal for sound quality.

Aren't most wi-fi enabled music servers these days apple compatible ?

mantis

Is there truth to the data loss over Airplay? Airplay sounds pretty damn good.
I have a Apple TV connected HDMI to my AVR and I Airplay to it and it sounds awesome.
I only store music on my iPhone 6s Plus in Apple Lossless so it always sounds pretty damn good. You can really tell the difference between Lossless and lower rez files as I have done countless shootouts on this.
When I hardwire my laptop using USB to the AVR ( Built in DAC for B USB) playing the same exact song , it's barely noticeable any difference at all.

agfrost

Read up on the use of the Apple adapter (CCK). It gives some (all?) functionality by converting from the lightning port to a USB jack. I've actually got one, but haven't played with it much because a) its connection to my Fiio E17 was spotty (sometimes phone thought DAC was drawing power, even though I set it to not do so) and my 'portable' setup was getting a bit ridiculous in terms of amount of cables. I'm doubly prevented from experimentation due to the fact that my DACs for my room systems are not USB-accepting; I do have a USB-to-digital coax converter but it draws power from usb port so stymied again.

http://www.head-fi.org/t/746636/dac-for-iphone-6

cortico

Thanks for the suggestions guys, my system is prehistoric, no wireless or USB digital inputs. Only Toslink and Coax at a not so old DAC.

This sounds crazy, I listen LP discs and CDs most of the time. However, lately I have been listening itunes radio a lot. Upgrading is out of question. Firstly, I am poor and then I love my equipment, too many hours spent learning and restoring it.

Also, thinking that one solution would be buying an old MAC mini and set a music server with appropriated player software as I read here:

http://www.psaudio.com/ps_how/how-to-build-a-music-server/
Does this sound a good idea?

In my other setup, I can stream Digital signal or connect via USB with (non-apple) devices to a pretty cheap wireless Samsung Blue Ray player without internal DAC.

This Blu Ray player transfers the digital signal through a coaxial to the DAC and then the LR analog signal goes to an integrated amp. Clean and simple!

BlueFox

If you are listening to iTunes Radio then the point is moot since iTunes music is braindead by design. An external DAC is not going to add quality that has been removed.

gudnoyez

I think I have a solution this pure I 20 has A built in DAC and you can use it hooked up to your preamp with RCA's or better yet you can utilize it hooked up to your present DAC via toslink, that's how mine is hooked up and the tunes off all my I pods and I phones sound fantastic. I know you will need a 30 pin/lighting adapter.

I bet if you call I Pures customer service they should be able to hook you up the best $100 I spent on a apple products Dock/DAC check it out if it works your golden, the tunes going through my I-20 utilizing my Marantz's 15s2bs DAC sound great.

rooftop59

Steve's suggestion above looks promising. And your mac mini suggestion is also great, but there are cheaper options:

1. HRT iStreamer: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B004H5UYLO/ref=psdc_689637011_t2_B0049MOK92

2. iFi Nano i DSD: http://www.amazon.com/Audio-Nano-iDSD-Portable-Decoder-384kHz/dp/B00R5HO426/ref=sr_1_1?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1448906811&sr=1-1&keywords=ifi+nano+idsd Skip is or was a dealer, and I think his were cheaper. Excellent sounding dac for the money, and it will work with an iphone with a camera adapter (about 30 bucks).
3. By any old cheapy computer (like an Intel Next unit of computing or an off-lease mini tower from tiger direct) and use it as server. Remember, you can put itunes on a PC ;-)

Good luck!

gudnoyez

I run my laptop through a HRT Streamer to my preamp, good solid product the IFI will also do the job and our very own Skip at Audio Thesis sells their products, there you go its possible, and 3 ways to go about doing it.

cortico

This is good, you can choose between using the analog and digital outputs if you have a high-quality separate DCA.