Loopy Pro: Create music, your way.
What is Loopy Pro? — Loopy Pro is a powerful, flexible, and intuitive live looper, sampler, clip launcher and DAW for iPhone and iPad. At its core, it allows you to record and layer sounds in real-time to create complex musical arrangements. But it doesn’t stop there—Loopy Pro offers advanced tools to customize your workflow, build dynamic performance setups, and create a seamless connection between instruments, effects, and external gear.
Use it for live looping, sequencing, arranging, mixing, and much more. Whether you're a live performer, a producer, or just experimenting with sound, Loopy Pro helps you take control of your creative process.
Download on the App StoreLoopy Pro is your all-in-one musical toolkit. Try it for free today.
I need headphone advice (now that I'm proud parent of an iPhone XS Max 256 GB)
Now that I am the proud parent of an iPhone XS Max 256 GB I need a practical way to run my headphones (and maybe charge the iPhone at the same time).
The Original Apple Lightning to 3.5mm Headphone Jack Adapter is only $10.00 Canadian, whereas I cannot even find an Apple equivalent dual use unit, and the Belkin unit seems rather expensive and bulky, all things considered.
Also from what I’ve read, the Original Apple Lightning to 3.5mm Headphone Jack Adapter is not exactly robust in terms of transient response, plus its output wattage may be adequate for high impedance ear buds, but perhaps not much else.
Not yet having any experience with my new XS Max 256 GB, how would my old iPhone 6 Plus 128 GB internal headphone output, compare with my new XS Max 256 GB plugged into an Original Apple Lightning to 3.5mm Headphone Jack Adapter?
I do not want to go nuts with external dongles, as that defeats the whole portability point of an iPhone, and I do not have to charge it at the same time, and my wallet is a bit depleted from the iPhone XS Max 256 GB purchase, none-the-less I need to be able to use a decent pair of headphones with my iPhone, or it rather defeats the point of its purchase.
I have lots of headphones with various impedance levels (some high, some low etc,) and I am well aware that I need to ensure the headphones I use are high impedance high sensitivity units, assuming I go wired of course.
I also have a few pairs of high end wireless Bluetooth headphones such as the Sony WH-1000XM3, and I could go that route, however I am not the biggest fan of the compromises to bandwidth and dynamic range that Bluetooth introduces; then again maybe the Original Apple Lightning to 3.5mm Headphone Jack Adapter is really no better in terms of audio comprises, and with the Sony WH-1000XM3, at least I can be assured of powering the drivers properly, being that it’s self-powered.
Thoughts?
https://www.amazon.ca/Sony-WH1000XM3-Canceling-Headphones-WH-1000XM3/dp/B07G4MNFS1?th=1
Comments
Actually the Apple Lightning to 3.5mm dongle is pretty damn good, and absolutely fine for driving the vast majority of headphones. You can even drive high impedance cans such as the Sennheiser HD600/650/660 with it to acceptable levels.
If you want something fancier you could use a small DAC such as a Dragonfly Black or Red, or a Creative Sound Blaster Play, or a Sharkoon.
I have a couple of Dragonflies (Black and Red), the main advantage of using them is that it lets me control the sample rate, which the Apple dongle does not (it's fixed at 48khz).
BTW if you use a USB DAC you will also need the Apple CCK:
The phone is a 12 Pro Max for scale reference.
Thank you richardyot,
You may be confused as to impedance. All else being equal (which it rarely is) lower impedance would mean higher current, and it's current that's one of the main limiting factors in such tiny circuits.
In other words, all else being equal (which it rarely is), a higher impedance load can dissipate the same wattage as a lower impedance load while drawing less current, however the higher impedance load will require a higher voltage, again all else being equal (which it rarely is).
Ignoring many subtle aspects (and not so subtle aspects) in circuits containing all three of resistance, capacitance and inductance, it's Ohm's Law and Watt's Law and the hybridization of those two laws.
Again all else being equal (which it rarely is), high impedance headphones would be easier to drive than low impedance headphones, for tiny circuits such as those in iPhones.
WHAT! My world just turned upside down!
I expect that you know about the electrical trades, and thus the mathematics that support such theories as electricity, magnetism, thermodynamic, and Newtonian physics.
I guess it's time to talk about the fact that most people do not understand that impedance is a function of frequency, in headphones mostly inductive reactance and thus directly proportional, bearing in mind that simple Ohmic resistance is not a function of frequency.
Let's draw some right angled triangles and assess phase angles and magnitudes with trigonometry!
Unless you need sample rate control, I would highly recommend the stock Apple headphone adapter over a third party option. The specs are some of the best out there, and beat DACs costing 30 times as much in many cases. Get the USB-C version and use it with something like this if you need to charge too:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07XB4K4XC?psc=1&ref=ppx_yo2_dt_b_product_details
Happily I have an Apple CCK, sadly such small USB DAC's are not cheap, which might mean my Sony WH-1000XM3 headphones are not such a bad choice, even though I would be linked via Bluetooth.
Can't forget about the effects of Eddy's current, considering it increases with relation to the inductance.
I do have a Fender Slide and although a bit bulbous, it might work well and it does not need the Apple CCK https://www.amazon.ca/Fender-Slide-Audio-Interface-iPhone/dp/B00IKVROPU
I have lots of other audio interfaces, just none that are truly microbial.
Hi eonnthaproducer,
Well no, there are no eddy currents in a steady state DC circuit, even though there can easily be large values of inductance in such a circuit.
In fact, should eddy currents be present (as they would be in a conventional transformer’s ferromagnetic core) you can inversely change the magnitude of the eddy currents by changing the Ohmic resistance of said ferromagnetic core. That is why a conventional transformer’s ferromagnetic core has a relatively high Ohmic resistance, yet a relatively low magnetic reluctance. All to reduce core losses.
The headphone jack outputs an AC signal. If we took a single mono cable and plugged it into an oscilloscope, we'd see a sinusodal waveform. So, I'm not sure where the steady state DC circuit is coming from.
Also, if it was a steady state DC circuit it would be a short circuit. In the DC realm, an inductor is a piece of wire. When it acts as an inductor is during its charging and discharging state, which is dependant on the time constant on the circuit, and if you turn on/off the circuit.
That's the issue as I understand it. The amplifier ICs used in phones don't have a high enough voltage rail available to supply the voltage needed to drive high impedance headphones to a reasonable volume without clipping. I assume the IC in the dongle is a combined DAC/AMP. I know you can create higher voltages and negative rails with switching supplies that would drive higher impedance cans, but then you run into a new set of limitations, so it's easier to just cater to lower impedance cans which there are plenty of to chose from.
Hi eonnthaproducer,
Nope, both the headphone current waveform and voltage waveform are not sinusoidal, unless the input signal is a pure sine wave, and this is extremely unlikely with a conventional audio signal path.
Nope, even a pure sinusoidal waveform can be 100% DC, albeit it would not be steady state. There are such things as sinusoidal DC waveforms, and they are common enough.
As to where I got “steady state DC circuit” it is simply that you are incorrect per the relationship between inductance and eddy currents. I gave you but one example of your misunderstandings and I quote me again for your edification: “Well no, there are no eddy currents in a steady state DC circuit, even though there can easily be large values of inductance in such a circuit. In fact, should eddy currents be present (as they would be in a conventional transformer’s ferromagnetic core) you can inversely change the magnitude of the eddy currents by changing the Ohmic resistance of said ferromagnetic core. That is why a conventional transformer’s ferromagnetic core has a relatively high Ohmic resistance, yet a relatively low magnetic reluctance. All to reduce core losses.”
Nope, it would not be a short circuit if you feed headphones steady state DC, because there is a meaningful Ohmic value to the voice coils. A short circuit would have effectively zero Ohmic resistance and of course effectively zero net reactance . And yes you can indeed connect a lower voltage battery to a set of headphones and the current will be less than the short circuit current that would occur by shorting out the battery itself (hence the name short circuit not over-current). Go ahead and take an Ohmmeter and test your headphones, I just tested my Sennheiser PX 100-II at about 36 Ohms per driver.
Nope, you say “in the DC realm, an inductor is a piece of wire” but this makes no sense. Inductance is related to the physical properties of a coil (for example). The fact of the matter is that the inductance of a coil (for example) does not change at all if AC or DC are applied, or it’s sitting under the dog’s bed connected to nothing at all.
Nope, the time constant of an inductor is dependent on the ratio of the inductance to the resistance.
Hi LinearLineman & Spud, oops I made a typo (proves I'm just a dog I guess):
"...however the higher impedance load will require a higher voltage, again all else being equal (which it rarely is)." Yep I'm OK with that.
"Again all else being equal (which it rarely is), high impedance headphones would be easier to drive than low impedance headphones, for tiny circuits such as those in iPhones." Nope I meant high impedance headphones would be harder to drive than low impedance headphones.
Alright I'll leave it as it is. Was a fun chat.
Are you also from Canada? @puppychumful
It's been a while since I have discussed such topics as resistors, inductors, capacitors, voltage and current phase relationships, Ohm's Law, Watts Law, Faraday's Law, impedance matching, all that sort of thing; it's why the above typo slipped past my eyeballs. Well, that's nothing compared to some of the ruinous textbooks I’ve had to abide with. Yep Canadian too (one of the saner countries these days!).
Thanks. Somebody had to say it.
Adding the facts that
1. Output voltage is limited on the iDevices and
2. The output impedance of iDevice headphones amps is very low,
you'll generally be able to get higher volume with lower impedance headphones if the models you compare have comparable efficiency.
This thread went off on a bizarre tangent 😃
To summarise: the Apple adapter is pretty good, and certainly worth the $9 Apple charge for it.
In my real-world experience it can drive most headphones, even high impedance ones.
The Apple adapter outputs 1w whereas the Dragonfly Red can output 2w. In practice this means the Dragonfly can drive my 600ohm HD 650s to a louder volume, with potentially greater dynamic range, but in most cases the output of the Apple adapter is just fine, unless you really need the volume very loud.
The main reason I would recommend getting an external DAC is for sample rate control, but if that’s not important to you then the Apple adapter is probably the best bet.
There are cheaper DACs out there than the dragonflies, the ones I suggested at the top of the thread retail for under £30 (sound blaster play and sharkoon).
I just quickly grabbed the Soundblaster Play from my son's PC, this is a £20 USB DAC that is iOS compliant. It can run my 600ohm HD650s very loud, and also lets me fully control the sample rate of the phone when it's plugged in. It's a lot cheaper than a Dragonfly DAC but performs just as well - I haven't done any extensive sound quality comparisons but on a casual listen it sounds pretty great (I'm wary of subjective sound quality evaluations anyway).
The only real drawback is that it's a bit long with the cable that comes out the top, especially as it needs to go into the CCK as well:
Just make sure you match your impedances.
Lower impedance ‘phones can draw more current from the same voltage. So lower impedance ‘phones are generally louder given the same output.
You get crap sound if you plug a guitar into a line level input and vice versa as the guitar signal has a higher impedance than a line level signal. Same thing with headphones.
I’ve forgotten most of this kind of stuff (university was over 30 years ago!) but generally speaking higher impedance is a trade off for better performance and lower distortion.
High performance coils are expensive. Winding a coil with finer wire results in more turns and better performance due to in part stronger magnetic field. It’s harder to do and costs more but the performance is better and distortion lower. The trade off for this is that the coil with more turns and finer wire has a higher impedance than a similar sized coil wound with fewer turns of thicker wire. massively over simplified
Once you’re buying high end headphones with a choice of impedances , or the impedance is written on the box in big numerals, then you need to know what you’re buying so you can match the headphones to the heaphones amp.
To confuse things further, some higher end headphone amps have DC load detection and supply a higher voltage to high impedance phones than to those with lower impedances. For example 1.25V for impedances less than 150 ohms, 3.0V from 150 - 1k ohms.
TLDR: match your impedances for best performance.
Also, as detailed in this video here that everybody’s seen and made further videos about:
The Big Misconception About Electricity
Electricity doesn't flow in wires, it uses the Poynting vector to draw red arrows and yellow arrows around the outside, so don’t waste your money on expensive cables, simply ensure you use expensive air instead.
You’re an electricIan, I believe, so you’d know about all that stuff.
😂😂😂
Don’t let the red and yellow lines cross!
I get that. Once university was over, it’s pretty much learn on the job. Was nice to review a lot of previous concepts.