You don't need to be an 'investor' to invest in Singletrack: 6 days left: 95% of target - Find out more
Swapping out my iPhone SE for one without headphone socket. I like my Sennheisers SD25s and don't have any urge to replace them for times I use them with my phone.
Has anyone tried any Bluetooth headphone amps? A first scan on Amazon seems to show they're problematic
There's a Griffin ITrip for about £15 but with complaints that it's too easy to make a phone call when you hit play (and control of volume is limited).
FiiO for £30 with a fair few reports of failures after a couple of months.
Then there are various options on eBay from about £5 which seem to claim the same sort of battery life as the ones above.
It's for headphone listening out and about so absolute sound quality isn't critical. Anyone got any recommendations?
I've got one of these to add Bluetooth to the car but I've also used it to do what you want to do. Sound quality is very good and it has a decent amount of power to it too. Battery lasts a long time too, not the 15hrs they claim but I've got over 10 out of it while at a picnic and it was connected to a small bluetooth speaker that wouldn't pair so we hooked this up to the aux in instead.
I'm not an expert (and possibly misunderstanding what you want to do), but aren't adapters available to allow you to connect a 3.5mm jack to the new charging socket?
This sort of thing: apple linky or Android linky
My earphones came with a Bluetooth DAC which works well, although standalone versions seem to be £100+ (at least for those with decent reviews)
+1 what verses said. My pixels have all come with a power cord to 2.5m adapter for headphones. Only issue would be if you needed to charge at the same time.
I used a Sony SBH52 for a while and then changed to a Sony SBH56 as I needed AAC for iphones.
Although currently I am using one of these :
with one of these :
for a hard-wired experience as it is better with the DAC and I was finding the bluetooth link was giving more noise.
The camera adapter is the one that accepts power as well as apparently it is beter and keeps the phone/tablet charged up.
You going to another iPhone? In which case what verses said: there’s a number of lightning to headphone jack adapters available. I use one with my Bose qc20s. All the buttons work properly and I’ve not noticed any issue with sound.
If it’s a new iphone, it’ll come with a lightning to 3.5mm jack adaptor in the box.
If it’s a new iphone, it’ll come with a lightning to 3.5mm jack adaptor in the box.
They don't any more 👎🏻 As others said, I'd just get the 8 quid Apple adapter. I have a few USB and Bluetooth DAC/headphone amps which are cool with hi-res music, but for out and about it's just another thing to keep charged and you have a cable on the headphones anyway.
i've got one of these.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00O8GASEA/ref=pe_3187911_189395841_TE_dp_1
does the job, works fine - probably a bit bigger than an apple adaptor though!
I’ve used the Sony SBH-20 as a bluetooth connection for a long time.
Sound quality very good (though I am no audiophile), battery excellent, and I managed to sent it through a few wash/dry cycles without killing it (so build quality is not a problem).
Never had any issues with operation, making calls randomly etc...
The Apple Lightning > 3.5mm adaptor works a treat, I’ve got several of them so I can use earphones I’ve had for ages, and apart from, as I understand it, having a DAC built into the adaptor, they also take stress off the original 3.5mm jack, which has always been a main point of failure, it’s easier and cheaper to replace a £9 adapter rather than a £90 pair of earphones, or £30-40 cable if the ‘phones have that facility, which my MeeAudio and Ultimate Ears do. I’ve also used one with an older pair of EarPods that came with my iP6+; the ‘phones do seem to sound better using the adapter instead of the 3.5mm jack.
As I’m now using an iP11 Pro it’s moot anyway, although MeeAudio do BT adaptor cables for their ‘phones, it’s just another thing to have to keep charging, and there’s the extra £50 or so cost as well.
I dunno why people call them ‘dongles’, and get all whiney about them, headphones have come with 1/4” > 3.5mm adaptors for decades, so what’s the sodding difference?
A dongle is something you plug into a computer port to allow security access, or used to be.
I use a Fiio A3 with an iPhone X. Just use the lightning adaptor. The amp is excellent though. Use with V-Moda M100 Crossfades which gives serious bass and volume for jungle and dnb.
Thanks all. I'll buy an Apple adaptor (they're only £9) but I though not having headset connected to phone might be more convenient. The Sony SBH24 (I'm guessing newer version) is only £30 on the Sony site at the moment, down from £50, so seems worth a punt.
No danger of breaking the 3.5mm plug or steel reinforced cable on a set of HD25s - I reckon every other part of the phone to ear chain would break first.