Reiss recently settled the argument by bringing all the relevant research together, a meta-analysis of 18 studies that included 400 participants from 12,500 experiments. For example, manufacturers of high-end audio equipment obviously have a vested interest in saying we're able to tell the difference between ordinary CD quality and hi-res audio. At the same time, some claim that hi-res audio sounds crisper or more intense, and brain imaging shows that individuals do respond to high frequencies.Īs a consequence of the confusion, parts of the audio community cherry-pick whichever study supports their agenda. Whether we can appreciate beyond-CD resolution has long been a subject of debate, partly due to conflicting scientific studies.ĬD quality should be enough to capture a realistic sound and most humans can't detect frequencies above 20kHz (which is why you can't hear dog whistles). As streaming services like Tidal offer hi-res audio, iPhone 7 owners could soon get better sound. And while iPhone 6 hardware supports 24-bit/96kHz, software such as iTunes and Apple Music don't transmit that to a 3.5mm jack. "But there are benefits, and for audiophiles these things become more important."ĬDs store 16 bits of data per sample at 44,100 samples per second (44kHz), but sound can also be recorded with 24 bits at a higher frequency of 96kHz. "For almost all people, most music, you wouldn't hear a difference," says Reiss. "Your best option at the moment is to not use the adapter, but have good headphones that can use the Lightning connector directly."įor audio that sounds closer to an original recording, you need to go beyond CD quality. "Generally, the jack itself will have had some audio degradation just getting the audio," says Reiss, who recommends that you plug headphones into the digital port. ![]() One drawback of a 3.5mm jack is that its digital-to-analogue converter alters the audio signal prematurely, before it reaches a headphone's speakers, which can allow data to be lost from a recording. BY-SA 3.0: Wikimedia)įor playback, those digital bits are converted back to a wave representing the original recorded sound, or "analogue." This is achieved by speakers that vibrate air to create a continuous wave that can then be detected at your eardrums. There are some decent buys out there, and some less-expensive products will give you your money’s worth.Continuous sound wave (red) and bits of data sampled (blue) for storage as digital audio (Image CC. While there are a lot of products out there that aren’t worth your time or money, the world of knockoff products isn’t a total void of useless junk. With these smaller manufacturers, it’s difficult to track down exactly who they are, or what names they’re selling under, so you can avoid them in the future. If you have a bad experience with your Belkin adapter, you at least know to approach further Belkin products cautiously. Dealing with lesser-known or no-name brands is often a losing proposition because there’s often no fixed entity to hold accountable for a bad product. ![]() There are a lot of sub-par products out there. ![]() While Amazon's return policy is pretty good, you should still be cautious about purchasing products from lesser-known brands.
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