Dock with good quality line-out for iPhone 7

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Level 1

9 points

Dock with good quality line-out for iPhone 7

Hi

Can someone please suggest a good quality Dock with line-out for iPhone 7?

The requirement is simply to connect the iPhone 7 to Home stereo setup (Pioneer). This setup does not have any Bluetooth and it has got line-in (like AUX).

I tried to connect it with the lightning to audio connector provided with the iPhone 7 in the box but the sound quality seems not very good as it does not provide line-out level signal as it is a headphone signal out, allowing us to control the volume.

Also I doubt that latest Apply dock provide line-out as we can control the volume - it detects as a headphone and it marks as "Headphone".

Any suggestions/ideas?

Mathew

iPhone 7, iOS 10.2.1

Posted on Mar 4, 2017 6:46 PM

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Answer 1

Top-ranking reply

Jonathan UK

Level 10

164,015 points

Mar 5, 2017 3:55 AM in response to Mathewfer

Hi

Apple advises that the iPhone Lightning Dock provides a line-level audio connection, meaning that you can use the volume controls on your home stereo.

More information:

About Apple Lightning docks - Apple Support
Apple Online Store: http://www.apple.com/shop/product/ML8L2AM/A/iphone-lightning-dock-rose-gold

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Answer 2

Mathewfer Author

Level 1

9 points

Mar 6, 2017 5:13 AM in response to Jonathan UK

Hi Jonathan,

Thank you for the reply.

What I understand is that audio out of this latest apple dock supports both headphone and line-out and we can still use the phone volume control to change the volumes level. But true line-out is fixed level volume that is suitable for hifi stereo system. This is my doubt and question.

I see old dock came with iPhone 5 has got true line-out with no volume adjustments.

Have you tried these two different docks into a hifi stereo setup?

Let me know.

Mathewfer

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Answer 3

Mathewfer Author

Level 1

9 points

Mar 6, 2017 5:19 AM in response to Rudegar

Hi Rudegar,

Thanks.

Are you using the very latest apple dock? I believe so. Because you said it lets you change the volume level through the phone.

My understanding is that true line-out will have a fixed level volume suitable for hifi stereo line-in to get the best quality sound.

Are you connecting to a line-in of a hifi setup?

If yes, what is your volume level set in your phone?

Please let me know.

Mathew

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Answer 4

Rudegar

Level 10

180,060 points

Mar 6, 2017 7:40 AM in response to Mathewfer

it's connected to a logitech 2.1 speaker setup by a 3.5mm minijack cable

the phone volume is set to whatever I set it to because the .1 sub woofer is places on the floor and I don't adjust volume there if I can avoid it. I use an iphone6s and wife's iphone5c with the docks but currently 2 of them are for sync and charge only

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Answer 5

BradPDX

Level 1

128 points

Mar 7, 2017 4:14 PM in response to Mathewfer

AFAIK, the Lightning Dock provides an equivalent of a 3.5mm headphone jack, including support for the mic and controls. The old 30-pin connector had line-level analog support, but Lightning is purely digital, and hence any audio out requires a digital-to-analog convertor (DAC). The dock, the Lightning analog adapter, and the Lightning EarPods all contain DACs and receive only digital audio from the phone itself.

I suppose an adapter could be made that worked like an old "line out" (fixed volume) but none that I see behave that way. The added problem is that headphone voltages are a bit lower than line out in the analog world.

Alternative notion: get a Bluetooth or AirPlay audio receiver that provides an analog out to your stereo. You'll get full output voltages and wireless control over your music. My 2 old (but still great sounding) analog stereo systems are connected to AirPlay this way, pretty darn fabulous.

https://www.amazon.com/Pyle-Wireless-Audio-Receiver-Connect/dp/B01AYATASS/ref=sr _1_8?ie=UTF8&qid=1488931818&sr=8-8&keywo…

https://www.amazon.com/AmazonBasics-Bluetooth-4-0-Audio-Receiver/dp/B00I59VBH4/r ef=sr_1_14?ie=UTF8&qid=1488931818&sr=8-14&keywords=airplay

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Answer 6

Mathewfer Author

Level 1

9 points

Mar 8, 2017 12:22 AM in response to BradPDX

HI,

Thanks for the reply and suggestions.

i came across this one - "Henge Docks Gravitas" and trying to see it helps me ... loooking fir reviews.

I Think wired one gives better sound quality provided this dOCD has got a good DAC too.

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Answer 7

Rudegar

Level 10

180,060 points

Mar 5, 2017 1:16 AM in response to Mathewfer

I have 3 apple docks connected with speakers they work fine let me change the volume on the ios devices and on the external speakers connected to the 3.5mm minijack connector

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