In my Ears or Between my Ears - iTunes

I set my Astell & Kern portable DAC for line out on it's setting. I use a high Quilty cable if there is such a thing lol. "because I think I just bought one. Burson+ cable " from AK DAC I use a 3.5mm to RCA to input Line 1 on the amp, I use the amp for the volume only when doing this . When roaming the house I use the AK App on my iPhone to control my AK-70 DAC that is plug into amp for volume and song selection or Deezer app etc. Or my iTunes library some was from CD's I added myself years ago. As for the MacBook Air and iPhone 6. I set my Amp volume to the middle. Then use iPhone or Mac to adjust the volume when roaming around the house or in the Kitchen cooking. I don't notice any distortion really. The Bluetooth X the amp supported works really well. A notice on the AK screen comes up for a few seconds saying its connected to BluetoothX. Now When physically plugged into Amp everything Mac - AK DAC or iPhone Sounds really good I'm looking forward to the Burson Cable + so I'll see if there is really going to bring out more sound. I recently tested a album I purchased Massive Attack came with a free mp3 download. So I used both headphones for a while then speakers. I listen to both over and over for a few days only and they both sounded really good. But later listen to the album again and it just has some small sound details I didn't hear in the car using the mp3 file version via AK DAC. I could here new sounds faint details that weren't in the car or home system using the mp3 file. I'm not surprised but good to hear because Ive spent lots of money on High Res content lately Hundred and Hundreds of dollars. some Flac 16 and 24 lots of DSD single and double content anything I could get fill my Micro SD card's and new portable hard drive. You can hear the difference for sure. But I did notice the simple fact that its only as good as the original recording. So I have some iTunes songs that just sound so good on my home system, and most don't. I also have a lot of high res stuff. Some sound really good like mind blowing good and some just ok. I paid $30 for a classical DSD 5.8 and I wasn't impressed. I have some classical on iTunes I put there myself with a CD and sounded better. So there it is. I will be spending more now on a $500 cartridge/stylus for my ProJect carbon turnable to see how much more sound I can squeeze out of my vinyl. When listen to certain albums I forget I'm even listening to a album some of them are crystal clear amazing.
Oh I don't own a CD player. But I have lots of cd's stored in the garage back home in California I was thinking of purchasing one to go with my new NAD C 386 amp. I did bring one cd with me to Amsterdam David Bowie.
 
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I've seen it hinted at a couple of times, but isn't it obvious that perhaps the iPhone audio amplifier is the culprit? The headphone jack output is shaped by the iPhone amplifier after the DAC converts it; to access the raw files one would need to bypass both the iPhone DAC and amplifier probably via the charging/data port, not the headphone output. I don't beleive there's any way to access the files after the DAC but before the amplifier.

The chain is only as strong as the weakest link, and rather than look into cabling, file type and quality, and other considerations, I'd judge iTunes based upon data pulled from the files and into another DAC and amp than judging it after its been shaped by the iPhone audio amplifier.
 
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Ok hello again. I've made a few changes/upgrades. The Burson cable+ showed up and hooked it up. Well it sounds really good like there's a soundstage now. Crystal clear my iTunes sound really good and my hi res Flac &DSD files really amazing. Plugged iPhone sounds great. I notice first thing I had to turn the amp down as it's signal is coming in much stronger. It's a keeper. I also upgraded to a Project BOX S phono stage with NOS GE tubes vintage and Audioquest Goldengate interconnects really made a big difference over the stock NAD phono stage. I think it sounds so good. Cartridge upgrade next and some nice speaker wire set minimum length as possible. With stands there goes 4ft on each side to start with. With the speaker stands in place it made a successful upgrade to the sound quality. Trips me out sounds like theres sounds behind me or upstairs kind of hard to explain. I actually told my kids to stop moving a chair up stairs. It was in the music. it sounded like it was coming from up the stairwell.
 
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Ok hello again. I've made a few changes/upgrades. The Burson cable+ showed up and hooked it up. Well it sounds really good like there's a soundstage now. Crystal clear my iTunes sound really good and my hi res Flac &DSD files really amazing. Plugged iPhone sounds great. I notice first thing I had to turn the amp down as it's signal is coming in much stronger. It's a keeper. I also upgraded to a Project BOX S phono stage with tubes. Audioqest Goldengate in and out.
Thanks for the update. I was wondering how it turned out.
 
Thanks for the update. I was wondering how it turned out.
Hello again the echo dot showed up from LA and now hooked up to my home system. I first used the Burson + cable with the volume maxed on the echo. It sounds really really good. So nice just to say what you want to hear especially for my kids now they don't have to touch my gear. I then hooked it up to regular RCA via 3.5mm and the sound dropped big time and had to really turn it up on the amp. Last I hooked it up via bluetooth to my amp and sounds good and clear but at a lower volume need to be turned up on amp. Well I contacted Burson about if I can leave the unit on all the time. They said its fine and if I want to save energy to unplug it when not using it for a while. I Burson cable is nice. The RCA where you plug them into the back of your Amp are 9" so they don't make it past the side of my amp. I used a extra plastic cable holder (from TV) it had 3m type adhesive and hold the Burson Cable + aluminium part of the Burson cable from the back of my Amp. I just attached the adhesive backing from clip onto the back of my amp where it was clear of any thing. It holds it nice and keeps it from dangling around. And it is easier for me to remove micro usb when I want to power it down. IMG_0354.JPG
 
Hello again the echo dot showed up from LA and now hooked up to my home system. I first used the Burson + cable with the volume maxed on the echo. It sounds really really good. So nice just to say what you want to hear especially for my kids now they don't have to touch my gear. I then hooked it up to regular RCA via 3.5mm and the sound dropped big time and had to really turn it up on the amp. Last I hooked it up via bluetooth to my amp and sounds good and clear but at a lower volume need to be turned up on amp. Well I contacted Burson about if I can leave the unit on all the time. They said its fine and if I want to save energy to unplug it when not using it for a while. I Burson cable is nice. The RCA where you plug them into the back of your Amp are 9" so they don't make it past the side of my amp. I used a extra plastic cable holder (from TV) it had 3m type adhesive and hold the Burson Cable + aluminium part of the Burson cable from the back of my Amp. I just attached the adhesive backing from clip onto the back of my amp where it was clear of any thing. It holds it nice and keeps it from dangling around. And it is easier for me to remove micro usb when I want to power it down. View attachment 897977
Very cool. I am actually surprised by how good the Bluetooth sounds when sent from the Dot, as well. I use it all the time with my Yamaha WCX-50. Glad to hear that the Burson has improved the aux output audio. I wish I would have had time to review it when I got the chance.

If I were you, I would look into getting an iDevice, Wemo, iHome or one of the other devices out there that will allow you to control the power of the unit by voice with the Echo. My preference is for the unit below because it also allows it to be controlled with an included remote:

https://www.amazon.com/iHome-iSP8-W...rd_wg=s4NCb&psc=1&refRID=E77D9GMRF65KDF298GA4
 
Nice sounds good I also have the Nest thermostat. I use something similar for my garage door as a remote because the one that came with it broke down. So this would open my garage door via the iPhone or Echo or remote. My kids really want me to get some lights that they can turn off using the Echo. I have the Echo on bluetooth now because I'm using the Burson Cable + for my portable AK-70 or my MacBook air. I ran out of RCA input connection on my amp. I have one being used for my Phono. I do have 2 coax and one Toslink dig left for my future CD or transport. My bluetooth works really good. My amp does have the AptX bluetooth. Logo comes up on the screen of my portable AK-70 DAC when linked. Not sure but bluetooth is spoiling me.
 
Nice sounds good I also have the Nest thermostat. I use something similar for my garage door as a remote because the one that came with it broke down. So this would open my garage door via the iPhone or Echo or remote. My kids really want me to get some lights that they can turn off using the Echo. I have the Echo on bluetooth now because I'm using the Burson Cable + for my portable AK-70 or my MacBook air. I ran out of RCA input connection on my amp. I have one being used for my Phono. I do have 2 coax and one Toslink dig left for my future CD or transport. My bluetooth works really good. My amp does have the AptX bluetooth. Logo comes up on the screen of my portable AK-70 DAC when linked. Not sure but bluetooth is spoiling me.
I have some Hue lights and the ability to dim them, make them different colors, and turn them on and off by voice is pretty great.

The Echo has the best Bluetooth I have used in a home device. Its ability to send and receive and connect and disconnect by voice is just awesome.
 
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