Rumours abound for the next iPhone in September featuring no 3.5mm jack, and if that’s the case, some headphones are going to need different cables. Audeze is already there, and has an amp on-board.
The idea that Apple might finally ditch the 3.5mm headphone jack is sure whipping people into a frenzy, and while it isn’t totally far-fetched, it’s still merely a possibility.
In case it’s a real thing, however, audio companies have been working on products for the possibility that it might come to life.
We’ve seen both Philips and Sony release versions of their respective audio products supporting the Lightning jack with direct cables, and now high-end headphone maker Audeze is getting in on that fun, going a little further in regards to what the cable could and should have inside of it.
You see while it shouldn’t be hard to throw in an interface inside the Lightning cable to get headphones to work this way instead of with a 3.5mm jack, Audeze has gone above and beyond for something a little more playful for a new pair of headphones, the EL-8 Titanium.
Inside the specialised headphone Lightning cable, Audeze has built an amplifier and 24-bit digital-to-analog converter, meaning all the technology you might normally need using an external box can be found in the connection for the cable.
Designed in the US, the headphones also feature a built-in microphone and are compatible with Siri, while an app made for iOS allows the headphones to be setup quickly and easily for sound presets and equaliser settings.
The headphones themselves aren’t your ordinary neodymium driver-based cans, either, with Audeze’s planar magnetic designed comprising of specialist “Fazor” elements and proprietary “Fluxor” magnetic elements stabilising sound across the spectrum to result in better audio recreation.
That’s similar tech to what we found in Audeze’s LCD-2 headphones, a pair of relatively high-priced cans made for people who loved their audio loud and balanced, and very comfortable, if not difficult to wear in public due to the massive size of the headphones.
And that’s not remarkably far from where the Audeze EL-8 Titanium cans sit, with again very large headphone designs handled by a team at BMW DesignWorks USA designed to provide solid comfortable alongside solid response amidst low distortion.
While Apple’s iPhone and iPad owners are the first people being targeted for these cans — thanks to that amplifier built into the cable — anyone with a media player, computer, or amp will find the EL-8 Titanium headphones usable, thanks to a standard analogue cable also being included in the box.
But if Apple does eventually kill off the headphone jack, the Audeze EL-8 Titanium headphones will at least be ready for action ahead of the game come September when the iPhone 7 is expected to be announced.
