Earlier quoted context omitted.
Yes, seconded.
This is totally off topic, but just checked out your website and damn, you're a hell of a runner. I'm thinking about signing up for my first ultra real soon!
Cool - thank you! Good luck!
The End of Headphone Jacks, the Rise of DRM
311–320 of 350 posts
Re: The End of Headphone Jacks, the Rise of DRM
#312Earlier quoted context omitted.
MS is irrelevant to Apple's readiness to use DRM when it suits them. This is a variation of the classic Tu quoque fallacy.
Define "suits them" then. Microsoft locks down everything, even the computer itself with Secure Boot. Apple does no such thing. If you want to run OS X/macOS on your own hardware it's doable. The only trick is finding drivers, not cracking DRM or license protection. If you want to run another OS on your Mac you might need to fiddle with the EFI settings and/or update that with an EFI mod tool to make it more compatib…
That's not true when it comes to iOS though... can't run unsigned OS.
Re: The End of Headphone Jacks, the Rise of DRM
#313Earlier quoted context omitted.
Well, if that happens (and it's unlikely), then it'll be time to express such concerns. But not now.
Yeah, why should we assume that a company that has a history of making unnecessarily proprietary equipment would do so again in the future? that'd be absurd, right?
The argument I am disputing is that Apple is removing possibilities and connection adapters, not adding them.
Re: The End of Headphone Jacks, the Rise of DRM
#314Earlier quoted context omitted.
Also people wouldn't buy their products if they forced DRM. Apple likes money.
Apple waged a war against DRM on MP3 files and won. They tried to do the same with movies and haven't prevailed yet, so we're stuck with DRM on those. It sucks. Blame the MPAA here. Apple would rather have it DRM free. It's better for consumers, it's better for their sales.
Apples war on DRM was when Steve Jobs was alive, now he isn't who knows if the policy will remain.
Re: The End of Headphone Jacks, the Rise of DRM
#315Earlier quoted context omitted.
Define "suits them" then. Microsoft locks down everything, even the computer itself with Secure Boot. Apple does no such thing. If you want to run OS X/macOS on your own hardware it's doable. The only trick is finding drivers, not cracking DRM or license protection. If you want to run another OS on your Mac you might need to fiddle with the EFI settings and/or update that with an EFI mod tool to make it more compatib…
That's not true when it comes to iOS though... can't run unsigned OS.
That's a phone, and they've taken a different approach with security for those. The product they're offering is one where you're more restricted in what you can do, but you're given more security as a trade-off.
For their iOS products, more locked down equals more safe. They're treating them more as appliances than as general purpose computers. For consumers this has some appeal: The risk of malware and trojan/virus like applications is effectively zero on iOS.
If there was a way to offer security without locking things down they'd probably do it, but I think that's a logical impossibility.
If you don't like that model you have a ridiculous number of alternatives, more so than in the PC space.
So this is less a case of Apple using DRM when it suits them and more a case of Apple using DRM when it suits the consumer. Running only trusted, signed applications is a limitation, but it's one that is not without benefits.
Re: The End of Headphone Jacks, the Rise of DRM
#316Earlier quoted context omitted.
If a device has an audio jack with the aim that its owners make use of it, it has to provide audio when "something" is plugged in. It's not able to discern what's there. That is what "just works": not that audio is supplied, but that audio is supplied without the possibility to discern what (merely whether, and that a hack) it is being supplied to. That the software may disable the port when it's empty or just on a w…
The same applies to Lightning-connected DACs. You might believe that there is something special about an internally connected DAC versus an externally connected DAC, but "just works" is not a point of difference. They both need to work in order to achieve their purpose. At some point, sound needs to make it into your ears.
> The same applies to Lightning-connected DACs. You might believe that there is something special about an internally connected DAC versus an externally connected DAC, but "just works" is not a point of difference. They both need to work in order to achieve their purpose
Internal DAC has only 1 piece of information: a device has been connected to the jack. A lightning jack has access to way more information: like the manufacturer of the DAC & type of the device (headphone, midi/DAW, car radio, DJ's Mixer, etc) and may opt out of "working" in some instances: e.g. this song should only be played on this headphone whitelist- this is simply not possible to achieve with 3.5mm jacks. Remember the "analogue hole"[1]? Apple just closed it on the iPhone.
Re: The End of Headphone Jacks, the Rise of DRM
#317Earlier quoted context omitted.
Do you have a source saying that the analog over lightning is being used here? Because the slide I posted in my other reply says it is "digital audio" over lightning, which I assume to be true for both lightning earpods and this adapter (though I very well could be wrong).
The size of it plus the spec has lanes for analog audio. Wait for a tear down but it isn't a DAC.
Articles about the Lightning headphone spec from a couple of years ago suggest that it only includes digital audio. They even specify a DAC that should be used.
https://9to5mac.com/2014/06/03/apple-introduces-mfi-specs-fo...
Re: The End of Headphone Jacks, the Rise of DRM
#318Earlier quoted context omitted.
Bingo. We already see this with HDMI and HDCP where you can get a diminished experience, or none at all, because the playback device and the TV can't get their ducks in a row.
Amazon will serve me HD video on my smart TV using its Amazon app, but not on my computer using the same TV as a second monitor. And lest you think the problem is the computer, I can get it on my PC just fine using a regular computer monitor...it's a bummer to think about this sort of thing with simple audio as well.
Huh. I often use my non-smart TV as a second monitor, but I'd never tried playing an Amazon video on it. Sure enough, the same video that plays in Firefox on a VGA monitor gives me a "we're experiencing a problem playing this video." message if I move the browser to the TV.
Re: The End of Headphone Jacks, the Rise of DRM
#319Earlier quoted context omitted.
The same applies to Lightning-connected DACs. You might believe that there is something special about an internally connected DAC versus an externally connected DAC, but "just works" is not a point of difference. They both need to work in order to achieve their purpose. At some point, sound needs to make it into your ears.
> The same applies to Lightning-connected DACs. You might believe that there is something special about an internally connected DAC versus an externally connected DAC, but "just works" is not a point of difference. They both need to work in order to achieve their purpose Internal DAC has only 1 piece of information: a device has been connected to the jack. A lightning jack has access to way more information: like the…
Your argument would be valid if it didn't ship with a free included "analog hole" dongle.
Re: The End of Headphone Jacks, the Rise of DRM
#320> When you plug an audio cable into a smartphone, it just works. No, hardware-wise you're still going through a DAC, and the complex audio subsystem of the OS is still deciding, upon receiving the connection signal, to re-route the application audio through that headphone DAC. Or not. Jack or Lightning doesn't change this. > Apple can choose which manufacturers get to create Lightning-compatible audio devices. Sure.…
if your phone only has a 3.5mm jack, you will have to provide high quality audio through it (if you want to be able to sell it to people interested in listening to music on high quality earphones) if your phone only has a digital jack and a certification process, you can decide to provide high quality audio to your digital headphones and low quality audio to the 3.5mm adapter. It's not guaranteed that the DAC you are…
You cannot hear the difference in DACs on modern 16 bit devices.
The difference in DAC quality is so far below your perception that any perceived difference is placebo.
If you do not believe me, I strongly encourage you to perform a blinded ABX test. I, too, was surprised by the results.