DragonFly Dac not working with iPhone

 Might I suggest the Dragonfly or iPhone support website is a more relevant place for this query rather than the Naim website? Hopefully their product support people or user communities can advise you accurately,

Hi Simon

A fair suggestion but I’ve searched on line for an answer from iPhone users and it seems there have been problems over the years with mixed results on solutions some of which I tried. I also emailed Audioquest UK and got an acknowledgment to say the chap there is away until 7 January. My email was passed on to their head office in the Netherlands and I had a prompt acknowledgement and I am awaiting a further reply

I think there are several forum members who us a DragonFly Dac for portable use so hopefully somebody may have a suggestion or answer

Ok good luck..however I suspect the definitive advice will come from Audioquest.

How old is the Dragonfly, as only the current black and red models will run from a phone?Also, are you using an Apple camera adapter? Works fine for me. 

mine works fine.... suggest you try with a new apple CCK. 

Thanks both

its the latest DragonFly Black but I’m using the Apple lightning to USB cable that always worked in the past- peruI better get an Apple Camera adapter as that may be the solution 

Perul!! Predictive text cockup - should be “perhaps”

Shropshire Hills posted:

Thanks both

its the latest DragonFly Black but I’m using the Apple lightning to USB cable that always worked in the past- peruI better get an Apple Camera adapter as that may be the solution 

When you say lightning to USB cable, do you mean the standard one as supplied by Apple with the phone? If so, I wasn’t aware that the Dragonfly would work at all with this, and Audioquest recommend an Apple camera connector, which has always worked for me. 

I have Dragonfly Red, iPhone Xr connected with Apple lightning-USB cable (also works with the "Camera Adapter" with the additonal Lightning port). iPhone is on latest IOS version. All works as it always has so it seems you do indeed have a problem.

You do need to have the iPhone unlocked for it to connect correctly with recent versions of IOS - it won't work if you try to connect with the iPhone screen saver active - the USB port is locked to prevent access.

About all you can do until Mr Audioquest returns is to see if you can reapply its firmware and do a forced shutdown of the phone (how you do it depends on model - I think it's front button and power button together on your iPhone 7, but it may be Vol Up or Down with Power button).

So usb audio now works on ios even without CCK?!? Really?

Well phone is unlocked and have tried re-booting it so so maybe I will try an Apple camera connector over the weekend although the price for the genuine article seems rather extortionate 

Shropshire Hills posted:

Well phone is unlocked and have tried re-booting it so so maybe I will try an Apple camera connector over the weekend although the price for the genuine article seems rather extortionate 

They always have been but they do tend to just work. You can try 3rd party alternatives but they can be hit & miss. 

Well I tried again with no success - I’m using the DragonFly with a genuine Apple lightning to USB Camera adapter (the £29 one with just a singleUSB socket for the DragonFly to connect with). UApple also make a lightning to USB3 camera adapter, which has both USB and lighting sockets, for £39 - does anybody know if this is a better solution even though my existing adapter has served me well until recently

thanks

Bob

Don’t waste your money - I’ve found that they either both work or neither does. Your problem is most likely not the adapter(though I believe it may be an active, not passive, device so could be duff)

Can you take your iPhone, headphones and dragonfly into an apple dealer and ask them to let you try a cable/adapter to rule out a fault with yours ?

Both Apple adapters are recommended by Audioquest, so I’m sure they will both work with your Dragonfly. The USB3 version works fine for me, and the lightning socket that allows you to charge it while in use is handy. AQ also claim that you get slightly better sound quality with the USB3 version. 

seems your dragonfly has gone bad, maybe?

One obvious question no one has asked yet - what happens when you use the Apple headphone “adapter” between your iPhone and headphones - that should tell you if the phone has the fault?

Hi again and thanks everybody for all the helpful comments. My iPhone 7 works fine with both the the supplied apple ear buds with lightning connector and also with an older pair of ear buds connected via the Apple supplied Lightning to USB Headphone Jack adapter. I then plugged the DragonFly into my iMac computer and opened the Audioquest Device Manager. The DragonFly lit up and its firmware is upto date on 1.07. I therefore suspected a fault with the Apple  USB Lightning to USB Camera Adapter and as a check I connected my camera to the phone via the Camera Adapter and was unable to get a connection. It looks like I will be buying a new Apple Camera Adapter on Monday and at least this is cheaper than buying a new DAC

Camera connection kits are faulty by design. I’m on my third now. Funny thing: dragonfly black goes for ca. 50 euro vs. ca. 35 euro for CCK...

Olek - thanks for that info - Apple certainly know how to charge high prices and how to defeat the use of non-Apple connectors and other cheaper brands of cables, particularly Lightning to USB ones.

Olek_K posted:

Camera connection kits are faulty by design. I’m on my third now. Funny thing: dragonfly black goes for ca. 50 euro vs. ca. 35 euro for CCK...

In the UK a Dragonfly Black is £89, and CCK is £30, although I doubt it costs Apple more than 30 pence to have them made.