Mediabridge with iPhone5: will it work?

[2004_blue_zhp]

(Also posted on e46Fanatics)

There have been a few interesting articles out in the last few days speculating which legacy iPhone/iPod accessories (based on the 30 pin connector) will continue to work in the brave new world of the iPhone5's "Lightning" connector. Specifically, the Lightning connector is 100% digital, and while apple will offer an adapter that looks like it converts Lightning -> 30 pin, that connector does no digital-to-analog conversion.

Have a look:
http://reviews.cnet.com/8301-13746_7...s-in-the-dust/
http://www.bgr.com/2012/09/13/apple-...lity-iphone-5/

As a result, any accessories that used to rely on the analog audio signals from the 30 pin connector will be "stuck".

I have a 1-year-old Dice Mediabridge in my '04 330Ci, and, no hating please, it works great for my purposes. I have it wired up with both an iPhone/iPod 30 pin connector and also a 1/8" headphone connector running to my sunglasses cubby below my HVAC controls. My question is this: when I plug in my iPhone using the 30 pin connector, which signal is the Dice unit actually using: the analog signal or the digital one? If it's the analog one, then I'm stuck if I upgrade to the iPhone5. If it's the digital one, then it should be no problem, once I buy the $30 converter from apple.

I know the Mediabrdige is capable of handling a fully digital interface over USB because it can play from a USB stick with no analog output capability at all. But I'm just not sure what it does when both are available. The last detail: do you guys think the answer to this question depends on which "mode" I employ when using my iPhone over the 30 pin connector: full iPhone control vs "locked"/"accessory connected" mode?

Thanks in advance.

[Crickett]

You've received some misinformation; there's quite a bit of confusion in the media about this. The Lightning connector does, in fact, support analog audio out & the Lightning-to-30-pin converter does the digital-to-analog conversion. Check out this Cult of Mac article (http://www.cultofmac.com/190677/the-iphone-5-lightning-adapter-wont-work-with-video-or-ipod-out-accesosries/?utm_source=Contextly&utm_medium=RelatedLinks&utm_campaign=Interesting) on the issue.

TL;DR: you'll be fine with the Lightning-to-30-pin converter. :thumbsup

[2004_blue_zhp]

Thanks for the response! It would be great if this wound up being a simple fix.

So let's say the cult of mac update is right: the adapter does digital-to-analog conversion. Would there be any difference between:


Connect to mediabridge using USB->Lightning cable
Connect to mediabridge using USB->30Pin->30pin/Lightning Adapter


I'm still curious whether the Mediabridge is using USB audio or analog audio. For example, if the mediabridge is using USB audio, would the first one allow more complete title/artist/album info to be passed to the headunit? Similarly, if the mediabridge is using USB audio, would the second one not work at all? I have a hunch it has to be using USB audio since, ultimately, it's hooked up by a USB cable. Can anyone confirm that?

I'm sure there will be full info on this as people get their phones and start posting their experiences. Maybe we can gather some of that here. Certainly I'll let you know how things turn out for me.

[Crickett]

Ah, my mistake; I thought you were concerned with the analog audio output of the iP5 (I am since that's how I have my iPhone currently connected).

I'm not familiar enough with the MediaBridge to know exactly what it pulls from an iDevice, but I'd wager an educated guess that if it currently works with an iDevice via it's 30-pin-to-USB, that means it's doing it digitally via the USB protocol. If so, then either of your scenarios above should result in the same thing, digitally: the MediaBridge talking to the iP5 over USB.

The only issue could be if the iP5 uses different digital commands over USB that the MediaBridge isn't programmed for, though that'd be an issue with iOS 6, regardless of connector. Also, the Dock-to-Lightning adapter could be limited in what it can translate into the Lightning protocol, so I'd say your best bet is to go with a direct USB-to-Lightning cable.

Whatever you decide to do, let us all know!!

[2004_blue_zhp]

Yeah. In terms of intuition, if I'm currently connecting via a 30pin-USB cable, I have to assume that the signal is travelling "digitally". I can't think of a way that a USB plug would carry the signal in analog form in a natural way.

The 30pin connector is pretty interesting in that it definitely carries the signal both ways. The pocketdock (http://www.sendstation.com/us/products/pocketdock/lineout-miniusb.html) takes advantage of that. I have a friend who plays iPhone audio by doing Phone->Pocketdock->1/8"-to-cassete-adapter. Works fine. But clearly that's drawing an analog signal out of the dock connector.

So maybe I'm just answering my own question here/agreeing with Crickett in saying that, purely intuitively, the signal to the Mediabridge (when your'e connecting via usb) is probably digital.

Might be fair to ask why any of this matters. I.e. why not just run (in my case) the USB->Lightning cable from my Mediabridge to my sunglasses cubby...I could certainly do that, and I bet it would work perfectly. But I often want to let friends plug in their phones, and only a very small number of them will have Lightning connectors. So if it will work, my "best case" is continue to run the USB->30pin connector to the sunglasses cubby and leave one of the new 30pin->Lightning adapters plugged into that. I'll use that setup for my phone. And if someone comes in with an old iPhone, I can just pop off the adapter and let them use the 30pin.