Tokyo Apple Store to give ear to headphone amps!

[PatrickH]

Hi,

Thanks for the info!

If Apple got its eye on supplying good portable amps at the store, a whole new business could take off and casual listeners could find something else besides games to really enjoy from their iPhones.

I second that.

Hopefully, the Apple licensing fee to get out the bit-perfect digital audio flow from iPod / iPhone will decrease to allow the "take off of a whole new business" (portable iPod/iPhone digital output DAC like the upcoming DAC from GR9 Technologies, portable iPod/iPhone digital output DAC-amp combo).

[shigzeo]

I have a feeling that if Apple bite, they will bite for very nice looking amps. Forget iBasso's FiQuest! and will go for something like the Pico and RSA line which are popular at headfi. I can also imagine that Headphonia's Slim will eat up that space. The problem for those manufacturers is that they cannot supply the market as they are often one person doing everything.

[shigzeo]

Well, it looks like Apple bit - at least a little bit. They will allow amp builders to hold symposium meetings at the Ginza store at selected times. The Apple Store - where more than one audio geek works - are happy enough to loan their space and time for small meetings. It is a first step - one which proves that Apple aren't the usual sticks and stones, shirt and tie corporate body, and that even among 'chic' vendors, there is an interested geek!