HRT - Istreamer - Outboard DAC for Idevices 12v Version

Purchased the iStreamer 12V for use in my car stereo. I am thrilled with this device.It is built very solidly, and performs exactly as advertised. I'm running the outputs from the iStreamer into my Audison BitOne processor. There is zero noise on the connection. I have shown this device to my car audio shop and told them they should be using it on all of their high-end systems that use iPods for a source.

This product worked perfectly on IOS 8.2 but stopped working when I updated to IOS 10.1. When I asked their customer service "My HRT iStreamer seems to have stopped working for my iPhone after I updated the IOS to 10.1. How do I fix this?" They responded "You may need to go back to an earlier version of iOS." DON'T BUY THIS PRODUCT UNLESS YOU HAVE AN OLDER IOS VERSION AND DON'D PLAN TO EVER UPGRADE!!! If you would like to see their email response I have it posted as an image in this review.

Sounded great however would not pass enough power to my iPad mini 2 during operation for me to feel like I could trust that I could use it on an 8 hour car trip with out the iPad draining. The most unsettling item is when I attempted to call customer support at HRT. I received a person who would not accept that there was a compatibility issue with their product and that there was anything wrong. He was out right rude.

Two big complaints:1. If using with your iPhone, call audio doesn't go through. This might be obvious to some, but it wasn't obvious to me. You can get turn-by-turn, music, video, etc., but not call audio. I imagine that could be worked out through a second bluetooth setup or headphone jack and routing, but that wasn't something I wanted to pursue.2. The audio level goes to 100% every time I plugged my iPhone in. If you are running another audio control knob, or preamp, this may not be a big deal. I ran the DAC as the middle man between my iPhone and amp (that's it). If you forget about the 100% volume, be prepared to have a slight heart attack when your phone makes some unplanned noises.

I'm not an audiophile, but I like good sound. I previously had a car stereo with an internal DAC that took over for the iPod integrated one, and since then I have been convinced of the sweet sound of a high quality DAC paired with the iPod. Who knows if it really matters, the audiophiles say it does but they also think they can hear the difference in sound between $5 and $2000 digital interconnect cables.I really bought this because I drive an old Lexus with a great factory Nakamichi stereo, but of course not even an aux-in just a CD changer in the glove box. I had an aux in added to the headunit, but I needed an iPod adapter that could provide an input to the aux, and minimally pause when I turn off the car. I could have bought a $5 cable to do that, but instead I bought this $200 box. I really wanted that outboard DAC.Not having tried it the other way, I am very happy with the sound through the stock Nakamichi stereo. The two pair very well, as high quality as you'll get coming from an MP3. In my case it sounds better than a CD does playing from the changer.This device is very simple for a lot of dough, it pauses the iPod when you remove power. It is cool you can still use the iPod EQ as well which my old headunit DAC could not do (apparently the iPod digitally encodes EQ so the outbaord DAC can use it). There are cheaper devices that give you a little more functionality. This one can be a bit flaky, sometimes it doesn't connect to the iPod properly and you have to re-power it, which for me is having to turn the car off and on again as I hardwired it to accessory power.If you are looking for sound quality over everything else, I am convinced, as just the average guy that doesn't get too into audio stuff, that this little box really makes your iPod sound much better.

I spent quite bit of time trying to find some way to stream high quality audio to my Ford Sync/Mytouch/Sony. With the Ford's "premium" audio system, you cannot stream high-quality audio (specifically Tidal for me), over the USB ... only through Bluetooth -- which of course has bandwidth limitations that reduce the fidelity.I tried both this device (designed for the car), and my home TEAC DAC in the truck. I would say that the Istreamer gives fidelity about half-way between the low-quality bluetooth and the very-high-quality home DAC.Overall, this is an excellent solution for the car. The Istreamer plugs into the A/V ports. The only downside (which is obvious if you think about it), is that you can only see what is playing by looking at the phone. That is, there is no "app mode" or some such when running through the A/V ports.

It's not support mini ipad3 not chargingAnd the Seller doesn't clear this point

Works perfect. Nice clean sound.