Ive been using an old decomissioned iphone for a while as a test tone signal source ,
I made up mono wav files with L/R out of phase and transferred them to the phone,
that way the headphone jack gives a balanced signal output ,
I took a standard set of 3.5mm apple wired headphones/mic/remote , I soldered on an XLR in place of the ear buds.
it gives a good enough account of itself upto around 0dbu , max around +2dbu , its useful for basic line integrity testing .
but not good enough to drive line level studio gear properly or test for distortion . Its been really convienient though , along with a Fluke meter that reads in db , I also have an apple wireless keyboard so its easy to control the phone remotely it if thats required .
Uptil now I had to install itunes on the PC if I wanted to transfer files across to the phone , thats a pain in the ass .
It felt like I was being held to ransom and extorted but today I went out and got Apples lightening to USB3 adapter , cost me 50 euros ,
I asked the manager at the store if I could transfer files ,music to and from the phone and if I could attach my USB audio interface ,
he didnt really know , he erred on the cautious side and said I can take it but if it didnt work as expected he wasnt offering any money back .
Well anyway , Im now able to read USB thumb drives on the phone , playback wav files ,no problems ,
I plugged in the SSL2 interface , with an external power source , bingo , it becomes the default sound output from the iphone
Im not sure if the inputs are available or not as I dont have any recording software .
Im reading up about Jailbreaking iphones and it does seem to offer a few extra tweaks for audio , like an app that allows the user select the audio ins and outs manually ,
Theres another program I found called Waltr Pro , it offers iphone connectivity on both PC and Mac without itunes , and transfer of music and files without apples spoilers , Ive yet to test that out ,
Im not so happy about having to pay 50 euros for apples accessory to get basic USB functionality , but for not having to ever deal with Itunes again makes it worthwhile ,
I also picked up a Rode i-XY mic cheap but because Im not prepared to sign up to app store , I cant get the so called 'free' software to make it work . I think theres a problem from a consumer law perspective here , I didnt agree to sign upto anything when I bought the
i-XY , but its use is contingent on me having an apple account or it becomes a door stop .
Sharp business practices could get your company a mention in the Stubs Gazette years ago ,tech is by far the biggest offender in the modern age ,the AI is only going to make this ripoff even worse in years to come ,its a trap .