Arcam’s beefing up your iPhone’s audio chops with MusicBOOST

We can probably all agree that the iPhone is not the device of choice for the audiophile. Well, that might have been true before Arcam got hold of it, but with the new MusicBOOST device your humble iPhone 6 could become a real gem of a music device.

The MusicBOOST is a combined battery pack, DAC and headphone amplifier in a surprisingly svelte chassis. It's fits over the iPhone as a sleeve, adding a little extra girth to your slimline phone, but means the audiophile no longer has to lug around a separate high-end music player or portable DAC.

And because it's hardy exterior surrounds the phone - though leaving space for the camera lens - it also acts as a bit of extra protection too.

At its most basic level you could use it to extend the battery life of your phone, offering another 120% over the standard iPhone battery. But that's not to get to the real meat of the MusicBOOST's audio capabilities.

Using that integrated battery the high-precision DAC (digital-to-analog-converter) and headphone amp don't draw any juice from your phone and offer a much more precise, punchy aural experience from whatever source you have available on your phone.

The MusicBOOST will upgrade the audio from iTunes, Apple Music, YouTube, Spotify, Tidal, Qobuz as well as other third-party apps like VOX or FLAC Player+.

Lightning

It doesn't draw the sound from the iPhone's headphone output, instead it takes the digital audio data directly from the Lightning connector through its Lightning Audio Module.

That means it can essentially bypass the iPhone's own audio hardware in favour of the improved tech in the Arcam MusicBOOST.

The Arcam MusicBOOST will go on sale early December with a street price of £120 and we'll have our review coming very soon.

• Check out our review of the iPhone 6S.