Connecting I-pod to Integrated Amplifiers

If all you've ever done is listened to the headphone output of an iPod you're bound to conclude it sounds lousy (especially if you're listening with the stock earbuds, they're absolutely horrible). The way to go if you want quality is to use apple lossless files with the line out through the cradle. Better yet, mod the iPod to take all the crap out of the signal path after the dac and upgrade the capacitors to Black Gates (which Vinnie at Red Wine Audio does, and he did for me). This gets you everything that's causing such a buzz with PC based playback in something you can hold in your hand and take with you when you travel (although you will need a headphone amp because the regular jack is converted to a line out level).

Gary

Grakesh -

There are two audio outputs on most iPods. The headphone jack is lower level (Vms) and can be controlled on the iPod. As Goatwuss has written, its less then ideal, even though its very convenient in a stand alone application.

What is audibly better is the jack on the bottom. It is higher level (Vms). But there is no gain control - which is what you have an integrated amp for...

A lot of people are making plugs for that, here are a few:

Nyko Stereo link which includes 6' ICs

The Sendstation Pocket Dock which provides both a mini and a Firewire plug so you can run the iPod from AC

The SIK din which provides similar functionality in a little different form factor

There is a tweak audiophile version without the power provision called the Turbodock

http://www.fixup.net/talk/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=1499

Finally, take a look at Drew at Moon Audio's solution which offers a hardwired plug that can be terminated in RCAs. www.moonaudio.com then select "Headphone and Portable cables" and scroll down to see what he's been up to. I have not heard it but I think its very appealing for what is effectively a permanent installation.

You do need to make sure you are using lossless files. Take a look at this article to find out just how good this can sound...

http://www.6moons.com/audioreviews/hipod/hipod.html

Once you get the bug, take a look at the mod Vinnie Rossi is doing to the iPod - if you are considering this you will probably want to stay with a 1/8" plug cabling solution.

http://www.redwineaudio.com/iMod.html

BTW I totally disagree with Bignerd and Sfar - attention to detail matters, cable is such a detail. It is as important when you are using an iPod as a source as it is with any other source. Why would it not matter?

best,
ck

Whoops, I said 300+ CD's on a 60GB iPod in ALAC format. Not true. It's a mere 120 CD's. My mind must have been wandering to my shriveling johnson and failing eyesight.

Cool mods at RedWine - thanks for the links. I still want to know why no one seems to be able to get a digital output since Monitor Audio claims to do that? I think I'll write to Vinnie and see what he has to say on the subject.

Marco

CK - I've read that 6moons article before. It really is more about the Avantgarde speakers more than the iPod IMO, but does have some helpful iPod info. Overall it occurs to me as an audio fluff piece. When it came to the question anyone who is likely to be reading that article would want to ask, they did not go at all into detail of any kind of comparisons between an iPod and anything else running through the same speakers. It does not surprise me that you can get an iPod to sound pretty good through a $7000 pair of amplified horn speakers...but how does it compare to other options? Did I miss something?

The only mention of anything like this comes at the end, and is evasive at best:

The 10 guilder -- or rather $15,000 -- question: How did the HiPod system compare to our usual reference rig? The question is easy but the answer is more complicated. Consider that our Duos are at the tail end of a system comprised of the CEC TL5100 as transport, an AudioNote DAC, a TacT RCS 2.0 as preamp/room-correction engine and an Audio Note Meishu with KR300Bs as power amp. Interconnect cables (all on loan for review) are presently Stealth Indra, Siltech SQ88 MKII, Van den Hul Gold Hybrid, Xindak FA Gold, Crystal Cable Piccolo, Harmonix Golden Performance. Our standard cabling is Crystal Cable Reference.

The most obvious difference thus is price. With a Solo, you don't need an expensive power amplifier. One already comes with the package. A decent stereo power amplifier for the Duos will set you back at least $3,000. Subtract this amount from the Solo's list price for a fair comparison. It brings it to $6,000/pr and you even get a bi-amped setup. A pair of Duos in the US is still 20K.

It goes on but never really addresses any real evaluation of the iPod as a source compared to other sources.

Marco

Marco -

You know, this article is kind of like a party trick - neat but why bother. Where we may differ is that I find it pretty amazing that a reviewer would go out on a limb and say that a iPod sounds decent through a high resolution system. Seems to me if it was a crappy source it would sound pretty bad in that kind of rig.

Truth is there are a lot of advantages to going digital - IMHO you can get to really good sound for a very reasonable price. If you want to go that route I recommend a SLIM Squeezebox. A modded one from Vinnie or Wayne at Bolder sounds pretty damn good - I know, I have one of each.

To be sure, in my house, I'm not going to use an iPod as a source (though I keep a cable if a friend drops by with something to share.) But that is what the original poster asked for help with, so that's what I focused on.

But here's a for instance that makes lots of sense to me. You want something mobile. Something where the whole kit and caboodle - source, media, power supply, cabling fits in your pocket...

Maybe because you like to travel with headphones on planes. Maybe you have a cabin or n my case, a boat. In this set up, the iPod can play a pretty cool role and deliver very good sound. Properly set up it will at the very least equal a thousand dollar plus CD player. (Something I would have no room for aboard, much less a couple of hundred albums.)

That to me is a good use of technology, and at least for me a good reason to have Vinnie do an iMod.

But I'm with you. At home with a big honking set of speakers and all the stuff it takes to make them go, I'm just not going to use an iPod because I can do it better using a different approach. For not much more money...

As you might suspect, the real reason I threw the 6Moons article in was because I think its startling - and there are a lot of people who seem to need to be startled before they consider new possibilities and solutions.