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iPod docking station - Belkin vs Wadia vs Arcam

Lazy and looking for an affordable (i.e. cheap) iPod docking station to play music thru my audiophile system. Don't want to have to invest in a DAC. Understand that the Wadia unit requires a DAC. I'm aware of units sold by Arcam ($300) and Belkin ($100). No remote with the Arcam. Anyone have any experience with these units?
rockyboy
khergert
4 posts
 
You could recommend 2 or 3 dac's that are appropriate for my use.
bar81
791 posts
 
Price range and what CDP are you currently using?
peter_s
1,335 posts
 
Last years RMAF I heard a demo which compared an ipod on an apple docking station to a reasonably good CDP on a nice sounding system (don't remember the components, but a Pathos integrated was involved) and I was surprised at the quality of the docking station. The guys doing the demo said the quality is much worse when you take the ipod's headphones out. Using the docking station bypasses the ipod's volume control, which is a significant improvement.
hack
185 posts
 
The Wadia unit does not require a DAC

I spoke with the Wadia folks for a while at RMAF, the unit hijacks the digital stream [i]before[/i] it gets to the Wolfson DAC in the iPod, then outputs it via a digital interface to an external DAC.
palmerston
24 posts
 
You have 3 options.
1. Wadia with an external dac--perhaps the best route--very impressive but depends on your dac--though can be used in analog mode
2. Red Wine Audio iMod -- see 6moons review -- only for generation 4 and 5 iPods
3. basic analogue iPod dock by Apple (best of the type), Belkin, Kensington etc
I've heard all 3 and definitely prefer the Wadia.
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