Ipod to Digital Out
Hey Peter - According to Vinnie at Red Wine Audio there is no SPDIF tap within the iPod. I asked him this same question at someone elses suggestion when I started a similar thread. He does some kind of modifications to the line stage of the ipod. One thing he could not figure out was how a company called Monitor Audio, claimed to be utilizing their own DAC in their mini-iPod system. You can read that claim in the AA description here. Marco |
I have not seen anything about Apple planning to add this feature to the iPod. However, if you do get an iPod and start using iTunes, you can purchase an Apple Airport Express ($109.00) which does have a Toslink (mini)digital output which you can connect to a DAC. The Airport Express can join an existing wireless network or can be setup to connect wirelessly direct to your computer via b or g wireless. This allows you to wirelessly stream your music from iTunes and enjoy the benefits of your DAC. I do this and it works great.. Chris |
and it does appear like the Monitor Audio unit takes digital out of the ipod. I don't know; I seem to recall that Vinnie was very skeptical as to how they might achieve that, and why more companies do not do the same thing. You might write to him if you want to get his input on the subject. That said, my car stereo has an iPod interface that I plug into which requires a separate box to achieve. I don't understand what the box does and why the stereo isn't just taking the line-out from the iPod and amplifying it (why would you need an interface for that? Other than to get another $100 from your customer.). In the case of my car deck (an Alpine), the CD player does sound superior to the iPod playing the same material for whatever that's worth. |
