wadia ipod dock-- anyone find faults?

Dave, either I am confused or you are, maybe both! :)

But (to me) the sound card has nothing to do with ripping CD's, it is just for sound playback on a PC; you can rip all you want without a sound card.

Furthermore, as I already stated as about as clearly as I can, which may not be saying much, when making copies of your CD's, the only reason they wouldn't be bit-for-bit copies would be because of defects (scratches) in the CD, and if that is the case, your transport will also have the same (error) issue.

When a CD is read on a CD transport it is read one time and sent to the DAC. The benefit of using error correction when making the copy is it reads many times to get the best accuracy, meaning the "copy" being read can have the potential of being read better than the CD copied from.

Stereophile had a very good article months back on digital and talked about it staying the same as long as it stayed in the digital domain, as it should, it is when brought into analog where the issues can ocur.

Your issues of having the re-rip some CD's is rather odd to me as well; I have not had to do this at all. I also ripped many CD's prior to turning on EC and I have no issues with them nor do I hear any diferences with those.

maybe the cd2 is just a very synergistic match with the dac 3, they were made for use with each other.

I don't see why this would matter. Like I say, I haven't a clue of why you guys had the results you did, all I can say is this differs from others, for what it is worth.

Thanks for the clarification on the exaggeration comment; I wasn't clear on the intent. I am aware of the exageration(s) we 'philes can make, but for me there was none. Like in your case, I brought over another set of ears who agreed that he could no way tell a difference in our comparisons. (In some intances, like comparing the CD to the iPod combo, I could switch inputs with a touch of the remote, with the inputs being level matched; neither of us could accurately pick a source.)

Brian, I have no idea if the audio card has any impact in disc replication or not. I just mentioned it in case it does.

Tvad made a good point in another thread, he suggested that the iPod might be reading inconsistantly. He suggests that the files could be fine, but the iPod isn't always reading accurately. If and when I get another bad sounding cut I'll investigate the iPod itself, disconnecting it, rebooting it, throw it against the wall (oops, maybe not) to see if the file isn't read properly later. My iPod Classic 160G is not a flash device, so its mechanical aspects could certainly be suspect. Including the Wadia, it's likely the weakest link in my system.

Dave

Here's something else for Chrissain and his crew to try, if they're interested. Record the same error corrected lossless files on another iPod. If possible, use a Nano with a flash drive, then run the same comparison.

Tvad told me in another thread that he's had troubles with iPods as transports. That may be my occasional issue and it may be what's happening with Chissain's listening group. This is a pretty easy extra step that should remove doubt as to whether it's their Wadia or their iPod that's degrading the signal.

Dave

Hey Guys I returned the wadia Ipod dock so I can't do anymore comparisons. Although I do have a few final thoughts about it.

In final all I'll say is with my system. Wav files sounded really good on there. Lossless didn't. So if your running wav files and are ok with storing a few less songs than lossless you shouldn't be disappointed.

I have about 90k worth of equipment and it's pretty transparent and detailed. So it's easy to hear each little piece that you switch in or out. I have 3 sets of ears that all heard the same thing on a few different systems. But as we all know it's all about synergy and maybe I just had a bad matchup. Who knows...

It seems kind of a waste of time that one would have to worry and double check to see if there are errors from ripping or if the music sounds the same as the cd.

Wadia is getting close but a few things would help seal it for me in the future. More Ipod storage space. A better remote that could help you control the Ipod with the same controls as the Ipod. Scrolling and searching for music is clumsy in comparison. It would be kinda nice to be able to hook it up to your tv screen to scroll through things as well. Maybe even put out a higher grade dock or an audiophile upgrade or something. I believe there is one offered by someone on audiogon.

Ok it's gettin late sorry to ramble...

~kurt