pure ipod dock

The ipod doc uses the ipod's internal DAC to put out an analogue signal that you can hear. The Pure has its own internal DAC, so it takes the pure digital feed from the Ipod and runs it through a better DAC. Only the pure and the Wadia do this as far as I know.

.....The Pure has its own internal DAC, so it takes the pure digital feed from the Ipod and runs it through a better DAC. Only the pure and the Wadia do this as far as I know.

I believe that your sentence is not true - the Wadia only buffers the analog output from the iPod on its analog o/p RCA jacks. On its digital output, it is buffered digital stream. To the best of my knowledge the i170 does not have an on-board DAC.

Bomb you are correct, the Wadia does NOT have a D/A converter onboard it outputs only a digital signal.

What are folks thoughts on using this pure i20'dac with a tube headamp? Is it going to perform better than the iPod?

the pure i-20 dac has sound quality that is superior to the ipods internal dac. if you have ripped your cds to your computer and synced your ipod using the best quality settings then the i-20 will perform very well when compared to a good cd player. i am not capable of using all the descriptive language to describe what "better" sound quality means. self explanatory ha. good luck. i am still waiting for a comparison between the wadia and pure [with digital out setup] if anyone who is familiar with both can help....