Connecting I-pod to Integrated Amplifiers

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.

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.

I read it over again, and I really can't find any critical review of the iPod's sound in that system whatsoever! There is no going out on a limb, other than perhaps the concept of the article . But that concept is not followed through to being any kind of review at all (which is why I say it's just a fluff piece). Again, perhaps I'm missing something, but I don't think so. As far as I got from reading it, the reviewer says nothing at all about the sound of the iPod in that system. The information I did get from it corresponds to my own experiences: the line-out is an improvement over the headphone jack. In both cases the iPod lacks in the low-end, both in depth and resolution (though I don't think the reviewer even goes that far). They chose the Avantgardes for their bass prowess to make up for this weakness in the iPod. Having read the article now twice, I have no idea, not even a remote sense, of what that system sounds like. It is, at best, a very basic primer on some of the ways to get the most out of your iPod when used as the front end of a home system. It is not a review, and there is certainly no risk taking that I can see in what's been said there.

I agree with you CK; as convenient as the iPod is, and as amazing the concept that so much music can fit in such a tiny space, and actually be reproduced in an enjoyable presentation through a system, I see no reason to do that when there are other choices at hand. I've compared my iPod to my own front end and you won't find it connected to my home system either. I absolutely would, however, run my computer via Waveterminal through my DAC, which makes for a brilliant front end. This is the reason I was looking for some way to get a digital-output from my iPod, as Monitor Audio claims to be doing. Do that, and I think you'd really be on the way to a significant improvement in iPod performance, and a real contender as a part of a digital front end.

Marco

I suppose we'll just have to wait for some modder to come along and give us a digital out we can send along to our DACs... now would you prefer USB, Toslin or SPDIF LOL

BTW I also ran a Waveterminal for a long time - when I got my G5 I finally switched over to a high end Toslink

Ckorody, I was not saying that cables don't matter. On the contrary, I pointed out that there may be better options that the Radio Shack cable originally suggested, including the Audioquest that I own. The original question seemed to be simply how to connect an iPod to an integrated. As this thread so abundantly points out, there is an incredible range of options if you go beyond the simplest possible solution, most of which will certainly benefit by attention to all the details, including the cable.

CK - If you want to read an actual "review" of how the iPod performs within the context of a good system, this 6moons piece is much more to the point and will give folks a better idea of what to expect, and what not to. It's pretty much on the money from my listening experiences, but goes into much more detail as I didn't bother listening to it very long or extensively in that capacity (it only takes a few cuts to conclude, "why bother?"). It's not really the point of the iPod after all.

Marco