Internet Radio

Headphone out is not the way to go. Not sure which docks work with your iPad or if internet radio is worth a DAC, but probably best to not use the headphone jack. The Pure I-20 is great for iPod and inexpensive, not sure if it works with iPad.

The iPad has no external USB port so you are going through its internal sound card meaning pretty mediocre sound quality when using the headphone jack. You cannot avoid this if I understand a iPad correctly. If you have a laptop computer Windows or Mac, it doesn't matter, get something like a Audioquest Dragonfly DAC as they are pretty inexpensive. Plug it into the laptops USB port, connect other end of Dragonfly with a mini jack cable to stereo. Download your favorite internet radio station and away you go! I have downloaded Slacker Radio and have been getting near CD quality this way. And by the way. A iPad has no USB port.

Hgeifman, Pls explain how one connects to an IPad with an ethernet cable.

Zavato, As you've found out, IPad has its limitations as a source, but one interesting trick is to buy the IPad Camera Connection Kit for $29. This gives you a USB connection, with some caveats. An undocumented feature is that this USB will bypass the earphone port and actually stream digital output at a resolution of up to 24/96. I think this goes through some of IPad's onboard Cirrus Logic circuitry.
Then you connect this to a DAC. The DAC must have its own power source, and I don't think asynchronous DAC's will work. I've successfully streamed Pandora Radio and several other radio apps, as well as high-res FLAC files from an IPad into a Bel Canto DAC 3.0. It actually sounds surprisingly good.

That said, most folks seem to use IPads in their system as wireless controllers of a PC or Mac as the source, via DLNA.

There are also a few good articles floating around regarding its use in digital audio.

Good luck!

I think the Pure I-20 is just the product I'm looking for!