Prima Luna Prolog 1 and ipod

02-19-12: Learsfool
I can't resist asking why on earth you would want to do this?? As you say, the ipod quality is very poor, and that won't change no matter what you hook it up to.

I can't resist asking why on earth you would make such a preposterous claim??

Sure, if you are referring to poorly-encoded, low-bitrate files played through crappy earbuds at high volume in noisy environments, you might have a case; but used as a means of storing and playing digital files, an iPod can compete with transports costing many times its meager price. Load in some high-quality files and hook it up to a decent (or better) DAC, and if you still think "the ipod quality is very poor, and...won't change no matter what you hook it up to," you may be forced to drop the "Lears" portion of your moniker! ;-)
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Hi Rel - I didn't know that the higher resolution files could be loaded into an ipod. I don't use one, at least 85% of my listening is to vinyl, so I was indeed referring to mp3 files. I stand corrected.

Hi Learsfool,

Your retraction is accepted, and I will be circulating a petition to have the moderators change your handle to "Lears(extremely_wise)fool." ;-)

I probably would have let the entire matter slide had I not read your recent post concerning "build quality":

Many audiophiles will refuse to even listen to a piece of equipment that they think doesn't come up to their often extremely arbitrary "build quality" standards. Many others equate Build Quality with Cost, and assume that higher cost equals "better." For me, the bottom line should always be, does it sound better or not?

When the Compact Cassette first hit the scene, I remember a full-page ad in Rolling Stone trumpeting the fact that you could now take the latest Stones album and slip it into your shirt pocket before heading out to the big party. Amazing! Except that now, for $129, you can buy an iPod Nano that's about the size of a wristwatch and is able to store as much music as 20-30 LPs! Throw in another twenty bucks, and you get twice that capacity.

When you consider that this device completely eliminates annoyances such as tape hiss; wow & flutter; dropouts; tape jams, stretches and breaks--and by the way, has no moving parts--you've got yourself a pretty amazing device. And all this for a price that a "truly serious" audiophile would probably be willing to shell out for an "ultra high-end" LP sleeve. ;-)

Bottom line, this very affordable piece of technology is a music lover's dream. No doubt, better digital reproduction can be achieved, but only at a cost of thousands of dollars. For 99.96% of the population, the weak link in their system will not be the iPod, but everything downstream of it: DAC, preamp, amp, and speakers.

So as you pointed out, do not dismiss a component too hastily based on its perceived "build quality" lest you throw the proverbial baby out with the bathwater.
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Thanks for your responses. I forgot to mention that I have a Quad Cd player, which can be used as a preamp. Would I be abble to plug the ipod into the Quad before it goes into the amp?

Try the Peachtree iDAC which has the ESS Sabre DAC chip.