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Author Topic: Ipod dock  (Read 8053 times)

Offline Slim-Shaddy

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Ipod dock
« on: January 11, 2011, 10:03:52 PM »
So I'm putting together a little system in our dining room, and I want to incorporate an Ipod dock. I've read that the Ipod actually has a pretty decent DAC. I'm looking for recommendation as to whether to get a dock with a DAC or not waste my money and just get a standard one that uses the DAC in the Ipod. If you think I should get a dock with a DAC please throw out a recommendation as to which one and where to look.
Thanks,
Ed
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Offline tinpan

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Re: Ipod dock
« Reply #1 on: January 12, 2011, 07:35:02 AM »
Are you running itunes and a Mac?

If you are i would suggest an Apple TV. You can run digital out of that to a DAC.

Plus you can play AIFF or Apple Lossless files instead of MP3  files which sound a whole lot better.

Then you can sit in your Lazy Boy and use your iPod to pick songs to play, plus you can control the volume with your iPod.

If you use an iPod Dock you have to get up and down to pick songs on your little tiny iPod screen

If you are interested I can go into more detail.
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Tinpan

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Offline tinpan

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Re: Ipod dock
« Reply #2 on: January 12, 2011, 08:02:29 AM »

Here's a screen shot of my itunes menu. You can see the wireless devices on the left. Those are two Apple TV's


In the lower right you can see where I can select from any or all of the 4 Apple TVs I have connected to this library


Here you can see the same menu on my iPad ( or iPod) which you use to control song selection, devices to play and volume ( see the volume slder at the bottom of the iPad?

Definitely prefer the music quality of lossless formats over MP3 and easy of use with a wireless network over an iPod
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Tinpan

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Offline Slim-Shaddy

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Re: Ipod dock
« Reply #3 on: January 12, 2011, 08:47:29 AM »
Looks really cool, but alas I am running a Windows machine. I have something similar but not as nice hooked up to my LR system. It's called "S-Air" made by sony. I just want a dock for the dining room system.
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bmwr75

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Re: Ipod dock
« Reply #4 on: January 12, 2011, 10:36:05 AM »
I have three AppleTVs and 5 Airport Expresses connected to my Windows PC running iTunes.

Am not aware of any iPod dock that includes a built in DAC.  They just pass the analog signal from the iPod's DAC to RCA out connections.  OR, a few (Denon and Wadia)pass the digital signal from the iPod to an external DAC.

If you don't want to invest in getting a digital signal out of your iPod, at least get a cable to takes the analog signal from the docking port on the iPod (this bypasses the iPod's internal volume control) to get the best quality sound.
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Offline Slim-Shaddy

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Re: Ipod dock
« Reply #5 on: January 12, 2011, 10:46:16 AM »
The Wadia was what I was thinking. I guess I didn't read it fully. I'm going to change up my question a  bit.
Would it be worth getting the Wadia and a DAC or just using the Ipod's DAC and bypassing the volume control?
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Offline tinpan

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Re: Ipod dock
« Reply #6 on: January 12, 2011, 12:05:05 PM »
Now that you mention it, I have one of those iPod docks I bought. It didn't sound very good on my system. If I can find it I will mail it to you and you can try it.

Analog out of the iPod wasn't very good
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Offline MasterBlaster

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Re: Ipod dock
« Reply #7 on: January 12, 2011, 01:25:33 PM »
Just a little off the beaten path...

I recently bought a Synology home NAS Server to hold all my digital media for sharing between
devices I have at home (PC/MAC/DROID/BOXEE).

Its more than just a media server though as it has many built-in media capabilites; itunes server, dlna, slim server etc.

One of the cool things about it is that it has a USB port that allows you to connect a USB dac to play music directly from the server. I hooked up my FUBAR USB Dac, and it works like a champ!

They also provide Droid/iPhone apps to access the system. I can view pictures, control playback to the usb attached dac, or stream music directly to my device.

So far it has been working well.

www.synology.com
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bmwr75

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Re: Ipod dock
« Reply #8 on: January 12, 2011, 02:41:46 PM »
Quote from: sPeCiAl eD on January 12, 2011, 10:46:16 AM
The Wadia was what I was thinking. I guess I didn't read it fully. I'm going to change up my question a  bit.
Would it be worth getting the Wadia and a DAC or just using the Ipod's DAC and bypassing the volume control?

My opinion is that Wadia dock is WAY overpriced for what it does.  If you own an iPod, that means you already have a computer running iTunes.  If you already have wireless router, then an AppleTV for $99 is the cheapest way to stream music wirelessly in your house.  It outputs both analog and digital signals.  The analog output is probably not any better than an iPod, but I'm guessing.  The Toslink digital output when used with an external DAC or a receiver with a good internal DAC can sound very nice indeed.
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Offline Falcon

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Re: Ipod dock
« Reply #9 on: January 12, 2011, 04:34:30 PM »
I know nothing about what you are looking for, but this is cool.  :o :o

http://www.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/cls.pl?intatube&1300040103&/Fat-Man-I-tube-dock-hybrid-int
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OldiesButGoodies

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Re: Ipod dock
« Reply #10 on: January 14, 2011, 09:35:22 PM »
itunes uses the DMAP protocol on the subnet you are in to communicate - as long as the Winows machine running intunes is in that network you should be fine with itunes controlling the slaves.

You can even get away withe different subnets problem using port tunneling if you want to get geeky.

Each itunes 'server' (Windows or Mac) can have up to five specific slaves in any 24 hour period. 

Pepe
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Offline MasterBlaster

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Re: Ipod dock
« Reply #11 on: January 15, 2011, 09:42:43 PM »
Even though I don't have an i*, I was curious about alternatives to the wadia.
After a few minutes of searching, I came up with this...

This one has promise:

Pure I-20 $99

Heres some other things I found:

HRT iStreamer $199 (Ok, this one is a DAC, it has analog only out but HRT is good stuff)
Onkyo ND-S1 $250 I don't think its available in the US
Cycpherlabs AlgoRhythm Solo $580 This one is wayy out there

Also, If you have any SONOS devices, they offer the WD100 that integrates with their system.
« Last Edit: January 27, 2011, 12:58:38 AM by Master Blaster »
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HT: Audiocontrol Maestro M3, Sunfire 5*200,  Tannoy Mercury MX , SVS PB-12 Sub

Head-Fi: FUBAR IV Plus DAC, Grado SR225

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Offline MasterBlaster

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Re: Ipod dock
« Reply #12 on: January 15, 2011, 09:58:42 PM »
Quote from: OldiesButGoodies on January 14, 2011, 09:35:22 PM
itunes uses the DMAP protocol on the subnet you are in to communicate - as long as the Winows machine running intunes is in that network you should be fine with itunes controlling the slaves.

Actually iTunes uses Bonjour (Zeroconf) to discover devices. DMAP is the used to exchange song lists and stream the music.
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HT: Audiocontrol Maestro M3, Sunfire 5*200,  Tannoy Mercury MX , SVS PB-12 Sub

Head-Fi: FUBAR IV Plus DAC, Grado SR225

Living Room: Dynaco ST-70 (R&R work done by NATOE), Dynaco PAS Preamp, Jamo C607 towers, MCS 6710 Turntable

OldiesButGoodies

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Re: Ipod dock
« Reply #13 on: January 16, 2011, 01:00:06 AM »
Thks for the correction MB, itunes uses Bonjour to discover shares, DMAP to exchange songs or other media (iphoto for example) and  to stream it.  My bad....    :-X
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Offline Slim-Shaddy

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Re: Ipod dock
« Reply #14 on: January 29, 2011, 09:48:59 AM »
After starting this thread I've been thinking more and more about getting the apple TV. What all would I need? Just the small Apple TV box and a DAC? It streams wireless? Could I sync my iTunes with an external HD and have access to my entire cd collection? What's the benefit or detriment to using the Apple TV vs say the Logitech Squeezebox?
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