Pure i-20 iPod dock

I'm guessing its using the USB and/or Firewire interface to receive the data from the apple device. Exactly what they are doing it probably not published anywhere as they may consider the process proprietary.

I'm 99.99% sure we aren't being taken for a ride but I guess stranger things have happened. The i-120 seems to actually dissable the analog ouput section of the itouch as the volume control buttons on the itouch become dissabled when it is engaged.

Steve
 
I know for a 100% fact that digital docks like the Pure, Wadia, and Cambridge D-100 are pulling the digital signal from the iPod, and there are others that do as well. As also was mentioned, my Volvo XC60 can even do this. There is no mysticism here. Once Apple decided to enable it, the products that can do this have grown exponentially (which is no surprise).
 
Yeah...I didn't have any technical docs that supported it. Finally found one document I got from a friend who works in apple tech support that supports this. No info on pins it uses (usb out but likely old firewire data)...but I'm going to pick up one of these things and start reverse engineering.

The ability has apparently been there since the video gen ipods....but locked down and completely undocumented.

Sent from my Samsung Intercept with Tapatalk
 
update for canadian audiophiles considering this unit (the i-20 dock) -- sorry for the bullet-form, er, format:
* ordered the unit last friday (11 nov 2011);
* received it today (17 nov 2011);
* it's basically plug-n-play. did not need to read the (little) manual that came with it.
* my ipod classic 120 meg plugged into it and it's happily talking to my moon 300d dac via toslink. and let there be music! :)

* it came via fedex (cheapest shipping option), even though i was more or less lead to believe it was coming through the postal system.
* fedex did not charge "brokerage" or any other ridiculous fees (yet -- knock on wood).

overall, even though it's been only a few hours, i am a happy camper. my gut reaction atm is that the pure i-20 is a tremendous value; it is surprising it doesn't have a higher profile, that it is not more visible and/or talked about.
 
I bought an I-20 on Sunday from Amazon for $99 shipped. They said it would take ten days to reach Hootersville, Redneckistan from Seattle, WA. Imagine my surprise when it showed up Tuesday, drop shipped from Chattanooga, TN. I set it up using the optical output into my Cambridge 740C CD player to take advantage of it's DACs.

I very nearly spent $299 for the id100 from Cambridge, and I'm glad I didn't.

The sound quality is excellent. Works great with a jailbroken 3GS, 2nd Gen Nano, but will not recognize my 1st Gen Nano. The remote is somewhat sensitive, so I need to aim better :D

I haven't even bothered to try the I-20's DAC output into the preamp yet.
 
danger! will robinson! danger!

whoa!

heads up for canucks considering this unit:

a month after ordering and getting (very quickly!) this fine unit, i get a semi-incomprehensible form letter from fedex saying i owe them 53.30cad.

this is essentially half the price i paid for the unit. so, total cost is roughly 165cad. still cheaper than some other alternative, but still an unpleasant surprise.

frankly, companies in the usa should give the clients "up here" the possibility of shipping via the postal system, because it is just as reliable and, more importantly, way cheaper than courier companies.

even though i am unhappy right now, i'm thanking ${deity} they did not use the bozos at ups, because my package would have destroyed and i would have still been charged even more than fedex in bogus fees!
 
The connector on the iPod/iPhone series is a multi input/out interface. It has connections for power, charging, USB in/out, analog signal out, digital out, video out, propriatory apple communication, sync-security. You can buy the male plug and make any type of connection you want - digital, analog, whatever. The circuit board inside the iPod/iPhone has the capability to send those signals to the connector (dock). You can find boatloads of LOD's (Line Out Doc's) on eBay - both analog out as well as digital, or search Google and you can make your own.

Jimmy
 
There is a Cambridge Dock available in the UK (Richer Sounds discount them) you buy the remote seperately but still much cheaper than the Pure i-20


I had the i-10 at Xmas - Pure are sending me a new socket for i touch 5 free

Overall I'm not happy with the pure i -10 sound quality (seems strangled & needs a lot of volume) - OK for taking on holiday with some portable speakers but thats it.
 
I bought a program called Airfoil a long time ago. The main purpose was to send audio from non-Apple programs on a PC to an Airplay device I had in my bedroom. It was pretty nifty, but it has gotten better.

With the Pure i-20, I have wanted the ability to control what I was playing with another iOS device. Since I have an older iPhone (just in case I lose or break my newer iPhone), I like to dock it on the Pure. However, it was a pain to walk across the room to pick a different app to play music and it could be awkward choosing a new album if I did not remove the iPhone from the Pure.

With Airfoil Touch, this issue has been addressed. The iPhone will now act as an Airplay device and show up on the iPad/iPhone/Touch as an Airplay receiver. You can simply choose the old iPhone as the Airplay receiver and send audio from the new iPhone. Since it is wifi, it will work from anywhere on the same wifi network. This is an important update for me because it means my Pure i-20 and old iPhone will get a lot more use.

I plan to test it tonight, since I just found out about it.

(FYI I tested this with a 1st gen iPod Touch and the Airfoil feature requires iOS 4. Therefore, it will not work with it.)
 
Last edited:
I pulled the trigger on the Pure I20 last night - I've been wanting the Peachtree Idac for the longest time - but at 99.00 and with external DAC capability and a decent internal DAC - as everyone says it is a no brainer.

Really looking forward to it.
 
I have both, and I can tell you that while the Peachtree is more versatile and does sound better, for $100 the Pure gets you very close for 1/10th the price
 
Figured I'll resurrect this thread rather than create a new one. I have a question regarding the output of digital files from a gen 4 Touch through the Pure i-20 via optical/coax. I apologize if this has been answered already somewhere in the previous 11 pages or elsewhere on AK.

It's my understanding that the optical/coax outputs will bypass both the iPod's internal dac and preamp/amp section. I've been using it this way for a long time and it sounds great when outputted to a decent outboard dac. However I discovered that the iPod volume and EQ can still be used while using the Pure as a transport. Do any of you know how those circuits are still in effect when the optical/coax are supposedly extracting the digital files only?

Thanks
 
Sure, because they are operating in the digital domain, not the analog domain.

Be warned, though - reducing the volume using digital volume control before feeding the DAC reduces the resolution of the files. Not recommended.
 
Thanks Skylab. I guess I figured since the transport extracts the raw digital files from the iPod, it would bypass anything in the iPod, particularly the EQ, from having any effect on the signal.
And yes, I do keep the iPod volume at max. Thanks again.
 
Skylab said:
Sure, because they are operating in the digital domain, not the analog domain.

Be warned, though - reducing the volume using digital volume control before feeding the DAC reduces the resolution of the files. Not recommended.
Click to expand...

How does it reduce the resolution?
 
When using one of the i20's digital outputs to connect to another DAC, I wonder which output provides better performance...the coax or toslink?

K.
 
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