ipod thru external DAC

[bamark]

Is it possible (or worth the effort) to connect an ipod thru the digital rca input jack?

I have on Entech Number Cruncher 203.2, that I currently have connected to a low $ CD player via toslink. I do have the ability to switch between the digital rca and the toslink on the back of the dac.

The analog output goes to a vintage Pioneer SX-850 and HPM 60's.

If it is possible, where can I get the conversion cable. I've looked at several sources and I can find 3mm to RCA, but the RCA's are 2-plug.

thanks for any advice

Mark

 

[Vintage_Hi-F]

Is it possible (or worth the effort) to connect an ipod thru the digital rca input jack?

I have on Entech Number Cruncher 203.2, that I currently have connected to a low $ CD player via toslink. I do have the ability to switch between the digital rca and the toslink on the back of the dac.

The analog output goes to a vintage Pioneer SX-850 and HPM 60's.

If it is possible, where can I get the conversion cable. I've looked at several sources and I can find 3mm to RCA, but the RCA's are 2-plug.

thanks for any advice

Mark

Not worth it.
Unless you can get a cable that extracts the raw audio from the bottom port cause you're gonna still be running audio through the on board DAC which is lack luster a best and that is the real limiting factor in the situation.

 

[stoutblock]

I am looking into this same situation. This product is what is catching my interest lately. Like the Wadia 170i it bypasses the iPod DAC and provides true digital out that you can then process through your own DAC. Unfortuantly it does not seem to be available in the states (patent problems?) but can be found over on that auction site. Price seems about right.

I believe the Onkyo product allows a USB connection to a PC to manage your music on the iPod while the Wadia does not?

Using a lossless format on the ipod, and a product like this connected to a good DAC, should have a quite respectable SQ is a very small package. I use Rockbox and FLAC files on my iPod.

Onkyo ND-S1

 

[bamark]

Not worth it.
Unless you can get a cable that extracts the raw audio from the bottom port cause you're gonna still be running audio through the on board DAC which is lack luster a best and that is the real limiting factor in the situation.

I just assumed the same type of process took place as with using the cd player as a transport, to send the data thru the external DAC.
I guess the ipod's data format is different. Would this be correct?

thanks

bamark

 

[luvvinvinyl]

The iPod has three basic components: file storage/retrieval, DAC, ampifier.

If you use the regular analog out, the stereo mini plug, your signal is 'post-amplifiication', and runs to earbuds/headphones. The stereo mini to 2 RCAs is a dead giveaway that the signal is analog.

If you have a 'dock', of any of various brands, you are extracting a line-level signal from the bottom connector, that is 'post-DAC', but 'pre-amplification'. This you can run into an amplifier/receiver, thence to your speakers. Still, it is just an analog signal.

Now there are iPod 'transports', (Wadia had the first, the 170i, but there are others) which extract the native digital stream from the iPod, 'pre-DAC', if you will, so that you can use an external DAC, one superior to the DAC in the iPod. Thankfully, it is not difficult to find a DAC better than the iPod inboard one. I haven't yet seen this job done with just a cable.

So, be careful that the unit you get is not just a 'dock', which provides an analog signal, but an actual 'transport', so that your digital files are extracted without conversion, and sent to your external DAC. That will get you where you need to be.

 

[cwall99]

I second the notion of using the Wadia 170i. Last fall, a rep from Wadia made a presentation at a SMAC gathering at the same hotel that just hosted the AK Fest, and the guy (who now works at Big George's in Ann Arbor) put on a really compelling demonstration. The device is fairly inexpensive (around $380). It by-passes the iPod's DAC and either uses its own DAC and outputs the analog signal over unbalanced RCA outputs or passes the bitstream on through a S/PDIF Coax (RCA) to the DAC of your choice.

Granted, the quality of what you hear coming out of the Wadia is based largely on the quality of the digital files on your iPod, but I gotta say this was a very impressive demo. Wadia also had a room at the most recent AK Fest and was demonstrating this product there, too (though I missed any formal demos).

And while they manufacture the device in China to keep their costs competitive, Wadia's a Michigan company, so they're a good place to spend money in my book.

 

[Andyman]

What you can do is what I do and that is to hook up a old laptop to an external USB DAC near your rig. If you enable sharing, you can access your main library via your home network and have ALL your main Itunes library available, not just what fits on your iPod.
That's good for me as my Touch is only 16 GB, but my library is 55 Gb.

The Wadia will work as it and I believe others too now have licensed technology to allow the 170 to bypass the internal circuitry of the iPod and pull the files as raw data to send to the DAC, which is what happens with a CD or a computer feeding a DAC. This will work for many folks who just want to plop their iPod into a cradle, or let their friends play theirs, but if you want to access ALL your music, a networked computer will do the trick for alot less than the $380 price of the Wadia.

 

[bamark]

What you can do is what I do and that is to hook up a old laptop to an external USB DAC near your rig. If you enable sharing, you can access your main library via your home network and have ALL your main Itunes library available, not just what fits on your iPod.
That's good for me as my Touch is only 16 GB, but my library is 55 Gb.

The Wadia will work as it and I believe others too now have licensed technology to allow the 170 to bypass the internal circuitry of the iPod and pull the files as raw data to send to the DAC, which is what happens with a CD or a computer feeding a DAC. This will work for many folks who just want to plop their iPod into a cradle, or let their friends play theirs, but if you want to access ALL your music, a networked computer will do the trick for alot less than the $380 price of the Wadia.

I like this idea, but I only have the digital RCA jack to use on the DAC, the toslink is hooked up to my cd player. How do I work around this?

thanks

Mark

 

[bamark]

I am looking into this same situation. This product is what is catching my interest lately. Like the Wadia 170i it bypasses the iPod DAC and provides true digital out that you can then process through your own DAC. Unfortuantly it does not seem to be available in the states (patent problems?) but can be found over on that auction site. Price seems about right.

I believe the Onkyo product allows a USB connection to a PC to manage your music on the iPod while the Wadia does not?

Using a lossless format on the ipod, and a product like this connected to a good DAC, should have a quite respectable SQ is a very small package. I use Rockbox and FLAC files on my iPod.

Onkyo ND-S1

I like this idea also. If I could find one of these for not a lot of $, that would also be a good possibility.


thanks

added: I just looked at this and I don't think it supports those tiny Ipods.

Mark

 

[derekva]

I look upon trying to run an iPod (or any other MP3 player) through a DAC as roughly akin to polishing a turd. Unless you rip everything in FLAC, that is.

-Derek

 

[Andyman]

I look upon trying to run an iPod (or any other MP3 player) through a DAC as roughly akin to polishing a turd. Unless you rip everything in FLAC, that is.

-Derek

Rip to .wav for CD quality; memory is cheap.

 

[Andyman]

I like this idea, but I only have the digital RCA jack to use on the DAC, the toslink is hooked up to my cd player. How do I work around this?

thanks

Mark

You need a USB DAC that can accept the input from the computer via the USB connection.

 

[Vintage_Hi-F]

Rip to .wav for CD quality; memory is cheap.

FLAC is CD quality it's lossless (there is no difference) and while PC memory is cheap large memory Ipod/MP3 players are not.

 

[Andyman]

FLAC is CD quality it's lossless (there is no difference) and while PC memory is cheap large memory Ipod/MP3 players are not.

True, but you can sync to sized playlists like I do and still have quite a bit of music to carry about. Right now I have 62 GB of music and a 16 Gb iPod touch and I'm just fine with a couple smart playlists that I've set up and limited to certain sizes. And all that 62 GB is playable through my USB DAC to my main rig.

I just don't really understand what the Wadia brings except the convenience of an iPod cradle, especially if one has a computer in the same room hooked into the DAC that the Wadia still requires. If all the music on your iPod is in your computer, why not just run it from the computer???

And IIRC, FLAC is NOT iTunes compatible and requires some sort of messing around with Media Monkey or Fubar2000 and tweaked iPod installs to get it to work.

 

[PR Audio]

I like this idea also. If I could find one of these for not a lot of $, that would also be a good possibility.


thanks

added: I just looked at this and I don't think it supports those tiny Ipods.

Mark

Doing the same thing, getting one of these units (half price than Wadia's), and getting a decent DAC. It does support the Nano, also, when you buy the Nano it comes with a flimsy plastic base that is used to hold it in place where larger IPod Classic fits.

 

[bamark]

The iPod has three basic components: file storage/retrieval, DAC, ampifier.

If you use the regular analog out, the stereo mini plug, your signal is 'post-amplifiication', and runs to earbuds/headphones. The stereo mini to 2 RCAs is a dead giveaway that the signal is analog.

If you have a 'dock', of any of various brands, you are extracting a line-level signal from the bottom connector, that is 'post-DAC', but 'pre-amplification'. This you can run into an amplifier/receiver, thence to your speakers. Still, it is just an analog signal.

Now there are iPod 'transports', (Wadia had the first, the 170i, but there are others) which extract the native digital stream from the iPod, 'pre-DAC', if you will, so that you can use an external DAC, one superior to the DAC in the iPod. Thankfully, it is not difficult to find a DAC better than the iPod inboard one. I haven't yet seen this job done with just a cable.

So, be careful that the unit you get is not just a 'dock', which provides an analog signal, but an actual 'transport', so that your digital files are extracted without conversion, and sent to your external DAC. That will get you where you need to be.

Thanks, that was a very good idea. Can you give me an idea as to what would be a good transport that would work with my setup

Mark

 

[bamark]

Doing the same thing, getting one of these units (half price than Wadia's), and getting a decent DAC. It does support the Nano, also, when you buy the Nano it comes with a flimsy plastic base that is used to hold it in place where larger IPod Classic fits.

I looked up the price of a Cambridge Dac Magic. $329 is a bit high, but it looks like it would do everything you needed.

 

[vuntruong]

I really don't understand why people are so crazy about getting digital music out of the ipod. Wadia is a rip off bs u still have to have a set top box, Prob. nothing more than just Apple TV in a diff. box. Why not use airport express with airtunes? 16bit/44 max. apple TV 16/44 max (no computer), or ios4 with ipad camera adapter to a dac that doesn't require driver i.e. ps audio, etc.... (still only 16bit/44) Right now, for 16bit/44 via usb, it seems like the best option is Ipad/ipod---camera adapter---DAC--amp--speakers. this option require your ipod/ipad to be connected via a wire. I dont get it? why not just use a laptop, airport express--optical--daC. and have your ipod/iphone/ipad as a remote?