Copied from headfi:
CES ’08 – Venetian Room #30-236
Wadia Digital Debuts The iTransport
Enabling Full Resolution Digital Output From iPod® Players
-- iTransport Delivers Bit-Perfect Digital Audio
From Files Stored on All Currently Available iPod® Players --
LAS VEGAS, NV, January 7, 2008 – Wadia Digital, a high-end audio company dedicated to the development of digital audio technologies, is demonstrating the market’s first digital player dock to retrieve a direct digital signal from an iPod®. As a result, the audio signal remains pure and unadulterated, providing CD-quality resolutionfrom full-resolution file formats such as .WAV and .m4a (Apple® Lossless).
The iTransport (SRP: $349), which is certified Made for iPod®, turns any currently available iPod player into a high-end media server by providing a bit-perfect digital audio output to an audio/video system, bypassing the player’s internal D/A conversion and output stage. Subsequently, the audio signal remains clean and unadulterated throughout the path. The iTransport is compatible with all currently available (Q1 2008) iPod players, as well as iPhone® and iPod Touch® models.
“Until now, there has been no real bridge between the convenience of an iPod and the high-end audio listening experience,” commented John W. Schaffer, President, Wadia Digital, Inc. “The goal of making the player a true high-end media server has been hampered by the need to send the digital signal through a portable player’s D/A converter rather than that of a high performance audio system.
“Instead, we designed iTransport to bypass the player’s converter and output stage altogether. When used with an iTransport, the iPod becomes a digital music source equal to some of the finest sounding transports in the high-end audio market.”
D I G I T A L I N T U I T I O N
Along with turning an iPod into a high-performance audio server, iTransport is one of the first such products to access video content stored on currently available iPods. Similar to the audio section, the video signal is made available via high performance component outputs that provide up to DVD-quality video.
The iTransport measures 2” x 8” x 8” (H/W/D), making it an easy addition to most racks and entertainment centers. Wadia incorporates a bit-perfect S/PDIF digital audio output and high-resolution component digital video output, as well as analog audio and video outputs for
easy connection with most audio/video systems. iPod players are charged while in the dock, and can be operated via Apple’s standard IR remote control. (Not included with iTransport.)
Wadia Digital’s iTransport will ship in February 2008, and will be available at select high-end audio specialists and the Wadia Digital web site – Wadia Home Page.
iPod is a registered trademark of Apple Computer. This product has been designed specifically to work with iPod
and has been certified by the developer to meet Apple performance standards.
Steve I know you're preparing for CES yourself but whats your opinion on this? While its certainly much cheaper than the MSB Link, it may still be a rather small market. I know you had dropped hints ofa digital out on the ipod of your own design; would you scrap that idea in favor of modding this (i can just imagine it feeding a formula one w/ pace car mmmm
) or do you plan to pursue that course of action.? (I believe there is more demand among both professionals and hobbyists for a portable solution.)
