Hello headphone hi-fi bargain hunters, on Amazon there is a very inexpensive iPhone amp you may want to check out. Basically the Japanese company Go-Dap (a.k.a. Venturecraft) made the grave tactical error of trusting Apple to not change their iPhone design and designed a very nice docking headphone amplifier + auxiliary battery pack for the iPhone3. When the iPhone4 arrived the change in shape made their lovely product obsolete and the $199 price has dropped to $14.95.
Product details and pictures here:
http://venturecraft.jp/gadget_en/godap.phpOn Amazon search “Go-DAP GD-03” and as I post this you have a choice of red, black, or white models.
At that pricing I tried one as a lark. My application was to upgrade an iPod3 I used to feed the analog in jack of my car stereo. Interfacing the GD-03 to other iDevices is covered below; this is Audiocircle so first let’s talk about the sound. On both headphones and my car’s stereo the GD-03 made an immediate noticeable improvement. Gains include improved transparency and better ‘drive’ that gives especially the bass a nice extra kick. The downside is a touch of ‘sharpness’ to the treble noticeable over headphones but not the car stereo. I believe this is the added transparency of the GD-03 making the limits of the iPod’s DAC easier to hear. For me the GD-03 was a bit of a gateway drug, I now listen to portable headphones using a Fiio X3. Also I want to mention on the GD-03 the fit and finish is typical very high quality we get from Japanese made hi-fi gear. Finally I got a real kick out of the package graphics, I’m so jealous of this dude’s ‘fro!!
The GD-03 cradle is a 'snap-in' fit for the iPhone3. I have used it with other iApple devices three different ways.
1. iPod 3rd generation looks like it will fit the GD-03 cradle, it does not. Almost fits but does not quite seat into the 30 pin connecter far enough to be reliable due to slight differences in the radiuses of the corners of the iPhone3 vs. iPod3. I used a Dremel rotary grinder to open up the plastic in the corners of the GD-03 cradle. This allows iPod3 to (tightly) fit the GD-03 cradle and fully seat into the 30 pin connector.
2. Connecting the GD-03 to iDevice using “Dock Extender Data Sync Charge Cable for iPod iPad iPhone 3GS 4 4G 4S (Support Audio/Video Transfer)” bought from Clelo through Amazon (ASIN: B009C8TC9Q). Note that not all ‘dock extender’ cables include the audio signals so check this if ordering a different cable. Electrically this works but with the 3 foot cable in the mix is hardly compact. I used it this way in my car’s console where the GE-03 made a nice upgrade to its analog AUX input to the factory stereo. This cable would also work for iPads equipped with the 30 pin interface.
3. Connecting the GD-03 to iDevice using “Dock Extender 30pin Extension Adapter Cable for Apple iPad2 iPhone 4 3G iPod -Black” bought from IDS through Amazon (ASIN: B0086T8DEW).
This is the compact solution that gets the iDevice onto the GD-03 cradle. Mine shipped from Hong Kong so it was the last to arrive. If I had waited there would have been no need to modify the cradle as in #1 above to get the iPod3 to fit. The photos Amazon have for the GD-03 include a couple showing a iPod3/iPhone3 installed with this type of extender and secured with a silicon rubber band. This extender also allows my iPhone4 to fit once the phone is removed from its case. It is not a perfect solution for the iPhone4, due to alignment between the 30 pin plug on the cradle and socket on the iPhone4 when installed there is about 1/8” (~4mm) gap between the back of the phone and cradle. The GD-03 cradle does not ‘latch’ onto a iPhone4. A spacer between the phone and cradle plus a silicon rubber band to keep it all together and for ~$20 you have a nicely portable phone + headphone or line out amplifier.
