Wadia Ipod Transport

jhm731 · « **on:** 5 Jan 2008, 05:17 am »

They're going to sell alot of these:

http://www.ilounge.com/index.php/news/comments/wadia-digital-to-debut-itransport-digital-ipod-dock/12256

lonewolfny42 · « **Reply #1 on:** 5 Jan 2008, 05:35 am »

Press release...

Paul_Bui · « **Reply #2 on:** 5 Jan 2008, 01:32 pm »

iTransport for $349 retail? Kudos to Wadia for offering such a nice unit at a down-to-earth price.

It's about time to get a Classic iPod. 160gb, that is.

TomS · « **Reply #3 on:** 5 Jan 2008, 02:13 pm »

Nice find.

I wonder what they mean by "latest-generation". This is from the iLounge article - "Wadia Digital’s iTransport is compatible with all latest-generation, Dock-enabled iPods, including the iPod touch and iPhone". I have an iPod Video so assume it will work?

Also, I thought getting around the internal DAC was some sort of mod to the device itself and am surprised if truly no one else has bothered to take the outputs from the proprietary dock connector if they are available. Is that like an SPDIF output to the pins?

Tom

kavu · « **Reply #4 on:** 5 Jan 2008, 02:24 pm »

ok ok...I want one aa

Vinnie R. · « **Reply #5 on:** 5 Jan 2008, 02:51 pm »

Quote from: TomS on 5 Jan 2008, 02:13 pm

Also, I thought getting around the internal DAC was some sort of mod to the device itself and am surprised if truly no one else has bothered to take the outputs from the proprietary dock connector if they are available. Is that like an SPDIF output to the pins?

Tom

This is awesome!!!

TomS, there is no SPDIF signal out of the iPod's dock connector. There is a USB port (to load files into your iPod from your computer running iTunes), but you cannot connect an iPod directly to a dac with a USB input. It would be like connecting your USB hard drive to a USB dac... it is not going to play your music files unless there is software that will take the raw data from the music files and decode it to be sent to an internal dac or have it converted to SPDIF to feed an external dac. This is what I believe Wadia is doing, as it is the only way I can see them getting an SPDIF output without having to mod the iPod like MSB does.

MSB has their iLink unit, but requires a mod that they do to tap the I2S data before the internal dac chip and feed it out to the dock connector, and then their dock contains the circuitry to convert the I2S to SPDIF.... but for $2k!

My question is, why is Wadia (who we know makes some very expensive CD transports) only charging $349?

I almost thought it was a typo! They claim "bit perfect" output from the iPod, and I just wonder why people would continue to spend the big $$$ on their transports if they can buy a 160GB iPod Classic for $349, fill it up with Lossless or WAV files, and then spend only another $349 to obtain a digital output to feed their dac. This is all assuming that their iTransport's digital output is very good quality of course, but I'm sure Wadia has that covered! Even if 160GB is not big enough, for $349 you can buy another iPod and put all your jazz in one, all your classical in another, etc. It is still very convenient and also transportable (for headphone listening, in the car listening, etc.).

I guess at $349, Wadia is planning on selling a TON of these (and I am sure they will!)... almost seems too good to be true.

I'm really looking forward to this! I can see one of those little Wadia iTransports sitting pretty on top of our SLA powered Isabella tubed preamps with internal dac option (coming soon!).

Vinnie

TomS · « **Reply #6 on:** 5 Jan 2008, 03:09 pm »

Thanks Vinnie! I was hoping someone knowledgeable such as yourself would chime in. Having owned a few Wadia pieces myself, I couldn't believe the price either. They usually don't let you ship something in and out of their building for that much

It will be interesting to see what their approach really is as more info becomes available.

TONEPUB · « **Reply #7 on:** 5 Jan 2008, 05:20 pm »

I'm bringing one home from CES, so we'll let you know!

And I have a Wadia 521 DAC, so it should be interesting to
see how the iPod with the iDock and a great DAC stacks
up to a couple of really top shelf CD players.

marklivia · « **Reply #8 on:** 5 Jan 2008, 06:48 pm »

Tonetub. Let us know what the DC in is (hopefully 12V for battery

!!) and if there is a difference in sound quality w/ a flash based Ipod vs. a hard drive unit.

Folsom · « **Reply #9 on:** 5 Jan 2008, 07:00 pm »

Yeah well the Ipod has no remote or screen big enough for a distance soo.....

marklivia · « **Reply #10 on:** 5 Jan 2008, 07:20 pm »

You can use a remote w/ this setup. As for the tiny screen, you get up to change a cd now anyhow.

Folsom · « **Reply #11 on:** 5 Jan 2008, 09:25 pm »

All my CDs are on my hard drive, I thank you!

poseidonsvoice · « **Reply #12 on:** 9 Jan 2008, 03:14 pm »

This is indeed big news. Is that cool aluminum Wadia enclosure included for $349? The only downside I see to this is the size limit of existing Ipods, i.e. 160GB max. When Ipod comes out with a terabyte, that will be better. Still, I like having a large flat screen to look at to change the sequence of my playlists, etc...these Ipod screen displays are too small.

Anand.

saisunil · « **Reply #13 on:** 9 Jan 2008, 05:08 pm »

I have been on the edge with PC / USB based digital audio.
If the Wadia Transporter sounds that good - it would be worth getting multiple ipods (as Vinnie said) - say one each for Classical, Jazz, Pop/World etc. and then take your ipod on the go and when you bring it back - just plug it in for the best sound quality. I think I may still carrie my iMod to work

Who needs SB3 and the mods ...

Hopefully tonepub and others will give us a quick preview

Cheers
Sunil.

PS: If the Wadia Transporter does what it says - Wadia should be nominated for some award for adding real value to the audio community!

Wayne1 · « **Reply #14 on:** 9 Jan 2008, 11:19 pm »

There will be more units coming out with support for digital output for the latest generation iPods.

Creative has announced the XDock which offers HDMI output, upsampling video and optical digital audio output $400.00

DLO will be offering a HomeDock HD with HDMI, upsampling video and digital audio out for $200.00.

From what I have been able to gather, in the latest generation iPods, Apple has built in digital outputs. A manufacturer has to obtain certain chips and a license to enable the digital audio and video features. There should be even more of these docks and even HT in a box units announced at CES and MacWorld.

TomS · « **Reply #15 on:** 9 Jan 2008, 11:26 pm »

Thanks for the insight Wayne. That is definitely big news and opens up a whole new world, at least for the big boys who can do the licensing. Not sure what it means for the DIY and boutique crowds like us though. It also means you may have to buy yet another iPod to make use of it

Tom

Ed Sawyer · « **Reply #16 on:** 10 Jan 2008, 01:07 am »

Interestingly, the new Apple universal Dock ($50 + cable needed for another $50), also contains the authentication chip. So, one could presumably get one of those, and if the chip is the same (which it probably is - it's needed for video-output on the latest iPods... e.g. Classic...which is why it's in the Apple Universal Dock (which doesnt' have digital audio out of course..wankers)), hack it to get the digital audio from the dock connector connections. It would be a cheap experiment. No idea what the pin outs are but most of them are known, so you could figure out which ones it *wasn't* and check the others.

Let us know if you take this route! So far the Apple universal dock is the cheapest dock I know of with the authentication chip in it.

-Ed

dorokusai · « **Reply #17 on:** 10 Jan 2008, 03:13 am »

I think its neat that WADIA made an iPod dock...and it's not Krell level expensive. Cool. If I ever actually use an iPod, I may get one.

Mark
Polk Audio CS

lonewolfny42 · « **Reply #18 on:** 12 Jan 2008, 02:07 am »

Some photo's from CES here.....

lonewolfny42 · « **Reply #19 on:** 12 Jan 2008, 02:15 am »

I also spotted this....the Manley Stingray II integrated amp has an iPod docking station...

Report here......middle of page..

Another closeup...