I’ll keep this as short as I can. I’ve used a variety of portables in my system over the years including many computer based sound cards and such. I currently have a small laptop in my rig feeding a Scott Nixon USB-DAC which sound excellent.
Still I like to use my portables, till recently I mostly used a 3rd gen iPod (20GB) which came with a small dock. I now have a 32GB iPod Touch and for the first time the portable player can actually deliver the detail needed to distinguish between max quality MP3 and WAV’s. All the prior players I’ve used (Apple, Creative, iRiver) just weren’t capable. I’m using the dock I have and a cheap pair of micro to RCA cables. I do have decent IC’s for it and a converter but still the differences are subtle and I believe the dock is to blame mostly. I’ve tried higher quality ZCable micro to RCA’s and I’ve also plugged into the headphone outputs, maxing volume for output but the convenience of ‘hanging’ the iPod up to recharge and play music is essential. I need a good sounding dock and a remote would be nice too.
I’d also consider some sort of buffer stage, Decware makes a nice one called The ZBox (
http://www.decware.com/newsite/mainmenu.htm?/newsite/zbox.htm&intro) and there are many others. Still I need a dock.
However I saw this from Arcam called the RDock (
http://www.arcam.co.uk/rDock/index.html ) which has a solid-state buffer stage which better matches impedance and increases output voltage, which for me is key! I don’t’ see it available here in the US but I found it in the UK for about $250+
(
http://www.hifix.co.uk/sku.lasso?item=326f5c7dff70f58ed036f4a156918288)
I’d love to hear what other people are using to dock their iPods and what they use to connect to their main 2-chanel system. What your impressions are and how does it compare to your other sources.
The sound of this iPod Touch is very detailed, nice layering and separation, decent sound stage and good bass but it’s a bit hard and sterile. And it needs to have more drive for my system. In comparison, my Scott Nixon sound more musical and robust and my CDP is many times better in every way.
