[jfoxlim]

Hi guys, I am new on this arena.
Basically, currently I am using the following
HD650, ZU cable, Millet hybrid and panorama cable from cable pro and ipod 80 gb classic.

I have been looking at imod but still not convince what sort improvement will get?

If anyone has similar set up as mine and also using imod maybe can share some highlight

thanks

[Loftprojection]

I have AudioTechnica W5000 cans feeding a Yamamoto HA-02 amp with an Alo cable in between as recommended by Vinnie from RedWine. 

For me the iMod is just terrific, it is the single piece of equipment I will shed a tear when it breaks.  Vinnie doesn't do iMod on the 5th gen iPod and I will be very sad when the day comes that I have to get a new iPod.  The iMod is sitting on my night table with my amp and phones, almost every night I listen to 15-30 minutes of music before falling asleep.  Before I got this setup, I was listening to headphone music only sporadically and I was always pulled back to my speaker system because the headphone system didn't satisfy me sound wise.  I can't really say the iMod will be night and day versus your regular iPod because honestly the kit I have right now has been used only with iMod.  Your kit is quite different then mine but I wouldn't necessarily consider it less sound quality because many people on head-fi.com prefer the HD650 to my more expensive W5000 and your Millett amp as always received very good comments.  So I really think the iMod could improve your listening enjoyment versus the regular iPod you are using now and according to all the great reviews the iMod got over time, I don't think you'll be disappointed going that way.

Hope this helps a bit.

[gooberdude]

The difference between a stock Ipod and vinnie's Imod is huge.  The bass is tight, deep and relentless.  the rest of the frequency spectrum is awesome after the mod as well.   

Headphone lovers should really dig the purity of battery power too...   Great for city dweller's where the AC is dirty.

The Imod is my sole 'phile source these days.   highly recomended.

[jfoxlim]

thanks guys for you reply, good information.
Many people made comments that imod improve sound stage / make bigger sound stage and 3D, is it really the case. Other thing, how about VCAP to connect with IMOD. How those two can be compared, imod itself and imod combine with vcap.

[ZLS]

thanks guys for you reply, good information.
Many people made comments that imod improve sound stage / make bigger sound stage and 3D, is it really the case. Other thing, how about VCAP to connect with IMOD. How those two can be compared, imod itself and imod combine with vcap.

    A lot further down the same road of improvement in sound. 
    The Imod with VCAP is a first class source, and I say this based upon personal experience. 

[Will2]

Have you thought about the Wadia 170iTransport?  New iPod dock that extracts a direct digital signal from most iPods.  Seems to me a viable alternative to the iMod - I haven't done an all-in cost comparison but it looks like it could be a bit cheaper all-in.  Has anyone else looked into this comparison - quality and cost?

[jfoxlim]

no, I never heard wadia yet, it seems not many reviews for this product but will find out. thanks for suggestion

[Loftprojection]

This Wadia transport is interesting but you loose the portability.  I don't take my iMod everywhere but I bought myself a small tube amp (Millett Hybrid) and I can go out in the garden easily and get top of the line sound quality.  Will be interesting to see if someone compared the sound quality between a Wadia/iPod and an iMod.

[Vinnie R.]

This Wadia transport is interesting but you loose the portability.  I don't take my iMod everywhere but I bought myself a small tube amp (Millett Hybrid) and I can go out in the garden easily and get top of the line sound quality.  Will be interesting to see if someone compared the sound quality between a Wadia/iPod and an iMod.

The Wadia iTransport requires the use of an external DAC... so the sound quality will be highly dependent on the DAC used 

[saisunil]

I have Vinnie's 4G iMod - it is way better than stock ipod.
As I understand the newer (still older) generation imod is ever so slightly better than the 4G iMod and it also retains the regular headphone out from the ipod.

ipod line out through Wadia iTransport and external DAC is no longer a portable solution and can be as expensive as the dac and cables you put into this equation.

For a portable solution, a modded ipod would be the way to go.

Cheers
Sunil.

[Loftprojection]

This Wadia transport is interesting but you loose the portability.  I don't take my iMod everywhere but I bought myself a small tube amp (Millett Hybrid) and I can go out in the garden easily and get top of the line sound quality.  Will be interesting to see if someone compared the sound quality between a Wadia/iPod and an iMod.

The Wadia iTransport requires the use of an external DAC... so the sound quality will be highly dependent on the DAC used 

Well then it's even worse than I thought.  Not only does this solution loose all the portability, it becomes very expensive.

iMod is the way to go   

[gooberdude]

A recent feather in the cap for the Imod, to me, is that it makes it easy to hear how adding Quiet Line filters to the ac outlets in my home affects the sound. 

The Imod's performance is the only constant during the installation/experimentation process.  With a cd player or any other plugged in source, the Quiet Lines would affect them as well, adding another layer to determining when to say when with these things.  I can actually hear the ac get cleaner, 1 plug in at a time.  so cool.   

Going the Wadia and DAC route, does that add 2 components that need to be plugged in?   not cool!

Imod is a portable battery powered wonder and just gettin' better day-after-day (a year later!).


One interesting note, until installing Quiet Lines i couldn't discern much of a difference when the Ipod charger was plugged in during play.   Now it clearly makes voices a bit shrilly.