[jrebman]

Just wondering if anybody else has one of these yet as I just got one for my birthday today, and although I've not hooked it up or heard it yet, it does appear to be a really cool thing.

For those who don't know, this is a device for your iPod/Pad/Phone that has a docking connector on a cable that plugs into the unit, bypasses the internal dac on the player, and has it's own internal dac, and charges the device at the same time.

I haven't even setup iTunes or imported any music to my touch yet, but before I do that I'd like to ask if there are any other music player apps that people can recommend over iTunes?

I'll report back when I have things setup and playing.

BTW, this unit only has two rca outs, so you need to use it with an external amp of some sort.

-- Jim

[ebag4]

Happy Birthday Jim!

I hope you an yours had a great holiday, enjoy your new toy!

Best,
Ed

[Bemopti123]

I have been thinking about this unit myself as a portable alternative to the Cypher Labs battery powered DAC.  I was wondering what was the spec for the wallwart that came with it and whether it could be run from a USB port for powering.  With the 2 RCAs, I would get a Y chord that would end in a mini plug and into my car's stereo system. 

Let us know how it sounds. 


PAUL

[IonMoon]

ooooooo! I have been looking at the HRT MS II/II+ ... how did I miss the iStreamer?

I guess I wouldn't need the iStreamer if I had the other, though.

So have you hooked it up yet?!? What are you waiting for?!?

Idk about using a different app for the music library, however, if I had the iStreamer, I would also use it with Pandora and NPR, etc

[jrebman]

Thanks, Ed!  Hope your holidays were nice as well.  After looking at alternative media players, I think I'm going to stick with iTunes for now as the others I found seem to be even more complex and busy, or are in the jailbreak department, which I will want to avoid for now until I have a better handle on it.  Also, the compatibility with VoiceOver is also a big question mark with the other apps.

Paul,  I don't know the specs as the PDF on the HRT site wouldn't read with my screen reader, but it appears to be a standard USB connector that plugs into a small wallwart.  I'm also not sure if the docking cable is a standard usb docking cable, or a special one, though on the outside it appears to be standard.

I don't even know what dac chip is in this thingbut I do know the resolution is limited to 16/48 as that is what the i-devices are limited to.

I'll see how it compares to the MS II+, which I also have.

Even without hearing it though, I have to say the cool factor is very high on this thing.  If it works out to sound as good or better than the MS II+, or even close, it will probably find a nice home in my headphone rig in my bedroom, though it is easily portable to use elsewhere if I desire.

If I weren't feeling so cruddy today, I'd have it playing by now, but my iTunes library is on my mini down in my office and hasn't been setup on any other machine yet.

I promise I'll report back when I get it working and have a bit of time on it.

-- Jim

[Stu Pitt]

I haven't even setup iTunes or imported any music to my touch yet, but before I do that I'd like to ask if there are any other music player apps that people can recommend over iTunes?

Not trying to start an arguement or take the thread off course...

Why do people look for a different program to run with Apple stuff?  Especially if they haven't even tried iTunes?  I know the i-stuff doesn't do high-res.  Not sure if iTunes itself will pass along high-res to a DAC or not.

Sorry, I just see people asking about alternative software in a few forums.  I've asked a few times, and no one has given me an answer.  I'm trying to figure out if I'm missing something.  The way I look at it, using Apple's software for Apple's hardware is probably the easiest and least buggy thing.

Forgot to mention...   Happy Birthday.  Sounds like a great present!

[IonMoon]

It would make sense that iTunes would probably be easiest and least buggy (though many argue that it isn't-esp if you're computer is running windows) ... but even if it were, there may be other needs/desires.

Maybe another software would be preferable for other reasons- maybe it offers features and customization that iTunes doesn't?

I prefer using Media Monkey on my laptop, but I do not have any experience with streaming from a mobile device and haven't tried any other music player apps.

Regardless, it's always prudent to check out the options, right?

[jrebman]

IonMoon, you got it.  Stu, you have a very reasonable point, but the real reason is that I'm a totally blind person using these devices with screen readers, and iTunes (which I use on my mini and MBP w/PureMusic) is a somewaht "busy" application from a user interface point of view, and just has a lot of stuff that I don't want or need.  I turn off as much as possible, and I'm slowly getting more used to i
tunes, but coming from Windows with foobar, it's still  not as lean and mean as I'd want it to be, and there's still a lot of it that is unfamiliar and pretty far from second nature.  I'm sure I'll get there, but there are still sme things about iTunes that don't exactly work like I'd expect.

I'd love a simple, high-quality player with a hierarchical library manager that was a simple list of folders and tracks by artist, album, and track.  I've figured out how to get close enough to this with iTunes, but it just takes a lot more steps and a lot of moving around the screen to get things to do what I want -- most of the time.

That's really what I'm ultimately after.  Hopefully I can find some time today to play with iTunes on the Touch to see how it might be different from theOSX version.

I deal with iTunes on the other machines mostly because I want the quality of playback that PureMusic gives me -- it just sounds very right with my Mach2 mini and Tranquility SE, and offers the performance tweaking features I like.  If PureMusic had a screen reader accessible, simple, robust library manager, then I'd most likely use that over iTunes.

Apple has done a great job on making iTunes accessible on osx and windows platforms, but it still remains an application designed for a lot of eye-appeal (and there's nothing wrong with that.)

HTH,

Jim

[Stu Pitt]

Gotcha, jrebman.

[cryoparts]

whether it could be run from a USB port for powering. 

No, the USB port on a computer will not supply enough current to run the iStreamer.

Peace,

Lee

[jrebman]

Update:

Well, I've been mostly sick in bed since I got this goodie, but I'm finally starting to feel something like human again, and today I hooked up the iStreamer to my living room system to see how it would sound.

A couple of caveats: my ears ar still somewhat clogged, the speakers are original 34 year old Klipsch Cornwalls with shot crossovers and tweeters that are struggling to hit10 khz, and I used the cheapie ICs that came with the iStreamer.

That said, as with any new digital device, things sound somewhat congested at first, but definitely started to open up after a 2 hour listening session.  Bass definition seems really quie good, prat seems quite good, image and soundstage are nice too, and remarkably for a new dac, no real harsh edges (see caveats above.)  BTW, the amp in this system is a custom Vaughn Carina using 6p15p-ev tubes with Hazen grid mod.

Tomorrow I'll take t down to the office system and let it play all day to see what happens there.

Gotta say the toes were a-tappin' though.  Tunes were 16/44.1 wav files of a 3 CD set of Duke Ellington -- the Columbia Years 1927-1962.  Definitely should think of using lossless or uncompressed wav,aiff, alac, or flac with this device.

BTW, the iTunes interface on the iPod Touch with VoiceOver is much simpler to use than the mac version -- very simple controls and simple screen layout.  I'll probably still try VLZ player to see if there is a noticeable difference in sound quality.

Bottom line, this is a keeper and a great device.

-- Jim