[JohnR]

Where did you get it?

The power supply? EBay seller A&B systems. You need to undo a few screws to remove the lid and adjust the voltage to 7.5V. Also will need a DC plug adapter from standard 2.5mm to the little one on the i20.

I haven't directly compared the two supplies, I suppose I should do that. My wall voltage (240V) is right at the spec limit of most wallwarts and some seem to not like it much.

[BrassEar]

I was just doing some A/B comparison between the i-20 and the Pioneer CDP DV-45A transport, both going into an Easter Electric Minimax DAC Plus, and both sources sounded very similar; I could not hear a difference.

I listened A/B to:
- Phil Keaggy - The Wind and the Wheat
- Willie Nelson - Blues Crying in the Rain, Blue Skies
   

An honest audiophile. This dac sounds as good as 99% of the dacs out there. But this only applies to the anti-placebo crowd.

[JohnR]

An honest audiophile. This dac sounds as good as 99% of the dacs out there. But this only applies to the anti-placebo crowd.

But he's not using the DAC in the i-20, he's only using it as a "transport."

With Apple changing the connector on the phones and iPods, I believe that all current i-20s are now officially "obsolete"...

[chgolatin2]

But he's not using the DAC in the i-20, he's only using it as a "transport."

With Apple changing the connector on the phones and iPods, I believe that all current i-20s are now officially "obsolete"...

I will have to agree w the above statement.  However, unless you keep an old Ipod, iPhone etc and you can still use it.  I won't ge getting rid of my 160gb ipod classic anytime soon, trust me!   

[ltr317]

I just checked J & R music, and they are sold out.  Plus, the store won'[t be getting any more, which implies Pure i-20 is discontinued.  If anyone is interested, grab one now somewhere before they're all gone. 

[carusoracer]

Any one had issues streaming Pandora via the I Pure?  I would like to just simply hook the unit directly into my Integrated Jolida Amp via RCA cables?

Thanks

[tull skull]

I was just doing some A/B comparison between the i-20 and the Pioneer CDP DV-45A transport, both going into an Easter Electric Minimax DAC Plus, and both sources sounded very similar; I could not hear a difference.

I listened A/B to:
- Phil Keaggy - The Wind and the Wheat
- Willie Nelson - Blues Crying in the Rain, Blue Skies

         

"The Wind and the Wheat" is one of my all time favorite albums. Great guitarist. I can't listen too often though because that opening song's melody will get stuck in my head for days at a time........and yea, you are right, there is not a lot going on up there (my head that is)

[acresm22]

So guys, I've always been struggling with the purpose of the 24/192 DAC in the i-20, since my understanding was that you were limited to 16/44 if using itunes to playback apple lossless files. Turns out, I'm wrong on that, correct? Itunes WILL play 24/192 files without downsampling them.

After reading another thread, I used dbpoweramp to convert a 24/192 FLAC file to apple lossless, then added that file to my itunes library...and there it is in itunes, showing a 192 khz sample rate and a 5816 kpbs bit rate.

Sorry if this is common knowledge, but it was something of a revelation to me....

[corndog71]

I would recommend converting to AIFF vs. Apple Lossless.  I think AIFF sounds better but then again it's only slightly.  It's your call.

[jackman]

I'm going to pick one of these up before they are discontinued.  I've got a bunch of old iPods and an iPad and I'm looking for a way to use them in a small system I have in a bedroom.  Does the internal DAC sound good (better than standard iPod)?  Thanks!

[corndog71]

Yes, the internal DAC is surprisingly good.  I sometimes have a hard time distinguishing it from my Musical Fidelity V-DAC II.  As an owner of a 1st Gen. iPod Touch, iPad3 and iPhone 4S, I can also attest that the newer the device the better the sound.  I'm sure that's due to the processing power of the given device or perhaps the OS.  (My touch is stuck at iOS 3).

The Pure dock while not perfect is still a pretty damn good bargain!

[geowak]

This is a great device. I had a Squeezebox Classic that I liked very much. Low and behold, Logitech decides to stop support and it was time to move onto something different.

Just before all this, in Jan 12, I purchased my first Iphone 4. After which I discovered the online streaming site MOG. Decided to download the MOG app to my Iphone and MOG became the best way to get almost any music I want, at work and at home. The Pure I-20 dock was a natural choice, since now I can use it as a combo with Iphone as a source to feed my DAC for home listening.

I fully understand that this is not the best HQ sound that I could get. But with it feeding a Schiit Bifrost DAC downstairs in the living room, and also one feeding a Benchmark DAC1 in my main system, it sounds about 90% as good as my CD's sound.

Now I am going to play with the Airfiol Speakers app to connect to my ITUNES library for all my AIFF ripped files.

I liked this device so much I ordered another. If someone out there knows of a better HQ power source for this device. I would like to know. Had a Jerome Industries PS for the SB classic modded by the Boulder Cable company that I liked.

[carusoracer]

Quick question:

Can I use the I-20 as a stand alone DAC?  Plug the CD player as a transport via coax to the I-20 the then output via RCA to Integrated Amp?

Will this work?

[corndog71]

No, it only has digital and analog outputs.  The only input is the 30-pin connector where the ipod sits.

[carusoracer]

Well after playing the Dock via I Phone,the little unit is pretty nice out of the box.

I like the sound but in my system it is almost too overly warm. Some of the high end is veiled and details are missing. Sound stage and imaging are pretty good.

Can someone send me a pm or refer me to a thread to where I can get this little unit hot modded

Thanks,

[corndog71]

Well after playing the Dock via I Phone,the little unit is pretty nice out of the box.

I like the sound but in my system it is almost too overly warm. Some of the high end is veiled and details are missing. Sound stage and imaging are pretty good.

Can someone send me a pm or refer me to a thread to where I can get this little unit hot modded

Thanks,

What kind of files are you listening to?  I use mostly Apple Lossless and AIFF.  Of course anything I purchase through itunes is AAC.  I prefer to buy the CD and rip it in AIFF now.

If your music is mostly AAC or low res mp3 then you may not get the most out of the dock.  What cables are you using coming out of the dock?

I haven't tried it yet but since the dock runs on 7.5VDC I was looking to hook 5 AA batteries in series to it and see what if any difference might be found.

[Vinnie R.]

>>I haven't tried it yet but since the dock runs on 7.5VDC I was looking to hook 5 AA batteries in series to it and see what if any difference might be found.

AA batteries are not a good choice because they have too much output resistance, and will not last long because of the current draw.

On the cheap, go with a 12V, 5Ah SLA.  But also replace the internal switching 5V regulator with a low-noise linear voltage regulator (otherwise, the battery power is just feeding a noisy switching regulator) - and then you will be very surprised just how good the i20 sounds as
a digital transport (coax out) using an iPod (with AIFF or ALAC) files!       

[mboxler]

On the cheap, go with a 12V, 5Ah SLA.  But also replace the internal switching 5V regulator with a low-noise linear voltage regulator (otherwise, the battery power is just feeding a noisy switching regulator) - and then you will be very surprised just how good the i20 sounds as a digital transport (coax out) using an iPod (with AIFF or ALAC) files!       

Vinnie...

Glad you chimed in!  I was getting ready to build a 7.5V regulated power supply to replace the wall wart.  I assumed that the Pure i-20 came with a regulated DC wall wart of 7.5v.  Just measured it...7.75 volts.  You are saying that this is an unregulated DC wall wart, and that the Pure i-20 contains an internal switching regulator that should be removed before using a regulated power supply.  Is that correct?    Difficult to do?

Thanks

Mike

[Vinnie R.]

Hi Mike,

Actually, the 7.5V input feeds a 5V switching regulator on the board (which feeds everything internally).

I found that you can feed up to a 12V supply and it still works fine and nothing overheats.  So a 12V SLA
battery works fine and provides the best isolation.  But even a good quality linear power supply (e.g. Acopian)
will easily beat the stock switch mode wall wort supply.

If you want to take it to the next level after that, then you need to open the unit, remove the surface mount
switching 5V regulator, and replace with a low noise 5V linear voltage regulator (I recommend at least 1.5A rating),
TO-220 package, and you MUST heat sink it to the metal of the base of the unit (which adds the weight to base to
keep it stable).  Proper input and output caps must be installed per the regulator datasheet to guarantee the low noise
figures.  Doing this requires surface mount desoldering, knowing what pads are 5V, GND, etc. - and having to drill a hole
into the metal base to allow for a screw to securely mount the voltage regulator.  It takes a bit of time, and you don't want
to rush it.

The combination of the battery external supply feeding the 5V linear regulator on the inside makes the Pure i20 the best
sounding iPod digital dock that I have heard (and I've owned and tinkered with all of them - including Wadia iTransport,
Cambridge iD100, Onkyo ND-S1, and CLAS).   Remember - coax output jack (not the analog output - which I didn't enjoy
because I don't like that Cirrus Logic dac chip - too sterile).

As for feeding a 5Vdc supply directly in place of the switching regulator, I wouldn't do this unless you are using something of very good quality, that is very stable.  An Acopian linear supply (5V, 1.5A) comes to mind.  They are very clean and stable upon startup and hold
their voltage under load.   I never tried it because I prefer to have a clean supply (battery) feed a very clean 5V voltage regulator (extra
noise rejection and protection).


Hope this helps,

Vinnie

[mboxler]

Thanks!