Quality line-out in dock
Hi there,
I currently posses G2 iPod and i am considering to switch to a g3 15 gig. I read that the dock has a separate line out. I was wondering whether that line out bypasses the headphone amp (or da-converter, don't know exactly how to put it) so producing better sound quality when connected to a stereo amp. This of course as opposed to connecting the headphone out with an y-cable to the amp.
Secondly. I know there is a converter from Xytel named the HiFi-link (www.xytel.com) which is designed for the sole purpose of converting a digital sound from your mac to an analog sound for your amp. But the iPod had no USB-port, which is required. Is there any solution to connect this deviCe? Maybe with an USB-to-firewire cable. This would only be great if first of all you can send a audio signal to the firewire connector on your iPod and second if that signal is digital. Otherwise it passes two da-converters of course.
Any thougts on this matter.
Ipoddude
[1005 byte] By [
ipoddude] at [2007-11-9 13:05:05]
# 1 Re: Quality line-out in dock
Answer to the first part is yes, it bypasses the amp--much cleaner sounding through the line out when linking to an external source, rather than using the headphone jack. I used to own a gen2, this is the main reason I prefer the gen3 over the gen2. The dock is huge for me...
Can't help with the second part...
dmt1 at 2007-11-15 14:15:44 >
# 2 Re: Quality line-out in dock
I'm trying to understand the second part of your question... what are you trying to hook the dock to? If it's the stereo, all you need is one cable with a 1/8" miniplug at the dock end, and probably an RCA jack at the other to attach to the stereo. You don't need any converters for that.
# 3 Re: Quality line-out in dock
Ok, maybe the second part of my question wasn't that clear.
The music in the iPod are digital recordings of course. If your really want to here this music it has to be converted to analog sound. Unfortunitely our ears don't hear digital. That would be a cool invention btw.
This conversion is done by a Digital/Analog converter (DA). I don't know the exact quality of the DA converter in the iPod, but I do put more trust in an device which sole purpose is converting digital signals into analog ones, i.e. from xytel. But in order to use such a device I must be sure the digital sound goes into it, not the already-converted-to-analog-signal. This would be senseless.
So I want to know whether it is possible to get a digital output signal from the iPod so I can leave the DA-converting to a better device and thus preserving sound quality.
Hope this is somewhat clearer. It is an abstract topic.
iPoddude
# 4 Re: Quality line-out in dock
Why not wait and hear how your 3G ipod sounds via the lineout in the dock? To my ear it sounds pretty #### good, but then I'm not a hifi purist.
edit - the forum filters out d-a-m-n?? Since when was that swearing??
o_O
# 5 Re: Quality line-out in dock
The only way you could get digital out would be to use the iPod as a Firewire drive and connect it to a computer which has a SPDIF out sound card. Of course then it really doesn't matter where the source is.
# 6 Re: Quality line-out in dock
Originally posted by randydecker
The only way you could get digital out would be to use the iPod as a Firewire drive and connect it to a computer which has a SPDIF out sound card. Of course then it really doesn't matter where the source is.
PowerMac G5 anyone? ;)
# 7 Re: Quality line-out in dock
I have a question about the iPod dock line-out too, but I think that it might be helpful to clear up a couple of questions/comments made about the possible output options.
First of all, the current iPod does not have a digital-out (in the audio sence.) If it did, it would be true that you could use it as a digital source and attach it to just about any DAC (ditigal to analog converter) to convert to an analog source. There's another difference between MP3, AAC, etc. and CD digital audio, in that one requires software decoding and the other does not. Anyway, this isn't what I'm interested in.
What's really important to understand is the difference between a headphone jack and an analog line-out. The line-out signal is an analog souce recently converted by the iPod, while the headphone jack signal is this same analog source run through the internal iPod amplifier.
Amplifiers in portable CD players, iPods, etc are generally pretty crappy kit. As a portable device, restraining power consumption is important for battery life and keeping components small makes for better form factors. Amplifiers, on the other hand, love electricity and like to be big and heavy (relatively speaking.) I've use a headphone ampifier for my portable CD player for years. The sound quality is better and it has enough power to drive better headphones.
This brings me back to my original comment about the anolog, line-out for the iPod dock. It draws its power from the FireWire/USB2 ports, right? In other words, there isn't a power cord? I'm really just looking to hook it up to my stereo and I don't have (or want) a computer in my living room. If the iPod, like almost every portable CD player, had an anolog line-out this wouldn't be a problem, but I haven't come across a solution that allows for line-out without a computer.
Any ideas?
# 8 Re: Quality line-out in dock
Power cord is optional, and unnecessary provided your ipod is charged. You can hook your AC adapter into the dock, and charge your ipod through it, or, if your ipod is charged, use the dock without the power cord. Just simply set the ipod in the dock, and connect the dock to your stereo...The dock itself is merely a conduit--the dock itself doesn't require power.
dmt1 at 2007-11-15 14:22:52 >
# 9 Re: Quality line-out in dock
It draws its power from the FireWire/USB2 ports, right? In other words, there isn't a power cord? I'm really just looking to hook it up to my stereo and I don't have (or want) a computer in my living room. If the iPod, like almost every portable CD player, had an anolog line-out this wouldn't be a problem, but I haven't come across a solution that allows for line-out without a computer.
I would like to do the same but the only way right now is to plug the Firewire cable into an AC outlet and the headphone jack into a line in on my stereo. Yes it's not as good as digital out from my computer but it's not bad. Alternately I can plug the iPod into my G4 and then attach the digital out from the G4 to my home stereo digital in and use a Keyspan remote to control the iPod. I programmed the Keyspan to switch between playlists. Sounds fantastic.
