iPod running through a hi-fi system?

Laura Palmer · June 2005

I just bought an iPod Photo 60GB recently and was wondering about connecting it through my new HT system. I was wondering if it's worth the extra $50 to buy the iPod Photo Dock for it's line-out capability... will it give significan improvement over the headphone jack? Cause I heard the iPod Photo headphone jack has some distortion issues.

Just wondering what the Polkies thing, and whether anyone here is running their iPod through their high-end systems.

unc2701 · June 2005

Ok, on some of the older docks the "line out" wasn't really a line out- it was just another headphone jack and was volume controlled. Not sure about the newest ones. Anyhow, some generations of Ipod headphones will put out more voltage on the the headphone jack than the 200mv spec for inputs on your stereo, which will result in distortion and clipping. If this happens, just bring the volume back on the Ipod a little until it goes away.

Now that I've gotten the question answered, prepare yourself for the 100 responses telling you how bad the compression will sound through your hifi system.

Laura Palmer · June 2005

Yeah I'll definetely be using the iPod only when I have to.. And hopefully the 256kbit I encode in will cut it.

I'm willing to take the set-back, however if buying a $40 dock is going to improve things for me, I don't mind bitting the bullet on that.

If it won't, I'll just stick to the headphone jack.

Thanks for the reply!

unc2701 · June 2005

Actually, you might want to get it for the convience- you can hook the dock up to your stereo and just leave it attached. Every time you plug/ unplug something from the headphone jack it gets a little more worn out and eventually it'll break- the dock will reduce wear & tear on the jack even if it doesn't improve sonics.

cfrizz · June 2005

Hey Laura! You owe us a review of your system! How do you like it? what do you like about it? ect. ect.

warren · June 2005

I have my iPod connected to the charger, the line out of the H.P. Y junction RCA cables into the Carver C-2 Pre. amp. sounds good to me. Iam not a complainer, the quality isnt up to the Roberts reel to reel. Have fun. Aloha, Warren

BlueMDPicker · June 2005

Laura,

If you haven't tried the Apple Lossless format, give it a whirl on at least one album you import. I can tell no difference between it and the original CD -- it's that good. Drawback: you can only play these cuts on the iPod or iTunes, but that's all I use the files for anyway.

I have an RCA to mini cable and hook the iPod right up to the line inputs on the preamp on any of my 2CH rigs. Excellent SQ. I also use the Griffin iTrip transmitter in the car (my old car doesn't have a CDP) with excellent results.

Mike

warren · June 2005

BlueMDPicker

When you deown load to Apple dosnt that happen automatically? (Apple Lossless format) or is that something special? Regards, Warren

BlueMDPicker · June 2005

Hi Warren,

Yes, I believe the Apple Lossless format is the default in iTunes. Many people change that to MP3 because they're more familiar with it. I wasn't sure if that was the case with Laura.

Mike

warren · June 2005

Hi Mike, when Gracenote replies with all the info for the iPod, a copy goes to my "G" drive, so I can listen to the CD qualitl thru the 2.1 system, Ithink it sounds just like the original, probably dont compress it at all. Aloha, Warren P.S. Right now Floyd Cramer is tickeling the ivorys

ckpiv · June 2005

Hi Laura,

I hook my ipod through a second dock with a mini to rca connector. I think the sound is better through the dock then straight out of the ipod headphone output. In addition, set the ipod volume to no more than half volume and then use the preamp volume.

I also encode all my mp3's at a varible bit rate using the lame encoder. This is a free download and is supposed to be one of the best encoders for quality sound. Plus it has a lot of options availabel. Just do a search for lame.

Good luck:)

Laura Palmer · June 2005

Excellent, thank you everyone! And that's excellent that someone feels it's better quality to go through the dock than the headphone jack, because that was the reassurance I needed for buying the dock -- so I did!

I've been using the LAME encoder for my mp3s with an external program. (I wasn't too familiar with iTunes or if I should trust their encoding methods -- I'm anxious to try Apple Lossless, cause that idea hadn't occured to me, though I've also been pretty happy with 256kbps Mp3s.)

Sorry cfrizz! I know I owe everyone a review (with pictures!!) but unfortunately it's only set up temporarily. It'll be about 2 months until I move this stuff into my new home in Toronto so I wanted to wait until then.

I will assure you though, I think it's fantastic. I've never enjoyed listening to music as much as I have been. Then when I bought the HSU subwoofer (STF-2) I *never* knew how much I could love bass. I was trying out a DPS-12 Velodyne for a couple days and I hated it. It was exactly what I expected a subwoofer to be like -- somewhat useless for music and only impressive if you like your house to rumble for movies -- but I couldn't *feel* it.

With the HSU I actually *feel* it... and it's been tickling my body since I got it!! Everything is perfect. Perfect Perfect. Perfect.

I just wish my Monster 2-Channel Amp would arrive soon, they were on backorder it seems. I'm anxious to hear what that will do for my speakers!

Willow · June 2005

Laura, moving to the centre of the world? I hope you have a good reason for moving there. I lived in a subs of TO. I have friends who live there, I don't visit often I can actually say I hate that city!!

unc2701 · June 2005

The lossless formats are the way to go- basically the wav format is far from optimized when it comes to disk utilization, and a pretty simple transform of the data can cut the size by about half without actually removing any information. It's one of those things that really makes you wonder when they didn't think of it when they were first standardizing the CD format.

iPod running through a hi-fi system?

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