Ipod as a source....Am I killing my music?

[c0mfortably_numb]

Ipods are great for on the go use, just get a line out doc, I wouldn't necessarily use it for a main source though. If money is tight just pick up one of the classic portable cd players IE: Sony D33, D36 they can usually be found on eBay pretty cheap theres a D33 going for $35 (I have no connection to the seller, just giving a for instance)

[Dutchess of York]

whats a 'line out doc'

[c0mfortably_numb]

Originally Posted by Dutchess of York

whats a 'line out doc'

It's a dock that plugs into the bottom of your Ipod, it bypasses the internals of the Ipod giving you a true line out, you would then control the volume with your amplifier.

Such as:
ALO
A Pure Sound
Qables
Turbodock

Just to mention a few....

[Dutchess of York]

is there a less expensive one that ends in RCA interconnects

[c0mfortably_numb]

Originally Posted by Dutchess of York

is there a less expensive one that ends in RCA interconnects

I've never personally tried these, but Radtech has one for $9.99, next best solution would be to just buy a dock only from someone like Trubo they run $20 something(Private Message TURBO for price) , and then get a cheap mini to RCA cable.

[jaredy]

Originally Posted by Dutchess of York

which is better ACC 256kbps or lossless?

Lossless is better because it is just that, lossless. AAC 256kbps is compressed, where as lossless compresses it to the point where there is just all the needed data for untouched audio reproduction (from the standpoint of what was on the CD).

And the HD650 would not be ideal for portable ipod use and as you mentioned an amp, you would need one for sure .

[Dutchess of York]

would an ipod dock + 1/8 to rca work? (theres a line out on the back of the dock)

[TheVinylRipper]

I haven't played with AAC before, I usually use ogg or mp3 or ma or flac.

Here's an interesting take on AAC at 128 kbps..

http://www.xciv.org/~meta/audio-shootout/

[bigshot]

Try 192 AAC VBR. I find that sounds as good as lossless at a fraction of the file size.

See ya
Steve

[fordgtlover]

iPod can be a decent enough source if you use variable compression lossy format. VBR MP3 is quite OK
http://wiki.hydrogenaudio.org/index.php?title=LAME

Best suggestion that I can make is to try a few different compressions and see which level you find acceptable.

I also support the line-out option ($20 is plenty good enough quality from Turbo etc, but not a store bought one).