Wadia iTransport iPod Dock Gets Bit-Perfect Digital from iPods!

[milkpowder]

Originally Posted by James

I'm sorry to be obtuse, but what does Bel Canto have to do with this discussion? Do you mean MSB?

See Ultra Dock links above. It costs 2k and uses "Sonic Focus technology to upscale and refine compressed music and soundtracks to 7.1 channel/96kHz/24-bit quality." Pretty silly if you ask me

[James]

Originally Posted by milkpowder

See Ultra Dock links above. It costs 2k and uses "Sonic Focus technology to upscale and refine compressed music and soundtracks to 7.1 channel/96kHz/24-bit quality." Pretty silly if you ask me

Sheesh, I read every message of the entire thread, except that one! The Ultra Dock is just far-out enough that I find myself having to suspend disbelief. Of course, gut reaction is that it's an April Fool's joke ... and I'm a strong Bel Canto partisan! I'm surprised that they're marketing this as an iPod-specific dock: surely the same process would work on a high-quality analog or digital signals?

[philodox]

Looks like a cool gadget, I look forward to seeing internal pictures.

[jantze]

It's a nice case for modding. I wonder what kind of DAC would fit there

[Chu]

I really, really hope that this comes to market. It's such a perfect solution for a lot of problems I've had with integrating portable players in my systems.

I am a bit scared though. Apple obviously could have done this themselves if they wanted to, but have chosen not to for quite a while. If I had to guess I would say as a condition of their iTunes distribution licenses -- no bit perfect transfers without DRM -- period.

With all the changes in reverse engineering laws in the last 20 years and explosion of software patents, I'm sure Apple could squish this product if they wanted to. I really hope they choose not to.

EDIT : Considering how raving mad Digg users are for anything Apple I'm amazed noone submitted this yet. Digg it.

[IPodPJ]

Originally Posted by Chu

I really, really hope that this comes to market. It's such a perfect solution for a lot of problems I've had with integrating portable players in my systems.

I am a bit scared though. Apple obviously could have done this themselves if they wanted to, but have chosen not to for quite a while. If I had to guess I would say as a condition of their iTunes distribution licenses -- no bit perfect transfers without DRM -- period.

You can't get bit-perfect with DRM. DRM iTunes files are all 128kBit and 256Bit for iTunes Plus. What's the point of outputting a bit-perfect compressed file? The goal is being able to load ALAC or AIFF/WAV files (PCM) onto the iPod and output those as bitperfect, and that's what this unit does.

Now will it output those DRM files via S/PDIF? Probably not, unless Apple just overlooked this.

[wower]

hmm. Thanks for the info. This is a really interesting product if it bypasses the iPod's DAC. Great price point too!

[morphsci]

Originally Posted by Chu

With all the changes in reverse engineering laws in the last 20 years and explosion of software patents, I'm sure Apple could squish this product if they wanted to. I really hope they choose not to.

Why would they squish it? I am sure they are getting a nice little licensing fee off of each and every one that is sold.

[Stefaan]

No pics of the iTransport yet?

[vcoheda]

Originally Posted by wower

hmm. Thanks for the info. This is a really interesting product if it bypasses the iPod's DAC. Great price point too!

i don't see how it's so great or interesting. so you turn your tiny, capacity-limited ipod into a hard drive. so what. and now you are going to want to load all lossless files onto it, which again limits its portable use.

[Fungi]

Originally Posted by vcoheda

i don't see how it's so great or interesting. so you turn your tiny, capacity-limited ipod into a hard drive. so what. and now you are going to want to load all lossless files onto it, which again limits its portable use.

Different people have different needs, and this product can cater to a specific market, you just aren't it. No need to be so condescending.

[fkclo]

Originally Posted by vcoheda

i don't see how it's so great or interesting. so you turn your tiny, capacity-limited ipod into a hard drive. so what. and now you are going to want to load all lossless files onto it, which again limits its portable use.

I won't say a 160GB iPod is too capacity limited - as it can host over 400 CDs in Apple lossless format.

F. Lo

[bhobba]

Originally Posted by vcoheda

i don't see how it's so great or interesting. so you turn your tiny, capacity-limited ipod into a hard drive. so what. and now you are going to want to load all lossless files onto it, which again limits its portable use.

A big problem for a long time has been getting good quality digital to feed into a DAC - stuff free of jitter. Steve Nugent at Empirical Audio has some really high quality low jitter solutions available - but at a cost. What excites me is the possiblity that the digital output is of high quality and jitter free at a cheaper price.

Thanks
Bill

[Chu]

Originally Posted by morphsci

Why would they squish it? I am sure they are getting a nice little licensing fee off of each and every one that is sold.

Ahh, the press release sounds like they reverse engineered it.

[pingong]

Apple has done it right this time.

The new aftermarket dock stations can output digital, if you have the current version of Nano, iPod classic, iTouch and iPhone, according to Apple.

Cheers. Ping


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Originally Posted by jude

Wadia iTransport iPod Dock Gets Bit-Perfect Digital from iPods!

I've been talking to John Schaffer at Wadia about this product for a few months now, with invitations from him to listen to the prototype(s) at their HQ, but I just haven't been able to make it out to Wadia yet to play with it--CES will be my first time listening to it.

The Wadia iTransport is, in my opinion, a very significant product, and one that will have me picking up a 160GB iPod Classic (or another, larger-capacity iPod if one is announced any time soon), as it would be my portable source and (in conjunction with the iTransport) half of my music/media server, running the iTransport into a nice outboard DAC or home theater receiver DAC.

Below is the press release.

(Wadia is a Head-Fi.org Sponsor.)

__________________________________________________ __
D I G I T A L I N T U I T I O N

CES ’08 – Venetian Room #30-236
Wadia Digital Debuts The iTransport
Enabling Full Resolution Digital Output From iPod® Players
-- iTransport Delivers Bit-Perfect Digital Audio
From Files Stored on All Currently Available iPod® Players --

LAS VEGAS, NV, January 7, 2008 – Wadia Digital, a high-end audio company dedicated to the development of digital audio technologies, is demonstrating the market’s first digital player dock to retrieve a direct digital signal from an iPod®. As a result, the audio signal remains pure and unadulterated, providing CD-quality resolutionfrom full-resolution file formats such as .WAV and .m4a (Apple® Lossless).

The iTransport (SRP: $349), which is certified Made for iPod®, turns any currently available iPod player into a high-end media server by providing a bit-perfect digital audio output to an audio/video system, bypassing the player’s internal D/A conversion and output stage. Subsequently, the audio signal remains clean and unadulterated throughout the path. The iTransport is compatible with all currently available (Q1 2008) iPod players, as well as iPhone® and iPod Touch® models.

“Until now, there has been no real bridge between the convenience of an iPod and the high-end audio listening experience,” commented John W. Schaffer, President, Wadia Digital, Inc. “The goal of making the player a true high-end media server has been hampered by the need to send the digital signal through a portable player’s D/A converter rather than that of a high performance audio system.

“Instead, we designed iTransport to bypass the player’s converter and output stage altogether. When used with an iTransport, the iPod becomes a digital music source equal to some of the finest sounding transports in the high-end audio market.”

D I G I T A L I N T U I T I O N

Along with turning an iPod into a high-performance audio server, iTransport is one of the first such products to access video content stored on currently available iPods. Similar to the audio section, the video signal is made available via high performance component outputs that provide up to DVD-quality video.

The iTransport measures 2” x 8” x 8” (H/W/D), making it an easy addition to most racks and entertainment centers. Wadia incorporates a bit-perfect S/PDIF digital audio output and high-resolution component digital video output, as well as analog audio and video outputs for
easy connection with most audio/video systems. iPod players are charged while in the dock, and can be operated via Apple’s standard IR remote control. (Not included with iTransport.)

Wadia Digital’s iTransport will ship in February 2008, and will be available at select high-end audio specialists and the Wadia Digital web site – Wadia Home Page.

iPod is a registered trademark of Apple Computer. This product has been designed specifically to work with iPod
and has been certified by the developer to meet Apple performance standards.

# # #

About Wadia Digital, Inc.
Founded in 1988, Wadia Digital is one of the foremost high-end audio companies dedicated to the development of digital audio products. Wadia innovations have shaped and defined digital audio processing and conversion for the high performance consumer electronics industry. Wadia designs are born of a delicate balancee of technology shaped by a passion for music. This combination of technical skill and understanding of musical enjoyment has allowed Wadia to produce superior digital playback components for nearly two decades. For further information,
visit the company’s web site – www.wadia.com – or contact Adam Sohmer; Sohmer Associates, LLC; 718-499-9161, adam@sohmerassoc.com.