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

[rodentmacbeastie]

I had not read the article yet but it seems that makes sense. In other words, I was on the mark thinking that they do send raw data out of the iPod's dock. However that spoils my fun if I need to spend $250,000 to get the rights to the decoder. Just when you think you smarter than the big guys they show that they knew you were coming, LOL! However, this means to me that you just need to find a cheap iPod compatible product that would have this receiver and gut it! Just like I am going to do with a cheap dvd player just to rob the SACD decoder section and the spinner itself and put in the Opus DAC and a tube output stage. Oh man, this is getting to be too interesting. Pay Apple, they give you the keys, you sell those keys in a decoder/spdif converter form, you make money! Nothing new here, just the licensing games the big boys play to to make tons of cash and keep it all to themselves!

I guess you can expect this for the most part but it wouldn't hurt them if 100 iPods in the world got modded to do this. Not everybody wants to break open they iPod, void the warranty, risk burning it up, all to hook it up to a DAC that you had to DIY just to afford good sound. They must think that I am building as good as DAC that I can for as little money as I can so that I may save all of my pennies to one day overtake their commpany! LOL!

[KO2008]

How is this device different from Sendstation's PocketDock Line-Out. Isn't it also bypassing the iPod's interal DAC?

[jj69]

Originally Posted by Febs

Given the way that the "extended interface" mode is described in the Stereophile article, no, it would not work with Rockbox.

... until the Rockbox developers add iTransport support.

[MusicTrax]

Originally Posted by rodentmacbeastie

However that spoils my fun if I need to spend $250,000 to get the rights to the decoder.

Don't ever underestimate a determined hacker. It's just a matter of time before somebody figures out how to reverse-engineer the Wadia chip to gain access to the S/PDIF stream in all compatible iPods.

I bet this product is going to thoroughly derail about a half-dozen high-end iPod products, like the $1500 Krell Kid. Most of them used complex A/D-D/A circuitry, and as far as I know, none of them actually tapped into the original digital data stream. I suspect this will also affect sales of the the Red Wine Audio iMod and similar products, since with the Wadia, your iPod remains intact. And for the above poster, if I read the specs correctly on the Sendstation website, all their stuff just taps into the analog outs -- no digital.

[kugino]

Originally Posted by KO2008

How is this device different from Sendstation's PocketDock Line-Out. Isn't it also bypassing the iPod's interal DAC?

no. the pocketdock and other dock-line out cables use the ipod's internal dac and get the line-level ouput from the dac.

[milkpowder]

Originally Posted by MusicTrax

I suspect this will also affect sales of the the Red Wine Audio iMod and similar products, since with the Wadia, your iPod remains intact.

The affect on the sales of the iMod probably won't be that great since the iTransport for use in a stationary desktop scenario whereas I gather most iMod users use their's portably. The same can't be said of the large V-Cap docks which are more or less targeting the same niche as the iTransport.

I wonder if the iMods will work with the iTransport?

[jp11801]

Originally Posted by milkpowder

I wonder if the iMods will work with the iTransport?

It should have not effect based since after the imod you can still transfer data on and off the device and it's that data that the wadia is using to create the digital out on the wadia. I do not think anyone of the street could make one of these as the Wadia unit has to take the raw digital data and repackage it. This means the must have a chip with specific software from apple probably.

[strangemusic]

This is a really cool thread/product! Untethering one's audio collection from the computer itself is always good. Trouble is, at least from my perspective... the iTunes/Foobar/What-have-you software UI beats having to manually pick through songs on the iPod itself, even with a remote. Also the price point is not shockingly high, which is great. My iPod hard drive died a while back, perhaps it's time to try to resurrect it, heheh....

[terriblepaulz]

I bet a lot of these get sold to folks buying a big home theater set-up. If you are spending many thousands on a flat screen, HT receiver, DVR, 7 speakers + sub, why not get the $350 box that lets you play your iPod (and your kids' iPods)? These folks (or their installers) may use the digital out to their HT receiver, but probably won't care one way or another.

Then again, I am pretty cynical about the widespread commercial appeal of anything purpose-built for sound quality. Come to think of it, I am not really sure how Wadia's products are sold. I picture their dealers to be high-end audio/home theater shops, whose customers have too much dough for Best Buy, but what do I know?

[milkpowder]

Originally Posted by terriblepaulz

Then again, I am pretty cynical about the widespread commercial appeal of anything purpose-built for sound quality. Come to think of it, I am not really sure how Wadia's products are sold. I picture their dealers to be high-end audio/home theater shops, whose customers have too much dough for Best Buy, but what do I know?

You're not far off. At least in Hong Kong, Wadia is carried by a very high end dealer which also happens to cater for connoisseurs with ultra-high end budgets (think Jadis, mbl, transparent cable, etc). $350 is the price of a power cable receptacle.

[Febs]

Originally Posted by jj69

... until the Rockbox developers add iTransport support.

My point is that they way the extended interface is described, it may not be possible for the Rockbox developers to do that.

[melomaniac]

Originally Posted by Jalo

said Wadia president John W. Schaffer: "Then we discovered the little-known fact that Apple had a process called 'authentication' that allowed mobile electronics companies to bypass the iPod's internal DAC."

ah. that makes me rethink my dismissing this as another clumsy accessory without much promise.

Originally Posted by Jalo

It seems like it is saying that either the digital signal is already being piped out of the ipod in a coded manner or the authentication chip will signal or unlock the ipod in a way that it will sent the digital signal out.

hm... might be worth it. I'm sure someone on head-fi will post first impressions soon. until then, I do remain somewhat skeptical: and anyway, my iMod sounds just fine on the big rig too. ;-)

[melomaniac]

- and I should add that I am glad that Wadia (respectable company that it is) is not going to charge as much for this as Bel Canto (respectable though their other items are, and all pricey...) with its new Ultra Dock: it seems they announced it for CES but it won't be ready for a while. PR release, links: ubergizmo, engadget, tech digest, and wired.

[MusicTrax]

Yeah, I think the only company at CES who's more freaked out than Bel Canto (over the iTransport) is Toshiba with HD-DVD. I think the arrival of the iTransport was a genuine shock to the high-end community.

Granted, the Bel Canto does a lot more, but who really wants to spend $2000+ to make MP3's sound better? It'd be a lot cheaper to just use lossless files and listen to the S/PDIF output through a good DAC.

[James]

Originally Posted by MusicTrax

Yeah, I think the only company at CES who's more freaked out than Bel Canto (over the iTransport) is Toshiba with HD-DVD. I think the arrival of the iTransport was a genuine shock to the high-end community.

Granted, the Bel Canto does a lot more, but who really wants to spend $2000+ to make MP3's sound better? It'd be a lot cheaper to just use lossless files and listen to the S/PDIF output through a good DAC.

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

Speaking of Bel Canto: I've used their DAC3 since it was introduced and let me tell ya: I'm psyched about the the iTransport. My system is all-digital and so using the iPod was not even an option, until now.