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How can I bypass the ipod DAC?

post #1 of 32
1/11/10 at 3:33pm
Thread Starter 
Please help:

Is there a cable (or device) that allows us to bypass the DAC part of the ipod and get digital outs in the form of USB or S/PDIF connectors?

I do not know why it would make a difference but we are using rockbox.

Very grateful for your help.

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post #2 of 32
1/11/10 at 4:05pm
There are few options to do this, the most common is the Wadia 170i (soon to be the 171i). Onkyo recently introduced an option but it is not available in the USA yet. BTW, neither option is portable.
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post #3 of 32
1/11/10 at 5:17pm
Thread Starter 
Thanks M, I would love to get all the options out on the table here in this thread, if we can....
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post #4 of 32
1/11/10 at 6:21pm
I think Alpine (and possibly others) also has a soloution for some of their high end car audio systems that bypass the iPod dac.
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post #5 of 32
1/11/10 at 8:07pm
Yeah...I know of just the Wadia which is a fine device... but far from portable.
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post #6 of 32
1/11/10 at 8:23pm
I think that by the time you spend enough on a device that can extract digital audio from an ipod, you could have bought (or built) a device with more storage, more options and also has bitperfect audio output.

Though if you just like using the ipod or like the elegance of such a system, I guess it's not such a bad idea.
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post #7 of 32
1/12/10 at 8:03am
Thread Starter 
definitely looking more for practicality than elegance. Portability is not necessary but it would be nice especially to always be able to have your ipod as source, like you come home and just hook it up to your stereo. I know there are many ways to do this, but are there ways to bypass the ipod dac?

P, can you suggest a bought or built device with the qualities you mentioned? the bitperfect audio is definitely a priority.
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post #8 of 32
1/13/10 at 9:12am
Thread Starter 
Does anyone know of a semi-portable large capacity source (that can play up to 24 bit flac files) that anyone has put together?
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post #9 of 32
1/13/10 at 1:33pm
Thread Starter 
I want to build this thing, what it seems everyone is looking for. High capacity. 24 bit flac capability. bitperfect. semiportable. Can anyone point me in the direction of someone who has done such a thing?
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post #10 of 32
1/13/10 at 6:30pm
I'm actually planning on building such a system. We have $400 to work with so lets see what we can come up with.


mini itx motherboard- $55
1gb ram- $20
case w/ psu- $40
500gb hard drive (full size) -$55 laptop- $85
sound blaster se- -$35
Operating system- linux (free)
All prices are Newegg

Choose a low profile case and your music player will be as small as a textbook (a somewhat thick textbook). I'm not sure how bitperfect is achieved so you'll need to look elsewhere for that.

That's 205-235 dollars, not including shipping and a monitor. For a monitor I'll likely be going with a 7" touchscreen from Lilliput which runs about $175. Though you could use any cheap monitor with a vga input. I'm still researching display options.

It may end up being the same price but I'll have much more flexibility, much more storage capacity, any display I want, support for any format and of course the fact that it's a PC, you can do absolutely anything with it. Add wifi and you can make it a music server. Add a dvd/blu ray drive and it's a nice media center PC (provided the motherboard video chipset is up to the task of bluray playback).
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post #11 of 32
1/14/10 at 4:42am
Thread Starter 
Hi P,

I'm with you, but since we are doing a full size drive I will go with 2TB. I just got one on special from Fry's for $150 shipped. A Hitachi.

I will try to work on the bitperfect thing but that might take some time.

I will look into the other parts as well.

Sounds great~!
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post #12 of 32
1/14/10 at 11:14am
Quote:
Originally Posted by nc8000 View Post
I think Alpine (and possibly others) also has a soloution for some of their high end car audio systems that bypass the iPod dac.
FWIW, Kenwood's excelon line of auto head units (X993, X693, X393) uses USB for iPod input. So I suppose that means iPod playback must be via the Kenwood's DAC. The bottom of the line X493 is available for around $130 making it the cheapest means of getting a digital out from the iPod as far as I know.
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post #13 of 32
1/14/10 at 12:18pm
Sony's auto head units also offer USB for iPod input. However, with a Rockboxed iPod, the USB interface does not work. When I was shopping for a head unit, we plugged in the Rockboxed iPod into all of the head units in the showroom that offered the 1-wire USB solution. All head units failed to recognize the Rockboxed iPod. My solution is to use the Rockboxed iPod with one of the SendStation PocketDocks and run into the 3.5 line in. Definitely sounds better than using the HP out.
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post #14 of 32
1/14/10 at 1:53pm
Hello all,
To the original poster. There are currently only 2 home pieces that bypass the internal DAC of the iPod.
First is the Wadia 170/171 transports. (171 coming in a few months)$379 170 $579 171
Second is the Naim DAC $3500-$12000 (upgraded power supply options).
The Wadia is limited to 16/44.1 in and out.
The Naim can handle up to 32/768 in and out. The Naim rep said that the DAC "upsamples" all sources to 16x the input signal.
I have personally heard both, and both are quite good! I also think that @ $3500 the Naim is an exceptional piece in that you also get a wonderful dac. (no dac on the Wadia)

As far as other pieces that supposedly bypass the dac in the iPod, non-existant. The DLO Homedock HD does have digital output, however it takes the analog output of the ipod then reconverts it to digital!
And according to an Onkyo rep the same is true of the ND-S1 (which is not available in the US)
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post #15 of 32
1/15/10 at 1:23am
Quote:
Originally Posted by spinneresque View Post
Hi P,

I'm with you, but since we are doing a full size drive I will go with 2TB. I just got one on special from Fry's for $150 shipped. A Hitachi.

I will try to work on the bitperfect thing but that might take some time.

I will look into the other parts as well.

Sounds great~!
I have officially committed to this project.

So far I own or have ordered:

VIA epia mini itx motherboard 1.33GHz
320gb 5400rpm laptop hdd
travla c158 case
HT Omega Claro Plus+ soundcard

Haven't purchased a display but I'll likely go with one from minibox or mp3car. I'd like it to be 4x3 so the native resolution is guaranteed to work. Still need to search. I'll probably use Ubuntu for my OS. I hope that I can find a touchscreen friendly music player to use.

I'm also playing around with integrating a 12 volt T-amp or a headphone amp into the chassis, depending on how much current they draw.
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