[McCol]

Ordered the dock from apple uk last thursday, arrived on monday. connected to my nad 320bee amp and found that my music(encoded at aac 320) sounds better than cd's through my pioneer 717 transport and Audio Alchemy DAC.

How is this possible? Have my ears gone mad?

 

[Vinnie R.]

Quote:

Originally Posted by McCol Ordered the dock from apple uk last thursday, arrived on monday. connected to my nad 320bee amp and found that my music(encoded at aac 320) sounds better than cd's through my pioneer 717 transport and Audio Alchemy DAC. How is this possible? Have my ears gone mad?

Hi McCol,

Your ears have NOT gone mad. The iPod uses a nice Wolfson dac (IMHO), is a battery powered unit (off of AC power and the noise that is associated with it), and you are not going through an S/PDIF interface anymore...your signal path has become less complex. Ain't nothing wrong with that!

I used my modded iPod at the Rocky Mountain Audio Fest last month. Many were blow away by the sound in our room and had a hard time understanding that an iPod is not just an MP3 player (I was using all Apple Lossless files). I'd put it up against dedicated CDP's or transport/external dac combos costing a lot more.... it will hold its own very well.

There are always going to be those who will bash it because it is an iPod, but as long as it sounds better to you, that is what is important.

Have fun,

Vinnie Rossi

 

[boodi]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Vinnie R. Hi McCol, Your ears have NOT gone mad. The iPod uses a nice Wolfson dac (IMHO), is a battery powered unit (off of AC power and the noise that is associated with it), and you are not going through an S/PDIF interface anymore...your signal path has become less complex. Ain't nothing wrong with that! I used my modded iPod

what mod if i can ask ?

 

[WarBaby]

Congrats! I'm mighty glad to hear these things since I just ordered a 5G/30/Video from the Apple Store...!

Question: Will this SiK ram din line out connector work with the iPod 5G Video (I don't care about the FW connector, just the line out for amping)?

The SiK web site only says "works with iPod nano (FireWire charging only - syncing not supported by nano,) iPod color, iPod photo, Click Wheel iPod, iPod (with Dock Connector) and iPod mini".

Thanks.

 

[Riboge]

boodi, about mod: http://www4.head-fi.org/forums/showt...8&page=1&pp=20

 

[Vinnie R.]

Quote:

Originally Posted by boodi what mod if i can ask ?

http://www.redwineaudio.com/iMod.html

 

[bangraman]

Quote:

Originally Posted by WarBaby Congrats! I'm mighty glad to hear these things since I just ordered a 5G/30/Video from the Apple Store...! Question: Will this SiK ram din line out connector work with the iPod 5G Video (I don't care about the FW connector, just the line out for amping)? The SiK web site only says "works with iPod nano (FireWire charging only - syncing not supported by nano,) iPod color, iPod photo, Click Wheel iPod, iPod (with Dock Connector) and iPod mini". Thanks.

I would suggest the Sendstation Pocketdock USB. Not only do you get a line out socket, you get a standard USB socket (which works with the 5G). Now I don't have to carry a cable... every place I go with a computer has a standard USB cable. Whats more with Sharepod 1.8.7 loaded on the 5G/Nano, I dont' even need iTunes when travelling.

 

[WarBaby]

Quote:

I would suggest the Sendstation Pocketdock USB. Not only do you get a line out socket, you get a standard USB socket (which works with the 5G). Now I don't have to carry a cable... every place I go with a computer has a standard USB cable. Whats more with Sharepod 1.8.7 loaded on the 5G/Nano, I dont' even need iTunes when travelling.

Thank you (sorry about the thread diversion).

 

[Mr.Sneis]

TURBO dock represent!

 

[raisin]

Quote:

Originally Posted by McCol Ordered the dock from apple uk last thursday, arrived on monday. connected to my nad 320bee amp and found that my music(encoded at aac 320) sounds better than cd's through my pioneer 717 transport and Audio Alchemy DAC. How is this possible? Have my ears gone mad?

Sometimes a little compression helps a recording, perhaps this SS is more appealing to your "ear".

 

[Oliver :)]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mr.Sneis TURBO dock represent!

Got mine yesterday. Dang the thing has a tight grip! Love it!

 

[halcyon]

Quote:

Originally Posted by raisin Sometimes a little compression helps a recording, perhaps this SS is more appealing to your "ear".

Indeed. This is not uncommon.

In a recent double blind test a small group of listeners rated AAC encoded tracks higher than the original PCM files.

Source was CD-R files (very well done, lower C1/C2 than on printed original discs) and playback through high end audio loudspeakers.*

This of course does NOT mean, that AAC is better (in information theory terms) than the original, because it truly is worse.

It just means that the listeners rated it subjectively better (compared to the original PCM).

Let us remember, that our hearing is not an anlytical linear measurement instruments.

regards,
halcyon

* Source: Finnish magazine 'Hifi'.

 

[K2Grey]

Was it certain that they could actually tell the difference, or was it just chance?