[rickdanger]

Hey,

I have purchased an Apple iPod dock to use to connect my iPod to my headphone amp. Amp has line-in or RCA inputs, and the dock has either a 3.5mm line-out socket or you can purchase an Apple AV cable that connects to the dock connector.

I haven't purchased a cable yet and wanted to know if anyone had any opinions on which cable would be the best to use to connect the dock to my amp (i.e. is there a difference in sound quality between the 3.5mm out and the AV out using the cable that connects to the dock connector)?

The output volume can be adjusted using the remote included with the dock so if using line-out does that mean it's not true line-out and I should not conenct that to a line level input on my amp?

Cheers!

 

[plonter]

Hi mate! and welcome to head fi.
You are right indeed...the line out from the ipod dock is not a "true one" because the dock itself has an attenuator that controlles the volume and by that degrade the sound quality. in fact..you will be better to purchase a dedicated line out dock (LOD) cable that connects right to the dock connection of the ipod. like this: SiK White ram din for iPod @ HeadRoom
this is the closest to get a "true" line out out of the ipod. I used it myself and it's great, and ofcourse you have better lod cable out there, but they can get pricy though. this one should be enough.

but if you still want to use docking station, you should get a nice pl 3.5 to pl 3.5 cable (or pl 3.5 to rca...) to connect to your amp. i think you better not
connect through the a/v output because it is not dedicated to audio only.
the analog 3.5 pl output is dedicated only to sound and is preferable.

good luck, and enjoy.