Jalo, are you sure the quiet music you were hearing was not the iPad speaker playing being muted by your IEMs. Then when you turned the volume all the way up the Predator DAC happened to start working and you got really loud music.
I can move the volume all over the place with the DAC plugged in and the sound output does not change. When I unplug the DAC the volume I had set for the headphone/speaker out returns and the volume controls work again. Similar to what happens with a DAC connected to a Mac.
I also note that when I used some cheapy USB cable it did not work. For some reason it did not like this cable but it plays fine with all the other ones I have tried.
Well at least there is some hope that it will work the way it supposed to. I still don't know what is the culprit here but I am sure that I wasn't hearing music from the ipad speaker. I almost blown my ears out when I move the volume slider all the way up (not anticipating that it will be active) and it stopped when I move it back down. I wonder if the dac needs to be turned on first or last? May be the sequence of thing needs to be right. I try again.
The test worked and sound quality was at least as good as the iMod's if not better. Hadn't had time to do a detailed comparison this time, only a proof of concept. I have tested it with two different USB connector, but couldn't hear any interference. Not even when I passed my iPhone several times over the gear.
It was true-LOD mode, the iPad's volume control made no difference. Only the Protector's volume control worked. I have both Apple Lossless and iTunes Plus encoded content on the iPad and both were rendered in excellent quality; in an entirely different league when compared to the iPad HP out SQ.
It would be interesting to see when the next-gen iPhone and iPod Touch is released with OS 4.0, whether it'll support USB audio devices like the iPad does with OS 3.2.
That is a very cool setup. My concern would be how fragile the dock/ dock connectors/ usb would make it. You would have to have a fairly stable listening environment to pull it off.
I don't think many people realize just how good the iMod/Vcap dock can sound. It's very competitive with the Pico DAC-only, or even my HDP DAC. But, if one is not using the Vcap dock (or better) with the iMod, I think the Pico DAC-only has the edge in micro-detail and ambience/air. If I was to decide between spending $1000 on iMod with portable Vcap dock and LOD to connect them, or the iPad with camera kit and Pico DAC, I'd rather have the iPad rig which is more fun to use despite the increase in bulk.
I'd like to find a way to charge the iPad at the same time I'm using the camera kit and DAC. I wonder if there are any docks out there that accept the apple cable and also have a power-in jack for a wall wart to charge, that would allow plugging the camera kit into the apple dock connector on the dock. For docks with a recessed dock plug where the iPad can't reach the plug because it wont fit into the recess, I seem to recall someone like Sendstation was selling a dock extender which I bought a long time ago but then lost.
I need to go check the back of my DLO Homedock HD later. It might use a mini-usb, but I could be lucky and it has a 30-pin dock connector on the back. The DLO homedock HD converts the analog line-out to digital so it's not pure digital like the Wadia or a USB DAC, hence my interest in using a USB DAC with the dock instead of optical DAC.
The test worked and sound quality was at least as good as the iMod's if not better. Hadn't had time to do a detailed comparison this time, only a proof of concept. I have tested it with two different USB connector, but couldn't hear any interference. Not even when I passed my iPhone several times over the gear.
It was true-LOD mode, the iPad's volume control made no difference. Only the Protector's volume control worked. I have both Apple Lossless and iTunes Plus encoded content on the iPad and both were rendered in excellent quality; in an entirely different league when compared to the iPad HP out SQ.
It would be interesting to see when the next-gen iPhone and iPod Touch is released with OS 4.0, whether it'll support USB audio devices like the iPad does with OS 3.2.
That is a very cool setup. My concern would be how fragile the dock/ dock connectors/ usb would make it. You would have to have a fairly stable listening environment to pull it off.
Considering the iPad is too large to be regarded as a pocket gear and more of a desktop audio gear, I don't really have concern about the fragility of the USB connector. It is seated very firmly in the dock socket of the iPad, but I did have to slightly enlarge the opening of the Apple iPad case to accommodate it, which was a bit strange both being Apple products.
I was thinking of getting one of these, though, for the iPad. The cable is a bit long, but the DAC is built-in and the price is right.
The iPad is a lot of fun as well as a great productivity tool even in its first-generation form. OS 4 will further enhance that in the Fall. However, at the moment, 64GB is the max storage you can get vs. up to 240GB with the Super iMod.
Still, if you are yearning for a better DAC than the Woolfson chipset present in the iMod, this is the only way currently possible using the Apple platform. I'm betting that will change with the next iPhone/iPod Touch since they will ship with OS4 and you can probably get digital out using the same USB connector. It would be awesome if Craig could create a TWag version of this for maximum shielding capability due to the TWag silver strands.
I don't think many people realize just how good the iMod/Vcap dock can sound. It's very competitive with the Pico DAC-only, or even my HDP DAC. But, if one is not using the Vcap dock (or better) with the iMod, I think the Pico DAC-only has the edge in micro-detail and ambience/air. If I was to decide between spending $1000 on iMod with portable Vcap dock and LOD to connect them, or the iPad with camera kit and Pico DAC, I'd rather have the iPad rig which is more fun to use despite the increase in bulk.
I think we need a cable to extend the output of the I-pad. A very low profile cable about 3" to loop around and conect the photo interface and wire. There is going to be way too much stress on that terminal of the I pad
Just picked up a headroom portable desktop to run my ed 8's (giddy as a school girl)
I have an iPad, attached the camera kit, then to Micro II usb/digital, then to McIntosh MDA700...works great. All music plays fine, including streaming audio apps.
Thats an interesting form factor. Can really shorten the headphone cables and just have the usb be the bulk of the cable from source. Any idea what dac chip its rocking?
No but here is a review. http://www.head-fi.org/forum/thread/473473/review-more-to-come-centrance-dacport-24-96-usb-dac-amp I'm waiting on my camera kit and possibly getting a dacport to go with it.
No but here is a review. http://www.head-fi.org/forum/thread/473473/review-more-to-come-centrance-dacport-24-96-usb-dac-amp I'm waiting on my camera kit and possibly getting a dacport to go with it.
I will see if I can get around to trying the DACport with it soon, but I see no reason why it wouldn't work like all the others. My main concern would be the drain that the DACport would put on the iPad battery, since both DAC and amp run off the dock. It could also really limit the power levels the amp can achieve.
All the portable DAC/amps have the DAC section run off the USB power, but they usually have their own battery to supply the amp section. With things like the DACport and uDAC, both the DAC and amp section draw off the USB and could really hurt battery life. (exceptions, the D4 and 3MOVE both offer a choice to have the amp run off USB or from the internal battery)
My 2006 Microdac would be a great choice for this (combined with the pending Stepdance). The Microdac uses its own 9 volt batteries and is no compromise on SQ to battery life (which isn't great). Transportable, not portable...
I just played with the iPad for thefirst time yesterday. What a sweet piece of kit. Once they relaese a 128 gb model with front-facing video camera, I am probably in.
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