[singular]

I recently got hold of a LOD which I intended to use with a Ibasso D3 I have on the way. As the LOD has arrived before the amp/dac and I can't resist playing around with new toys, I thought I'd plug it in to my existing amp (Neco Cmoy) purely out of interest to see what happened. My understanding was that the LOD would give a digital signal, and without anything to convert this in to an analogue signal the amp and headphones could recognise you couldn't hear anything. However to my surprise the signal came through loud and clear. What's going on? Please educate me!

 

[iriverdude]

LOD - line out - is analogue. If you want a DAP with electrical digital out need to look at another brand, or buy iwadia for your ipod.

 

[singular]

Ah, ok. So the DAC in the iBasso will be doing nothing? Which DAPs have an electrical digital out?

 

[iriverdude]

Not sure, the only one I know with optical digital out is iriver h120 & h140. I think Cowon may have had one with electrical digital out?

Apple Ipods with the iwadia have digital out, but not exactly portable. Perhaps if a digital LOD for ipod was available would be a good alternative. Unless you send digital audio to your ibasso, or through USB if it has that, the DAC in the ibasso will do nothing.

 

[iriverdude]

Actually if you just bought D3 and have no plans to use USB or digital in, it may make more sense to go for headphone amp only, say the P3- as long as the amp is good or better than the D3.

 

[singular]

There is a mini-USB port in the iBasso. Are you saying if you use a LOD to mini-USB male this will use a digital out from the ipod? I've not seen such a cable... I'm assuming the people at ibasso designed the D3 for use with an ipod so there must be a solution.

 

[singular]

I bought the D3 second hand (from the classifieds here) so there's no returning it, though I could re-sell I guess if it doesn't work out. Will keep digging.

 

[iriverdude]

Not sure if LOD to mini USB will work. But if you connect the D3 to a PC via USB the D3 will act as dac/amplifier.

 

[ClieOS]

LOD to mini USB definitely won't work. To use the mini-USB, you will need an USB-Host-capable DAP that can communicate with the USB chip on the amp, and I don't even know if such DAP exists at all. In short, the USB port is meant for your PC, not iPod.

 

[singular]

OK, thanks for all the feedback guys, I guess the D3 is just not designed to do what I thought it was, no bother. It will act as a decent DAC/Amp for home use and a fairly portable amp on the move anyhow. Whether the D3 is better than existing inbuilt DAC and line out remains to be seen. Live and learn. Thanks again.

Sam

 

[Podtweaker]

I'm a little suprised no one mentioned to you that unless the DAP you are using has a clearly marked "digital out" on it there really isn't any way to get a digital bitstream out of the player. Actually one of the weakest points of iPods is the output from the "Headphone Out". If the amp you are getting is half-way decent(which many here consider the iBassos to be) the LOD to amp will give you a more detailed headphone sound & give you more options should you decide to try better hps or IEMs. With better phones or IEMs the DAC issue isn't as big a deal as you might think it is.