Skylab:yessir, nothin' like a little wood in a man's life!!!. Serioulsy tho, let's not forget that along with the Imod you need a decent amp. So those comparing an Ipod lineout with an Imod are forgetting that important factor: an amp to go along with the Imod. And THIS is what makes Imod so great: the combination Vinnie puts in plus the accompanying amp.
Now I know why Skylab loves those Darths so much. WOOODIES
If you're on a budget and think $20 is alot of money for headphones and $200 is alot for a DAP, then the improvements are not worth it to you to shelf out $499-600+ for an iMod.
If you already have a good non-iPod DAP that is fairly new and don't have much money to throw around, same thing.
If you're rich, already have a moddable iPod and will listen to the DAP alot and don't mind carrying the extra weight of an amp around (assuming 4G and that you don't use an amp now), then yes it is worth $200.
Or in the best case, if you're looking for a new DAP more HDD space or your previous one broke down and you're willing to spend a fair bit on a new one, then hell yes it's worth the money.
Does an iModded iPod sound any better than the Kenwood HD30GB9??
I've heard neither, but can't see a modded iPod sounding better than that Kenwood - So surely the Kenwood is worth the extra money, not the iMod?
Saying that though, if you can buy an iPod for $200 and the iMod costs another $200, and it offers a 100% increase in performance, then I'd say yes, it's worth it.
My impression of what the iMod does though is just the 'unlocking' of the iPod? But you have to put Rockbox and buy a seperate Amp to get any real use out of it?
Originally Posted by Mors /img/forum/go_quote.gif My impression of what the iMod does though is just the 'unlocking' of the iPod? But you have to put Rockbox and buy a seperate Amp to get any real use out of it?
No, you can continue to use the iPod O/S and iTunes if you like. I Rockboxed mine to get away from iTunes and Apple proprietary file formats and because Rockbox has a better EQ. And it's just cooler.
However, the iMod does require a separate amp to control the volume because Vinnie's mods remove the volume control as a byproduct. So when you compare prices of a plain iPod and a modded one, add the cost of the amp.
Originally Posted by Hardwired /img/forum/go_quote.gif No, you can continue to use the iPod O/S and iTunes if you like. I Rockboxed mine to get away from iTunes and Apple proprietary file formats and because Rockbox has a better EQ. And it's just cooler.
However, the iMod does require a separate amp to control the volume because Vinnie's mods remove the volume control as a byproduct. So when you compare prices of a plain iPod and a modded one, add the cost of the amp.
Originally Posted by trose49 /img/forum/go_quote.gif Can you use rockbox with a mac?
I would assume so. Rockbox makes your iPod into a USB drive you can drag and drop files onto, so I would think a Mac could do that as well as a PC.
Rockbox also makes your iPod dual-bootable so you can use the Apple O/S if you want to. Some users who keep video on their iPods use Rockbox for music and then reboot into the native O/S to view the video because the Rockbox video capability isn't as good.
To get this back on topic, I think the extra money spent for my iMod may have been the best money I spent on any single item in my listening equipment inventory. I may change amps and headphones like shoes, but the iMod remains the center of my portable listening equipment.
However, I don't like the new iMods because I listen to mine plugged in and charging 99% of the time and the new ones don't let you use the line out and charge at the same time because of the hinky cable requirements. Plus the cable adds a minimum of $70 to the cost, so when I say I like mine I'm talking about the 4th gen, not the 5th.
Originally Posted by Hardwired /img/forum/go_quote.gif No, you can continue to use the iPod O/S and iTunes if you like. I Rockboxed mine to get away from iTunes and Apple proprietary file formats and because Rockbox has a better EQ. And it's just cooler.
However, the iMod does require a separate amp to control the volume because Vinnie's mods remove the volume control as a byproduct. So when you compare prices of a plain iPod and a modded one, add the cost of the amp.
So we're looking at a $400 for 80gb ipod, $200 for the imod, then $300 for a Ray Samuels and $70 for some cables. That's $970 for a setup vs a $400 stock Kenwood?!
Damn that sounds expensive.
I'm not sure it would be over twice as good as the Kenwood, audio-wise?
Originally Posted by EFN /img/forum/go_quote.gif Yes you're right my friend, iMod does not sound $200 better than stock iPod
in fact they sound $600 more than stock ones......
LDMES, thanks mate, recovered now but just 89%
And Vinnie is a SUPERMAN!
I can't wait for mine to arrive
just boght a used gen 4 cuz I am not patient enough to send in my gen 5.5.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Mors So we're looking at a $400 for 80gb ipod, $200 for the imod, then $300 for a Ray Samuels and $70 for some cables. That's $970 for a setup vs a $400 stock Kenwood?!
Damn that sounds expensive.
I'm not sure it would be over twice as good as the Kenwood, audio-wise?
But you'd be at the pinnacle of portable audio reproduction. You could always find a used 30gb, cheaper amp, cheaper or used cable.
To get to the pinnacle of a home system the sky is the limit: i.e, $20K TT, $10K CD player, etc etc.
I keep coming back to my own comparison between my computer with M-Audio USB Audiophile(coaxial)/Oppo(optical) into the Lavry DA10 (975$) and AT-HA5000 (~1000$ new from PriceJapan) using special cables (150$) vs. the iMod+Super Cotton Dock (740$) and Xin Reference (~275$) . This is a plus 2000$ system not counting the computer compared to one just less than 1000$ with both feeding into my UE9s.
There is just not that much difference. The home system has a bit more analog sound being a bit smoother maybe, but it is very hard for me to distinguish. For all you younger guys out there that have magic ears I am sure you could but I have to default back to my hearing and selectivity (sensitivity) saying that mine must not be good enough to be able to tell any significant differences.
Note that I took some real time this morning checking this out again.
slwiser, that's terrific. Can you please plug the iMod 5G into the HA5000 and see if the iMod is really just as good as the Audiophile USB/Lavry DA10? I'm thinking of a suitable source for university
Originally Posted by milkpowder /img/forum/go_quote.gif slwiser, that's terrific. Can you please plug the iMod 5G into the HA5000 and see if the iMod is really just as good as the Audiophile USB/Lavry DA10? I'm thinking of a suitable source for university
I really don't have an adequate cable to do this connection. It would be a eighth inch female to RCA males and I don't have one of those.
Originally Posted by Mors /img/forum/go_quote.gif So we're looking at a $400 for 80gb ipod, $200 for the imod, then $300 for a Ray Samuels and $70 for some cables. That's $970 for a setup vs a $400 stock Kenwood?!
Damn that sounds expensive.
I'm not sure it would be over twice as good as the Kenwood, audio-wise?
You can argue about this to the bottomless pit.....but until you actually listen to an iMod + Amp, you will never know what's the hype is all about. Having said that, even if Vinnie charge me USD500 just for the mod I will still pay him - that's something similar to paying a specialist to do something special - the value of his handiwork is priceless actually. SQ wise, I believe no DAP that still runs lossy format can even scale up to iMod - both 4th and 5th gen.
Next 2 weeks I will have a chance to compare my iMod against some of the reputed Audiophile CDPs and DACs in a meet - simply because no DAP in existence can offer a fair challange to iMod - hard fact.
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