[episiarch]

Quote:

Originally Posted by hYdrociTy A line out from the ipod is a must. Even if you have to use something like the turbo dock and a cheap mini to mini, It would still make the biggest difference vs headphone out.

Do you know for certain that this is specifically true in the case of the OP's 2nd generation Nano?

I ask because
a) there's a lot of conventional wisdom that the iPod lineout is always better than the headphone-out, but this would clearly depend on the circuitry inside the iPod, and therefore could vary from model to model, and
b) I haven't found that the CW actually holds true with the iPods I have (though these don't include a 2G nano). Similarly, bangraman found it didn't hold true for the 5G iPod.

A good-quality cable does make a difference. The SiK RAM DIN cable is very audibly inferior to the little <$20 Cardas mini-to-minis sold by HeadRoom. The AudioLineOut cryo cable I'm using now sounds detectably better than the little Cardas, but it's a more incremental improvement, at a huge jump in price. That's with ER-4S's; I don't know if it would even be perceptible in HD485's.

So [to the OP] I'd say get yourself a nice amp (I'm using a Go-Vibe V5 myself these days and find it close-enough-to-neutral, for a portable amp), get a good dock or interconnect but don't feel obligated to go to the moon pricewise, and enjoy.

 

[Rick Hunter]

Thanks everyone for their replies:

After a bit of searching I decided to get the audiolineout.com Bling Bling Dock with silver cables. The only other portable solution I found was a portable dock from sendstation.com and it costed nearly the same as the bling bling which obviously has to be better.

The amp was shipped today from france, so I think I'll have the amp first and the dock after a while. As soon as I get the amp I will borrow a friend's ipod dock (the apple one) to play a while with the amp&ipod and then I will report my initial impressions.

Cheers!

 

[Rick Hunter]

Quote:

Originally Posted by episiarch Do you know for certain that this is specifically true in the case of the OP's 2nd generation Nano? I ask because a) there's a lot of conventional wisdom that the iPod lineout is always better than the headphone-out, but this would clearly depend on the circuitry inside the iPod, and therefore could vary from model to model, and b) I haven't found that the CW actually holds true with the iPods I have (though these don't include a 2G nano). Similarly, bangraman found it didn't hold true for the 5G iPod. A good-quality cable does make a difference. The SiK RAM DIN cable is very audibly inferior to the little <$20 Cardas mini-to-minis sold by HeadRoom. The AudioLineOut cryo cable I'm using now sounds detectably better than the little Cardas, but it's a more incremental improvement, at a huge jump in price. That's with ER-4S's; I don't know if it would even be perceptible in HD485's. So [to the OP] I'd say get yourself a nice amp (I'm using a Go-Vibe V5 myself these days and find it close-enough-to-neutral, for a portable amp), get a good dock or interconnect but don't feel obligated to go to the moon pricewise, and enjoy.

I've read bangraman's thread, well in my case I DO need a line-out since my Ipod is european and volume-capped, so even at full blast the headphone out won't be nowhere near a line-out output. I know this because a friend's first gen nano uncapped with gopod sounds much louder than mine. With my ipod and the stock earbuds in a quiet environment I get a comfortable listening level at 80% volume roughly. With my friend's uncapped 1st gen nano I get the same listening level at lower volumes.

 

[americandreaming]

you could try a cable from over here in europe:
http://www.qables.com/

if you're at all handy you could build you're own for a few euros. i bought some lineout connectors from the same guy (hans -- or hoosterw here at head-fi) for about a euro each and made a line out with cheap magnet wire and a mini connector. sounds better than my sik ram din connector.

 

[Filburt]

When you use an amplifier, it's going to affect the output of the source because the load on the source will be very different than if you were to plug something like headphones directly on the output. Even aside from that, whatever determinations being made about "the sound" of the source itself seem somewhat arbitrary or fictitious to me, and thus the "wire-with-gain" designation also seems sort of fictitious by extension. Since everything is affected by loading amongst other things, I don't really see where this sort of essential sound is being found.

As for cable choice, it seems to me one of the reasons the DIY and like solutions may perform better compared to something like a ram din is that you don't have the other circuitry there. There may be some parasitic capacitance or inductance or crosstalk or something there. However, it seems pretty unnecessary to me to go splurge on some "bling bling" cable. A basic cable of short length should work fine. It seems to me that some of these more ambitious designs may actually be inefficient, although they may at least look elegant. IMHO, spending money on one of these expensive interconnects for your portable rig is one of the least cost-effective things you can do before venturing into the really fringe stuff. However, if you just want something that looks pretty, I guess that works *shrug*

 

[Andrea]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Filburt When you use an amplifier, it's going to affect the output of the source because the load on the source will be very different than if you were to plug something like headphones directly on the output. Even aside from that, whatever determinations being made about "the sound" of the source itself seem somewhat arbitrary or fictitious to me, and thus the "wire-with-gain" designation also seems sort of fictitious by extension. Since everything is affected by loading amongst other things, I don't really see where this sort of essential sound is being found.

Are you referring to a proper line out, or a headphone out used as if it was a line out? If the former, even with portables (and their line outs' output impedances of like 1 Kohm or more) a normal amp's input impedance of around 10 Kohm or more will have no humanely detectable influence on the source's own frequency response (and after all, that's what a line out is designed for). Focussing on these subtleties (if detectable at all) is pure speculative play, IMO. And btw, if it wasn't clear enough, I don't believe in "wire with gain".

 

[Rick Hunter]

My LDM+ showed up today, I hooked it up to the Ipod using a the lineout from a universal dock I borrowed from a friend (bling bling alo dock is on its way here)

Impressions with the HD485? Boy oh boy it opened up the sound sooooo much! Bass is noticeably tighter and more focused, treble is more sparkling and extended and midrange is more present... It was like someone flipped on a light in a dark room, I really like the improvement. And it's not even burnt-in and I'm using a cheap mini-to-mini cable... So i figure there's more room for improvement with a little burn-in and the alo's bling bling dock...

 

[Andrea]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rick Hunter Impressions with the HD485? Boy oh boy it opened up the sound sooooo much! Bass is noticeably tighter and more focused, treble is more sparkling and extended and midrange is more present... It was like someone flipped on a light in a dark room, I really like the improvement. And it's not even burnt-in and I'm using a cheap mini-to-mini cable... So i figure there's more room for improvement with a little burn-in and the alo's bling bling dock...

I can understand these sentiments... lately I've been listening & appreciating the LDM+ -> HD485 a lot. Just last night I loved the way David Gray's White Ladder sounded on it. A definite case of good synergy - and obviously both items have many qualities to give out.