[flashbak]

Yippy, my IMod finally arrived today along with the IMod cotton dock. Let the burn in begin!

 

[trose49]

Quote:

Originally Posted by flashbak /img/forum/go_quote.gif Yippy, my IMod finally arrived today along with the IMod cotton dock. Let the burn in begin!

Please post your results!!! Need more opinions!!

Loving mine as it Burns-in!!!! sounding better every day.

Its tough to put hours on the cables when you have two!!!

 

[flashbak]

Listening for about one and three quarters hours last night I was absolutely amazed at what I was hearing. I was picking up things I had never heard in the music before! A phenomenal amount of detail just starts to unfold. It's like having a magnifying glass over the music, and at will, one can zoom in on any of the layers of instruments/vocals playing to uncover its precise detail.

 

[KB]

Quote:

Originally Posted by flashbak /img/forum/go_quote.gif Listening for about one and three quarters hours last night I was absolutely amazed at what I was hearing. I was picking up things I had never heard in the music before! A phenomenal amount of detail just starts to unfold. It's like having a magnifying glass over the music, and at will, one can zoom in on any of the layers of instruments/vocals playing to uncover its precise detail.

Hey Flashbak,

Thanks for the impressions. Just wait until the caps and cable get burned in.

I was listening to some of the cables last night, mainly the Gold X Silver vs Super Cotton dock. They are very close to on another with the Gold X Silver being less in your face and more laid back. I have also found that the TTVJ Portable Millet Amp if a wonderful fit with the video iMod. This is totally my personal opinion based on my preferences however. But the bottom end with the iMod and this amp is just insane.


ken

 

[Pegleg85]

Here is a microcomment for Ken/Vinnie about the new 5g imod vs. the 4g:

With the 4g (which I have), since you use mini-cable to connect to the headphone jack, this allows the use of one of the best tweaks I have ever found, a silver based contact enhancer (I use quicksilver gold from xtreme av http://www.xtremecables.com/quicksilver.php). However, it is impossible for a mortal to treat the contacts on a dock connector (need a really tiny paintbrush or something?). The uplift is really really huge (and it doesn't cost very much at all).

Have you considered using a contact enhancer either on the dock connector or internally on the female dock contacts inside the imod?

David

 

[nickknutson]

Ken,
Can one use a iMod dock on an iPod that is not modded to be an iMod yet? If so, will it burn in the caps while being used with an unmodded iPod? I'm guessing not.
Later Dude!

 

[Vinnie R.]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pegleg85 /img/forum/go_quote.gif Here is a microcomment for Ken/Vinnie about the new 5g imod vs. the 4g: With the 4g (which I have), since you use mini-cable to connect to the headphone jack, this allows the use of one of the best tweaks I have ever found, a silver based contact enhancer (I use quicksilver gold from xtreme av http://www.xtremecables.com/quicksilver.php). However, it is impossible for a mortal to treat the contacts on a dock connector (need a really tiny paintbrush or something?). The uplift is really really huge (and it doesn't cost very much at all). Have you considered using a contact enhancer either on the dock connector or internally on the female dock contacts inside the imod? David

Hi David,

I'd woudn't use it, as this stuff can smear and short out your contacts (especially as in insert the mini plug into the jack.. it can definitely smear between the L/R/GND conductors)... it is conductive! It can also attract dirt/dust in the jack. Also, with the 5G/5.5G line out dock, the pins are very small as you can see, so it will be really easy to short them out with this stuff.

With the 5G/5.5G iMod, the connection with Ken's ALO iMod Dock Cable is VERY good... the cable snaps into place and the contacts are very snug. Unfortunately, this isn't always the case with the 4G iMod because some stereo mini-plugs on cables can be a little loose with the mini-jack.

I'm not saying that silver contact enhancer is a bad product, but I wouldn't use it with either iMod because of the risk of shorting the contacts and because it can attract dirt/dust... which would make the connection dirty and less conductive

Best regards,

Vinnie

 

[Vinnie R.]

Quote:

Originally Posted by nickknutson /img/forum/go_quote.gif Ken, Can one use a iMod dock on an iPod that is not modded to be an iMod yet? If so, will it burn in the caps while being used with an unmodded iPod? I'm guessing not. Later Dude!

Hi Nick,

Yes, you can! It will burn-in the caps while being used, as signal will still flow as long as you follow this (from the iMod website):

Quote:

signal coupling caps that we use for the iMods are notorious for taking 200+ hours of burn-in time to sound their best. To properly burn-in your iMod, you need to have it connected to a load (e.g. your headphone amp or home audio preamp/integrated amp). The load does not need to be turned ON, but to allow for electrical current to flow through the modded audio line output, the iMod MUST be connected AND playing music. For burn-in, we recommend connecting the external power cable (so the internal battery does not discharge) and playing an album (or playlist) on repeat mode.

Best regards,

Vinnie

PS: Nice to see you guys posting on this forum with your questions.... we hope this forum will be a great place for you guys to find iMod Q&A's, as well as iMod updates, ALO cable updates, etc.

 

[nickknutson]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Vinnie R. /img/forum/go_quote.gif Hi Nick, Yes, you can! It will burn-in the caps while being used, as signal will still flow as long as you follow this (from the iMod website): Best regards, Vinnie PS: Nice to see you guys posting on this forum with your questions.... we hope this forum will be a great place for you guys to find iMod Q&A's, as well as iMod updates, ALO cable updates, etc.

Sweet! Thanks Vinnie!

 

[Pegleg85]

Vinnie,

Thanks very much for the response. The contact enhancer can be runny at first but it solidifies pretty quickly, but you are right, it could be risky.

Can you also confirm that someone who owns a 4g iMod can be perfectly happy and live a perfectly normal life knowing that the 5g iMod is pretty much, for all intents and purposes the same sound quality as their 4g?

Thanks,

David

 

[auris]

I've had my new iMod and Cryo X Silver line-out connector for a couple of weeks now and would like to post my impressions. I'm running the iMod/Cryo X Silver cable into a TTVJ Millett Tube portable amp and listening through either Sennheiser 650s with Cardas cable, HF-1s, or AKG K601s or K501s.

I'm hearing detail I never really noticed before. The sound is quick, clean and clear, but not cold or clinical-sounding, and it's very three-dimensional. I love it! The setup sounds great with all my headphones, but it really seems to work a special magic with my Sennheiser 650s.

I bought the iMod for both portable use and to hook up to my home stereo system later on when the new docking station becomes available. I haven't tried to do any direct comparisons with my home setup (an older California Audio Labs CD player with a tube output stage, running into my preamp and then to a SinglePower PPX3 SLAM) but I can say it compares very favorably. It picks up just as much (and perhaps more) detail as the home rig, but probably lacks just a bit of the authoritative bass...and I attribute that to the portable amp (which is fantastic, but still a portable).

I only have 40 hours (at the most) listening time on the new iMod/Cryo X Silver cable setup now, so if the sound is only going to improve over time, it will likely move from being great to outrageously great!

Thanks Ken and Vinnie. I don't think I'm going to be in the market for a new CD player when my current one gives up the ghost. Even though this setup is not cheap...it's still less money than what I'd likely be spending for a new home player.

 

[GreenLeo]

Quote:

Originally Posted by KB /img/forum/go_quote.gif “Jumbo Cryo X Silver iMod Dock” 18 gauge Cryo x 20 gauge Silver (4 wires) “Super Kind” cable. The “Super Kind” is 2 18G (Jumbo) Jena Labs Cryo wires, and 2 20 gauge solid silver wires.

Both the Jumbo Cyro X Silver dock and the Super Kind cable use 18G Cryo wires and 20 gauge Silver wires and I ASSUME that both of them are 4-wires. Please tell more about their physical difference and why one sounds better than the other.

 

[thepoloman33]

Quote:

Originally Posted by GreenLeo /img/forum/go_quote.gif Both the Jumbo Cyro X Silver dock and the Super Kind cable use 18G Cryo wires and 20 gauge Silver wires and I ASSUME that both of them are 4-wires. Please tell more about their physical difference and why one sounds better than the other.

I'm curious about this as well....thanks!

 

[KB]

Quote:

Originally Posted by thepoloman33 /img/forum/go_quote.gif I'm curious about this as well....thanks!

Hi,

The Super Kind and the Cryo X Silver are identical except that the 20G silver wires in the SK cable are sleeved in a 100% cotton tube, VS the Teflon tube of the Cryo X Silver. Then of course the SK cable is sleeved in 2 PET sleeves. We have found that if you take the same silver wire one in a cotton dielectric and one in Teflon and A/B them its a different sound. The cotton version being slightly warmer and more open.

Hope this helps.

Ken

 

[Pegleg85]

Here is an esoteric iMod and ALO posting. For the past few months I've been listening to an iMod (g4) ALO jumbo silver/copper i/c setup driving my UE10's via an RSA Hornet and frankly I'd been taking them for granted. I have been telling people that I use my RSA Tomahawk/Nano/ALO cryo dock cable for super-portable use and my iMod/ALO/Hornet rig for semi-portable use.

So yesterday I took the superportable unit out (which I haven't listened to for awhile) and, well, to summarise, is anyone interested in buying an ipod 8gb nano? The iMod is so much mind-bogglingly better than the nano. It is interesting because when I first picked up the ALO cryo dock and bypassed the nano headphone jack, it was a huge uptick in sound.

Also, for some reason I thought that the Hornet was uniformly just a slight tad better than the Tomahawk, but actually the Tomahawk is pretty good. Perhaps the Tom has slightly more detail wheras the Hornet has a bigger soundstage and tighter bass (although the Tom has bags of bass as well).

The main difference between my superportable and portable setup is that with the iMod the music lives inside your head, you cannot hear that you have headphones, the music just appears and the singer is in front of your forehead. With the nano, the sound is veiled, you don't have that effortless music feel.

Sorry for the ramble, but perhaps this could be useful info for people. I'm still trying to figure out if I need the 5g imod. Perhaps I'll justify based on portability alone?

David