[jzkpr]

Hello all,
Fairly new member. Long time lurker.

Based on opinion and recommends from people on this forum, I went out and picked a PocketDock with Line Out for my 4th gen ipod, but havent been so happy with it.

Beyond the whine/whirl of the iPod HD which is almost unavoidable on the iPods, I am hearing some slight line noise that is not apparent when using my Go-Vibe with other sources.

Do I just have a bad PD from manufacturing or should I expect this adapter to not be as clean as the headphone in on the iPod?

Any and all experience on this matter is appreciated.

Jeff.

Currently runnning: iPod4thgen>PDLineOut>Go-Vibe>SR80s.

 

[NeoteriX]

Hey, I've got a similar setup, a 4th Gen iPod, the SiK din lineout, and a Go-Vibe, and a couple different headphones I can access, including a Sony V6 and Shure e3c. I do not hear any hard drive whine (only when I press my ear against the iPod) or line noise. I tried fast forwarding very quickly through songs to get the hard drive spinning up and then tested the range of volume control on my go vibe -- i don't get any line noise until the last 85% of volume.

 

[socrates63]

Quote:

Originally Posted by jzkpr Do I just have a bad PD from manufacturing or should I expect this adapter to not be as clean as the headphone in on the iPod?

By definition of a line-out, PocketDock's line-out should be cleaner than the headphone out on the iPod.

I'm using PocketDock's line-out to connect my 4G iPod to the SR-71. Noise? What noise? I can't hear a thing... dead quiet. I'm assuming you're talking about hearing noise when no music is playing.

I also read about the sounds of the iPod's hard drive but I can't hear that either on my iPod.

I don't have the best ears (I've made an appointment to see an audiologist later this month

) but I strained my ears and yet can't hear any noise.

You're PocketDock, indeed, may be bad.

 

[allenf]

On my iPod Photo 60GB=> Pocketdock=> Audiolab=> HD650 there is a lot of noise: the dreaded whirr-pop of the HD spinning up, static fuzz when scrolling the wheel to select a track and some other indeterminate background fizz.

I have a sneaking suspicion that this only occurs on battery power, but haven't got round to testing this again with the pocketdock/firewire PS or the standard dock/battery power.

With the standard dock/firewire PS there is a noise floor, but it is pretty good - easily good enough to reveal any studio artefacts; amp buzz, tape hiss etc - given suitable high bitrate files.

 

[jpr703]

I have both a Sik Din and a Pocket Dock. With the Sik I can not hear any hard drive whine through the headphones.

With the Pocket Dock, when I start a track I will hear a second or two of whine follwed by a second or two of what sounds like a faint static popping noise. This only happens on the first song I play. Subsequent songs aren't affected.

It's a pain in the butt, but overall, I do think the sound quality of the Pocket Dock is a little better than the Sik, so I keep using it.

 

[jzkpr]

I think my experience is like that of JPR703's.

I recall some discussion that some 4th gen models made more noise than others. I have a co-worker with another 4th gen iPod. I'll do some testing on it today.

 

[jzkpr]

I have now tested it against 2 different ipod 20 4thgens and the startup whine and buzz is apparent on the first initial track and really only on good cans when the Go-Vibe is above 50% volume.

Very annoying. Hard to determine if its the PD or the iPod at this time.

If anyone else has further insight, please do share.

J.

 

[vranswer]

Same experience with ownership/use of Sik Din and PocketDock. PD has the whine/buzz on first song, Sik Din doesn't have any. I do not perceive the PD as having better SQ, but then again was working under what may be a false assumption: "..they're both line-out, so must be equal".

Could the whine/buzz be the result of a similar grounding issue as apparently plagues some iPod's headphone out (also a big problem on Rio Carbon)? Carbon fix of painting nail polish around the edges of the jack works beautifully. Wonder if something similar could silence the PD's groans.

 

[ken_loo]

I haven't touched my PD since I got the din. I didn't notice any difference between the two --> PCMkII --> UM2 neither had hd noises when it accessed or or noticible background noise. Both are way better than the headphone out, where I would hear noise everytime the hd spun up as well as noticible background noise.

The included apple desktop dock also reproduces the hd seek noises but does it quieter than the headphone out.

 

[jzkpr]

I sent a mail over to the SendStation regarding this noise issue. I'll let you guys know what they respond with.

 

[EdipisReks]

i haven't really heard any noise using my Pocketdock, at least when it's firmly seated in the slot. a couple times it has come slightly loose and caused some static.

 

[Squeek]

I hear the hard drive seeking/cueing up when I select different tracks (that are far apart on the HD) without an amp. It almost sounds like changing the radio station, right before you get the good clean signal you hear the staticky hum/crackle. I have all of my songs ripped in Apple Lossless, so the comparitively huge file size may be partly to blame.

I do have exceptional hearing, but I'm sure that the noise is not unique to a few users. Hard drives by design are noisy, so amplified I'm sure it's even more noticeable. Though after the initial seek/cue noise it is dead quiet.

 

[NeoteriX]

Those that have problems, have you guys tried using a regular iPod dock and listening to that signal?

 

[NeoteriX]

I stumbled onto this thread that you guys with PocketDock problems may find useful: http://www6.head-fi.org/forums/showthread.php?t=100747

It appears others have had the whirring and sound problems... sounds like bad quality control over there or something.