[trose49]

Anyone seen this?

http://www.sound4sale.com/

Any info would be great?

 

[nibiyabi]

Haven't heard of it -- I'm willing to gamble that an iModded iPod will sound far better, since your iPod will still be filled with cheap components (not to mention this costs ten times more than the iMod upgrade).

 

[trose49]

Quote:

Originally Posted by nibiyabi /img/forum/go_quote.gif Haven't heard of it -- I'm willing to gamble that an iModded iPod will sound far better, since your iPod will still be filled with cheap components (not to mention this costs ten times more than the iMod upgrade).

In theory the Imod still uses the DAC in the 4G Ipod. With this you could purchase a high quality DAC and use the IPOD as a transport.

 

[abs@nilenet.com]

They are kidding right? $1995.00 for a modified iPod with a digital output dock?

Happy Listening!

 

[cooperpwc]

These guys are your basic snake oil shysters. I quote from the site:

"The Apple designers had the foresight to allow iTunes and the iPod to work with CD data unlike any other CD ripping or burning programs - with bit-perfect accuracy. Many listeners notice that CDR copies of CDs often sound different. This is because they are not bit perfect. Almost all burning programs do some re-equalization. iTunes makes a bit-perfect copy and will store that data on the iPod. That is why this product will revolutionize our interface to our high-end systems. " (emphasis added)

Uh no... If you really wanted to spend $2,000 on a DAP, you wouldn't be ripping in iTunes. I smell oil of snake...!

 

[3X0]

Quote:

Originally Posted by cooperpwc /img/forum/go_quote.gif These guys are your basic snake oil shysters. I quote from the site: "The Apple designers had the foresight to allow iTunes and the iPod to work with CD data unlike any other CD ripping or burning programs - with bit-perfect accuracy. Many listeners notice that CDR copies of CDs often sound different. This is because they are not bit perfect. Almost all burning programs do some re-equalization. iTunes makes a bit-perfect copy and will store that data on the iPod. That is why this product will revolutionize our interface to our high-end systems. " (emphasis added) Uh no... If you really wanted to spend $2,000 on a DAP, you wouldn't be ripping in iTunes. I smell oil of snake...!

Agreed, but would ALAC qualify?

 

[bahula03]

all that money for something that gets you "true" digital output...and they build an RF transmitter into it

I'll take 10.

 

[cooperpwc]

Quote:

Originally Posted by 3X0 /img/forum/go_quote.gif Agreed, but would ALAC qualify?

Absolutely nothinh wrong with ALAC. The hard part is ripping into it. If you are on a Mac then I understand that you can use a program called Max that will do a great job. Not so easy in Windows though.

bahula03, well put. Grab that incremental improvement for an extra couple thou then output it through RF. Go team!

 

[drippydonut]

Quote:

Originally Posted by MSB Review Page There are 0 reviews for the products MSB iLink Digital Upgrade They are arranged in order from most recent.

Oh look, no reviews, what a shame. Possibly because no-ones bought one... not stereotyping, but the kind of people who want an iPod with digital-out are also likely to be intelligent enough to realise that it probably costs MSB something like $50 max to mod

.

 

[hempcamp]

Can the iMod be done on a 5G yet? That's the only advantage these people seem to have over it. Well, and with the iMod you still rely on the built-in DAC (which really ain't too shabby).

Either way, it's outrageously expensive.

--Chris

 

[LDMES]

For 2Gs, you could get 5 iMods, or 1or2or3or4 iMod(s) and lots of other goodies (ICs, Amps, Headphones, etc...) ...

Quote:

Originally Posted by hempcamp /img/forum/go_quote.gif Can the iMod be done on a 5G yet? That's the only advantage these people seem to have over it. Well, and with the iMod you still rely on the built-in DAC (which really ain't too shabby). --Chris

Only the 4G can be iModded. The 5G won't be iModded as from what I've read (and owning an iMod, I have read a lot about it ) it is both a case issue, and more importantly a DAC issue:

from the RWA site:

"The 4th Gen. iPod uses what we have found to be the best sounding DAC of all the iPods...the Wolfson WM8975. We do NOT offer the iMod for the new iPod Video units (5th gen.), or any of the other iPods (Mini, Nano, older units)."

 

[3X0]

The actual modification itself is $199 (still rather expensive for something of this nature). That means the dock is $1796. So.. don't buy the dock.

If this could be used with a portable DAC/Amp combination, I don't see how it could be so bad (provided that it actually works). Then again.. an adequate dock connector to transfer a digital signal may become a quandary.

I'm in no way advocating this thing (hell, I don't even believe in external amps), but I think you guys are being a bit mislead (the mod itself does not cost $2000, more like a one tenth of that) and myopically critical of it.

 

[Vinnie R.]

While I think it is very cool that MSB designed a dock that creates SPDIF (It must take the native clock and data signals before the built-in dac, and then use a chip to convert them into the SPDIF format), I can't say I like how they advertise it by saying this:

Quote:

The digital format of its audio files are converted within the iPod, which negates any attempt to create true-to-CD audio. This means that no matter how much money an audiophile spends on iPod docking stations that boast great sound, the quality will not come close to a CD played on a high-end system.

Please! Are they trying to say that if you use Apple Lossless or WAV with your iPod's analog outputs that it won't be "true-to-CD audio?"

All they are doing is converting digital data to SPDIF so you can send it to a different dac than the internal Wolfson WM8975 dac in the iPod (which I find to be a lot more musical and less sterile than many much higher priced external dacs... just my opinion).

Converting digital data to SPDIF, transmitting spdif, receiving SPDIF at the dac, and then doing the D/A conversion with another dac is not nearly as straightforward as avoiding all of this and using the Wolfson. The iPod motherboard layout is very clean, with digital traces that are tiny. Everything is running on clean battery power. Where is the problem?

And they also say:

Quote:

Now don't get me wrong, there is nothing wrong with the iPod. It is a good low-power DAC for driving headphones and playing MP3s.

Again, they make it sound like you can't get CD quality out of the iPod unless you use an external dac with their $2k iLink system! Sure, not that there is anything wrong with the iPod if you like MP3.... please!

They even talk about using Apple Lossless in iTunes, but I guess you can't get true CD quality unless you use an iLink.

 

[trose49]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Vinnie R. /img/forum/go_quote.gif While I think it is very cool that MSB designed a dock that creates SPDIF (It must take the native clock and data signals before the built-in dac, and then use a chip to convert them into the SPDIF format), I can't say I like how they advertise it by saying this: Please! Are they trying to say that if you use Apple Lossless or WAV with your iPod's analog outputs that it won't be "true-to-CD audio?" All they are doing is converting digital data to SPDIF so you can send it to a different dac than the internal Wolfson WM8975 dac in the iPod (which I find to be a lot more musical and less sterile than many much higher priced external dacs... just my opinion). Converting digital data to SPDIF, transmitting spdif, receiving SPDIF at the dac, and then doing the D/A conversion with another dac is not nearly as straightforward as avoiding all of this and using the Wolfson. The iPod motherboard layout is very clean, with digital traces that are tiny. Everything is running on clean battery power. Where is the problem? And they also say: Again, they make it sound like you can't get CD quality out of the iPod unless you use an external dac with their $2k iLink system! Sure, not that there is anything wrong with the iPod if you like MP3.... please! They even talk about using Apple Lossless in iTunes, but I guess you can't get true CD quality unless you use an iLink.

[size=large]YOU GO VINNIE! [/size]

 

[Jahn]

as mentioned above, the $199 option is priced closer to the redwineaudio mod, and here are the specs-

http://www.sound4sale.com/iDetails.php

plus they are offering it for the 5G 30gig and 80 gig ipods, which happen to be the kind i own. not saying i'm going for it tho, since my current rig is just fine on the go. if i was using an ipod for home use as well, i might consider the $199, but NOT the $2K option. for that kinda cheese, why not go for a slim devices Transporter instead for home use and access to all hard drive files?