[BenAdamson]

Hey guys, I was wondering why LODs are used for non-modded iPods. The iPod apparently still passes the audio through its DAC etc, simply ignoring the volume setting and outputting the max volume. This effectively means that the LOD does not actually bypass any chips. Either I've been misinformed, I didn't understand, or many Head-Fi members have spent pointless money.

 

[Jalo]

The LOD allows the signal to bypass the internal amp.  It still uses the internal DAC.  If you use a Solo then it will bypass both the DAC and the AMP inside the ipod.

 

[TheWuss]

you sort of have it right.
and you sort of answered your own question.
 
LOD is used to bypass the headphone amp, and recieve an audio signal at line level output.
 
if you used the headphone out to connect ipod to an external amp, then double amping would occur.  which degrades the sound.

 

[radonsg]

Using the headphone port, the audio signal goes through an amplifier (which gives the audio volume, so you can hear it).
The line-out completely bypasses the opamp which is in the iPod

 

[JoetheArachnid]

It's actually fairly confusing: Older iPods (before 6th gen) did in fact just output their LO at full amped volume, but used a technically better DAC than current iPods. The way the iMod works is by bypassing the internal amp of these older iPods and then putting in capacitors to get rid of any damaging DC offset that comes straight from the DAC chip (presumably why Apple didn't implement things like this in the first place). This is why iMods have a much better sound than stock 4/5th gen iPods.
 
Newer iPods (6th gen+) use a technically lower-quality DAC but are configured so that the line output comes straight from the DAC with minimal DC offset. So it's actually no longer an issue, but though the LO is probably better than a stock older iPod because it's actually bypassing the amp section, it's not as good as an iMod.
 
I hope that makes sense.

 

[BenAdamson]

Thanks for the information guys, that cleared it up a lot