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Best sounding solution for Ipod

Hello 'Goners:

Like many of us out there I have succombed to the 'Ipod bug. I am emabarrased to admit but I have large amounts of jazz, rock, and acoustic stuff on WAV files that are wonderful due to the ease and convenience of it's access. However I find the sound slightly lacking in dynamics, soundstage, and transparency especially when listening to jazz (Art Blakey and the jazz messengers come to mind), etc.

I have heard about Krell's new "Kid" ipod preamp but I am not willing to for over 1k of my hard earned cash for a overpriced gimmick Krell is pushing on it's consumers to stay in the augio game. I am also not keen on purchasing a DAC that will just complicate my analog set-up.

I am currently running a recapped C-28 (Mcintosh) preamp, Mcintosh MC-2155 amp, and my laptop is connected via it's headphone jack into the back of my preamp's aux input. I have read about "audiophile"-like tubed ipod set-ups (preamp/amp from FATMAN) but I am not willing to rid myself of my Mcintosh gear or spend $700 on an mass produced, over-hyped, over-priced set-up from China.

There has to be a solution out there that I can use with my current set-up without robbing my wallet or sacrificing my source components.

Any suggestions?

Thanks.
splittie

Showing 1 response by jax2

jax2
3,031 posts
 
All the iPod solutions but one still rely upon the less than stellar iPod DAC to convert the digits. Even the RedWine line-output option (which I believe renders the headphone jack useless (converts it to line-out), still uses the internal DAC. The one company out there taking the digital signal out of the iPod charges over 2K to do so, which is ridiculous IMO for a device that has a limited MTBF. I'm with T_Bone; get a USB DAC. There are plenty out there that will give your transport/player a run for its money. I like the Paraisea at around $600. Other options exist at the same pricepoint (Lavry, April Music, and others).

Marco
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