Do I need a DAC for iPod?

as you may know a dac means digital to analogue convertor. there is one in every digital device that you can attach some rcas out to your amp. so your cd has one, your computer has one, ipad, tablet etc. the ipod has one but the issue for some people is the one inside the ipod isn't the best sounding. the optimum goal is to go bypass the ipod dac and get a dock that extracts the digital signal and sends it to your amp. then there are a couple of ways to go. buy a good quality dac for your dock or buy a dock that has a good dac in it. i use a pure 1-20 that costs 99 bucks and sounds as good as a good cd player. then there are other docks made by hrt, wadia, cambridge, onkyo and others that go into the hundreds of dollars and deliver even better sound quality. with your system a 99 dollar expense is well worth checking out imo. hope that helps

good pt facten. if you want the best sound quality you must go into settings on itunes and set it up right. i use aiff and error correction on and my ipod is a great source. jeff, maybe go to computer audiophile for some articles on this for more information.

right, pure offers 30 day guarantee as does music direct and audio advisor on the units they sell.

jeff, go to import settings in itunes. chose a lossless setting i would recommend. it will take more memory but the sound quality is worth it to me at least. then check the box for error correction. this will help with the rip. i chose to use aiff but some people like wav especially if the use computers other than apple. check out some articles in computer audiophile or ilounge about this before you spend hours ripping cds.when buying from itunes there is a way to request 256kbps. it is always easy to compress but no way to add data that isn't there to begin with. good luck john