Economical alternative to Wadia ipod dock?

I tried the Wadia and found it ergonomicaly inept. Its a great concept, but not user friendly at all IMO. I don't want to have to control it using the iPod, and the remote is worthless.

That leads me to (haven't bought it yet) the Apple TV. Think of it as a large (physically, not capacity) iPod with a Toslink digital output. Very easy to set up and control, and because it uses its own internal memory, no computer needs to be running. That also means no dropouts due to interference. The Apple TV can be controlled using a TV and/or an iPhone/iPod touch.

Going straight out of a computer is a great idea, if its not practical in his situation, the Apple TV should work very well. I played around with one at the Apple store, but they didn't have the larger one in stock at the time. I've been meaning to pick on up but haven't gotten around to it.

Also, don't base your decision on the Apple TV on the store employees. They have no idea what they're talking about regarding it. A team of 3 people all gave me contradicting info that they argued about. Among other things, they all told me that the iPhone/Touch can't control it. They also told me a universal remote like a Harmony can't. Wrong on both accounts.

Mdrummer,

This stuff isn't easy to figure out at first. Then the more you figure out, the more complicated it gets IMO. What don't you understand? I'm sure some of us can help you out.

The DacMagic is very well reviewed. I haven't heard it, so no comment on it. There's a ton of different settings. Like everything else in this hobby, try them and see which works best in your/his space.

As Wrtickle said, make sure his music files are uncompressed. If he's using a lossy format, nothing will make it sound better. Make sure he's copying his music with something along the lines of Apple Lossless, FLAC, etc.

As I mentioned before, I really like the Apple TV. It makes things very easy. I hate the technical and computer aspect of this hobby, and I find the Apple TV to be very good and worth the money. Its far more flexible than the Wadia iTransport and a bit cheaper.