one main reason that i bought the iDecco was for the convenience of a bedroom system. a dedicated ipod makes sense, but unless i get the ipod touch, i wouldn't be able to listen to internet radio like pandora (not the best quality, but again very convenient). not sure the sound quality from a iphone is necessary worse than a ipod touch or the other ipod, especially through iDecco (Wadia iTransport) that extract digital signals directly from iphone/ipod and bypass the internal DAC. so the iphone is basically just serving as storage. plus, almost everybody has an iphone, and why buy the ipod touch or another ipod when iphone pretty much does the same thing and more? that's why even wadia came out with their new iTransport 171 and advertise "iphone compatibility" as their selling point.
if i want to use my computer as a music server, i would've saved myself $200 and buy the Decco 2 or splurge and buy the Nova or something fancier like the Wyred4Sound DAC2. putting a computer in the bedroom is not ideal, especially with all the extra heat it can generate. i do have a computer-based system already in my office using the MHDT lab Paradisea DAC and Celestion speakers with pretty good result.
anyway, for other iDecco users, please post other iPod or iPhone models that you've tried on the iDecco without any issue despite that it's not listed as one of the compatible model.
please also list the power amp you are using to drive it if you are using a separate amp.
thanks. |
The squeezebox touch seems intriguing, might have to look into that. Thanks. |
Apple TV seems to be a decent alternative to Squeezebox Touch. I checked one out at the Apple store recently, it seemed to run pretty hot to touch. Also no Pandora is a downside (although you can get Pandora indirectly through Airfoil). There's also rumors that the next generation cheaper Apple TV is about to come out...
BTW, the iDecco's sound is probably on the slightly warmer side, especially through the tube output (you also have the option of switching off the tube). it's really a great overall package, and will only improve more based on what I have read if you add separate power amps later. |
not sure if bryston b60 has a home theater bypass mode, if it does, you can acutally use it as a power amp to drive the peachtree if needed. but sounds like space is going to be a constraint, if that's the case i think iDecco or Decco 2 is probably sufficient. i'm still not sure if nova is worth the extra money since you get the same preamp and dac, the only differences are the 80 watt vs 40 watt and more inputs. unless you don't see adding a separate power amp ever as an option or need all the extra inputs, save yourself some money and go with Decco 2. i was debating between iDecco and Decco 2 and went with iDecco because of the extra flexibility of using a iPod/iPhone. since Apple TV does not have Pandora, it's still very convenient to just open up Pandora in my iPhone and mount it on the iDecco. plus, iDecco pretty much has everything Decco 2 has + the iPod dock, it was worth the $200 extra for me. |
Naim UnitiQute seems like an interesting product, especially with the build-in internet radio. Not sure if it's $1000 better than the Peachtree though. Right now I can do internet radio with my iPhone. One interesting I saw on the Naim UnitiQute website was that it's supposed to extract digital data from the iPod through a standard usb port (Apple authenticated), using a standard usb-iPod connector cable that comes with every iPod. This is quite interesting indeed. If it were that easy to implement, why aren't more manufacturers of usb dacs coming out with it? Why are we spending all these money for the Wadia iTransport or the iDecco? why can't the Peachtree implement the iPod digital extraction through its USB port of the dac portion? |
Hi Rockn, if possible, can you describe the difference in sound between driving the Forest directly with iDecco and driving them with iDecco + McCormack? i'm also a huge fan of Totem. i own the Mite, Staff, and a surround system with the Arros and Dreamcatchers. |
Just want to update this thread to report that I recently upgraded my iPhone 3G to iOS 4.1 and noticed a compatibility problem with the iDecco. Now in addition to a pop-up window that says "this device is not optimized for iPhone", a 2nd window would pop up saying "this accessory is not compatible with iPhone". I was able to close both windows, and after a while, the music did play through iDecco, but with intermittent interruptions. It's very similar to when you connect and disconnect your iPhone to the charging cable repeatedly. I never had this problem when I was running iOS 3.1.3 or even the newer iOS 4.0.2. I ended up downgrading my iPhone 3G back to iOS 3.1.3, and the problem went away. Not sure if this is an issue with the new iOS 4.1 in general or the combination of iPhone 3G running iOS 4.1 in particular. Not sure if it applies to iPhone 4 or iPod touch (2nd-4th generation) running OS 4.1. For other iDecco owners, if you have any iPhone or iPod touch running iOS 4.1, can you see if you experience similar problem and post back. Thanks. |
I actually emailed Peachtree Audio about this problem, but haven't heard back. Not sure if they have any customer support at all. |
The key here is "convenience". I bought the iDecco because I already have an iPhone, not the other way around. The iDecco is used as a bedroom system for occasionaly listening, not meant to be the best option for the ultimate music server solution. If I wanted to build the best music server solution, I probably would go with a mac mini, which can support higher-rez files while iPod and Apple TV only play files up to 24bit/48Hz. iPhone is also convenient in that it runs Pandora, which neither iPod classic nor Apple TV supports. In addition, when I checked out Apple TV (the one with 160gb HD) in the store, I noticed that it ran very hot, too hot for use in a bedroom. |
Here's a thread on Apple Discussions forum where a lot of people are having the same problem with Wadia, iDecco, and many car stereo units. The problem is not limited to iPhone, but also with iPod touch. Music playback issue after iOS 4.1 update |
finally got an email back from peachtree audio. they are already aware of the issue with iOS 4.1, and supposedly has brought it to apple's attention to fix it with next iOS update. |
