The wadia i170 does not have a dac. It's only purpose is to bypass the dac in the ipod and send the digial signal to an outboard dac. The sound quality of the wadia i170 is dependent on the dac you use. The better the dac the better the sound you get. I have my wadia i170 greatnothern sound co. mod unit hooked up to my wadia 521 gns mod dac. The sound is pretty good about as good as mid-fi cd transport 1500 to 3000. It best to transfer your music in apples lossess.
Understanding the Wadia 170i Transport
Trying to understand this device and the benefits it can provide. Perhaps those who are using it, or have used it, can help. My questions are,
1) If the Wadia 170i unit itself has its own internal DAC, why is it necessary to use an external DAC to truly benefit its high rez digital output?
2) If using an external DAC, and in order to benefit its high rez digital signal, should it be connected only thru digital output (from external DAC) to the preamp, int-amp, or receiver? Or can it go analog RCA from external DAC to any of said components (using high quality IC's of course)?
2) If using only Wadia 170i's analog RCA output (without external DAC), is it the same as using a mass market iPod dock with analog RCA output? If not the same, is there really a superior sonic performance.
I'm interested only about the audio performance for lossless playback, not video. Thanks in advance.
1) If the Wadia 170i unit itself has its own internal DAC, why is it necessary to use an external DAC to truly benefit its high rez digital output?
2) If using an external DAC, and in order to benefit its high rez digital signal, should it be connected only thru digital output (from external DAC) to the preamp, int-amp, or receiver? Or can it go analog RCA from external DAC to any of said components (using high quality IC's of course)?
2) If using only Wadia 170i's analog RCA output (without external DAC), is it the same as using a mass market iPod dock with analog RCA output? If not the same, is there really a superior sonic performance.
I'm interested only about the audio performance for lossless playback, not video. Thanks in advance.