jcmusic Posted January 25, 2007 Share Posted January 25, 2007 Ok guys I would like to hear from some of the guys that know about this sort of thing. I have setup my ipod to run through my 2 channel system, it sounds great I can not tell the difference between it and a CD. My question is about the output of the ipod, it is I am told at 30 m/watts per channel RMS. Which is fine I have no problem with that, am I hurting anything by running the ipod through my system with such a low output? Like am I possibly overdriving the pre-amp, seeing how I have to turn it up more than with other source's? Jay Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
feersum dreadnot Posted January 25, 2007 Share Posted January 25, 2007 I doubt you are overdriving anything - if you were, you should hear the problem. When I use my ipod though the front inputs on my reciever, I set the ipod volume ~1/3 - 1/2 way up on volume, then control system volume through the reciever. that way you keep the output of the ipod at a clean level, and let the system do the rest. When I've done A/B comparisions, (lo tech, I don't have a way to truely match levels between ipod and CD), I can tell the difference. I'd be surprised if you can't also notice a difference. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jcmusic Posted January 25, 2007 Author Share Posted January 25, 2007 I can tell the difference in volume, but not in sound quality. Jay Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dbflash Posted January 25, 2007 Share Posted January 25, 2007 Never really thought about it before. I turn the volume up all the way when using my iPod in both my car and stereo. I do this in the car mainly so its close to the level of the radio when i power up my stereo without the iPod. Have been doing it this way for over two years with no problems. Danny Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jcmusic Posted January 25, 2007 Author Share Posted January 25, 2007 Danny, When I use it in my 2 chanel system I also use a dock, and when you connect through the dock the volume becomes line level I think. You have no control over it when connected to the dock. Jay Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kaiser SET say Posted January 25, 2007 Share Posted January 25, 2007 You are correct Canyon, when going through the dock you are coming right off the drive and by-passing the headphone amps section of your Pod. I use the Ray Samuel's Hornet amp through a mini/portable dock on the bottom of my unit and when recording lossless (you do loose a lot of space) but what you do have going from the HDD through the amp and into mu Shure EC's is the bomb for portable listening[] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jcmusic Posted January 25, 2007 Author Share Posted January 25, 2007 kaiser what do you mean? but what you do have going from the HDD through the amp and into mu Shure Jay Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dbflash Posted January 25, 2007 Share Posted January 25, 2007 Jay, I use an adapter that plugs into the earphone jack on one end and the other end is a pair of female rca plugs. I then plug a pair of IC from my pre into those. In the car I have a cable that plugs into the bottom of the Ipod where the AC charger plugs in. It plays thru the car stereo and also charges it at the same time. I listen to the iPod about 6 hours aday at work using headphones. The battery has never died yet. I no nothing about the docks. Someday I may get one. Later, Danny Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
russ69 Posted January 25, 2007 Share Posted January 25, 2007 Jay, If you ipod sounds like your CD player, I would guess your system has some serious weaknesses. I'm not saying the ipod isn't half decent but I would question your scource and CD player. Are you saying "red book" CD's sound the same as music downloaded on your pod or compressed CD's sound the same as your pod????????/ Thanx, Russ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kaiser SET say Posted January 25, 2007 Share Posted January 25, 2007 Jay, mu was a typo and supposed to be my! This is the portable dock I speak of http://www.sendstation.com/us/products/pocketdock/lineout-usb.html that pulls tracks right off the HDD or line out as you say. I run a mini jack cable from the mini out into the input of the Hornet amp http://www.raysamuelsaudio.com/index2.html scroll down to the Hornet. As far as I'm concerned or IMHO this setup with lossless recording may just be the best available for iPod listening on the go[] By recording lossless at a high bit rate and by-passing the iPods headphone amp alltogether you are at what I call the pinnacle of portable sound but then again it's just my opinion here[] Of course I've been eyeing those new Shure 500's with the mute switch on the cable lead and then I'll have $1250.00 wrapped up in my portable rig and by all rights it should sound good for that much[] I saw somewhere but I don't recall and tube loaded iPod docking pre amp that looked like the ticket if your serious about putting your iPod into your high end two channel rig! Does this madness ever end[] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jcmusic Posted January 25, 2007 Author Share Posted January 25, 2007 Danny, The dock also charges as it plays, and like you said before it has a mini plug in the rear that attaches to rca ic's and then to the pre-amp. Russ, Let me clear a few things up for you, first I have imported all of my music from CD's to my computer in WAV format. That is uncompressed 1411kbps. Second I imported all of my music onto the ipod the same way, CD quality 1411kbps. Therefore when listening you can not tell the difference between the ipod and the CD's. Jay Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jcmusic Posted January 25, 2007 Author Share Posted January 25, 2007 Hey kaiser, That is some way cool looking stuff, the one is a little pricey. The Hornet seems to be the ticket for the ipod. Jay Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest " " Posted January 25, 2007 Share Posted January 25, 2007 Ok guys I would like to hear from some of the guys that know about this sort of thing. I have setup my ipod to run through my 2 channel system, it sounds great I can not tell the difference between it and a CD. My question is about the output of the ipod, it is I am told at 30 m/watts per channel RMS. Which is fine I have no problem with that, am I hurting anything by running the ipod through my system with such a low output? Like am I possibly overdriving the pre-amp, seeing how I have to turn it up more than with other source's? Jay The last time I checked, the IPOD can drive and amp input to .9 volts. So, if you are using it into a power amp, that requires 1 volts input for full power output, you are fine, you will just reach 90% of your amps rated power. However, if you are connecting to a line stage input of a pre-amp or reciever, normally designed to accept .15 volts, you could overload the input if your excessive on the IPOD volume wheel. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest " " Posted January 25, 2007 Share Posted January 25, 2007 Ok guys I would like to hear from some of the guys that know about this sort of thing. I have setup my ipod to run through my 2 channel system, it sounds great I can not tell the difference between it and a CD. My question is about the output of the ipod, it is I am told at 30 m/watts per channel RMS. Which is fine I have no problem with that, am I hurting anything by running the ipod through my system with such a low output? Like am I possibly overdriving the pre-amp, seeing how I have to turn it up more than with other source's? Jay The last time I checked, the IPOD can drive and amp input to .9 volts. So, if you are using it into a power amp, that requires 1 volts input for full power output, you are fine, you will just reach 90% of your amps rated power. However, if you are connecting to a line stage input of a pre-amp or reciever, normally designed to accept .15 volts, you could overload the input if your excessive on the IPOD volume wheel. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kaiser SET say Posted January 25, 2007 Share Posted January 25, 2007 Indeed Jay, actually Wes Phillips over at Stereophile swears by the SR-71 at about $50.00 more and compares it to having your Pod running through a class A amp! It's a little bigger and not quite as flexible as the Hornet, not sure how deep you read but Ray came up with the Hornet based on user request for smaller/weight, batt impl and my favorite feature is the gain switch he incorporated on the back of the unit[] Indeed Ray makes a fine product with impeccable build and sound quality[] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
russ69 Posted January 25, 2007 Share Posted January 25, 2007 Jay, It sounds like you are feeding the ipod a good data set and getting the most out of it. And to tell you the truth, I'm talking out of my #ss because I haven't heard your set-up. But in my mind, I have to question how your home system is resolving if a "lowly" portable sounds as good as a quality CD player. The difference would not be in the data or decoding but more in the lower quality A/D amp of the ipod. Everything has a sonic signature so your home player and cable must be matching the sound of your ipod? I'm still talking without hearing but I'm fairly certain my system would show the weaknesses of a portable player. I'm guessing? The biggest differences would be at the frequency extremes, lows not as tight and the top end losing some "air". Thanx, Russ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jcmusic Posted January 25, 2007 Author Share Posted January 25, 2007 Well Russ like you say you can not hear it, so it would be really hard for you to be able to make that kinda statement; with any accuracy. I listen to my system everyday that I am home, I have a pretty good feel for how it sounds from the sources I use. I admit I do no have the best CDP in the world, but it sounds far from bad or terrible. The ipod is playing music taken from the same CD's I use in the player. Now if there is some loss in the transfering of the music, well I can't hear it. Maybe I am all together wrong, but I don't think so. I know what the music sounded like on the same system with the same ipod, using a different format. Going from 320kbps to 1411 kbps is a huge leap in sound quality, I don't see why you can't understand that. When I played the ipod at 320kbps I could hear the compression instantly, just as playing it at 1411kbps the difference is eye popping. I am not saying that this is the end all of ways to listen to music, just that uncompressed or CD quality music played through a quality system results in a very nice sounding sound. As far as I can tell or hear, it also sounds pretty accurate. Futher listening may yield more information, and a different opinion that remains to be determined. I will follow up as I am curious to know for sure myself. I don't know a whole lot about the ipod, other than how to load it and play it. As for spec's and what not I have a limited knowledge, but if it sounds right chances are it is; at least to me. Maybe you should get an ipod and try it for yourself, before you decide that it can't sound that good. Or maybe it is your system, that just will not sound right. Jay Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
klipschaholik Posted January 25, 2007 Share Posted January 25, 2007 I use my nano regularly for two channel in the bedroom with a Sonic T amp and a pair of heresys and frankly I think the sound quality is good. Now maybe your audiophile ears can hear better than mine but for the flexibility afforded and the cost it's a great deal. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jcmusic Posted January 26, 2007 Author Share Posted January 26, 2007 klipschaholik, Were you addressing me? I don't think my ears are any better than your's or anyone else's, I happen to agree with you as for the sound quality. I invite anyone who wants to come hear it for themselves, I am not an expert on the subject; but I think I know what sounds good when I hear it and what sounds bad when I hear it. Anyway I like the way it sounds, and that's all the really matters. Jay Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kaiser SET say Posted January 26, 2007 Share Posted January 26, 2007 I believe Klipschaholic was addressing Russ as I too have run my iPod mini through my system coming off my portable dock (remember Russ this is the equivilent to a line level out as it's pulling the data right off the hard drive going this route) I have already mentioned with the AQ mini to RCA's and it sounds "Pretty Darn Good" thank you George "Brandon Frazier" of the Jungle[] Russ, please see my signature as I consider my rig fairly resolving[] Jay, I'm am also sure yours sounds good also[] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.