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Thought this would be a worthwhile thread. Although I am one of many that prefer physical media, lately I've been trying to take my mobile music to the next level. I use a 6G 160GB iPod Classic, mostly for while working out, riding on a plane, etc. I'll also plug it into my car, and at times also use it with my office music system, where I use a stack of Parasound Zcustom equipment in a Zcube rack. There's a few ways of doing this. At first, I was using a 1/8" to 1/8" cable from the headphone output to the 1/8" input on the Zcd player. Then I bought a cable that goes from the 1/8" headphone output to stereo RCA inputs, so I had a separate input on the Zpre2. I also like to use an iPod dock made by URC, called the PSX-1 (or PSX-2) that has normal stereo outputs. The advantage of this is, I also specialize in programming URC remotes, and use a high end graphical URC remote that interfaces with the iPod dock and unlocks additional iPod features and streams 2-way metadata. Also cool because it can pull iTunes straight from a computer on the network. Primary problem with the PSX-1 dock is, it locks out the face of the iPod, where I am in the process of reviewing and rating every single song in my library (over 30,000 and counting).
So one of the things I've added recently is a mobile headphone amp, with Line Output Dock (LOD) cable from the iPod. Primarily what the cable does is improve the sound by taking the audio out of the LOD instead of the cheap headphone jack DAC. I'll add more info and pics soon, after I've completed my break-in and evaluation of various new components.
Talking with Bob McDonald from Parasound at CEDIA, I was showing him my iPod setup and telling him how I use it with Parasound gear. He pointed out that the ideal way to do this would be to have an iPod dock with a digital output, that could go to the Zdac for perfection in digital conversion. I wasn't aware of any, but he told me about the Pure i-20 dock, which seems to be the cheapest one out there that has a digital output. $90 on Amazon right now, so I'm tempted to try it out. http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0049MOK92/...I3ET84BX9LO7Y9
I'll add pictures of some of my gear soon. But I'm curious if others are integrating MP3 players into their setups, and if so, what gear and connections you're using to make it happen.
So one of the things I've added recently is a mobile headphone amp, with Line Output Dock (LOD) cable from the iPod. Primarily what the cable does is improve the sound by taking the audio out of the LOD instead of the cheap headphone jack DAC. I'll add more info and pics soon, after I've completed my break-in and evaluation of various new components.
Talking with Bob McDonald from Parasound at CEDIA, I was showing him my iPod setup and telling him how I use it with Parasound gear. He pointed out that the ideal way to do this would be to have an iPod dock with a digital output, that could go to the Zdac for perfection in digital conversion. I wasn't aware of any, but he told me about the Pure i-20 dock, which seems to be the cheapest one out there that has a digital output. $90 on Amazon right now, so I'm tempted to try it out. http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0049MOK92/...I3ET84BX9LO7Y9
I'll add pictures of some of my gear soon. But I'm curious if others are integrating MP3 players into their setups, and if so, what gear and connections you're using to make it happen.
