2. pc-audio
  3. 1142977572

My Sister wants an i-pod

I told her nooooooooooo!!!

But, i-pods are so darn convenient. And cute. From reading some of the posts here, it seems like there is a way to get better than decent sound from one (i.e. don't buy mp3's; transfer your CD's onto your i-pod using some form of lossless software, don't compress, purchase Ultimate Ears headphones...)

My question is: Can one get good (or, near great) sound from an i-pod? How? What does she need to purchase? [Ok, that was three questions.] Also, am I on the right track (with my sommary of posts read)? She has some favorite CD's, but (at 40 years old) she probably only has 50 or 75 CD's in toto... It seems a 20 or 40 Gig i-pod would go a long way for her. Money is always an issue, but I want to know what is the (nearly) absolute best way to listen to well-reproduced music on an i-pod; we'll scale down from there if necessary.

For your information: My "reference system" consists of Stax electrostatic headphones, an Adcom power amp, an old (it needs replacing) Adcom CD player, and MIT-500 interconnects. Great "portable" system for when I'm out of town for a month or two...

My sister is a good girl; I want to stear her in the right (audiophile) direction. Thanks in advance for your help.
delsfan

Showing 1 response by ckorody

ckorody
643 posts
 
Secret sauce recipe.

Get iPod 40Gb 'cause it doesn't pay to underestimate the fun

Use iTunes - Apple Lossless/Error Correction on

I find it useful to clean the CDs but maybe she is neat

NOW for the secret part - which is going to cost you. You need to get an adapter that fits on the bottom of the unit in the USB/power jack. Three or four out there, basically all the same. (Google for SendStation Pocket Dock - there are others)

This gives you a line out signal - no doubt about it much better then the headphone out you get through the mini on the top. BUT there's a catch - there is no volume control for the line-out on the iPod.

BTW you plug mini to RCA into that. Or you can go to Drew at Moon Audio and have him build you a custom dock with a stereo pair which will sound great.... http://www.moon-audio.com/

But still no volume control

Point being that she'll be fine with a system that has a volume control but... For straight headphone use let her use the free earbuds and don't overanalyze it - she will be thrilled... 20+ million people are - when she loses them you can get her something better

BTW the very cognoscenti say that the iPod Photo (Gen 4) has a better internal DAC then the iPod Video (current) so if you are a really great brother you may want to hunt down one of those....
More to discover