pure ipod dock

Can anyone explain how the pure dock allows volume control on a supposedly all digital signal ???? How is that possible ???

05-18-11: Badwisdom
Can anyone explain how the pure dock allows volume control on a supposedly all digital signal ???? How is that possible ???

your mind is stuck in the analog domain method of volume control which you are trying to attach to a digital signal & are getting totally confused!! ;-)
Digital volume control has been done by Wadia since they were founded back in 1988! You do digital volume control by increasing/decreasing the bit width of the digital signal - longer bit length = higher volume, shorter bit length = lower volume. Hope that this helps.

Sorry, yes you are right, the Wadia doesnt have a DAC,it only allows you to hook up to a DAC and avoids the use of the inboard Ipod DAC. I could have just looked up at my set up to have seen that. Its been a while since I hooked it up.

The PURE i-20 has several outputs: analog stereo from its internal DAC, digital coax, digital optical and component video. The most interesting one is the digital coax because it allows you to set up a high-quality connection with an external DAC. It bypasses the iPod's internal converter and headphone amp and delivers a signal that sounds just as good to me as my best Redbook transport's.

Of course the Wadia unit has been able to do this for a while now, but at a higher price. There is news of a Cambridge Audio dock with a digital output as well.

The i-20's internal DAC's output is not as high-quality as the coax digital output but it is respectable enough, sounding at least as good to my ears as an Oppo 970 player.

Bombaywalla,

i know that Accuphase and Wadia players have this kind of digital control, but whats weird on the Pure dock is that only latest iPod generation allow for that volume control, its completely disabled on ipod touch and iphone...

And unless im mistaken, other docks also disable volume control when using digital out (wadia & onkyo for ex)

Cheers