[crazysgt]

After much reading, I am more confused than informed. My son is wanting an amp for his 7th gen 160gb classic ipod. Can some of u recommend some equipment. Do I need to be looking for usb dacs, lod, or what? Dont need anything costing thousands of dollars. Just nice sounding stuff. Thanks for all the help.

 

[Duncan]

...Moved to the portable amps section
 
...AFAIK unless you spend a LOT of money, there is no point in getting a DAC for an 'i' product, but sure the guys and gals in this forum will set you straight

 

[zombywoof]

After much reading, I am more confused than informed. My son is wanting an amp for his 7th gen 160gb classic ipod. Can some of u recommend some equipment. Do I need to be looking for usb dacs, lod, or what? Dont need anything costing thousands of dollars. Just nice sounding stuff. Thanks for all the help.

I have the following set-up: 160Gb iPod Classic > Fiio L9 > JDS C5 Amp > Shure SE535.  The C5 is a top performer at this price point (<$200).  The service from JDS Labs is first rate...tell them what source yo have and they will recommend the best fit.  My understanding it that a DAC will not offer any benefits with an Apple product not using iOS7.  The C5 (amp only - no DAC) bypasses the amp on the iPod wen you use the LOD.

 

[H20Fidelity]

After much reading, I am more confused than informed. My son is wanting an amp for his 7th gen 160gb classic ipod. Can some of u recommend some equipment. Do I need to be looking for usb dacs, lod, or what? Dont need anything costing thousands of dollars. Just nice sounding stuff. Thanks for all the help.

What you need to purchase is two things.

1) Portable headphone Amp
2) Line out dock (LOD)

There's cables made by a company called FiiO which plug into the bottom of the classics and get you a direct line out to feed the amp, this bypasses the amp section of the headphone out and supposedly gives you a cleaner signal.

Observe: FiiO's L9 LOD.




They're not very expensive probably around $15 if that.

Then you need to look at purchasing an amp, FiiO also make amps, such as FiiO E11 which is around $60 depending where you buy, has low/high gain, some bass boost feature. Now this will work well and do what you want to achieve however E11 only runs for about 12-14 hours a charge and personally I feel there's better sounding amps for just a little more. For a little bit more (about $100 USD) there's another little amp that'll run for 80 hours a charge, it has some nifty features, such as low/high gain, bass boost, and soundstage expansion, it also supports dual outputs so a friend can listen at the same time, not only this, it does sound great, I actually use one daily. I'll give you a link to have a read about it.

There's other more expensive amps like JDS Labs C5 and sub $200 options which has been mentioned but for your first amp it might be wise to only trickle in and keep around $100. Here's a link to the amp I recommend.

80 hour C&C BH amp. 

http://www.head-fi.org/t/644363/c-c-bh-portable-headphone-amp-80-hours-from-a-single-charge-buyer-review

And here's another link to the sub $100 amp shoot out.

http://www.head-fi.org/t/596482/the-sub-100-portable-amps-shootout-11-1-amps-compared

Goodluck
 

 

[zombywoof]

I agree that the B&H and Fiio E11 are good at their price point, having had both of them, but I believe the SQ of the 160 Gb iPod > Fiio L9 > JSD C5 to be far better than either of these lower price alternatives.
 
I also think it matters what type of headphones or IEM's the son is using.  The originator of the thread doesn't say.  Spending any $$ on an amp if you are using the OTB Apple buds is probably not a good idea.  If the price of the amp is an issue, a headphone/IEM upgrade may be more palatable, and get you more SQ improvement for your $$.  Personally, I would spend my $$ on good headphones/IEMs before investing in an amp.

 

[crazysgt]

  I agree that the B&H and Fiio E11 are good at their price point, having had both of them, but I believe the SQ of the 160 Gb iPod > Fiio L9 > JSD C5 to be far better than either of these lower price alternatives.
 
I also think it matters what type of headphones or IEM's the son is using.  The originator of the thread doesn't say.  Spending any $$ on an amp if you are using the OTB Apple buds is probably not a good idea.  If the price of the amp is an issue, a headphone/IEM upgrade may be more palatable, and get you more SQ improvement for your $$.  Personally, I would spend my $$ on good headphones/IEMs before investing in an amp.

Sorry not mentioning his IEM's.  I think they are vsonic gr07.  I have considered the JDS C5.  Is a higher priced LOD necessary?  Couldnt he just use a cheaper LOD from the Ipod, and go to the C5, then to IEM?  What difference, actually, would it be using a cheaper one?  He would like to keep it fairly compact.  Any links to products recommended are much appreciated.

 

[zombywoof]

  Sorry not mentioning his IEM's.  I think they are vsonic gr07.  I have considered the JDS C5.  Is a higher priced LOD necessary?  Couldnt he just use a cheaper LOD from the Ipod, and go to the C5, then to IEM?  What difference, actually, would it be using a cheaper one?  He would like to keep it fairly compact.  Any links to products recommended are much appreciated.

I have not heard the C5 with the Vsonic, but someone else probably has this combo and can comment.
 
Getting the music from the iPod to the C5 can be accomplished in two ways.  You can use a 3.5 mm >3.5 mm cable.  This takes amplified sound from the iPod headphone out jack, and feeds into the input on the C5 where it is amplified again.  In this arrangement the volume control on the iPod will still be functional, as will the volume control on the amp.  The preferred way, and the way to get the full advantage of the generally superior amplifier in the C5 compared to the amplifier in the iPod, is to use a line out dock cable which is a 30 pin (for docking connector on iPod) > 3.5 mm.  In this arrangement, you will bypass the amplifier on the iPod (the volume control on the iPod will no longer function), and be feeding an unamplified analog signal directly to the C5, taking full advantage of the SQ of the C5.  A photo of my rig is below.  If you are going to go the route of an external amplifier, the small investment (about $10 on Amazon) for the Fiio L9 cable is necessary, in my opinion.  (Just type Fiio L9 in the Amazon search box.)  If you decide to go with the C5, I believe JDS Labs sells the Fiio L9 on their site.
 

 
Some folks claim that the custom LOD cables improve SQ.  I am not one of them.  The Fiio LOD cable is well made and inexpensive...does the job.  I have had one for almost two years with out ever having any problems.  The custom LOD cables can be in the $100-$200 price range.  If I had that kind of $$$ available, my choice would be to upgrade headphones/IEMs.
 
Hope this helps.

 

[FiJAAS]

I have not heard the C5 with the Vsonic, but someone else probably has this combo and can comment.

Getting the music from the iPod to the C5 can be accomplished in two ways.  You can use a 3.5 mm >3.5 mm cable.  This takes amplified sound from the iPod headphone out jack, and feeds into the input on the C5 where it is amplified again.  In this arrangement the volume control on the iPod will still be functional, as will the volume control on the amp.  The preferred way, and the way to get the full advantage of the generally superior amplifier in the C5 compared to the amplifier in the iPod, is to use a line out dock cable which is a 30 pin (for docking connector on iPod) > 3.5 mm.  In this arrangement, you will bypass the amplifier on the iPod (the volume control on the iPod will no longer function), and be feeding an unamplified analog signal directly to the C5, taking full advantage of the SQ of the C5.  A photo of my rig is below.  If you are going to go the route of an external amplifier, the small investment (about $10 on Amazon) for the Fiio L9 cable is necessary, in my opinion.  (Just type Fiio L9 in the Amazon search box.)  If you decide to go with the C5, I believe JDS Labs sells the Fiio L9 on their site.




Some folks claim that the custom LOD cables improve SQ.  I am not one of them.  The Fiio LOD cable is well made and inexpensive...does the job.  I have had one for almost two years with out ever having any problems.  The custom LOD cables can be in the $100-$200 price range.  If I had that kind of $$$ available, my choice would be to upgrade headphones/IEMs.

Hope this helps.

Hey I have a question? What do you have your C5 wrapped in?

 

[H20Fidelity]

Hey I have a question? What do you have your C5 wrapped in?

This: http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Flexible-Car-Non-Slip-Anti-slip-Dash-Mat-board-Phone-Key-Holder-Black-215x188mm-/200854301442?pt=AU_Car_Parts_Accessories&hash=item2ec3d96b02&_uhb=1

Not sure where the member sources red in colour though.

I use it also (in black) between my amps. Great stuff.

 

[zombywoof]

Hey I have a question? What do you have your C5 wrapped in?

The material I used is a perforated foam shelf liner that my wife had left over from the kitchen cabinets.  Actually, I believe it is similar to the material identified by H2O, but sold in a roll.  All I did was cut a rectangle the same length as the C5, and with width long enough to wrap completely around the C5.  I wrapped the piece of shelf liner around the C5, temporarily held the ends together with some electrical tape, and placed my iPod on top of the taped side.  With the elastic band in place everything stays together nicely.  Here is another pic that with a better view of the material.

A happy coincidence that my C5 is red and the shelf liner was red.  One would not want to go out of the house with a portable rig that is not color coordinated.