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Pure i-20 iPod/iPhone Dock as a DAC
Jan 31, 2011 at 12:15 PM Post #46 of 554
Wow...this looks like a great product for cheap. Would anyone please kindly confirm that:
1) the I-20 works with Iphone 3gs to extract its digital signal and produce digital pass-through and analog output?
2) Also what exactly does the remote control do (switch between songs and volume control)?
Thanks a lot. 
 
Feb 1, 2011 at 4:32 PM Post #49 of 554
I may buy this, just what I need, so far I only know about Onkyo and Wadia that has true digital output.
 
One quick question, can the iPod be used normally when docked, or do I have to use the remote?
 
Feb 1, 2011 at 7:23 PM Post #50 of 554


Quote:
cliffroyroycole said:
 
Okay, the i-20 (using the internal DAC into a digital amp, a T-Amp) sound is a little warmer, less "digital" than the sound direct from the LOD to the amp (using a mini to RCA cable). However, the LOD direct to the amp isn't horrible, not at all. But again, it entails having to be near the iPod to change songs, volume, pause, etc. The LOD cost me $40, and the i-20 is $99. I guess the question is this: Is the incremental SQ difference and the convenience worth the price difference? Of course, the LOD also is portable in terms of using it with an iPod/iPhone and a portable HP amp, something the i-20 is not made for.
 
So it's a trade-off. I even tried the LOD first, before I bought the i-20, but decided that I needed the functionality of the i-20 for my purposes (an office and living room setup).
Click to expand...

thanks a lot for the quick reply!
 
so when judging the two by sound quality only,  would you say the digital sounds definitively better/more accurately reproduced, or just different from the LOD.
 
to me, "warmer and less digital" would be like comparing a solid state to a tube amp.. more of a preference, than a "better or worse" asessment. 
 
i would use this with a JH3A: ipod touch to lod to jh3a, and im wondering if i should spend the extra $100 for digital use at home, or just stick with the LOD.
 
of course i could also use the digital out on the integrated sound card of my PC, but it just seems to me like there is a lot of room for noise or "jitter" to come through a PC compared to a digital out from an ipod like this product.
 
 
 
Feb 7, 2011 at 5:03 PM Post #52 of 554


Quote:
pinoyman said:
anymore reviews from users/owners here?
Click to expand...


I did an A/B comparison between the Pure i-20 and a Cambridge Audio DacMagic today.  The Pure i-20 was being fed Apple lossless files from a 160 GB iPod Classic.  The DacMagic was being fed the same exact files via iTunes streamed wirelessly to an airport express using the optical digital out.  Compared many passages of my favorite list of high fidelity recordings.  Amazingly, the volume between the two sources matched exactly (to my ears anyway).  The amp was a Matrix m-stage running a GD-Audio OPA-SUN opamp.  Headphones were AKG K702s.  The Matrix has two inputs and a front Source 1 & 2 switch.  So, I could switch sources on the fly.
 
Bottom-line:  I could hear no difference between the $99 i-20 using its internal 24/196 DAC and the DacMagic DAC.  IMO, the Pure i-20 is a killer deal.
 
Feb 8, 2011 at 4:10 AM Post #54 of 554
No as it requires a device with the digital extraction chip.
 
IPod & iPhone support:
   2nd,3rd,4th,5th and 6th generation iPod Nano,
   iPod Classic 80,120 and 160GB,
   iPod Touch 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th generation,
   iPhone 2G, 3G, 3Gs, 4
 
 
Feb 8, 2011 at 1:20 PM Post #56 of 554

Thanks nc800. Good to know.
Quote:
nc8000 said:
No as it requires a device with the digital extraction chip.
 
IPod & iPhone support:
   2nd,3rd,4th,5th and 6th generation iPod Nano,
   iPod Classic 80,120 and 160GB,
   iPod Touch 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th generation,
   iPhone 2G, 3G, 3Gs, 4
 
Click to expand...



 
Feb 8, 2011 at 8:03 PM Post #57 of 554


Quote:
bmwr75 said:
I did an A/B comparison between the Pure i-20 and a Cambridge Audio DacMagic today.  The Pure i-20 was being fed Apple lossless files from a 160 GB iPod Classic.  The DacMagic was being fed the same exact files via iTunes streamed wirelessly to an airport express using the optical digital out.  Compared many passages of my favorite list of high fidelity recordings.  Amazingly, the volume between the two sources matched exactly (to my ears anyway).  The amp was a Matrix m-stage running a GD-Audio OPA-SUN opamp.  Headphones were AKG K702s.  The Matrix has two inputs and a front Source 1 & 2 switch.  So, I could switch sources on the fly.
 
Bottom-line:  I could hear no difference between the $99 i-20 using its internal 24/196 DAC and the DacMagic DAC.  IMO, the Pure i-20 is a killer deal.
Click to expand...


Tonight I did an A/B comparison between the Pure i-20 using its internal DAC and the HRT iStreamer.  Sources were both iPod Classics with the same Apple Lossless files.  Once again, compared many passages of my favorite high fidelity recordings.  Used the Matrix mstage and K702 phones.  Switched the sources using the front switch on the mstage.  The volume level was the same between the two sources to my ears.
 
The difference in fidelity between the two DACs was small.  The iStreamer may sound a little better, maybe a little more musical, maybe a little less smearing of the transients.  Is the iStreamer twice as good as the i-20 (it costs twice as much)?  No way, not even close.  The i-20 is more flexible since it outputs optical digital, coaxial digital, analog and component video.  The i-20 also includes a remote, so you are not tethered to the device, as you are with the iStreamer, to control it.  The remote is not perfect, but it is good for the price.  I do however find it easier to just control an iPod from the click wheel.
 
Had the wife do an A/B comparison also.  She didn't hear any difference between the two devices.......granted she wasn't as interested in the project as me.  But, she does have good ears.
 
Bottomline:  Both the Pure i-20 and the HRT iStreamer are better deals than anything else out there that pulls a digital signal from an iPod, because both are also DACs, and pretty decent DACs at that.  AND, both devices sound as good in this system as a Cambridge DacMagic that costs 2x-4x as much.
 
Maybe a better amp and/or headphones might be more revealing of differences between the i-20, iSteamer and DacMagic.  Who knows?  Maybe somebody else with better equipment will give a report.
 
Feb 9, 2011 at 7:15 AM Post #58 of 554
I got mine yesterday, I wrote this at Amazon:
 
I use this dock connected with a digital toslink cable in my Naim Uniti (which has a very good DAC built in) and it sounds excellent, very little difference from the built-in CD player of my system, true hifi sound. Unlike the other review here at Amazon, the sound level is a little low though, and I have trouble using the video output, but I still need to try out some other cables for my TV, at the price this product is excellent, and I recommended it to everyone who wants good sound from their iPods (iPad is also supported, the remote doesn't work though).
 
I also did a test with the analog output in the digital toslink, the analog sounds very good, but it's no match to the digital output, but you need good stereo and speakers to hear it.
 
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