receivers with ipod compatability (1 Viewer)

[John Mil]

I had a question about hooking up my ipod to a receiver. I know Monster makes cables that go from the ipod mini jack to the red/white jacks in the receiver. I also know that Denon, Onkyo and others sell ipod docking stations that hook right into their receiver. Would the sound quality be better this way, compared to the Monster or Belkin audio cable connection? Or about the same? Are Denon, Okyo, etc, mainly making these docking stations so you can view the songs being played by the ipod on the receiver? or even the tv screen? I guess you would also be able to use the remote that comes with the receiver?

I saw that Marantz sells their ipod integration dock for $200!! That better be some dock!!

 

[Wayne A. Pflughaupt]

From what I see at Amazon.com’s page for the Denon station, it sends on-screen info to the receiver (for output to the TV), charges the battery, and more. I’d be surprised if it deliverers better sound quality, but you never know. It would depend on whether or not what’s feeding the docking station’s RCA audio jacks is of higher quality than the Ipod’s headphone jack.

Regards,
Wayne A. Pflughaupt

 

[Seth=L]

dbl post.

 

[Seth=L]

The dock is purely a luxury item. Apple has marketed the iPod very well, but I find it insane to pay the amount of money they want for the accessories, $200-300 for a small speaker docking bay is pushing it. The Marantz $200 docking bay is way over priced, IMO.

Those Monster and Belkin connections are not any different, as Wayne said, from a stereo mini jack to RCA L/R. Those iPod connectors are all hype, just pure snake oil.

 

[Andrew Pratt]

Yes there's considerable difference between the headphone jack and the line level output from the bottom of the iPod. If you use the headphone adapter splitter cables the sound will have gone through the iPod's volume control first where as the bottom connector is more pure in nature. The docking stations are pricey but there are 3rd party models that do the same thing as the apple branded ones for less money. The Onkyo and HK models are designed to interface with their products and are nice options to have...though you're right they can be expensive so consider looking on eBay for a used one. The video options only work if you have an iPod with video.

 

[Paul_Dunlop]

Hi
I just got a Denon Ipod dock - it was free with the purchase of my Denon receiver, but list price is only $30

it charges the ipod and displays the songs on the TV

Wouldn't be worth $200, but for $30........

 

[bobcel]

Just wanted to note that I have a Yamaha receiver and was using my ipod connected through a dock (line out) into an aux on the receiver with a pair of monster cables. The sound was pretty good. While cruising Audiogone I came across a guy in Canada who makes his own "audiophile" cables for the ipod to connect to a receiver. The price was amazingly low,so I thought what the heck. I purchased a pair and when I hooked them up.....WOW. I A/B them with a CD and it was pretty darn close...I mean really close to CD quality. Lossless sounds awesome and mp3's, if ripped with VBR, sound amazing too. I would not pay the ridiculous prices some companies are asking....but to have all that music at hand...and to sound this good...I am one happy puppy. Great for casual listening and parties for sure......I thought these type of cables in general were "snake oil" as well......I was wrong in this case.

 

[lancer1558]

Bob, can you share with us where you bought this item?
Thanks,
Gary

 

[bobcel]

Absolutely. I found it one day while on Audiogone. Interestingly he is still selling them and now they are even cheaper (ddamnnnnnn) oh well..still well worth the price... here is a link
http://cls.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/cls....ntr&1167251100

The guy's name is Carl...he lives in Canada. I bought a 2 meter length cable, you can get custom sizes..pretty inexpensive for additional lengths. He charges 16 for delivery and I received mine in about 5 days. Really worth it, they sound great.I am going to purchase a pair of his rca interconnects for my preamp setup....sure they will be nice too. Let me know what you think if you get a pair..b

 

[Aaron Howell]

The headphone jack sounds horrible. I got some dock-to-stereo rca cables from compusa for $15. They are made by Nyko. The cord is actually 6ft long, so don't pay attention to the amazon link.

http://www.amazon.com/Nyko-Stereo-Li.../dp/B0007LI13U

I would prefer an actual dock though. Being able to charge it combined with the video output would be worth it to me.

 

[bobcel]

Yeah...you gotta go through the line out. I use an apple universal dock. so it charges pretty much all the time. Looks good too.I have a Ipod Photo, 60 gig, but have not hooked up the video out yet, but it's available.