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I have a 160GB iPod Classic filled with around 300 cds in lossless format. The size of the hard drive and ipod interface are great but the sound quality leaves a lot to be desired. I use Sure SE530 and Etymotic ER4P earphones, which sound amazing through the headphone amp in my regular Hi-Fi so I know it's not them. I have read that the Cirrus DAC is very likely the weakest link in this generation. Is there any way to change it out with a higher quality DAC Chip?
No. But then maybe ought to start thinking about sound quality over features in their larger capacity ipods. I have a £60 Sandisk Sanza which sounds much better than the ipod I own
If there is no solution to the crummy sound quality, then is there a better sounding iPod out right now? I have the iPhone 3G and it sounds worse than the Classic so I'm assuming that the Touch is just as bad.
I have an ipod classic 160gb and to my ears sounds so much better than the 80gb I had before. I don't understand all this fuss I'm hearing about wolfson versus cirrus.
It's great that you're happy. Unfortunately, I am not. I wish that they would come out with a high quality iPod designed for lossless files, rather than lossy MP3s.
Actually I think the weakest link in the iPod Classic is the headphone out, not the DAC. Using a little line out dock -> portable amplifier -> good headphones, the Classic sounds very, very good IMO. The built in amplifier may not have enough power to really drive those phones effectively.
Apple could pretty much own the digital audio segment if they made a commitment to audio quality. If they were to make lossless files available on itunes, and built high quality dacs into their ipod and computers, they would put the CD player, transport and music distributors industries out of business. Until they find religion, we will have to fend for ourselves. Your question is really important, for if you are going to the trouble and expense (hard drive capacity use) of storing lossless files, you are also interested in the quality of the sound that comes out of your machine. Well, the solution is difficult. Most commercially available ipod docks are not line level and fewer still are digital out. If you can adjust the volume on your ipod after it is docked, then you are basically listening to the output that you would hear from your headphone jack. The reason the headphone jack sounds so bad is that is uses the internal dac of the ipod, and due to the limitations of headphones and earbuds, the headphone out bass is also attenuated. Therefore, it is important to find a dock that will use the digital source prior to the dac from your ipod. There are a few out there. Wadia makes a very expensive truely digital dock, and then you have to hook it up to your own dac with its digital out. Also, Red Wine Audio will mod a 3rd generation Ipod and upgrade the dac. Unfortunately, these solutions are so clumsy and expensive that you're better off using a Macbook or MacMini, with lossless files, and a USB dac to your audio system rcas. Someone needs to invent a compact digital dock with an integrated dac to make the ipod practical as an audiophile source. Their material doesn't get specific, so I can't figure out if the SRS iWow for the ipod is a dac, or an equilazer, but I suspect it does not bypass the ipod's dac. I'll have to call them in order to pin them down. If it simply acts as a preset equalizer, it is not much of a product. It will not add detail back to the music, nor will it be able to process the digital data in a refined manner, when compared to a quality external dac. In the meanwhile, any mac or pc can be converted into a digital source better than cd players selling for many thousands of dollars. I have one mac mini hooked up to a tube dac (and to tube monoblock amps), and another mini hooked up to an external dac and a tube buffer (and to a single ended tube amp). My next project is to figure out how to wirelessly stream my music files from my main mini, to the other one or my macbook, and to use mac tv to backup my main computers' files. I was told tonight that I can change the settings on my Airpot Extreme to do this, and I can add the mac tv later to back everything up. Other than that, all you can do is pray that Mac introduces an ipod for audiophiles. Then you can just put docks by each computer you use, wherever it is in the world, and have a first class digital source. I use dac and a USB chord with each of the other systems in my house and just plug the macbook into whichever system I want to listen to at a given time. Good luck.
Change will usually stir up a hornet's net of imagined differences and conspiracies. No one seems to discuss the "revered" 5.5g's lack of bass with low impedence head/earphones anymore. So, there's plenty enough sound bashing to go around.
Just another option for you if wireless is important to you (and it is to me because I live in a small apartment in NYC and need all the space I can get). I also agree with all of your points on Apple's lack of attention to audio fidelity and their ability to put a good portion of the audio transport / DAC companies out of business if they did.
I am planning on using my Time Capsule for storage of my Lossless library (which sits in my closet) and then stream that over the Draft N network to the AE and then utilize the Optical Out on the AE via a TOSLink cable to a dedicated DAC (Benchmark DAC 1 sitting under my couch). I have read numerous reviews that indicate a very very high level of audio quality is possible via this setup.
Sad to hear there are no DAC mods for the iPod itself.
