08Boss302 Posted November 2, 2018 Posted November 2, 2018 Hey all I have done some searching last night and this morning prior to posting just incase I was able to find my answer but I think I still need to ask Right now I have a Pure i20 running my iPod Classic into my amp. This I have found to be great and I am happy with it especially when wanting to just shuffle music in the background sort of thing. HOWEVER, i have noticed of late that the Pure i20 doesn't connect firmly with my iPod and hence the iPod can be playing and there is no sound OR worse yet it will just play up though songs with intermittent connection issues. This got me thinking/looking for a new DAC (nothing too expensive) and about the right price for where i'd like to be is the Cambridge Audio DacMagic Plus and if there are other suggestions I am definately open to them. I'd actually be happy finding another Pure i20 so long as its in mint condition but also happy to look at something slightly better if its out there and simple to hook up.. Question being, will this other type of DAC work with an iPod Classic and if so what is the best way to connect things up? In my googling I cannot find a great deal for DAC's to use with an iPod aside from the Pure i20 and some quite old discussions about a few other options which seem to well out of production and not available. thanks in advance for any input cheers.
SimplifiedLife Posted November 2, 2018 Posted November 2, 2018 Yes, you're reaching the end of the road a little with this one. I had a pure i20. It had the same issue. I believe it was because the internal plastic broke and the connector had sunken into the device. That's what you get I guess when plastic is used. It was a great device. My advice would be to sell your iPod Classic on eBay or somewhere. The going price is between $150-$250. Invest the money in either a new portable player or a Player/DAC that supports a USB storage device (my personal preference is currently a bluesound node 2i). 1
SimplifiedLife Posted November 2, 2018 Posted November 2, 2018 Or you could do what I did for a while and glue the pure i20 - but it is really tricky to open and get back together neatly 1
08Boss302 Posted November 2, 2018 Author Posted November 2, 2018 Thanks @Randle its a real shame as i enjoy the pure i20 and its so simple for my purpose - not to mention i can still use the ipod when i need it. i might look at the gluing option or seach ebay for another. ontop of that i'll check out the bluesound node 2i you mentioned. The fact i can select a full shuffle and a genre or artist shuggle on the ipod is the solid appeal also. This may just end up me running my RCA from the amp to the headphone jack of the ipod if all else fails.
PicoWattson Posted November 2, 2018 Posted November 2, 2018 Cambridge also do an ipod dock and it is of much higher build quality than the pure. Doesn't have in inbuilt dac though. Another alternative is the dragonfly red off the ipod via the camera kit. 1
08Boss302 Posted November 2, 2018 Author Posted November 2, 2018 thank you. I'll look into both of those, if the Cambridge dock is still available and suits up with the DacMagic Plus it might be the route!
08Boss302 Posted November 3, 2018 Author Posted November 3, 2018 Been researching most of yesterday and today and also found and read up about the Project Dock Box S. Wasn't in a rush to buy anything but there was literally nothing online anywhere. That said, I stumbled across a new Pro-Ject Dock Box S digital in Europe from a store, but that's ok as the voltage is identical to here and I can just use a plug adapter. My Pure i20 was from the UK so I'll just use the same plug adapter for this one. The Pro-Ject Dock Box S extracts the files from the iPod like the Cambridge and the Pure i20 It reviewed very well for sound reproduction and build, also has the option down the line if I would like to connect it to a better DAC again (though I think I'll be happy enough with this) Should arrive in the next few weeks via DHL. 1
Janjuggler Posted November 5, 2018 Posted November 5, 2018 (edited) Hi @08Boss302 Pity I didn't read this earlier as I have one lying around, as I moved on from the iPod to a Fiio X5 about 4 years ago, it has much better connectivity and I found the drive in my iPod crashed and would cost more to fix than a newer player and it plays Apple lossless with 256Gb storage. JJ Edited November 5, 2018 by Janjuc
08Boss302 Posted November 5, 2018 Author Posted November 5, 2018 hi @Janjuc did you have the Pure i20 or the Pro-Ject Dock Box lying around? i read up on the Filo products but wasnt sure it played AAC formatted files. Most of my stuff is a mix of AAC and MP3 @320.
Janjuggler Posted November 6, 2018 Posted November 6, 2018 Hi @08Boss302 I've had both as had a dock at home and a dock at work, the Fiio play AAC and mp3 as well as WAV, FLAC APE and lots more. JJ
08Boss302 Posted November 6, 2018 Author Posted November 6, 2018 Thanks @Janjuc Wow, ok, so I could have bought the Fiio X5 and just used the files in my iTunes library? Never mind, i've bought the Pro-Ject dock now, if it fails me like the Pure i20 did, I will most likely give up on the dock option and can do down this route and know it will work. I was always under the impression there were compatability issues with non Apple products and syncying with iTunes
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