Ipod or CD player?

[admin_exported]

I'm about to upgrade the HiFi system I have in my home office, which is my "secondary"system. My budget is £3k to £4k . I had intended to buy some floor standers, an amp and a CD player. When I am working I plug by Ipod into my current system and happily listen to it on shuffle all day. It now ocurs to me that I am unlikely to change my habits and even if I buy a new CD player I am likely to use my Ipod most of the time for ease of use.

It therefore strikes me as somewhat unnecessary to buy a CD player - other than of course it ought to sound a lot better than the Ipod. What do you think about me using my budget to buy just speakers and an amp with the same budget, thereby getting better equipment than I would have had I bought a CD player as well, and simply do what I am likely to do most of the time anyway, which is to use my Ipod? By spending more than originally planned on the speakers and amp, would using an Ipod and not a CD player lead to a material loss of sound quality?

Whether I go for the CD, amp, speakers or Ipod, amp and speakers any suggestions on equipment I should consider?

 

[Anonymous]

If you're in an office why not use iTunes in the computer and stream to the hi fi with an Airport Express for £65. If you want very good CD player quality a Beresford DAC will do it and if the Computer is near enough, you'll get amazing results from an M-Audio Transit DAC for £50.

Now is not the time to buy CD players, they've passed the sell by date IMO.

 

[manicm]

I'm assuming you have a PC in your office? Why not then get a good DAC e.g.Chordette Gem with a good amp and speakers and connect the DAC to your amp? You can play your music with iTunes if you wish.

If you're hell bent on using your iPod though, I would still get the DAC and in addition buy Wadia's 170i Transport.

Another option without the DAC is to get a good dock like Arcam's rDock, or perhaps just as good - a cable which connects to the iPod's dock instead of the phones out.

Which amps and speakers are you considering?

You could also consider the Arcam Solo Mini. It sounds very good with the B&W 685s I've paired it with, although I suspect I should have taken others' advice here and got MA RS1s instead. In any event the Mini is very convenient with the rDock as you can then control the iPod with the Mini's remote plus the the music info is displayed on the Mini.

 

[Anonymous]

In my opinion there is no point in spending more than a few hundred £s on amp and speakers if your sound source is an Ipod. As a chain is only as strong as its weakest link, your weakest link, the Ipod, would be totally outclassed by the rest of your kit. If you are determined to use your Ipod and the lack of sound quality doesn't irritate then save some money and buy some B&W 685s (£330 at Supefi) and a Cyrus amp as in the next forum for £600.

 

[Anonymous]

iPods are not totally outclassed by CD players, regardless of audiophile prejudices. Some are astonishingly good and it's not uncommon to see their owners asking why they sound better than hi fi. The answer is because headphones don't have 1% distortion from a passive crossover as speakers do. The iPod Shuffle sounds amazingly good and it cost b---r all so try one and see for yourself.

However iPods are no use from the other side of the room, so better to use iTunes in a computer.

 

[matthewpiano]

It all depends on the quality of the files you are using. Try a Sony NWZ-S638F loaded with CD quality files and it can sound brilliant, as can an Apple iPod. The major advantage of the iPod is the availability of hi-fi docks such as the Arcam r-Dock and Onkyo one. I have an Onkyo dock connected to my set-up and, with decent quality files, it can sound excellent.

Still wouldn't part with my CD/SACD player though.

 

[v1c]

For a secondary system i think you could save yourself a lot on your budget by going for something in the fatman itube range which is essentially an ipod dock. You could get good connections and whatever speakers you want a i would defy you not to enjoy it. I bought the basic one from hifix for the kids room with chord connectors and started with monitor audio BR1 and then upgraded to mordaunt short mezzo 2. All i can say is i was never bothered about having a separate CD player with my home cinema system use my Pioneer dvd player for years but the Fatman itube / ipod combination has got me hooked on music and now i'm looking at higher end cd players like rega and thinking i want one for down stairs with my main system. This is all because i got a fatman for the kids it is awesome in my opinion. So for a secondary system i don't think you could go far wrong with this for the budget you have quoted.ÿ

 

[RobGardner]

It comes down to the recording quality you use on your iPod, with £3-4K available you could buy one hell of a system. I've got a Wadia i170 iPod transport runninjg through a Cyrus DAC-XP and Mono X amps to a pair of Wilson Benesch Curves. I can just about hear the difference between the Cyrus CD8Se CD player and my iPod, but after about 10 seconds I've stopped listening to the differences and started listening to the music without any distractions. So I would recommend making sure your iPod is a curent model (the Wadia dock doesn't work as well with older models and doesn't work at all with my non video iPod, a Wadia dock with a reasonable DAC converter; DAC magic or similar and whatever hifi takes your fancy. The new Cyrus integrated amps will have their own inbuilt DACs (launched at Bristol hifi show) so you could wait for one of those and not bother with the separate DAC. Nice compact system and lots (well some) change after you have purchased your speakers.

 

[JoelSim]

tavia:
In my opinion there is no point in spending more than a few hundred £s on amp and speakers if your sound source is an Ipod.ÿÿAs a chain is only as strong as its weakest link, your weakest link, the Ipod, would be totally outclassed by the rest of your kit.ÿÿIf you are determined to use your Ipod and the lack of sound quality doesn't irritate then save some money and buy some B&W 685s (£330 at Supefi) and a Cyrus amp as in the next forum for £600.ÿÿÿÿ

ÿ

I agree. My iPod sounds rubbish compared to my CD player

ÿ

 

[Anonymous]

Use your computer as the source.

Feed it to a USB DAC. If you find something from a Pro Audio brand it needn't be expensive, and it'll sound fantastic.

Edirol or M-Audio, or Benchmark or Lavry.

 

[the record spot]

I use my iPod nano for convenience. Decent bitrates (nothing less thsn 256kb) but nothing like as good or airy as my current hifi set-up. Compared to the final product, the iPod reduces music to convenience and lessens the regard by the majority for the finished work. Can I download of iTunes or wherever? Who cares...give me the LP or jewel case that I can see and hold. The fallacy that iTunes/iPod can be as good in the "whole experience" sense if a joke IMO.

 

[matthewpiano]

the record spot:I use my iPod nano for convenience. Decent bitrates (nothing less thsn 256kb) but nothing like as good or airy as my current hifi set-up. Compared to the final product, the iPod reduces music to convenience and lessens the regard by the majority for the finished work. Can I download of iTunes or wherever? Who cares...give me the LP or jewel case that I can see and hold. The fallacy that iTunes/iPod can be as good in the "whole experience" sense if a joke IMO.

Completely agree.

 

[John Duncan]

matthewpiano:the record spot:I use my iPod nano for convenience. Decent bitrates (nothing less thsn 256kb) but nothing like as good or airy as my current hifi set-up. Compared to the final product, the iPod reduces music to convenience and lessens the regard by the majority for the finished work. Can I download of iTunes or wherever? Who cares...give me the LP or jewel case that I can see and hold. The fallacy that iTunes/iPod can be as good in the "whole experience" sense if a joke IMO.

Completely agree.

Um...

 

[Anonymous]

the record spot:I use my iPod nano for convenience. Decent bitrates (nothing less thsn 256kb) but nothing like as good or airy as my current hifi set-up. Compared to the final product, the iPod reduces music to convenience and lessens the regard by the majority for the finished work. Can I download of iTunes or wherever? Who cares...give me the LP or jewel case that I can see and hold. The fallacy that iTunes/iPod can be as good in the "whole experience" sense if a joke IMO.

My current iTunes/actives set-up sounds a lot better than my previous GBP 6k system. The nostalgia of slipping out vinyl etc has been replaced by not only the convenience of all of my tunes in one place, but also better sound. It's the way forward.

 

[Anonymous]

Laughing

 

[Anonymous]

TH?

I assume files are lossless and you use a DAC?

 

[Anonymous]

I use AVI actives, which have internal DAC fed by lossless files streamed from an iMac/Airport Express.

Just as good as my previous XT, DAC-X Cyrus + Bel Canto mono amps + Dynaudio speakers. Better in some respects (dynamics, soundstage, timing), falls behind in others (bass roll-off is higher). I prefer my current setup.

 

[Anonymous]

thfcwestlower:
I use AVI actives, which have internal DAC fed by lossless files streamed from an iMac/Airport Express.

Just as good as my previous XT, DAC-X Cyrus + Bel Canto mono amps + Dynaudio speakers. Better in some respects (dynamics, soundstage, timing), falls behind in others (bass roll-off is higher). I prefer my current setup.

This sounds like the right sort of implementation.

It'll sound a world away from an iPod via its headphone socket with a few MP3s...

 

[fatboyslimfast]

I have to admit that the majority of my listening is now PC>Apple AE>Beresford. I remote control the PC using an old wifi palmtop (a tenner off ebay), so have 500+ Lossless albums at my fingertips.

The rest of my listening is to the PL-12d. I agree with the comments re gatefold sleeves though, and the two sources combine to the give the best of all worlds, convenience and experience.

 

[Anonymous]

If you're intent on using an Ipod Touch I would recommend the 1.1.5 firmware. I recently upgraded to 2.2.1 and the sound is definitely inferior. BTW I'm using Denon DM37DAB with assoicatied Denon Ipod dock and Denon speakers. To my ears that's a bargain for just over £300... but the choice is yours

 

[John Duncan]

JBB:I recently upgraded to 2.2.1 and the sound is definitely inferior.

Whereas I found it superior, particularly since it stopped lossless files 'skipping'. Go figure.

 

[Anonymous]

Which goes to show that everyone's opinion is different. Use your own ears and decide what works for you.

 

[John Duncan]

Amen.

 

[matthewpiano]

thfcwestlower:
the record spot:I use my iPod nano for convenience. Decent bitrates (nothing less thsn 256kb) but nothing like as good or airy as my current hifi set-up. Compared to the final product, the iPod reduces music to convenience and lessens the regard by the majority for the finished work. Can I download of iTunes or wherever? Who cares...give me the LP or jewel case that I can see and hold. The fallacy that iTunes/iPod can be as good in the "whole experience" sense if a joke IMO.

My current iTunes/actives set-up sounds a lot better than my previous GBP 6k system. The nostalgia of slipping out vinyl etc has been replaced by not only the convenience of all of my tunes in one place, but also better sound. It's the way forward.

Not for everyone its not!! I use a Squeezebox to stream from my PC and use it mainly for trying new music before I buy. For stuff I like I'll always go out and buy the hard copy, either on vinyl or CD.

 

[Anonymous]

First, thanks to everyone for taking the time to reply. You probably noticed you are dealing with someone who hasn't upgraded for some considerable time and that I am totally out of touch with up to date technology. So I need to ask you all a few more questions to get this straight:

1. If I want to stick with the Ipod I am being told that best sound quality is to use a computer (Itunes) connected to a DAC connected to the amp?

2. My computer is physically close to the hifi so I can simply use a cable (well 2.5 metres). An alternative is to WiFi it - this is what the Airport Express or Chordette Gem do? My (probably incorrect) predjudice suggests that WiFi could lead to a reduction in fidelity plus I had terrible problems with internet WiFi and am scarred for life! So happier with a cable.

3. An alternative is to use a dock (does this still necessitate a DAC?). The principal here is that the dock will use the more comprehensive port at the bottom of the Ipod and not the headphone socket which gives better fidelity?

4. DAC suggestions are: Beresford (TC 7510?), Benchmark DAC1, Pro Audio, Cyrus DAC-XP and DAC Magic. Dock suggestions are: Arcam rDock, Onkyo one or Fatman Itube? Please bear with me here, I know I will have got some of that mixed up!

5. What do the following do: M-Audio Transit DAC, Wadia 170i Transport and AVI Actives?

For the record, I agree with those of you that still like to own the music physically, as in a CD or vinyl. I still always buy a hard copy and then rip it onto my PC. But each to their own!

Again, anyones help would be much appreciated as I think I might be beginning to get there!