iPod Goes Hi Fidelity Review

by James Leahy

Full credit to Apple Inc. for designing and marketing the most successful MP3 player that the free world has ever seen. Minus points for crippling it with analogue output only! Only Apple would be so anal. Don't for one minute think this was an oversight on their behalf, it was fully premeditated and methodically planned. You think the technology is not available...oh please...

Yes, I am talking about the legendary 'iPod' what else could it be. So what place I hear you ask does the simple iPod have for getting so much as a mention on this website....?

Up until now it was impossible to extract the digital output from the iPod as Apple was not giving away any secrets and the standard analogue output was far from the optimum set-up for the highend audio community. Combined with Wadia the company that is the world leader in digital audio technology, they have brought out the Wadia 170i. This is an iPod dock with a difference. It has a digital output and if you rip your music in Apple Lossless format you can extract the uncompressed audio in it's full bandwidth glory and get it decoded in an external D/A Converter of your choice.

The DAC's quality is where the differences in sound quality really begins to show up. The better the DAC the better the performance you will get from your Wadia 170i. For those wanting the ultimate DAC check out the Wadia Series 9 and place your order as they are in limited production with long waiting delays and from my testing they are quite something.

The Wadia 170i acts just like a first class digital transport and suits any iPod/iPhone. After all all it has to do is extract the digital information off the iPod before it passes through the iPod analogue output stage. Sounds simple but the reality is somewhat different.

Why didn't someone come up with a solution like this sooner I hear you ask. After all half the world has an iPod right... Well I'm sure they tried as the world iPod market is huge but this problem was no easy task to crack. However, it just shows if you throw enough money at a problem no matter how big and complicated a solution will always emerge; and it has.

Simple to use and operate the Wadia 170i is God's Gift to the iGeneration that has not read the good book and discovered that vinyl is superior to any recorded digital format ever currently invented. But enough of the doom and gloom this does do a lot of things right or at least steps in the right directions.

Supplied complete with remote control you can use this device just as you would a CD Player and enjoy your latest tunes with total ease.

 

Regular readers of this website would most probably find themselves in the dedicated two channel camp and as such you require a dedicated D/A Converter to get the most from the Wadia 170i. The Wadia 170i does have analogue outputs but using them defeats the whole purpose of getting it in the first place really. The main selling point of the Wadia 170i is for the digital output it provides out of your iPod so you get a pure digital signal and you can convert it back to analogue with a good quality D/A Converter. That can either be an external DAC like the DACMagic or using a surround sound receiver’s inbuilt DAC.

Currently I like to partner the Cambridge Audio DACMagic with the Wadia 170i as a low cost budget solution with serious performance.

For the price of the Cambridge Audio DACMagic it is really untouched at this price point. Comes with a stand to mount the unit vertically to save space or you can choose the traditional horizontal configuration. It supports three sets of Digital Inputs and one Digital Output with both coax and optical options. There is also an USB input for computer adaption. It provides decoding of input signals up to 96kHz. There are standard RCA and also XLR outputs! Quite a statement feature for such a low priced product.

Connect the Wadia 170i to the DACMagic with a high quality Digital Coaxial cable that is provided in the Wadia 170i kit and this completes your little iPod to high-end audio chain. With the iPod Classic 120GB being available at very reasonable prices you can now fully rip your entire music collection to your iPod in 100% uncompressed form and still have plenty of room to burn. If 120GB is not enough you have one very very large music library. I own three iPods, one in each car and one in my Hi-Fi system sitting in the Wadia 170i. It makes life so ease to have your whole music collection with you everywhere in fully uncompressed lossless format.

With the ease of multi-function playlists and the general versatility of iPod use you now are able to connect the Wadia 170i and Cambridge DACMagic directly to your pre-amplifier for a greater performance than many would ever think possible from an iPod. Try this combination for yourself and see if you are not as amazed as I am with this low cost high value digital solution.

Side Note:

I am really surprised at how much I use mine for general music use and listening and for the cost of this combination it is a welcome addition to any system. The quality of the sound does not approach a cost-no-object vinyl rig but it was never designed for that and that is an entirely unrealistic goal to be chasing. The performance from my testing is equal to a CD player costing at least twice the price and with the iPod driving the whole show it is a much more versatile tool.

I use the DacMagic's USB input from my laptop's USB output and bypass the internal soundcard that has it's own limitation as far as sound performance go. With variable volume control and muting functions the internal laptop soundcard introduces increased signal processing and ultimately a lower grade result because you are going through another level of attenuation. Not Good. This way when you use the DacMagic's USB driver you by-pass the soundcard completely and the sound improvement I have experienced is amazing. Try this set-up today.