kirkwall Posted February 18, 2009 Report Share Posted February 18, 2009 My apologies if this has been posted before, but hadn't seen much info on this one: [/snip] [The dock features] Analog Devices AD21369 32-bibit floating-point digital signal processing core and 96kHz/24-bit converters for analog-to-digital and digital-to-analog, resulting in a 110dB dynamic range with distortion of under .004 percent. The dock will also include DSP technologies for improving sound quality: Adaptive Dynamics (restores the sound quality of compressed audio), X-Matrix (virtual surround sound for two speakers or headphones), and Extrapolator, which turns the iPod's stereo signal to 5.1- or 7.1-channel sound. All of these signal processors have separate modes for compressed, lossless, and movie audio. Audio inputs include S/PDIF and Toslink (from CD quality all the way up to 96 kHz/24-bit). The dock outputs video in the S-video, composite, and component formats. A single control knob handles all functions, while an LCD on the front of the unit displays song information and menu items. All of these components take up a fair amount of space; it's 8.5 inches wide, 1.5 inches high, and a foot deep. [\snip] Looks expensive at 2000.00 but it's an elegant design. I wonder how close the sound might be to a DAC3 and whether there'll be many takers at the price? best, k Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smeggy Posted February 19, 2009 Report Share Posted February 19, 2009 $2000 to dock a fucking ipod..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
riceboy Posted February 19, 2009 Report Share Posted February 19, 2009 $2000 to dock a fucking ipod..... But wait, it does this, "iPod's stereo signal to 5.1- or 7.1-channel sound" Seriously though, $2000.00, even for MSRP for a dock. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
morphsci Posted February 19, 2009 Report Share Posted February 19, 2009 But wait, it does this, "iPod's stereo signal to 5.1- or 7.1-channel sound" Seriously though, $2000.00, even for MSRP for a dock. Right .... or I could buy the Wadia and route the digital output into my HT processor and convert it to 5.1 or 7.1 there. Hmmm .... let me see which way I should go. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grawk Posted February 19, 2009 Report Share Posted February 19, 2009 It also seems to be a fully functional dac, to be fair. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aardvark baguette Posted February 19, 2009 Report Share Posted February 19, 2009 They use the same shape/size as the DAC3, so I figure its probably pretty similar on the inside, except with the special input crap. It could basically just be an updated dac3. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Icarium Posted February 19, 2009 Report Share Posted February 19, 2009 Er isn't the MSRP of the DAC3 like $2495? I might not get too hopeful that that's inside this. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aardvark baguette Posted February 19, 2009 Report Share Posted February 19, 2009 I dont know. They could forgo the preamp function of the dac3 and maybe some of the inputs. It may not be that big of a difference. The inside of the dac3 is basically 3 boards and 2 blue power supplies (elpac? I dont know the name). The dac chip sounds like it is different, but the output stages may not be that radically different. Just speculation, obviously. I have some photos of the dac3 somewhere, but I forget where. I cant seem to find a pic of the backside of the ultradock, so at this point there's no way to know. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kirkwall Posted February 19, 2009 Author Report Share Posted February 19, 2009 Er isn't the MSRP of the DAC3 like $2495? I might not get too hopeful that that's inside this. Apparently the MSRP of the UD is also 2500.00. From Stereophile: "But here are the simple facts. The Ultra-Dock is planned as an upsampling 24/96 iPod dock that can upconvert lowly MP3s (via Sonic Focus processing) and draws the signal from the iPod's digital out like the Wadia iTransport. The Ultra-Dock is planning for a Q3 2009 ship date at approximately $2,500." It's that "sonic focus" thing that makes it the business, Robert Baird thinks. I haven't come across this before, but I'm a bit leery of any technology that claims to upconvert MP3s. Also any technology called "sonic" anything. k Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aardvark baguette Posted February 19, 2009 Report Share Posted February 19, 2009 garbage in, polished turd out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
atothex Posted February 19, 2009 Report Share Posted February 19, 2009 I'm wondering: out of the people who might consider buying this thing, how many even fuck with mp3s? Seems like they're trying to hit 2 separate crowds at once... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
morphsci Posted February 19, 2009 Report Share Posted February 19, 2009 I'm wondering: out of the people who might consider buying this thing, how many even fuck with mp3s? Seems like they're trying to hit 2 separate crowds at once... BINGO. Give this man a prize. They have a whole raft of technologies in there but they pointed at very different market segments. The Wadia represents a simpler and more flexible solution. However, this is coming from someone who has no interest in either the Bel Canto or Wadia dock. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grawk Posted February 20, 2009 Report Share Posted February 20, 2009 Look at it like an expensive dac, with a free ipod dock, instead of an expensive ipod dock with a built in dac. Or a dac with an spdif out Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
morphsci Posted February 20, 2009 Report Share Posted February 20, 2009 Look at it like an expensive dac, with a free ipod dock, instead of an expensive ipod dock with a built in dac. Or a dac with an spdif out Except the DAC3 is a $1000 DAC selling for $2500 IMO. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smeggy Posted February 20, 2009 Report Share Posted February 20, 2009 I think it might sound better if they didn't call it ultradock as that makes it sound more like a dedicated dock. Maybe DACDOK would work better Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dusty Chalk Posted February 20, 2009 Report Share Posted February 20, 2009 Look at it like an expensive dac, with a free ipod dock, instead of an expensive ipod dock with a built in dac. Or a dac with an spdif out ...with surround? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aardvark baguette Posted February 20, 2009 Report Share Posted February 20, 2009 I'm wondering: out of the people who might consider buying this thing, how many even fuck with mp3s? Seems like they're trying to hit 2 separate crowds at once... Think of it as the Bose crowd. Maybe that helps. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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