# iPod dock cable to USB Type B interconnect



## Jimbobwey

I have been searching all day for an iPod to USB type B interconnect and can't find this type of cable...do I just suck or is there an actual cable out there dodging my eyes? I'd be wanting to connect my iPod to my freshly bought Maverick Audio TubeMagic D1 DAC through the digital USB input in the rear. Heck, would it be smarter to find a iPod to Optical or Coaxial...is that even possible? Please help a lost guy out.
   



   
  If I wasn't clear about what the cable looks like I'll Photoshop an awesome mashup.
   



   
  NOTE: If anyone needs any sweet on the fly photoshopping done, I'm your guy.


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## Jimbobwey

I just emailed Ryan and Maverick Audio and he answered it for me.
   
   
  Quote: 





> Unfortunately Apple uses it's own technology and you will not be able to connect it to the D1 directly via USB cable.
> You can play your songs from itunes library in your computer to the DAC via USB connection.


 
   
   
  So, if anyone else had the same question as me...now you know!
   
  -Jimbobwey


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## Dazhead

Only just found this thread. Wondering if anybody can help me re-ignite it.....I don't want to connect my laptop up. I've got my iPod on a Denon dock currently into my little dot III but want to stick a DAC in between but I'm struggling.


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## ProtegeManiac

Quote: 





dazhead said:


> Only just found this thread. Wondering if anybody can help me re-ignite it.....I don't want to connect my laptop up. I've got my iPod on a Denon dock currently into my little dot III but want to stick a DAC in between but I'm struggling.


 
   
  Doesn't the Denon dock have digital output? If not, you can get a digital dock; the cheapest I know of is the Pure i20. That sort of device takes the digital audio and streams it out from the iDevice and into a DAC. Make sure the software is compatible though; for example, I think it only works with the Classic, no Rockbox; and iOS devices, but I'm not sure what media players other than iTunes will work.


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## cfibanez

You can try with THIS and then THIS.


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## ProtegeManiac

cfibanez said:


> You can try with THIS and then THIS.



 
 Just because he can hook up the the sync cable to the USB-B input on that DAC doesn't mean he'll get a digital stream through. If we all could, then there wouldn't have been a need for somebody to come up with the Wadia 170, Onkyo NDS-1, Pure i20, NuForce iDo... Oh, and I tried that A-to-B converter on my iPad2's sync cable too - tossed it back into my drawer and went out to get the camera connection kit. The iPad can stream digital audio on its own but 1) usually the DAC would have to be self-powered and 2) it needs the CCK or a digital dock to tell it to stream the data, otherwise it thinks it should be interfacing with a computer or a charger.


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## Dazhead

Thanks for the replies guys.

So I can plug my iPod into the i20 then to a dac via toslink and then to my little dot amp via RCA inters????? Just to check. Lol.

Also, is the i20 the cheapest dock around with a digital out? Have had a little look around and couldn't find one cheaper myself but thought I'd check.

Thanks for your help.


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## ProtegeManiac

Quote: 





dazhead said:


> 1) So I can plug my iPod into the i20 then to a dac via toslink and then to my little dot amp via RCA inters????? Just to check. Lol.





> 2) Also, is the i20 the cheapest dock around with a digital out? Have had a little look around and couldn't find one cheaper myself but thought I'd check.


 
   
  1) Yes. You have the option to use coaxial too, I'd actually recommend that instead - if at least because from experience the fibers in an optical cable tend to break too easily.
   
  2) Yes, there's nothing cheaper than that. I think the next step in the price ladder is the ND-S1 followed by the iDo.


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## Dazhead

So you'd recommend a co-ax cable instead. Do you have to spend a lot for a good quality audio one? I know I'm asking a lot of bone questions.....which one do you use? Could you give me an example?

Thanks chief, really appreciate this.


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## ProtegeManiac

Quote: 





dazhead said:


> So you'd recommend a co-ax cable instead. Do you have to spend a lot for a good quality audio one? I know I'm asking a lot of bone questions.....which one do you use? Could you give me an example?
> Thanks chief, really appreciate this.


 

 You don't need to spend too much. I'm lucky enough that I'm near shops - pro-audio or EE students' supply stores - that sell retail cuts of cable from large spools of pro-grade cables like Belden and Klotz. Times when I was too lazy or my soldering iron was broken I just pay the tech half an hour's worth of work to terminate the cables, and sometimes they can actually finish more than one pair within that time. Coax are done much faster since they only need crimping.
   
  I assume most people don't have this in their area, but the internet has Blue Jeans Cable. http://www.bluejeanscable.com/store/digital-audio/index.htm


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## crispy98007

I normally don't make comments on these forums, but on this Q&A I just had to.  Looking for a docking station for an Ipod with a digital output (might try the Pure i20), and I stumbled upon this.  I've been selling high-end hifi for over 35 years now, so I kind of have a clue.  Right off the bat, my favorite digital so far is the Transparent Reference (that I've heard to date).  Now of course they have the Reference XL which should easily blow that away too.  Tried a bunch of them over the years...Cardas, XLO, Audioquest, Kimber, Acoustic Zen, even Kharma (hang on to your wallet), and countless others...  
   
  Cables, once and for all, make an ENORMOUS difference, digital cables being no exception.  With even a modest system and someone with just half-decent ears, the difference in digital (analog, and yes POWER) cables is DEMONSTRABLY, REPEATEDLY, AND CLEARLY OBVIOUS.  Time and time again (and it doesn't take a rocket scientist) anyone who remotely cares can tell.  Heck, even my wife, who doesn't know the first thing about audio, and doesn't quite frankly care, can tell. Getting a good digital cable is like getting a new digital source or DAC...it's that big.  This whole thing reminds me of the days of Julian Hirsch (1980s) at Stereo Review, who claimed that two well-made amplifiers say 100WPC each, (should) sound identical, at least he couldn't tell.  Kind of like all houses look the same, all cars drive the same...you get the drift.    
   
  A S/PDIF (digital coaxial cable, which by the way is far better than optical) cable MUST have an exactly, or very near so, 75 ohm impedance end to end including connectors, otherwise you get reflections within the cable, increasing error rates and ultimately sound quality. The copper purity, sliver coating (or not), dielectric, shielding, winding configuration and tension, crystalline structure, EVERYTHING, will have an effect on a cable's sound.  Some cables are brighter, some duller, some faster, some slower and all the ad nauseam verbal diarrhea the magazine reviewers can muster.  Better or worse should be clearly audible, not all people get it, but they're all DIFFERENT.
   
  The good news is there's some (not a lot of) pretty darn good, reasonably priced digital cables out there.  The worse news is there's even more expensive (some outrageously so), CRAPPY cables out there.  Good designers and not so good ones.  Good products and not so good cash cows.  Just like everything else. 
   
  Go, PLEASE GO, to a reputable dealer with decent products, and go TRY different cables.  LISTEN, with your own ears, not someone else's.  After all, you're the one buying it and living with it. Good dealers will even let you take them home to try them in your favorite lazy chair.  You'll be amazed, I promise, at the difference.  And please, like I ask my customers, support your local dealer who cares and don't just go buy it on the internet from someone who has no knowledge, overhead costs, or frankly gives a crap.  He's just selling you a box and making money, undercutting those of us who do care, give good service, and help people.  By the way, the Transparent I mentioned is about $1500, and their new flagship is surely almost double that...
   
  www.transparentcable.com
   
  I'm sure to get comments, some good, some not so good.  "Electrical engineers" especially.  That's life.  I've said my peace, hopefully some of you will go and hear it for yourself.  Thanks for reading.  Amen.  
   
  Crispy
  St. Louis, MO


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## RVal

I was just searching the web for a connector like that when I decided to look here, so thanks for the info, even though its not what I was hoping for.


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