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In case some of you were unaware, Music Direct and Audio Advisor have been offering this $350.00 suggested retail system for $149.00!

Purchased one as a Christmas present for my daughter. Very well built and attractive despite its plastic enclosures. Each component is quite heavy, and the sound is amazing. This thing can ROCK! The I-Deck bypasses the I-Pods DAC and utilizes its own. Some of the reviews knocked its low end extension but it sounds a touch bass heavy to my ear, but you can imagine my 16 year old daughter loves it. Hell, it even sounds great with her nasty MP3's, or is that AAC's.

If you need a remote docking system in the office, bedroom ect this is a great deal at $149.00!

MusicDirect

AudioAdvisor

RG

I agree completely having purchased one of these wonderful little marvels for my younger daughter to use as her dorm room stereo. She really loves it and it does indeed sound quite nice.

One correction though, the I-Deck and any other other similar product which use the docking port of the iPod rather than the headphone jack do not bypass the iPod's internal DAC but rather the internal headphone amp. The docking port has a line out connection available and that is what is being amplified by the I-Deck. I wrote about this in this thread:

Stereophile Forum Thread Link

The only way to bypass the internal DAC is to use the iPod as a disk drive and connect it to a computer and then access the songs on it via a program like iTunes.

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Jazzfan,

Correct me or educate me...

True, it bypasses the headphone analog out, utilizing the "digital" line out of the docking port, which is then fed to the I-Decks' higher quality DACs and THAT is what is then being amplified.

I offer these quotes from AudioAdvisor and the related articles/reviews they reference:

"The i-deck features the latest Digital Amplifier technology with Digital ICs and its own audiophile-quality Digital-to-Analog Converter (DAC) resulting in virtually noise-free playback.

This process carries digital files directly to the i-deck

Jazzfan, you are 100% correct. In fact, when this device first came out (had to be over a year ago), AVGuide reviewed it and gushed over the sound, opining that it was because the i-Deck was taking a digital feed from the iPod, and using its own superior DACs.

Shortly thereafter, AVGuide published a letter from the US distributor for Monitor, indicating that the unit does NOT in fact take a digital feed from the iPod.

I e-mailed AA on that subject, yet they continue to publish the same incorrect ad copy.

Brian

Thanks Brian,

My good name been taking rather a bit a beating around these parts of late and I could use a little ego boost right about now.

Ralph aka Jazzfan

Glad I could help

FWIW, the original review exists at AVGuide, and it still says that the unit extracts digital audio from the iPod. I could not find any archived AVGuide Monthy issues, which would have had the letter from the distributor.

Oh well, once bad info gets out on the web, it has a life of its own.

Brian

All I can say is that, if someone has any old AVGuide Monthlies, you will find the letter to the editor recanting the claim to use a digital feed from the iPod.

Look at it this way...if the i-Deck DID in fact extract digital audio from the iPod, wouldn't it seem logical that their own web site would tout this as a break through feature?

If I recall, the letter from Monitor said that their original ad copy did in fact say that, but they explained that it was misunderstanding between the marketing staff and the design engineers.

Maybe you could drop an e-mail to someone at AVGuide? Surely they will recall having published the letter from Monitor? Or failing that, and e-mail to Monitor?

Brian

PS: AVGuide's credibility touch a huge hit with me over the matter. I don't expect a reviewer to tear a device apart to verify a design claim made by the manufacturer, but when they go on and on, siting this supposed breakthrough as the reason something sounds good, when in fact no such feature exists, I really have to wonder.