iPod docks - how do they work

ic1male · 14 Dec 2011 at 17:08

I've got my mum to get me a DAB alarm clock radio with an iPod dock for Christmas (iPod bit being a bonus) and was curious as to how they worked. Do you simply plug the iPod in, select the source on the radio and then control all the music from the iPod?

Does it work with any application or just the music? Could I use the iPlayer in Safari to play radio, for example?

Alpherah · 14 Dec 2011 at 17:15

It basically just charges the iPod and plays whatever is playing on the iPod .. a bit like using external speakers.
All in one convenient cable free solution.

Martynt74 · 14 Dec 2011 at 17:40

See above, so yep you could use Safari for the radio.

NB: I use an app called "The Radio" which is pretty good for listening to radio stations

Psycho Sonny · 15 Dec 2011 at 01:16

the dock bypasses the headphone socket and internal amp and feeds a line out signal.

this signal is of a much higher SQ than the headphone out.

basically the headphone out is designed for crappy in ear things which cost £10.

if you want to use a set of speakers then you need a dock, an amp and speakers. the alarm clock dock things will have a built in amp into them. but wont be amazing SQ wise.

or if you have a decent set of headphones £100+ then you should use a line out cable (plugs into dock connector) and plug that into a amp (portable) and then into your headphones.

Deep · 15 Dec 2011 at 11:01

Psycho Sonny said:
basically the headphone out is designed for crappy in ear things which cost £10.

That's just a massive overstatement.

The headphone socket isn't the best, but its by no means awful.

It does an adequate job for a lot of mid range earphones, if you are using high end ones, then its unlikely you'd be using an iPod, more likely a Cowan.

4T5 · 15 Dec 2011 at 11:07

My surround sound for my flatty/gaming has a pull out draw for my ipod then I control it on my flattys remote & have the info on my flattys screen, Sounds great through the seven speakers, Genius if you ask me. :cool:

ic1male · 15 Dec 2011 at 16:27

Stone the flamin' crows! You need some kind of plastic adapter to slot the iPod in to. I always wondered what that was for. I threw it away two years ago. :mad:

Guess I'll be plugging in via the headphone socket after all.

Martynt74 · 15 Dec 2011 at 16:43

Its not nessecery you can just plug it into the dock without that little thing

Psycho Sonny · 17 Dec 2011 at 11:21

Deep said:
That's just a massive overstatement.

The headphone socket isn't the best, but its by no means awful.

It does an adequate job for a lot of mid range earphones, if you are using high end ones, then its unlikely you'd be using an iPod, more likely a Cowan.

you cannot use portable amps with cowon players.

the internal amp of an ipod is designed to be used with crappy earphones, SQ isn't bad for what they are designed for in fact it's very good, but if you have decent headphones then they are bad, because they were only designed to power IEM's.

therefore the best setups are decent players like the ipod combined with a line out and a portable amp, cowon is the bestyou can get if you have easy to drive headphones or IEM's, but some people have powerful headphones which require a decent AMP.