Ipod Dock Station Opinion

sgmane

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Hi Folks,

Your opinion needed.

Current component:
Apple Ipod 4GB 4Gen
Samsung LCD 22"

Iam looking for an Ipod Dock.
Do suggest me the best ipod doc available in budget less than equal to 5000 Rs.
I have heard of products like sony, belkin. May be there are other docking stations too.

I did see this
eBay India: DOCK DOCKING STATION FOR IPHONE IPOD ,REMOTE,Video Out (item 360164698882 end time 29-Jun-2009 19:11:12 IST)

but not sure of the quality.

Also on sony product - http://www.mobilebazarindia.com/blog/index.php/sony/sony-lunches-new-iphone-ipod-dock/

If its available with remote that would be fine.

Plan:
To connect to the Audioengine A2 (plan to buy this too). May be i could also view videos (by connecting to the TV) too.

Do help me out.

Thanks
 
hi,even tho a lot of docks are available from various companies i believe the apple dock is the best bet.will fit in ur budget.and great choice for the speakers,the A2 is a great buy IMO.cheers
 
If you have an amplifier from a manufacturer, most of them have a iPod dock to connect to the amplifier easily.

If not, Apple's own universal dock is the best.

Cheers
 
Last edited:
i basic Dock + Remote I bought from Lamington road @ Rs 800.
I never tested it's video out.
If you are buying A5 Buy a basic Dock + Remot -
IN case of better video I've sen docks with S Video Out & (I Think) componant out....
 
If you have an amplifier from a manufacturer, most of them a iPod dock to connect to the amplifier easily.

If not, Apple's own universal dock is the best.

Cheers

Venkatcr - Thanks again. I do not have an amp. BTW, is the apple dock comes with remote? Sometimes i see a dock ad in website without remote!
 
i basic Dock + Remote I bought from Lamington road @ Rs 800.
I never tested it's video out.
If you are buying A5 Buy a basic Dock + Remot -
IN case of better video I've sen docks with S Video Out & (I Think) componant out....

hemantwaghe - Oh!! That's a really good less price!! BTW, i understand lamington road is in bombay.
Iam located in Bangalore (equivalent SP Road). But ofcourse not sure about the fake stuff. How old is your dock?
Working fine without any problems? Iam looking for dock + remote to pair with A2 (A5 as of now is beyond budget).
I will need to use the video too. So looking for video output too in the dock.
 
Hi All,
I appreciate all you folks for the early reply!

BTW - what is the justifiable amount for buying a dock? (Keeping in mind my ipod costs me less than 6000Rs).
Is it worth investing 4000 or 5000 in a dock? Oops! This is question from an amateur. So do not take it any other way!
As said earlier, i only want to pair with AudioEngine A2, and my LCD (at times).
Not sure about the A2 cost though! Well that comes secondary now. So shall look into later.
 
Venkatcr - Thanks again. I do not have an amp. BTW, is the apple dock comes with remote? Sometimes i see a dock ad in website without remote!

I am not sure. The remote may be optional. But it is available.

In terms of docking an iPOD, you can always connect a simple cable and use it for audio. But if you need to connect a TV and see some video, you certainly need a dock. Now how much to spend? The price of the dock is not related to the iPOD by itself. Most good quality dock will be around 5K.

I am not sure about Chinese docks, but personally, I will be very careful about buying them. All such products have a habit of dying on my face and making me feel stupid.

Cheers
 
Hi,

After all the wonderful information that i gathered from you folks, iam back again.

I have decided to go for Apple Universal Dock.
From the apple site i could see that the dock ( + Remote) costs $49. That should anyway be close to 4000Rs if bought here. Need to check the cost later.

Now iam confused after seeing this information.
(Review: Apple Universal Dock (2007) | iLounge)

* Should i go for this dock? If yes, some queries below. If not, what other decent dock other than Onkyo (which i saw in somesite retailing for 7K + )?

* What cables should i get so as to connect video out to TV?
* What cables should i get to connect audio out to speakers?
(Iam planning to get AudioEngine A2 and i suppose they are giving me some cables too. This is what i suppose they will provide:
Audioengine Included Accessories:

Power supply with detachable AC power cable
Speaker cable (16AWG), 2 meters (~6.5 feet)
1/8 mini-jack audio cable, 2 meters (~6.5 feet)
1/8 mini-jack audio cable, 20cm (~8 inches)
Drawstring power supply bag
Drawstring cable bag
Drawstring speaker bags (2)
Setup Guide)

So i would connect video to my Samsung LCD 22" TV (LA22A450) - and audio to my speakers from the dock.
This is what i have on the TV
Wired Connections:
Wired Terminals / PortsComponent Video Output, Composite Video Output, D-Sub, HDMI Output,
Headphone Jack, S-Video
OutputNumber of Component Video Output Ports 2
Number of Composite Video Output Ports 1
Number of D-Sub Ports 1
Number of HDMI Output Ports 1

I do see that Apple accessories (cables etc) are bit on the higher side and the same is also mentioned in the link.
Do direct me how to go about?

This will be my first setup (learning experience too) on this small hifi setup.

Thanks
 
Last edited:
The Universal Dock's MRP in India is 2500. If you look around, you might get it a bit cheaper. The mini jack cable that comes with your AE2 speakers should work fine for connecting audio. Never tried video connectivity with the ipod dock so cant help you with that.

The signal that comes out of the regular ipod out is pretty weak and puts undue strain on the amplifier. The signal from the dock is a bit stronger. That, along with the remote, makes it pretty useful for music. Do note that the sound quality from ipod + dock with apple lossless doesnt match the same CD used for the rip played through a NAD C515BEE CD player. I have both plugged into the same amp + speakers (low end Yamaha stereo amp and floorstanders) and can hear the difference.
 
Last edited:
jai1611 - Thanks for the information. Iam not looking into any hifi components (CA, NAD or otherwise) as of now because that is not my budget now. So i will not be worried about the sound effects will be imaterial for me as iam not using any of those components mentioned above.
Iam primarily gonna use only this setup (ipod, A2 & TV for video viewing).

I checked apple and they also did inform me about Rs 2500 with the remote.
As said, they have the universal dock which can be used with the AV cable.

I asked the apple store guy a demo, he did promise but neverthless shall try the same when i go there.

Now a question:
So i connect the dock with the AV cable to my TV. So i understand the audio output too would come from TV which i do not want. (Since the dock does not have any separate video out and audio out).
So can the cables provided by A2 connect to the audio out (if there is?) of the TV, so that i can get audio to my A2?
So i do not need to buy any cables? I can use the A2 cables provided for this setup?

Do clarify.
 
Onkyo ND-S1 iPod dock

090731-nds1-02.jpg
 
Thanks unleash_me.

Looks pretty. Shall wait until its released and ofcourse to check about affordability too.
 
Anyone having Onkyo DS-A3 ipod dock?
Is it worth a buy? Retailing apprx $130 and at some places $99.99.
Will there be any excise duty on it, if i order from amazon or similar sites?

Its apprx Rs 9000+ here at onkyo india and they have only colour "White".
The DS-A2X has good reviews. But it does not play video. Only OSD. The DS-A3 thus play video and equal few reviews though!

Can anyone let me know, is it worth buying it from US site? The 20north also seems to be priced close to RS 10000.

Thanks
 
I just checked with onkyo cunnigham road, bangalore and they offer DS-A2X color "white" at 6K.
They have no idea about when would DS-A3 come in.
BTW, is DS-A2X better than A3? The question arises because, i understand not most of them use ipod to watch videos (read movies), if iam right?
Reasons been PQ.
My reason for going to dock is - because the ipod thus hold apprx 1000 songs and i can just plug in and keep playing until i want to stop, rather than buying a CD player. (This is only at my current setup. Later stage i would buy a CD player).
Recommendations requested.
Thanks
 
sgmane,

I am not clear on your requirements for the dock. If you're planning to buy the A2, it's a powered speaker with inputs to connect the iPod to. So why the dock?
If you're watching video, it's much better to get a cheap DVD player (anywhere from 2K-5K) with USB input for your USB movie storage than spending money on the dock. In both cases, I don't see why the dock is needed at all. Could you please clarify, in case I'm missing something?
 
For excellent sound that won't break the bank, the 5 Star Award Winning Wharfedale Diamond 12.1 Bookshelf Speakers is the one to consider!
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