I'd like to bung my iPhone on a dock (preferably powered) then attached it to my stereo.

Teh missus has an older iPhone 4s whilst I have a 5 with a lighting connector.

I'm lead to believe best quality is achieved with 'DAC' something or other.

Not looking specifically for a dock with speakers... just the dock as a means of connecting to hi-fi via phono/RCA cable.

What's current and suitable for the above? Any suggestions? Budget... say up to £100?

Meh Chrismus by the way. 

thought about a bluetooth to RCA device?

I have one of these and it does the job really well.

no need for a dock either.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Logitech-Wireless-Bluetooth-discontinued-manufacturer/dp/B0054QK514/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1418303428&sr=8-3&keywords=logitech+bluetooth+audio+adapter

depending on the player, best quality is a myth, cos you're limited by the source anyway.

Looks like a neat solution but I'm not keen on Bluetooth to be fair.

I went for a refurbished PURE i20 in the end (£40-odd).  DAC and direct connect with x2 Phono cables. I'm not expecting 'gleaming' quality although reviews are very favourable. I'm no audiophile anyway!

Thanks for the suggestion.

cheapness. show me this device please?

http://www.pure.com/product/i-20-vl-61429/



It's on eBay for 45 squid refurbed: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/111531103284

cool.

probably best i stick to bluetooth given im android right now.

how long thats going to last im not sure.

Quote from: Eagle on December 11, 2014, 21:39:38 PM
http://www.pure.com/product/i-20-vl-61429/

It's on eBay for 45 squid refurbed: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/111531103284

prob cos its the old apple doc connector & not the newer type.

Pretty sure they're still sold with the 30-pin as standard.  Lighting adaptors readily available. 

I don't get it?

You can pick up a dock for about a fiver if not less using the old connector, you are connecting to your AMP via RCA which is analogue?

Most docks only have inputs. Few have DAC.

Yes I could connect it via the headphone socket to Phono cables but how sh*t would that sound?

About as sh*t as the analogue audio coming out of your iPhone!? Or am I missing something? The iPhone doesn't have a magical spdif port on it does it?

I think the point is that the iPhone goes into the dock, and the dock has a DAC which can then be connected to the hifi.

M3ta7h3ad is right though, if you're connecting from the dock to the hifi via analogue you're not getting much benefit. You either need a digital connection from the DAC to an amp or digital to the hifi, otherwise you might as well just have the dock as a base/charger and connect the audio out straight from the iPhone/dock, forgetting about a DAC entirely.

It's got the optical digital/SPDIF out thingy so I could get that I suppose. I suspect however that it'll sound good enough to me. All the other components of the hi-fi use phono cables and the sound is peachy.

If analogue is so poor though, why does it bother converting it from digital at all?

I don't think Analogue is bad for audio at all, but the point I was making is that I thought the iphone is outputting an analogue signal anyway, at which point there is no point in converting back to digital..

I just plug mine in via the headphone jack direct in to the AMP, and sounds good enough to me Not sure what the DAC will realistically give you?

Apparently, analog sound is 're-built' from the compressed digital files or something. I dunno - just looking for something a little better than earphone quality but which won't break the bank. This seemed to fit the bill.

I suspect the phono cables will do the job just fine.