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Peachtree Audio iDecco & iPod/iPhone Compatibility

Just recently bought the Peachtree iDecco to set up a bedroom system. I'm feeding it mostly Apple Lossless files through my iPhone 3G and CDs through an Oppo DVD player via coax. Along with my Totem Mites, it's making great music! I think when I move to house with a bigger bedroom in the near future, I'll add a separate amp and use the iDecco mainly as an iPod dock, DAC, and preamp. One quick question, so far based on my extensive Google search, I've seen people using it as a preamp with amps such as PS Audio Trio A100 and Jolida JD-1501P. Any other good reasonably priced power amps people have tried with iDecco? Please post.

Anyway, the main purpose for starting this thread is to post compatibility result with various models of iPod and iPhone. Here's what's listed on Peach Audio website:

"Made for iPod Touch (1st & 2nd generation) iPod Classic 80G, 120G, 160G only, Nano 2nd-5th generation"

Well, I don't have any of the models listed above, currently I have a iPod Nano 1st generation and iPhone 3G, neither one is listed as compatible. I figured why not give it a try anyway. Here's what I found. 1st generation iPod Nano did not work at all, when I placed it on the dock, "Okay to disconnect" message popped up on the iPod screen, pressing any of the buttons would not do anything. One the other hand, iPhone 3G (with iOS 4.01) worked! When I first docked it, a message box would pop up stating that the device is not optimized for iPhone; however, I was able to close the message box and lauch iPod app without any problem. Music would play smoothly, and I was able to use the iDecco remote to start, pause, skip forward and skip backward.

Hopefully this information is helpful to someone since I searched extensively on Google and different websites and couldn't find any info about compatibility between iDecco and iPhone before this.

Please post here if you had tried iDecco and any other models of iPhone and iPod not listed above. For example, has anyone tried it with the original iPhone, iPhone 3GS, or iPhone 4? What about 3rd generation iPod touch (the new 32GB and 64GB models)?

Thanks.
happybob
kbarkamian
647 posts
 
Thanks for the insight on the iDecco, Bob. If I go the iDecco route, it'll be due to simplicity. Connecting an amp wouldn't be realistic in my case. I have a Bryston B60, but have recently moved and am expecting our first child. The turntable has to be stored for a few years, the speakers will have to go on a shelf when she starts crawling, etc. I lost my dedicated man-cave room in exchange for more space in the new place. No dedicated room requires as few boxes as possible. I'd love to hook up the Apple TV to something along the lines of the Decco or Nova (no iPod dock needed for me) to keep things simple.

I'd get the internal DAC Tom my B60, but it's only available as a coax, and my Apple TV only has optical. I figure a few digital inputs will go well with the TV and DVD player too.

Regarding the next Apple TV, rumor has it that it won't have an internal hard drive, which kind of defeats my appeal for the Apple TV. I lie not needing the computer to be on at all times. Everything being synched to my Apple TV eliminates drop outs too.

Just some thoughts. Sorry if I'm taking your thread off track.
happybob OP
33 posts
 
not sure if bryston b60 has a home theater bypass mode, if it does, you can acutally use it as a power amp to drive the peachtree if needed. but sounds like space is going to be a constraint, if that's the case i think iDecco or Decco 2 is probably sufficient. i'm still not sure if nova is worth the extra money since you get the same preamp and dac, the only differences are the 80 watt vs 40 watt and more inputs. unless you don't see adding a separate power amp ever as an option or need all the extra inputs, save yourself some money and go with Decco 2. i was debating between iDecco and Decco 2 and went with iDecco because of the extra flexibility of using a iPod/iPhone. since Apple TV does not have Pandora, it's still very convenient to just open up Pandora in my iPhone and mount it on the iDecco. plus, iDecco pretty much has everything Decco 2 has + the iPod dock, it was worth the $200 extra for me.
kbarkamian
647 posts
 
Thanks again, Bob. The B60 has a pre-out/main in loop, so I could use that. That kinda defeats the 1 box principal though. There's a dealer or two in my area, so I guess an audition is in order.

I'm also waiting on the Naim UnitiQute. It's going to be released soon, and will cost $2k, but it does everything the Peachtrees do, and adds wireless, and FM and Internet radio tuners. I'm a huge fan of Naim and would have bought their Uniti, but at almost $4k, it's over my budget.

With my first child on the way, I'll probably have to sell of the entire system and get a 1 box solution and wall mount speakers. It'll be worth it in the end. And it's a good thing that more and more companies are coming out with great sounding 1 box solutions, minus the speakers of course.
happybob OP
33 posts
 
Naim UnitiQute seems like an interesting product, especially with the build-in internet radio. Not sure if it's $1000 better than the Peachtree though. Right now I can do internet radio with my iPhone. One interesting I saw on the Naim UnitiQute website was that it's supposed to extract digital data from the iPod through a standard usb port (Apple authenticated), using a standard usb-iPod connector cable that comes with every iPod. This is quite interesting indeed. If it were that easy to implement, why aren't more manufacturers of usb dacs coming out with it? Why are we spending all these money for the Wadia iTransport or the iDecco? why can't the Peachtree implement the iPod digital extraction through its USB port of the dac portion?
kbarkamian
647 posts
 
I've wondered that myself. I read somewhere in my Alpine car stereo manual that when using the iPod cable, it head unit uses its own DACs. I think they're claiming to do what these things are doing. The head unit is about 5 years old, and isn't a high end model.

Maybe hifi companies ignored the digital out of iPods due to arrogence/ignorance?

The Naim DAC and UnitiQute's handling of the iPod makes the most sense to me. Use a wire so that you can hold the iPod, rather than trying to mess with the click wheel while docked. I didn't buy the iTransport due mainly to that (and that its pretty buggy with different iPod models).

It interesting how the UnitiQute and Naim DAC have the iPod digital out wire, yet the Uniti (more expensive than the UnitiQute) doesn't. I think the Uniti was released before the other 2, so maybe that's why. Can't see how they wouldn't update it on the current ones if that's the case though.

To see if the UnitiQute is $1k better, I need to hear both. I've loved everything Naim has made that I've heard. Even though it'll be their entry level, if its got that Naim soul, it'll be very hard to beat. I guess time will tell.
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