Wadia and Krell Meet iPod

Among the many four-letter words uttered during the four days of blissful chaos is the one that has been most deeply disturbing to audiophiles, i-P-o-d. Rather than bemoaning the high-end’s future while holding its collective nose, a few savvy high-end manufacturers are rolling out gear that just might bridge the divide. And who has better credentials than Wadia and Krell?

From Wadia, the iTransport ($349) is the first Apple-licensed dock to bypass the player’s internal D/A converter and offer full resolution in file formats like WAV and Apple Lossless. It delivers bit-perfect digital audio from the current rooster of iPod players. It can also access video content. Who knew you were walking around with a hip-pocket media server? Connectivity is excellent–the back panel has SPDIF digital-audio and component-video outputs as well as analog AV outputs.

While the Wadia only extracts the digital datastream in order to hand it off to the outboard D/A converter of your choice, the Krell takes more of a systems approach. The Krell Interface Dock or KID is a fully operational DAC/preamp/docking station for iPod devices. It features balanced-differential Class A circuitry, a 255-step volume control, composite and S-video outputs, and a 1/8-inch stereo connector on the front panel for other portable players. The Papa Dock is the 150Wpc power amplifier docking system designed to interface specifically with the KID. It features balanced and single-ended outputs. The price should be announced soon.

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