have Denon-3806 and new ipod, am clueless!

[Nor Cal guy]

First off, I am pretty new to higher-end audio equipment so have some very basic questions, as you will read:

1) I recently bought a denon 3806 and a denon-2910 DVD/CD player to sit alongside (with optical cord hook up between them) . An audio guy from Good Guys set it all up and sounds great. So now I have a new 60 gig ipod and want to plug in the back of the 3806 receiver (which looks like a NASA instrument panel to me) and can't get it to come thru except for the 'phono audio' in (red & white plug in) but sounds crappy and muffled - amazingly the instruction manual seems to give no guidance to where I need to plug in such a device - so which is the best port? (pls remember that I am a novice so detailed instructions are most appreciated!)

2) the ipod came with a red, white and yellow plug in cable so should I use it or is their something better to use that will work with my question above

3) the stereo guy that hooked up my system said if I get an Ipod I 'have to get a stereo docking station' it came with a small charging/docking station so is this sufficient or should I spend around $100 to upgrade that might have a better cable and plug into the 3806 optimally - if you can suggest something specific, pls let me know and is much appreciated!

thanks all!

 

[anamorphic96]

One thing to keep in mind when doing this. Is the sound from your iPod is dependent on the bit rate of your music files. If you download from iTunes they use 128kbs which is pretty mediocre. Especially when passed through good stereo equipment. A bit rate of 256kbs is where you want to be when passing MP3's through a good stereo. Going to 320 is even better. Or maybe using Apples Lossless encoding. Which compresses the file and not the sound. So it's indistinguishible from the CD.

As far as the cable or hook up you are using. It sounds like you have the right cables. Do not use the phono input on the receiver if it has one it is designed only for vinyl. Use an Aux input or such. If you where describing the cable it is actually referred to as an RCA type cable. Make sure you have the volume on the ipod all the way up and adjust the volume on the receiver accordingly. You want the iPod to output the strongest single it can so the receiver has an easier time amplifiying it.

Apple does make a docking station which gives you a video output so you can display tracks on the TV, and also offers a remote to change tracks and such.

But just to reiterate. The bit rate on the files in your iPod make the biggest difference on the the sound you hear. Hopefully you have not loaded to many songs or have a smaller collection so it will be easier for you to adjust.

Hope this helps.

 

[racquetman]

Your problem doesn't involve the bitrate of the files you are playing. 128 kbps AAC files will sound fine through your receiver (not muffled as you describe). Your problem must involve how you have it hooked up.

As anamorphic96 said, you don't want to be using the phono input.

I've read that the color scheme on the ipod cable is a bit tricky. You may be trying to run the video cable as one of the two audio cables. You can peruse through the comments here:

http://store.apple.com/1-800-MY-APPLE/WebObjects/AppleStore.woa/71907/wo/M37biBBvuJa72q9uQf71zFrnISk/1.SLID?mco=543CBB30&nplm=M9765G/A

Definitely don't waste your money on a fancy dock. It really is pretty much worthless, especially for $100.

 

[hifiman]

Alandamp - Why do you think the expensive docks are worthless?

 

[racquetman]

Alandamp - Why do you think the expensive docks are worthless?

In this case, the dock is doing nothing but keeping the ipod in a semi-vertical position. All you need is the cable to perform the task.

The $100 a/v kit that the original post referred to will do nothing to improve the sound of his system. He said that the salesman said that he "must have it" which is not true at all. The kit offers no additional functionality that can be used along with his receiver - except perhaps the remote, but even the remote is somewhat of a joke as it has very limited functionality (read the complaints about it on apple's website for specifics).

I guess the docks aren't worthless, just highly overpriced in my opinion. They have a function (serving as a base), but is that really worth $30? I guess that's up to the consumer.

 

[Nor Cal guy]

thanks guys!

thanks for all the help! i posted this last night and read the above tonight which encouraged me to take another stab at it. It is all working now after I found those AUX ports and made a few tweaks to the receiver and music is pumping thru nicely thru both my zone 1 and zone 2 speakers

and I see your point re the dock station, don't think I need it. Amazingly I was looking around at buying a 100 CD shuffler about a year ago... I can see why someone told me those things are headed for the trash can quickly...

again, many thx all for the $ and time savings here

 

[Duffinator]

Your problem doesn't involve the bitrate of the files you are playing. 128 kbps AAC files will sound fine through your receiver (not muffled as you describe). Your problem must involve how you have it hooked up.

As anamorphic96 said, you don't want to be using the phono input.

I've read that the color scheme on the ipod cable is a bit tricky. You may be trying to run the video cable as one of the two audio cables. You can peruse through the comments here:

http://store.apple.com/1-800-MY-APPLE/WebObjects/AppleStore.woa/71907/wo/M37biBBvuJa72q9uQf71zFrnISk/1.SLID?mco=543CBB30&nplm=M9765G/A

Definitely don't waste your money on a fancy dock. It really is pretty much worthless, especially for $100.

What he said.

The docking station is WAY overpriced and I wouldn't recommend it. You should be able to plug your iPod into the front audio input of the receiver using the red and white ends of your cable. It you don't like the cable that came with your iPod go to radio shack (but don't lie about your college education ) and buy a cable for $6 that has the 3.5 mini jack on one end and rca's on the other. This will work as good as anything out there, save your money for more music.