Arcam today launched their rDock, the first 'audiophile' dock for iPod worthy of the name. The rDock integrates totally with Solo; however, the remarkable sound quality makes rDock ideal for anyone with any form of decent Hi-fi system who wants to get the very best possible sound quality from their iPod.
The rDock is friendly to your iPod battery, whilst most docks leave the iPod charging all the time, which can damage the battery. The rDock uniquely features a programmable 'charge-off' setting. During research, it was discovered that the sound quality took a major leap when running off the iPod battery alone, with no charging going on. This is akin to some audiophile pre-amps that run on a rechargeable battery to achieve independence from mains noise. The improvement in sound was so marked, that the rDock now has 'charge off' as the default setting. With iPod battery life over 14hrs and more, this means that the longest listening session can be carried out at the highest quality.
The feature list is very impressive
- Uses the iPod's line-out connector, bypassing the headphone amp to achieve best quality
- Built-in audio pre-amp with high performance op-amps & low noise double regulated power supplies
- Highest quality line-level audio with buffered RCA phono audio outputs enabling audiophile cables to be used
- Massive die-cast anti-vibration base that uses Apple universal dock inserts supplied with all new iPods
- Full iPod remote control using the Solo or Solo Movie's handset remote - no extra handset needed
- Displays iPod music info on Solo or Solo Movie scrolling dot-matrix front-panel display
- S-Video and Composite outputs to television or screen (for Video iPod) to show photos or movies