Cambridge Audio ID 100 - iPad - 48kHz ceiling

[VFP9Belgium]

Experiment:

- Streaming 24bit/96kHz signal from (Win 7) PC (using iTunes Home Sharing) to iPad+ID100 and then onwards to Cambridge Audio DacMagicPlus results in 48 kHz signal shown on the Dac.

- Using the Apple Camera Connection Kit (CCK) (USB) results in 96 kHz signal shown on the Dac (as it should.)

- Playing (using FLAC player) 24/96 file via ID100 is also downsampled. Using the CCK it is bit perfect, i.e. 96 kHz.

Conclusion: the ID100's ceiling is 24 bit/48 kHz.

 

I checked this with Cambridge Audio and got feedback that this is according to Apple specs.

 

That being said, the combination ID100 + DacMagicPlus sounds great.

[souptin]

I've had a similar experience with a different dock. Despite the manufacturer's statement that the unit is capable of going higher than 48, it doesn't. As you say, the CCK does not appear to be limited in the same way. It's a little frustrating, isn't it - although the sound quality is pretty good even if it is downsampled.

 

Out of interest, does FLAC player switch sample rates? I've been experimenting with Golden Ear and (so far) it has stuck to 44.1 no matter what the source material is. Again, the sound quality is good - if anything I think it's slightly smoother than the Apple music player, though to my ears the difference is not huge (and of course you need to load your music directly into the program instead of being able to access your entire library

[VFP9Belgium]

The FLAC player I refer to is the IPad App by Dan Lehr LLC. It does not switch rates; it passes them on correctly, i.e. 96 kHz in this case. I used it in the experiment to demonstrate that the iPad can handle the higher rates, but that Apple does not seem to be keen to integrate it in iTunes. Probably until the day they offer high resolution files ;-)