Go To Latest Video ReviewsOnkyo ND-S1 Digital Media Transport Comments
| Author | Hugo Jobling |
| Published | 26th Oct 2009 |
| Manufacturer | Onkyo |
| Supplier | Sight and Sound UK |
| Price | £125.22 (Exc VAT) |
| as reviewed | £144.00 (Inc VAT) |
| Latest Price | Click here |
| Design & Features |  |
| Performance | |
| Value |  |
| Overall | |
Comments for Onkyo ND-S1 Digital Media Transport
Jones said on 26th October 2009
Caleb said on 26th October 2009
How different is this from the Wadia iTransport? Any idea on the specs of the DAC inside it? Can an external DAC be connected to it?
Jones said on 27th October 2009
I didnt think it had an internal dac, might be wrong, but I thought the purpose was to bypass the iPods dac so that you can utilise any external dac you like - so yes, an external dac can be connected.
Looking at the bac of the Onkyo would suggest no internal dac. If wrong in that then Im assuming the dacs in the Wadia will be of a higher quality (due to price difference).
The DacMagic would make a great partner for the Onkyo though.
ffrankmccaffery said on 27th October 2009
why not just get a better bloody mp3 player instead? theres the samsung yp-p3 and the sony x series to your left just for starters
Jones said on 27th October 2009
When you are dealing with "proper" hifi gear, trust me, you will hear the inadequacies of any mp3 player when simply plugged into the back via the headphone jack or regular docking system. The Onkyo allows iPod users to get even more from their system - assuming they store files at a reasonable quality.
It appears to be a very small market Onkyo are targetting but I can at least see the benefits it could bring.
cjb110 said on 27th October 2009
The market would be those enamoured by Apple tbh and have already large collections of lossless aac's. As Onkyo would give them a way to playback this on their hifi's. The sqeezeboxes etc don't often support this format.
But for a proper audiophile they wouldn't have bought the ipod in the first place, and instead gone for a player and systems that can play their lossless format of choice. As this is the most deciding factor in digital playback.
Peter said on 27th October 2009
It is designed to hook into the Onkyo Integrated Amps that have a digital input. At least that was how it was set up in Richer Sounds.
MilkyJoe7 said on 28th October 2009
"I'd usually mention alternatives but the ND-S1 is pretty much peerless."
What a ridiculous statement. The Wadia iTransport 170 has been out for ages, and it does exactly the same thing.
MilkyJoe7 said on 29th October 2009
@Caleb: how can it possibly contain a DAC when there are no analogue outputs?
Peter Jones said on 30th October 2009
This review is a JOKE - The Onkyo can ONLY be used with an AV receiver or similar that has DACs on-board - There is NO analogue out - That means that 90% of Hi-fi system cannot use this. Great idea but limited use. Does Hugo Jobling know what he's doing???
Jay Werfalli said on 30th October 2009
Where does Hugo mention that it has a DAC? As far I can tell from reading the review he never says it does? The iPod has a DAC, yes, but this device is not a dock in the traditional sense. Instead, it bypasses the iPod's DAC completely and taps into the unmodified files stored on the iPod (the iPod is effectively just a server). The whole point is to pass high quality files directly through to a "hi-fi's DAC" and not first through the iPod's one.
Riyad said on 30th October 2009
@ Peter Jones – Yes, Hugo does know what he’s doing, but I’m not sure that you do. Saying that this device can ONLY (thanks for the caps, that really helped) be used with an AV receiver or similar, is quite simply nonsense.
If someone is serious about their digital music, they will want to use an external DAC of their own choosing. Therefore the Onkyo ND-S1 will be ideal, since none of the shortcomings of the iPod itself come into play. In essence, the iPod is just a hard drive with good navigation.
Assuming that you rip all your music to your iPod in lossless, the result will be superb quality audio, since all the iPod’s electronics, bar storage, are taken out of the equation.
And let’s not forget that if you do invest in a good external DAC, then every single digital source you have will benefit from it.
As such, many users of Sonos systems will simply output the digital bit-stream from a ZonePlayer and decode it on their external DAC, thus maintaining the highest possible sound quality.
You’re right, the majority of consumers won’t be able to hook something like this up to their home system, but then there is a plethora of products available for them. But for people who want the best possible quality from the music library on their iPod, Onkyo has come up with a good solution.
Oh, and just because someone is an audiophile, it doesn’t necessarily mean they wouldn’t use an iPod when they’re out and about. Of course they may use a portable headphone amp and a set of Sennheiser HD800 cans, but they’ll still want music with them at all times.
Mike Owen said on 2nd November 2009
Some of you seem confused as to what this device does. It essentially turns your iPod into a CD transport that holds WAY more music than any jukebox ever could. Previously, docks used the standard analog outs on the iPod, and with a pretty bad DAC inside, the sound quality was compromised. Now, with this dock and the Wadia model, you bypass the internal DAC and pass a completely digital signal to your AV Receiver or external DAC. The person who said that 90% of AV receivers will not work is an idiot. My 10 year old Sony has optical and coaxial inputs precisely for processing the signal that the Onkyo sends out. If you hear how and iPod sounds using Apple Lossless files and a decent AV receiver, you will be blown away. It turns a portable device into a hi end audio product that can hold hundreds of albums in CD quality (if you use Apple Lossless - there is no such thing as "AAC Lossless" as someone else mentioned)
Tristan Summers said on 9th November 2009
I have this dock and it SUCKS. I have it connected to an onkyo 876. The receiver takes over the display of the ipod so you have no idea what you are playing. You cannot navigate around the iPod other than next, previous track / playlist. The video out doesn't work.Yes it sounds great but is utterly unusable. This may be different on other amps but for an actual onkyo it is very disappointing.
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I was very interested in one of these at the start of the month when I spent a small fortune upgrading my hifi. The deciding factor was that Id rather spend the money on a ReadyNas Duo to store all the tunes in one network location and access via a Squeezebox. My cd player has an optical input to access its DAC (same one as used by the Dacmagic I believe). In short, I didnt need a dock and another remote to kick about the living room.
I suspect its size is a marketing idea. I would imagine that Onkyo would not want to give the impression that this is a regular dock and they have tried to set it apart. They arent the first to offer a means to bypass an iPods dac but at least manufacturers are starting to move in the right direction (Naimuniti being a glowing example of future possibilities).