Old iPod Classic plus Apogee DAC?? Can this be done?

[Stewy61]

Hi. New here, and not an expert, so please bear with.
I have an old iPod Classic which I use to carry M4A (apple lossless) albums etc. I recently bought an Apogee Groove DAC (great little product BTW), which works fine with my Samsung phone. I'd like to use it to enhance the iPod listening experience, but have not been able to get the iPod to drive the DAC. I bought an apple 'camera connector kit' on eBay, and I have a Micro USB/Micro USB cable (and have tried various proprietary iPod/micro USB converters, which work for charging and data transfer), but nada. Is it there's just not enough power from the iPod to power the DAC, or does anyone know of a connection means that would work? I suspect the Camera connector, which is for an iPad is not right (I think apple changed the wiring configuration and software on the old connector a while back, rendering older decks u/s (I had a mini hi fi that wouldn't recognise my iPod after the 'upgrade' and there was a lot of noise about this at the time)
I know I could just 'bin' the iPod, but I had it refurbished and it holds a decent amount of content (64G) and iTunes isn't 'awful' for managing a library (I use Logitech Squeezebox software and a couple of Bluesound Nodes, for my FLAC content; iTunes is a converted M4A copy of my entire library).
I'm also a bit of a 'if it ain't broke don't chuck it' type, so would be reluctant to change until it gives up the ghost.

 

[MaryWhitehouse]

Which model iPod?

 

[Stewy61]

Thanks for noticing and replying to my post. iPod Photo (otherwise known as iPod with colour display). 60G (not 64 as per earlier post)

 

[MaryWhitehouse]

I think, and very happy to be proven wrong, with the 30 pin socket you need a device from the time that was licensed to 'extract' the digital signal. Wadia were amongst them. I don't think a contemporary DAC will be able to work as it doesn't have the other end of the authentication used then. That said an older, with lightning port, iPod won't cost a fortune and opens up many ways of working.

 

[Stewy61]

Nice response; many thanks. I had sort of guessed that a powered connecter (the Apogee is powered by the device, not an on board battery) would be needed, and your answer about extracting a digital signal sort of adds to that logic. If I were to buy a new portable, I'd get a FLAC friendly version, and take iTunes out of the loop (I still have other reasons to keep it though). It's not a cost option; more I really hate disposing of tech that still works, but has just been superseded- I still have a mini disc player and a MD Hi Fi separate (but don't use it obvs) as it was great for about the 10 minutes when MD tech was 'stat of the art' ish. Lol. Your response is hugely appreciated

 

[MaryWhitehouse]

Not a problem. It can be done and not necessarily expensively (a Pure i10 dock works) but not with a modern DAC. Couldn't agree more about using older tech. I find an iPhone an excellent way to stream to the DAC of choice wirelessly.