Connecting Ipad to HiFi

Hi
I have searched through existing threads and haven't found a post that covers this kind of stuff. Basically I have found there are a number of connectors available between an Ipad or ipod to an amplifier where one end of the cable is the phono connectors for the amp and the other end is either to the earphone socket on the ipad or to the multipin syncing socket. This seems somewhat confusing !! Does anyone know which is best or whether they both work OK ? My amp is non-digital if that makes any difference !!
Thanks to anyone who can help or thanks for looking if you can't !
Cheers

teddyh said:

Hi
I have searched through existing threads and haven't found a post that covers this kind of stuff. Basically I have found there are a number of connectors available between an Ipad or ipod to an amplifier where one end of the cable is the phono connectors for the amp and the other end is either to the earphone socket on the ipad or to the multipin syncing socket. This seems somewhat confusing !! Does anyone know which is best or whether they both work OK ? My amp is non-digital if that makes any difference !!
Thanks to anyone who can help or thanks for looking if you can't !
Cheers

Click to expand...

I can give you a couple of suggestions:

1. A 3.5mm phono jack plug to 2xRCA plugged into the L&R on your amp (poor audio IMO)

2. Stream wirelessly from your iPad to an Airport Express base station plugged into your amp using a mini 3.5mm plug to 2xRCA adaptor

i will add one more you can purchase an Apple TV3 and not only stream your music but mirror your iPad providing its a 2 or 3 the first one will only do audio.

It used to be back in the day - video and audio came out of the headphone sockets for old iPods. It is still valid to use a headphone to rca cable to listen to audio but video no longer comes out of the current headphone jacks. Apple moved to putting audio and video out on the 30 pin connector and so you see the later versions of connectors being a 30 pin (multipin as you call it) to RCA. Note that the 30 pin connector output is more like a line-out where it puts out just a small signal and it is up to you to amplify it. It is probably what you want when you are going into a HIFI amp. If you come out of the headphones then it is a headphone signal and you can control volume from the volume buttons.

As mentioned there are streaming options as mentioned but these tend to be significantly more expensive than just getting a cable.

I think...and this was my assumption...that the OP wanted to plug his iPod/iPad into an analogue amp so there are limitations.

Another way I just remembered would be to use a media transit e.g an Onkyo NDS1 which would take the pure signal from the device and improve the listening experience dramatically but it's costly against an Express and not wireless.

Hi
Ta ever so for your help although struggling a bit with the abbreviations. Googled IMO but not much help !Was thinking OP might be Old Person but haven't put up a photo so how would you know then realised it was probably Original Poster !
Anyway, I think what the consensus is that a phono (same as RCA ?) to 30pin connection cable will give better results than phono to headphone jack socket. I am connecting to an analogue amp but that will boost the volume. This would be the most economical route to take.
The Airport Express solution would be more costly but looks to be a more elegant solution and would be OK with an analogue amp. I live near Heathrow so even better !
Thanks again!

teddyh said:

Hi
Ta ever so for your help although struggling a bit with the abbreviations. Googled IMO but not much help

Click to expand...

Hi, sorry for confusing you, this commonly means 'In my opinion' and and is sometimes written as IMHO...'In my humble or honest opinion'

Cheers
Pendle

What **
Just to say I bought (at not much cost!) an RCA to 30-pin cable and linked Ipad2 to the amp, played some music and zero through the HiFi. Ditto with the Ipod touch ! I don't think either device realised it should be pushing out a signal as it was still playing directly from the device. Not a big deal as I obtained a refund but just one of life's minor frustrations !
There is an Apple shop in London so will probably pop in next time I'm in town.
Pip-toodle

Can you tell us what brand didn't work?

I have used many cables successfully. If you are having trouble you may want to try the official apple cable.
Apple Composite AV Cable - Apple Store (U.S.)

Hi again!
It was actually unbranded and bought on Ebay which does appears somewhat dodgy though the seller had sold quite a few of them and had a decent feedback score. I have returned it as the chappy said he would refund so will wait and see. If there is no other obvious reason other than the cable itself I will try a legitimate Apple cable although they do appear to be somewhat pricey !!
Thanks again

You could try monoprice - I've never had nay trouble with their cables but since you are having trouble I hesitate to absolutely recommend anything other than an official apple cable.
For only $20.80 each when QTY 50+ purchased - 4ft Component AV Cable for Apple all 30-pin iPhone®, iPad®, and iPod® | 30 Pin to A/V and USB Cables