Gadgets

IPod and Vacuum Tubes, in a Warm Duet

Roth Audio, a company based in Reading, England, has developed the Cocoon MC4, a compact docking station and amplifier topped by four vacuum tubes that glow when the power is on. Pop an iPod into the dock, and you have an odd couple: The iPod, the epitome of the slim, portable and digital, and the flanking vacuum tubes that are fat, stationary and utterly analog


By ANNE EISENBERG
Source: The New York Times


IPods are fine for listening to music on the go, but sometimes people want to cast headsets aside and hear their songs played through a real sound system. Now, to create the rich sound that audiophiles love, manufacturers are selling docking stations for iPods and MP3 players with amplifiers based on an old but resilient technology: vacuum tubes.

Roth Audio, a company based in Reading, England, has developed the Cocoon MC4, a compact docking station and amplifier topped by four vacuum tubes that glow when the power is on. Pop an iPod into the dock, and you have an odd couple: The iPod, the epitome of the slim, portable and digital, and the flanking vacuum tubes that are fat, stationary and utterly analog.

Despite the retro look of the tubes, their audio characteristics may give iPod-stored music an additional, welcome dimension. That's because most people store their music in compressed formats rather than in "lossless" formats, where data is not removed. Given these limitations, said Mark Schubin, an engineer and media technology consultant, "a vacuum tube can deal with the degradation in a potentially better and more pleasant way than a non-vacuum-tube amplifier".

To enjoy a full range of sound, it's still better to use lossless formats - vacuum tubes can't restore data that's been stripped away. But regardless of the storage format, "if you put an iPod into a docking station with good preamplification, it's going to sound a lot better than putting it into a cheap one", said David Chesky, a composer and co-owner of Chesky Records in New York, which uses vacuum-tube-based recording equipment.

The Cocoon isn't cheap: it will sell for $649, said James A. Roth, managing director of Roth Audio. Mr. Roth has already introduced another brand of vaccum-tube amplifier to the United States market: the Fatman iTube ($649), distributed by Bluebird Music in Toronto. The Fatman has a different look than Cocoon.

"The Cocoon goes well on a desktop", Mr. Roth said. "The Fatman is more for the living room." The Fatman has two amber vacuum tubes, as well as a green tube. "I added that third, green tube for fun", Mr. Roth said. "It shows you the music level. The higher you turn it up, the more it bounces up and down."