Conclusive Thoughts

The iPod and iPhone accessory market is overflowing with addons, gadgets and what not, it’s easy to get lost amongst the thousands of different products on the shelves.

Even at apple.com webshop there are plenty of different dockings available, which one to choose?

We tested today a docking from Z{DOCK} which features both audio and video output using high quality RCA connectors; we found audio quality to be top notch and video output to be acceptable (give the video source material). The included remote control worked flawlessly when we put an iPod in the docking, with an iPhone it simply did not work.

So feature wise this product is pretty impressive, the build quality is very high, this brings us to pricing. The product is listed at $98 which puts it in the higher end scale of “docking” products. If you are looking for a docking which explicitly support video out, the price is quite acceptable. If you see that they list audio-cables at $138 you’ll get the idea who the intended target audience is: audiophiles. If you want a classy dock to sit on top of your thousand dollars’ worth audio equipment, few products come closer to being a “match made in heaven”.



But… if you are somebody who likes music and are satisfied with good sound quality and you have a PC or MAC at home and a local network you might be interested to know the existence of alternative solutions. For $99 Apple sells this AirPort Express Base Station which allows you to output audio from your iTunes library to your Hifi/speakers set in the living room. The Airport Express has an optical and analog audio out so quality wise you should be set. You can even control your iTunes remotely through your iPhone (iPhone Touch w/ wifi) and see covert art on your device while music plays through your speakers.

The difference between these two audio solutions comes down to personal preference, technical know-how, installation options and area of application. If you don’t mind spending an hour or so setting up the connection between your iTunes and Airport Express and have the needed gear to do so, going down the $99 road is definitely an option. If however you don’t want to have to turn on your PC/MAC to be able to play music, or don’t have one in the area, or want to keep things separated and you’re looking for a classy high quality AV Dock to play back some sweet tunes from your iPod, then the AV{DOCK} at $99 becomes a very attractive solution.

We like to thank Sam from Sieben Technology for allowing us to test their latest products, we hope you found this review useful. Until next time!