Apple COMPONENT AV Cable vs. Apple COMPOSITE AV Cable vs. something else

[stinab]

I just got a new iPod touch 2G -- my first iPod -- and I want to play it through my home stereo. My setup currently consists of a basic Panasonic home-theater-in-a-box (no iPod dock included) and a non-HDTV, but I hope to upgrade both in the future. All the music files on my iPod are at 128 kbps.

I don't understand the difference between Apple's COMPONENT and COMPOSITE AV cables, and I'm hoping someone can explain in plain English. Are these $49 cables overkill given my current setup, or are they my best hope for decent sound? And if they're overkill, can anyone suggest a less expensive alternative?

Finally, should I spend the additional $49 to pair Apple's Universal Dock with these cables? (Would the sound quality be that much better?) Or should I go dockless until I get a new home-theater-in-a-box that comes with its own iPod dock?

 

[Cask]

Well, if you will be connecting your ipod to an hdtv, get the component cable, as they provide much better image quality than the composite ones. For standard TV viewing, get the composite ones. However, I see that you have and Standard Def. TV, but plan to upgrade to an HDTV, in that case, you might have to get the composite cable, since Standard Defintion TVs don't usually have input for component video. Check your TV inputs, and see if they have a green, blue and red input for video, in that case get the component.

Using this cables, the sound quality is the same with or without a dock, but you would benefit from the remote I think

 

[Muncher]

I just got a new iPod touch 2G -- my first iPod -- and I want to play it through my home stereo. My setup currently consists of a basic Panasonic home-theater-in-a-box (no iPod dock included) and a non-HDTV, but I hope to upgrade both in the future. All the music files on my iPod are at 128 kbps.

I don't understand the difference between Apple's COMPONENT and COMPOSITE AV cables, and I'm hoping someone can explain in plain English. Are these $49 cables overkill given my current setup, or are they my best hope for decent sound? And if they're overkill, can anyone suggest a less expensive alternative?

Finally, should I spend the additional $49 to pair Apple's Universal Dock with these cables? (Would the sound quality be that much better?) Or should I go dockless until I get a new home-theater-in-a-box that comes with its own iPod dock?

If you have a good sound setup, you may want better quality music files. I would suggest 192 kbps VBR, or if you don't care about space, 256 kbps VBR.

Component cables have many (3, 6? I forget exactly how many) connections for video, and two for audio. They produce a much clearer image, at the cost that not nearly as many tvs have component inputs. Composite looks fuzzier, but you can use them on just about any tv.

If you're planning on getting a home theater with an ipod dock don't bother with a universal dock, and check this on the home theater dock first: is it "ready for iphone," or something along those lines, because apple recently started putting verification chips in their iPods/iPhones.

 

[stinab]

Thanks for your replies, Cask and Muncher. I'm primarily interested in the music piece of this issue. The TV piece is secondary for me. Does that change your thoughts at all regarding the best way to hook up an iPod to a home stereo?