These days most of us have all our music stored on an iPod or MP3 player of some kind. That’s fine for listening to with headphones, but what if you want to play your music for everyone else? That’s where iPod docks (or speakers) step in.

What is an iPod dock?

iPod dock is basically a fancy name for a speaker that connects directly to your iPod and plays the music out loud. The main difference between an iPod dock and a typical speaker is the inclusion of an iPod Dock Connector so the player sits directly in the speaker. This dock will also charge your iPod.

Can I use my MP3 player with an iPod dock?

Most MP3 players can be connected to most iPod docks using a standard 3.5mm cord plugged into the player’s headphone jack. However because it isn’t “docked”, this won’t charge the playe. Basically, you’ll be using the speaker to play the music and that’s it.

Which iPods can be used in a dock?

The short answer is all of them. The long answer is that while most of the newer generation iPods will connect directly to new speakers using the standard iPod Dock Connector, you may require an adaptor for older iPods and docks. Usually a range of adaptors are included in the box, or can be purchased quite cheaply. The exception to this is recent generation iPod Shuffles, which will connect via a 3.5mm cord, similar to connecting a non-Apple MP3 player.

You can also dock your iPhone. Even if the speaker is not technically labelled “iPhone compatible”, it will still usually play the music. However non-compatible iPhone docks may experience noise distortion when the phone is about to ring or when the phone accesses a network.

iPod dock speakers

When it all boils down, an iPod dock’s feature is its speakers, and the variations in quality are vast. As a very basic and general rule of thumb, you do pay for what you get with speakers, so the sound quality from an $80 dock would be nowhere near that of a high-end dock, which will set you back up to $1000.

It’s also worth bearing in mind that quality in equals quality out. If you’re downloading poor quality music, an expensive dock won’t magically make it sound great on the way out.

iPod dock features

Most iPod docks offer extra features beyond just playing your music, and once again this varies widely from model to model. These might include FM/AM radio, remote control, wall mountability and so on. Some have built-in alarm clocks that you can set to go off with music from your iPod, but keep in mind that function will only work with a docked iPod so if you have a player connected via 3.5mm cord you’ll only be able to wake up to the speaker’s alarm buzzer or the radio.

Best iPod docks

The leaders in this market are clear: Bose and Altec Lansing are two of the best brands your money can buy.

Buy a cheap iPod dock on sale

By Caroline Warnes

Cheap it ain’t, but the Bose SoundDock 10 iPod/iPhone speaker really proves the old “you get what you pay for” adage with its exceptional sound quality.

Bose has long been leading the way with iPod speaker systems and the SoundDock 10 shows why. If you’re prepared to part with the $999 price tag, you’ll be richly rewarded. To most ears, the sound is rich and near-perfect, even when played at extremely loud volumes. This is very rare for a compact iPod speaker system (although weighing in at just under 9kg, this unit isn’t the most portable on the market). Bass and treble are both handled well.

Bose has chosen to concentrate on the SoundDock 10’s sound quality rather than overloading it with features - in fact, beyond playing music from your iPod or iPhone, the speaker doesn’t do much else. One outstanding feature is the Bluetooth dock, so you can stream music wirelessly at short distances from any Bluetooth-enabled device (including an iPhone or iPod Touch). You can also connect non-Apple music sources to the speaker using the audio input, plus there’s a composite video port so you can connect the SoundDock 10 to a TV and show pictures and videos from your iPod.

The speaker itself sports the typical understated and stylish Bose appearance. In fact, the exterior of the SoundDock 10 is so understated that there are no buttons to clutter it up - instead you have to operate the unit using the included remote control.

Buy the Bose SoundDock 10 in Australia

By Caroline Warnes

The TDK Life on Record iVibe is a brand new wall-mountable iPod speaker from the manufacturer that also doubles as an FM radio and alarm clock.

The speaker can either be used with its stand sitting flat, as pictured here, or the stand can be folded back flash against the unit and then the whole lot mounted on a wall (the wall hooks are found on the base of the stand).

While this is a great idea in theory, some people may find that a wall-mounted speaker with an iPod docked on top may be somewhat out of place in their decor. However if this isn’t a problem for you, the unit itself is quite discreet and sleek enough to blend in on most walls.

Thanks to the in-built alarm and sleep timer, the TDK Life on Record iVibe would probably work best mounted on the wall in a bedroom. There is also an FM radio and all the functions can be operated using the provided remote control.

To make sure you always get the best sound for whatever genre of music you’re listening to, TDK Life on Record has equipped the iVibe with five preset equaliser settings - pass, rock, pop, classic and jazz.

While this speaker has been specifically designed for the iPod, as evidenced by the universal dock, it also comes with a 3.5mm stereo socket so you can connect any external audio source, including most MP3 players.

The TDK Life on Record iVibe wall-mountable iPod speaker is available in Australia now with a recommended retail price of $229.95.

Buy cheap iPod speakers on sale

By Caroline Warnes