Home > Consumer Reviews > Denon ASD-11R iPod Dock for Use with Compatible Denon Receivers

I really wanted to get an Apple TV to manage my iTunes music and integrate with my home theater, but I balked at the price after considering the actual value the device brings. Since I had just purchased a Denon 1909 receiver, I decided to give the Denon iPod Dock a try. It was a third the price of the Apple TV and although it doesn't allow video streaming or HD playback, I have my Blu-ray player for that.

There are lots of iPod accessories out there. Some of them are built around the iPod technology and some are built around the way people actually use the iPod. Unfortunately, the Denon dock falls into the former category. It will give you an onscreen display of your music files and yes, it will also playback video. However if you've ever seen what a Youtube video optimized for the iPod looks like on a 100" screen, well, let's just say you won't want to watch much video from this device. The audio quality seems pretty good. I'm not sure if it is a true line-out, but the audio seems crisp and undistorted. Higher bit rate files sound better, of course. The dock also works as a charger.

There are a few limitations to the dock, as I knew there would be, but the most glaring is that it does not scroll. You have to click through each song, each artist and each album one at a time. If you hold the button down it doesn't go any faster and after about 20 seconds it gets bogged down and just stops. Once the iPod is placed in the dock you can't control it with the iPod itself. You're stuck using the Denon or your universal remote. Can you imagine what it would be like if your iPod didn't scroll? I have 6800 songs on my iPod. To get from Across the Universe to You Can't Always Get What You Want would take hours. Of course I have playlists, but I don't have everything in a playlist. The problem with the Denon dock is that it forces me to manage my music around the limitations of their device instead of them building their product around the way in which I want to use my iPod.

If you only have a few hundred songs and most of them are put into small playlists, the Denon dock might work out okay as a poor man's Apple TV. If you're a power user, you should look elsewhere. I'm not too bummed about buying this for less than a hundred bucks, but if I had it to do over I'd probably pass.

I wanted this to work for me. So much so that I disregarded some very recent and well written reviews that told me it wouldn't. I should have listened. I have the Denon 2309 receiver and the thought of controlling the I-pod with either remote sounded so appealing. BUT . . . the menu is, as someone else put it, so DOS like and clunky, that really, you are better off with a simple cable jack. Then you can at least play an album or playlist off your I-pod with fast scrolling and controllability. My components are hidden away anyway! Given how long these music players have been on the market, what could possibly be Denon's excuse for such a low tech product? It is being returned tomorrow. Are you listening Denon??

Bill

Overall this could be a good product, but be aware that newer model iPods and iPhones will not be able to output video using the ASD-11R. See the Denon Docks iPod Compatibility Chart on the Denon website for more information.

I own an iPod Classic 120GB 5th gen unit as well as an iPod Nano 16GB 4th gen unit and the dock is connected to a Yamaha HTR-5650 receiver. This review applies for both iPod units:

PROS-
The dock charges the iPods weather they are switched on or off, you have full iPod control while they are docked (except that the volume is disabled and there is no video output from the dock), sound quality is great using the supplied RCA cables, the dock's only video output can be connected using the supplied S-Video cable, and the docking plates that came with the iPods fit perfectly into the Denon dock (albeit they're white and the dock is black). The 3-docking plates (black) that came with the dock were not applicable for my specific iPods.

CONS-
I was advised by Denon that the dock may not output video with the aforementioned iPod models and that is precisely my case. For me, this is not a big deal as I can live without the album artwork displayed on my TV and I watch movies on my DVD player anyway. I was also advised that because the dock has no IR eye, the "dock control" cable connection may/may not work with non-Denon receivers that accommodate the same 3.5mm jack, which my Yamaha receiver does not. This is a hit-or-miss feature for non-Denon receivers.

Overall, the ASD-11R does exactly what I want it to do: charge my iPod while it plays music on my home receiver. If that is your primary objective as well and you own a non-Denon receiver then this is the best quality dock out there to date.

The dock is functional, but you don't get video or pictures on our HD TV, you don't get coverflow, you just get scroll-through songs. Get an Apple TV, ours is far away from the wireless router, works like a charm. Movies, photos, songs, coverflow, images with songs. It's the way to go