Onkyo DS-A2 review

In the home audio market, you're part of an ever-decreasing minority if you don't offer some sort of iPod-ified product. While the barrage of iPod accessories may never end, we appreciate the simple product that lets us do what we wanted to do in the first place: listen to our iPod on our home stereo. Onkyo's DS-A2 is an update to their previous iPod dock, the DS-A1, and the new model offers a few perks, such as onscreen display and video support. Although it can be used as a stand-alone dock with any receiver, it's also compatible with any Onkyo receiver or home theater in a box (HTIB) that's equipped with the company's Remote Interactive port.

Aesthetically, the DS-A2's glossy black finish is geared to match a black iPod. The base is round, with a rectangular enclosure in back that houses the jacks. Behind the cradle, there's an adjustable disc that can tighten so iPods of any size fit snugly. The DS-A2 is compatible with all dock-equipped iPods from the third generation and newer, including iPod Mini, iPod Nano, and video-enabled iPod models--just be sure you've upgraded the music player to the latest firmware. There are no buttons anywhere on the dock, but that makes sense as you can always use the controls on the iPod if it's within reach.

The included remote is small but thicker than the usual credit-card-style clickers, and we thought the extra size made it more comfortable to hold. The biggest annoyance we found is that the Select button is not located in the middle of the directional pad. This is particularly annoying when you're using the onscreen interface to navigate your iPod--we intuitively kept hitting the middle button and were wondering why the remote wasn't working. Thankfully, if you've connected the DS-A2 to an Onkyo receiver or an HTIB with a Remote Interactive port, you can ditch the small remote and use your receiver's clicker to navigate the menus. We had the Onkyo TX-SR674 on hand and definitely preferred using its remote--besides being full size, the enter button in the middle of the directional pad could be used as a select button, which is exactly what we wanted on the DS-A2 remote.

Connectivity is simple--there's a pair of analog RCA outputs for audio; a composite-video output for video, photos, and onscreen menus; and the Remote Interactive jack for connecting to other Onkyo equipment. The composite-video output is actually a downgrade from the older DS-A1 model, which featured an S-Video out. We're not sure why Onkyo decided to go with this lower-quality connection, especially given the fact that Apple has been amping up the available video content for the iPod with even more TV shows, plus full-length movies. There's no digital output, but that's not a knock, since no other iPod dock has a digital out either. It would've been nice if the Onkyo offered the single-cable connector found on the Yamaha YDS-10 iPod dock, but unlike the Onkyo, which will connect to anything with A/V inputs, the Yamaha interfaces only with compatible Yamaha products via their shared proprietary connection.