Do any audiophiles love their iPod?

[screwd01]

I had a an iRiver H120, moved on to a sony mp3 walkman (bad sound) for portability and currently have an iRiver Clix 1st gen (small/video/flash).
iPods are cool, I just stayed away just to be different. I received a nano 3rd gen as a gift and its nice but the sound quality hurts. Playing it in the car thru a cassette adapter and headphones, there is distortion on some songs and it doesn't sound lively. One song in particular- Lupe Fiasco's "High Definition" on the Cool album is not listenable on the Rock EQ, with or w/o sound check. Played it on the Clix, it was fine.

I know there are settings in itunes to adjust the sound for songs but that would be a pain if you have a large library. Feature wise and UI, the ipod is great.

Has sound quality gotten worse with generation?

 

[onlyCOpunk]

The sound quality has stayed the same. Ipods have always had really great sound quality. I believe it's you cassette adapter that drags it down. If you really are serious about your iPod in your car I'd suggest a Pioneer or Alpine stereo with the iPod attachment, you will never look back, and you music will sound phenomenal.

And in iTunes there is an option for sound check, but that just makes ll songs the same volume, but could help.

 

[screwd01]

I actually has the same distortion problem with that song with a pair of philips headphones and a pair of e2cs

 

[potato28]

Originally posted by: onlyCOpunk
The sound quality has stayed the same. Ipods have always had really great sound quality. I believe it's you cassette adapter that drags it down. If you really are serious about your iPod in your car I'd suggest a Pioneer or Alpine stereo with the iPod attachment, you will never look back, and you music will sound phenomenal.

And in iTunes there is an option for sound check, but that just makes ll songs the same volume, but could help.

No, the 3rd gen Nanos have bad SQ compared to the 1st gen Nano, the Classic or even a 5g without Rockbox. With Rockbox the 5g kills the Classic and is on par with a stock 1st gen Nano. The iMod is still the best SQ out of an iPod, but costs more than a used car with an amp and the proper cables.

 

[frostedflakes]

I'd assume you've already tried this, but try turning down the volume on the iPod and turn up the volume on the car stereo.

 

[screwd01]

Originally posted by: frostedflakes
I'd assume you've already tried this, but try turning down the volume on the iPod and turn up the volume on the car stereo.

yeah that works but then I have to turn the radio to ungodly levels. The problem is still present with headphones. With the EQ off there's no distortion

 

[darkswordsman17]

Originally posted by: screwd01

Originally posted by: frostedflakes
I'd assume you've already tried this, but try turning down the volume on the iPod and turn up the volume on the car stereo.

yeah that works but then I have to turn the radio to ungodly levels. The problem is still present with headphones. With the EQ off there's no distortion

I was just going to point that out. It is the EQ, not the the iPod. The EQ settings on iPods is known to be garbage (some people think EQ in general is garbage, but even compared to other players the iPod's is bad).

You should also consider using a lineout dock/cable if your stereo supports it as it will bypass the iPods internal amplifier (which will lead to less distortion). I'd try bypassing the tape adapter as they aren't good for quality either.

Oh, and don't use iTunes volume leveler, use a separate program that does ReplayGain and use it (it is much better than what iTunes does).

 

[JDub02]

Originally posted by: darkswordsman17

Originally posted by: screwd01

Originally posted by: frostedflakes
I'd assume you've already tried this, but try turning down the volume on the iPod and turn up the volume on the car stereo.

yeah that works but then I have to turn the radio to ungodly levels. The problem is still present with headphones. With the EQ off there's no distortion

I was just going to point that out. It is the EQ, not the the iPod. The EQ settings on iPods is known to be garbage (some people think EQ in general is garbage, but even compared to other players the iPod's is bad).

You should also consider using a lineout dock/cable if your stereo supports it as it will bypass the iPods internal amplifier (which will lead to less distortion). I'd try bypassing the tape adapter as they aren't good for quality either.

Oh, and don't use iTunes volume leveler, use a separate program that does ReplayGain and use it (it is much better than what iTunes does).

I hook mine up to the car stereo using an adapter cable that plugs into the bottom port instead of the headphone jack. I also leave the EQ off and use the EQ in my car. With decent quality MP3's (192k), the iPod is certainly not the limiting factor in my car. I have yet to have anything distort coming out of the iPod, including some really heavy bass.

 

[Rio Rebel]

I am something of an audiophile, and I stayed away from MP3's for years. I would much rather listen to the best audio fidelity possible.

But in the last 6 months, I finally took the plunge. I realized I was missing out on so much enjoyment of music because I wouldn't listen to anything but my home stereo. I have an 80 gig ipod, and it is awesome having my music collection with me wherever I go.

I will probably sell my car soon, so I'm stuck with a cassette adapter as well, and I'm not going to upgrade the stereo in this car. I keep the EQ off (as I do on any stereo), and the music quality is certainly not as good as I'd like, but good enough to enjoy the music.

 

[AnyMal]

If you want MP3 with really good sound get a Creative. The only iPod that could match Creative's sound quality was the first gen Shuffle.

 

[Phynaz]

Originally posted by: screwd01

Originally posted by: frostedflakes
I'd assume you've already tried this, but try turning down the volume on the iPod and turn up the volume on the car stereo.

yeah that works but then I have to turn the radio to ungodly levels. The problem is still present with headphones. With the EQ off there's no distortion

Your MP3's are clipping. Use MP3Gain.