iTunes sucks ass, iPod sucks ass, sound sucks

[TheStu]

Originally posted by: FP
Maybe his earbuds are bad? Not plugged in all the way? My iPhone and 3 iPods all sound pretty good. I use them with Shure canalphones...

He is using his with Apple stock Earbuds. Not exactly the same. I would love a pair of Shures, but they are a little out of my price range. $40 sony canalphones are good enough for me. My more bassy tracks sound good and strong, and my EQ settings come through really well.

 

[PricklyPete]

Do you have a song in particular that you can give as an example? I certainly wouldn't champion the iPhone/iPod for the best sound ever...but with a good pair of headphones I've never complained and have not noticed this excessive amount of reverb. I'd just like to listen to a song you think is particularly bad to see if I can hear the same...maybe there is a problem with your hardware or your headphones.

 

[NaOH]

Sounds good to me using my super.fi 4. I used to have an iRiver and came over to apple because the user experience is much more transparent. Don't have to deal with ugly ass, complex menus and such just to hear my music. I also have a decent CD player setup at home and a pair of grados. It's far from "trash" in my opinion. BUT, those ipod earbuds ARE trash. Throw them out please.

 

[GregGreen]

Originally posted by: JackBurton

Originally posted by: Ronstang
Sorry, I saw AAC, not the lossless part. They are not the same. AAC is a compression routine and is not as good as the best mP3 encoders. Apple Lossless is really functionally no different than FLAC except it plays on a portable Apple device. Lossless is kind of a waste on something like an iPod or iPhone anyway, especially the older you get. It consumes a huge amount of space comparably and I doubt the sound quality of the player warrants it. Most people cannot tell the difference between good quality mp3s and the original CD.

You know AAC is not an Apple format right? Most other players can play AAC. I think what you are thinking about is protected AAC which can only be played on an iPod. But when you rip your own music, that's not even an issue. iTunes will rip it to lossy AAC or lossless AAC with no protection. As for which is better, lossy AAC will normally sound better than an MP3 at the same bitrate. I actually prefer lossless AAC because it preserves the entire song bit for bit. And when you are an audiophile, you want your music to sound the best it can. Ripping to MP3 is really not a option. You may not be able to tell the difference on an iPod with crappy earbuds, but when you stream your music to a high end system or use some nice headphones with an amp you can definitely tell the difference. And I think that is what Spidey is looking for. For his music to sound the best it can.

I hate to nitpick, but AAC is not lossless format and Apple Lossless is completely unrelated to AAC. He was referring to Apple Lossless being preferable (in this case) to FLAC, another lossless format, because it can be played on Apple devices.

Also, AAC does not sound better than a track properly encoded with LAME but a FLAC or Apple Lossless will always sound better than either of the first two I mentioned (although it can be argued if the difference can be distinguished with the hardware Apple packs in their media players).

 

[JackBurton]

Originally posted by: GregGreen

Originally posted by: JackBurton

Originally posted by: Ronstang
Sorry, I saw AAC, not the lossless part. They are not the same. AAC is a compression routine and is not as good as the best mP3 encoders. Apple Lossless is really functionally no different than FLAC except it plays on a portable Apple device. Lossless is kind of a waste on something like an iPod or iPhone anyway, especially the older you get. It consumes a huge amount of space comparably and I doubt the sound quality of the player warrants it. Most people cannot tell the difference between good quality mp3s and the original CD.

You know AAC is not an Apple format right? Most other players can play AAC. I think what you are thinking about is protected AAC which can only be played on an iPod. But when you rip your own music, that's not even an issue. iTunes will rip it to lossy AAC or lossless AAC with no protection. As for which is better, lossy AAC will normally sound better than an MP3 at the same bitrate. I actually prefer lossless AAC because it preserves the entire song bit for bit. And when you are an audiophile, you want your music to sound the best it can. Ripping to MP3 is really not a option. You may not be able to tell the difference on an iPod with crappy earbuds, but when you stream your music to a high end system or use some nice headphones with an amp you can definitely tell the difference. And I think that is what Spidey is looking for. For his music to sound the best it can.

I hate to nitpick, but AAC is not lossless format and Apple Lossless is completely unrelated to AAC. He was referring to Apple Lossless being preferable (in this case) to FLAC, another lossless format, because it can be played on Apple devices.

Also, AAC does not sound better than a track properly encoded with LAME but a FLAC or Apple Lossless will always sound better than either of the first two I mentioned (although it can be argued if the difference can be distinguished with the hardware Apple packs in their media players).

Yep, sorry about that. It's been awhile since I ripped my CDs but you're right, AAC is not Apple Lossless. Apple Lossless is MP4. My bad. The reason I like Apple Lossless over FLAC though is because I can tag it. Last time I tried, I couldn't tag FLAC files.

 

[TheStu]

Originally posted by: JackBurton

Originally posted by: GregGreen

Originally posted by: JackBurton

Originally posted by: Ronstang
Sorry, I saw AAC, not the lossless part. They are not the same. AAC is a compression routine and is not as good as the best mP3 encoders. Apple Lossless is really functionally no different than FLAC except it plays on a portable Apple device. Lossless is kind of a waste on something like an iPod or iPhone anyway, especially the older you get. It consumes a huge amount of space comparably and I doubt the sound quality of the player warrants it. Most people cannot tell the difference between good quality mp3s and the original CD.

You know AAC is not an Apple format right? Most other players can play AAC. I think what you are thinking about is protected AAC which can only be played on an iPod. But when you rip your own music, that's not even an issue. iTunes will rip it to lossy AAC or lossless AAC with no protection. As for which is better, lossy AAC will normally sound better than an MP3 at the same bitrate. I actually prefer lossless AAC because it preserves the entire song bit for bit. And when you are an audiophile, you want your music to sound the best it can. Ripping to MP3 is really not a option. You may not be able to tell the difference on an iPod with crappy earbuds, but when you stream your music to a high end system or use some nice headphones with an amp you can definitely tell the difference. And I think that is what Spidey is looking for. For his music to sound the best it can.

I hate to nitpick, but AAC is not lossless format and Apple Lossless is completely unrelated to AAC. He was referring to Apple Lossless being preferable (in this case) to FLAC, another lossless format, because it can be played on Apple devices.

Also, AAC does not sound better than a track properly encoded with LAME but a FLAC or Apple Lossless will always sound better than either of the first two I mentioned (although it can be argued if the difference can be distinguished with the hardware Apple packs in their media players).

Yep, sorry about that. It's been awhile since I ripped my CDs but you're right, AAC is not Apple Lossless. Apple Lossless is MP4. My bad. The reason I like Apple Lossless over FLAC though is because I can tag it. Last time I tried, I couldn't tag FLAC files.

Last I checked you can't put FLAC onto an iPod anyway, so even if you can get them into iTunes, which I also think you cannot do by default, you won't then be able to transfer them to the player, so you might as well use either Apple Lossless or WAV.

 

[myocardia]

Strange, my iPod Classic sounds fine to me, but I'm hardly an audiophile. I only have a $4,000 car stereo, and an almost $10,000 home stereo. Then again, I only enjoy listening to the music, not the equipment, which is why I'll never be an audiophile.😉

 

[spidey07]

Originally posted by: Muadib
While the last few post were enjoyable, they don't really address his issue. I have a few 64kb mp3 files left over from the Napster era. Yes, they sound crappy, but there is no reverb. He either had the eq on, or he needs to visit an Apple store.

Thank you. I have verified I have turned off all EQ and effects on my iphone. I know what compression sounds like, this is NOT compression. CHA! cha-cha-cha-cha-cha-cha-cha, that's reverb

This is exaggerated decay, aka reverb.

Thank you very much for the constructive criticism, I must be doing something wrong. I will try ripping my own sources.

 

[spidey07]

Originally posted by: myocardia
Strange, my iPod Classic sounds fine to me, but I'm hardly an audiophile. I only have a $4,000 car stereo, and an almost $10,000 home stereo. Then again, I only enjoy listening to the music, not the equipment, which is why I'll never be an audiophile.😉

heh, true. If the reverb wasn't so freaking pronounced I would not have started this thread. But I'm openly admitting I'm doing it wrong and just trying to figure out what I'm doing wrong - so far getting songs from iTunes = BAD.

 

[Muadib]

Originally posted by: spidey07

Originally posted by: Muadib
While the last few post were enjoyable, they don't really address his issue. I have a few 64kb mp3 files left over from the Napster era. Yes, they sound crappy, but there is no reverb. He either had the eq on, or he needs to visit an Apple store.

Thank you. I have verified I have turned off all EQ and effects on my iphone. I know what compression sounds like, this is NOT compression. CHA! cha-cha-cha-cha-cha-cha-cha, that's reverb

This is exaggerated decay, aka reverb.

Thank you very much for the constructive criticism, I must be doing something wrong. I will try ripping my own sources.

I think your next step should be to take it back to Apple, and get it replaced. I don't think you are doing anything wrong, I think your phone is busted. I went through 3 of the 3G iPhones before I got one with no issues.

I suggest using the Apple site to setup an appointment, or you could be waiting a while.

 

[Need4Speed]

Originally posted by: myocardia
Strange, my iPod Classic sounds fine to me, but I'm hardly an audiophile. I only have a $4,000 car stereo, and an almost $10,000 home stereo. Then again, I only enjoy listening to the music, not the equipment, which is why I'll never be an audiophile.😉

wow ... those must be some great systems

 

[torpid]

What's the song in question? Maybe someone else can verify...