iPod sound quality versus other players?

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LocoPyro

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Jan 14, 2003
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i have seen a few posts that mention sound quality but never anything in depth, plus with the search down i cant check that either

so basically how does the sound quality compare to competing players such as the iriver 120 and the creative NX series?

or is it a matter of what sounds good to you versus the next guy and they all are in the same ballpark in terms of quality
 
The iPod definitely doesn't sound as good as some of the other players. Weaker response and a tinnier, more airy sound is sometimes common. I found that the sound quality at 128 on the iRiver and Zen was better than many tracks at 320 were on the iPods, and this seems to be a fairly common observation.

I've probably used 10 iPods, they're everywhere! And I know a few people with the Zens so I tested them out as well. I got to check out an iRiver and using same tunes and a good pair of old but very dynamic and clean Sonys I have, it was definitely the best sounding. I've since tried it on other headphones, including various sennheisers and the iRiver is definitely the most dynamic and I prefer the way it sounds over the Zen. It's also a bit clearer than the Zen in some tracks but overall it's very close.

I ended up choosing the iRiver, my experience was it had the best sound quality; however the Zen is no slouch, it's a very good player, but not as compact. I know nobody that chose the iPod because of sound quality, some chose it because it's made by Apple, others liked the design, and before the iRiver it was also the smallest. That was a major selling point. Since the iRiver is pretty much the exact same size as the 40 gig iPod (which is to say not much bigger than the 20 gig iPod) it was no contest to me.
 
The sound quality is brilliant in the ipod. But if you live in europe, you will have a different amp in side the ipod and the volume level will be lower. However, stay away from the equalizers as they distort the music
 
Sorry, I misspoke last night, the iRiver does sound good, so does the Creative. It's the iPod that tends to be the slouch in the sound quality department.

I've heard it myself and can attest to this. It is also easy to find other reviews on the net that agree.
 
LocoPyro,

keep in mind that you are asking in an Apple forum -- so its a bit loaded. Dont be surprised if you get "ipod is the best!"
pretty much accross the board.

As long as you are playing mp3, i've found that bare, initial sound quality is pretty much the same accross all players (just me). However, things like the Zen have better and more sound quality options, plus they are louder than the ipod (for driving in cars with the windows down, airplanes, or the subway, etc.)

For this reason, the ipod, while a decent machine itself, may not be worth all the hundreds you spend on it. However, if you're like me, and dont listen to a gazillion songs constantly, something like a Pocket PC might be better. I can easily store about 100 songs ("what?? only more than 6 1/2 HOURS of music??") plus I can: install programs, edit Word documents, create/edit databases using Excel, browse the internet, get/write/send email, use it as a GPS, play games, watch videos, use it as a universal remote, use as a calcutor, store names and addresses/use as a phone book, use it as a calender, take notes, an alarm clock, send/receive faxes, and more.... and MORE.... and MORE. sure, all the heavy die hard ipod advocates will insist that you need a device that holds 20,000 songs. Persnoally, i prefer to load what songs i want to hear every week or so. big deal.

(btw, listening to 20,000 songs --the midrange ipod-- at an average of 4 minutes a song, would take over 1333 hours, or about 2 months of straight, constant listening, 24 hours a day. sorry, but i'd rather send an email or browse hardocp than have THAT feature. but hey, thats just me).
 
....and you may get "iPod is a piece of crap because it's Apple" in a stricly PC forum, plain and simple you can weed out the crap from the zealots pretty easily, and do your own sound testing as well.
 
On a decent set of headphones, with high quality MP3 rips, I find the iPod sound quality (3g 30gb) quite acceptable, and I'm an audiophile.
 
Just go get some Shure earphones and hook them up to different models and see what you like best.

If you want you can buy all the different high-rent models and send me the ones you don't like ;).
 
thanks for the input guys

ive started to find more info regarding this topic via other sources

ive pretty much come to the conclusion that i need to just listen to both to make a decision

:D
 
While the iPod is very decent and compact as far as large MP3 players go, I only chose it because I got it for $69 with my Powerbook.

Ya just can't beat a deal like that! :D
 
that's a good decision, because really who cares what anyone else thinks sounds better it's what matters to you
 
Originally posted by WakeboardrB
While the iPod is very decent and compact as far as large MP3 players go, I only chose it because I got it for $69 with my Powerbook.

Ya just can't beat a deal like that! :D
Click to expand...

how did you get it for that amount? :O I bought a powerbook a couple of months ago and didn't see any deal for an ipod :(
 
His was missing serial numbers and he had to get it quick before the trunk lid...ummm I mean store was closed ;).
 
Originally posted by Black Morty Rackham
The iPod has AAC instead of mp3. It is way better than mp3, IMO.
Click to expand...

Depending on the encoding yes, and vice versa.

The iPod doens't have OGG however.
 
Originally posted by versello
how did you get it for that amount? :O I bought a powerbook a couple of months ago and didn't see any deal for an ipod :(
Click to expand...

When I bought my Powerbook (two days after release of new pb revisions in September) Apple was having a rebate deal on the Ipod in conjunction with the education discount. The discount brought the 10gb iPod down to $269 and then there was a $200 mail in rebate. So when it was all said and done (two weeks) I got my iPod for $69.

And yes, the serial numbers are intact. :D
 
I tried my iPod out with some sennheisers at work, and the sound quality of my ipod was great, and personally, it is much much louder then my varying degrees of discmans over the years.
 
I am very discriminating...my stereo over the years has been a Denon reciever with Bose 201 bookshelves, bose 6.2 bookshelves, My moms sound dynamics, or some jbl 4401's....and some old advent floor speakers...and my computer speakers are DS90A monitors.
 
Originally posted by Lord_Athlon
I am very discriminating...my stereo over the years has been a Denon reciever with Bose 201 bookshelves, bose 6.2 bookshelves, My moms sound dynamics, or some jbl 4401's....and some old advent floor speakers...and my computer speakers are DS90A monitors.
Click to expand...

personaly I loved bose until I listened to some higher quality speakers....currently I run a Nakamichi AV-8 and NHT 2.5 for my fronts and VT1-A's for the rears and they sound great...I have a local place that does high end HT installs and actually got to listen to $30k pair of speakers and they were running Transparent Audio cable that cost more than my 2.5's did :eek: but the funny thing was they didn't sound much better than mine...a little bit but not $27k worth! as for the bose...they do sound tinny but to each their own...their headphones rock though!
 
I'll just have to live with my H/K receiver, Velodyne sub and Polks until I'm no longer a college student. *sigh*
 
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