IPod sound quality

SBM

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I'm thinking of buying a 20 gig Ipod with a view to uploading all my CD's and connecting the Ipod to my HiFi. (I can then save loads of space by putting my CD's in the loft !).

Is the sound quality anywhere near that of CD's. I know it sounds great through the headphones but I've never heard one through an amplifier
 
Welcome to the forums SBM :hiya:

I have done exectly what you suggest last weekend, all my cds are now in 3 bags up in the loft. Saved loads of space and clutter. :thumbsup:

I don't think you will have too many problems with the majority of mp3 players when playing through an amp. If it sounds bad then chances are it comes down to bit rate conversion.
Even this is horses for courses. Some members will settle for no less than the higher quality rips up beyond 192kbps. I have the majority of mine at 128kbps and have no shame in admitting I don't hear a difference between that and cd. Having said that 96kbps is very noticable.

I'm listening to mine now and sounds great.
 
<<Is the sound quality anywhere near that of CD's. I know it sounds great through the headphones but I've never heard one through an amplifier>>

Depends how good the stereo is, and your ears are! There's definitely a noticeable difference between mp3 and CD IMHO.
 
Tejstar said:
How much space does the lossless format take?
AIFF and WAV take up the cd data size - ie, about 700Mb. ALAC is supposed to take up about half this (although I've not tried it to confirm this).
 
SBM said:
Is the sound quality anywhere near that of CD's. I know it sounds great through the headphones but I've never heard one through an amplifier
My ears can detect no difference between CD and AAC files encoded at 160kbps. At 128kbps I like to think I can tell a difference, but under a blind testing I don't suppose I could.

Using MP3 is a different matter. I can definitely tell a difference between CD and MP3 at 160kbps, but not at 192kbps.

Using ALAC, there is no difference to my ears.
 
I've ripped a few tracks to lossless.
10cc 'I'm not in love' 6 minutes long
128kbps = 4.7Mb MP3
997kbps = 43Mb Apple Lossless
 
I'd suggest you go with something like the Slim Devices Squeezebox or Roku Soundbridge (storing the rips on your PC) instead if it's for home use. You can use it with a remote, both have big displays (the Roku is bigger) and you aren't constrained by the amount of iPod storage, not to mention the 'mid-fi' nature of the iPod as a source. If you're serious about this, both the Roku and the Squeezebox can be DACed. Creative (neer tried it) also have a similar system, only with the display on the remote itself.
 
Got a 40gb photo from John Lewis for £269 the other day. Certainly the cheapest of the main sellers on the internet. Same price as a 40gb non photo at the time, which is what I couldn't quite understand!
Next day delivery for free as well.
If you can afford it go for the 40gb photo over the 30gb as you get a bundle of accessories, such as docking station and the extra hard drive space, for not a great deal more.
 
You can get a 60gb ipod photo for £309 in Dixons. It's the older version - only difference I could find is the increased battery life in the new one, which you won't be all that interested in if it's for the house.

I'm expecting delivery of mine soon. (already have a mini and I love it). I really like album art so I think it's a real bonus to see it, but I'm simple like that ;)

It took me about a week to fill up a 20gb ipod. So i'd go for at least 40gb if I were you...that's two weeks :D
 
simon100 said:
Got a 40gb photo from John Lewis for £269 the other day. Certainly the cheapest of the main sellers on the internet. Same price as a 40gb non photo at the time, which is what I couldn't quite understand!

Looks like you missed out on the boots offer last week then. Boots.com had the 40Gb photo ipod on their site for £269, plus with a 20% promotion code I got mine for £216 delivered yesterday!

Great value! :smashin: As you can imagine though they were all snapped up within a few hours!
 
Tejstar said:
Looks like you missed out on the boots offer last week then. Boots.com had the 40Gb photo ipod on their site for £269, plus with a 20% promotion code I got mine for £216 delivered yesterday!

Great value! :smashin: As you can imagine though they were all snapped up within a few hours!

Hi Where did you get your promotional code?
Regards
 
johnson said:
Hi Where did you get your promotional code?
Regards

It was over on the MSE Forums. Just do a seacrh for Boots. The 20% code has been withdrawn but I believe there is a 10% code flying around.

Seeing as Boots have the 40GB iPod Photo's back in stock it may be worth checking out! Even with the 10% code you'll still get it for £242!

The codes are only for new customers though. Check the t&c's.
 
Quick question I have over 400 songs saved as AAC files on my MAC.

Can I go in selest all and change these to Apple loseless.

After that i suppose the qestions are 1) Will it improve the sound quality through an amp and 2) Will it take up much more disk space on my old G3 I-Mac.
 
Gerbilly, yes I think I remember that as an import option.

p.s. I got my 60gb photo for £280.
 
Tejstar said:
It was over on the MSE Forums. Just do a seacrh for Boots. The 20% code has been withdrawn but I believe there is a 10% code flying around.

Seeing as Boots have the 40GB iPod Photo's back in stock it may be worth checking out! Even with the 10% code you'll still get it for £242!

The codes are only for new customers though. Check the t&c's.

Thanks Tejstar.
Regards
 
JUS said:
Gerbilly, yes I think I remember that as an import option.

p.s. I got my 60gb photo for £280.

Hi Could I ask where you got a 60gig for 280?
Regards
 
gerbilly said:
Quick question I have over 400 songs saved as AAC files on my MAC.

Can I go in selest all and change these to Apple loseless.

.

Once you have compressed a music file, there is no way you can retrieve the lost data...
 
Convenience dilema??

I've been looking into the various options discussed but I would like your thoughts on a few points please:-

option 1: Squeezebox/Roku - pc has to be fired up and left on when wanting to listen to music. I would imagine most people have their pc upstairs (assuming you have a wireless network) you or your wife/partner has to go upstairs and boot up your pc and either wait to make sure it's up and ready (otherwise she would rush downstairs try to access music, claim that the thing doesn't work and suggest that it is complete rubbish!) nagging potential - quite high

Is leaving the pc switched on for long periods of time economic and eco friendly?

option 2: iPOD - hooking the iPOD up to the amp is convenient but is a kid magnet and you don't have the convenience of the remote control and large display.

option 3: forget about it for a while, continue to listen to cds until technology advances again, will current devices be outdated when wireless speeds get ramped up?

All thoughts welcome......berth :cool:
 
Hi I have my iPod photo plugged into my hifi via the dock. I bought the Navipro EX remote for it so I can control the thing from the comfort of my chair, also, being sad I pogrammed my Pronto remote to control it!

I think Apple missed a trick with the Photo version, surely it wouldn't be too difficult to have the regular info that appears on the players screen to be outputted to the tv via the dock. Have tried but can only send out the photo slideshows....wonder if they can software mod/hack these to do that......that would make it more interesting as a domestic jukebox especially small screen LCD's (14 inchers or so) are getting very cheap you wouldn't need to have your main tv on.

I convert everything into AAC at 320kbps and have about 1500 songs with plenty of space to spare. We find that we use it alot more than expected. Its great when you just want something in the back ground but also holds up well sound quality wise as a source. the original CD's do sound better however so I wouldn't box/bin em just yet!

Another option would be the RF transmitter clip ons you can get for them. that would kind of make the iPod "remote" in itself as it could be where you are and rf the music across to the hifi....couldn't use it legally of course...
 
I think Apple missed a trick with the Photo version, surely it wouldn't be too difficult to have the regular info that appears on the players screen to be outputted to the tv via the dock.
Agreed, that would be a major benefit :thumbsup:
I currently have my iPod connected to the hifi via the docking station but may consider the airport route from the computer instead. This would allow me to wirelessly stream music from my PC and it would also mean that I could listen to higher encoded music (my 40GB iPod is only big enough to hold my music at 192 kbps).
 

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