Im interested in knowing how much difference there is between Apple Lossless, AAC 192kb/s, AAC 128kb/s and a CD. Obviously the CD is best, but how much better is it than Lossless? Likewise for lossless and 192kb/s.
Ohh and one more thing, is there a big difference, in sound quality, between using the analoge (3.5mm jack to Red n White) and a properly docked iPod?
Thanx 2 any who reads this. Ps sorry about all the millions of questions! :)
Hi Frank, I can't tell the difference between CD and lossless but i think that's the idea, no?
Lossless and 192kbps - through headphones there's no difference for me. However, through my main hi-fi at a decent volume there is a slight loss in quality. Trebles aren't quite as sweet.
Good point on the lossless-CD front. Now thinking of it there shouldnt be an "obvious" difference, infact after a late night clubing i wouldnt be able to tell the difference between any of them.
After a little research i have just found the answer, the is noooooo difference in sound quality between CDs and any other "Lossless" formats. So thats sorted.
Which leaves me the last question Jack or Dock????????????????????????? And why?
Arcam has just brought out a dock "rDock" that stops charging when the battery's done - it's supposed to improve sound quality if the juice ain't flowing... Got good reviews so far...
If you use a pair of good headphones such as the in-ear ones by Shure, you will notice all the music's nuances, including the compression rate, just as much as on a good hifi separates system...
Mark, what Shure phones do you have? I had the E3Cs a while back and they were pretty good although they did tend to pop out the ear one in a while... I've heard there's a new range out. Maybe they'll fit better eh!
Nick, I've got the e2Cs and find that the foam bungs work best as you compress them and then they adapt to your ear canal as they expand. I'm sure the e3Cs sound even better!!
I have found all the comments above very interesting and have often wondered myself about the differences and I now tend to go out of my way to get hold of lossles and here is my theory of why, you dont know its missing until its not missing. Nearly all my music is on the computer and goes from there to my Ipod with headphones or my Fatman with mission m73s, but lately I have been messing around with Dual cs505-2 turntable and a soundlab dlp6 turntable and a little cheap mixer through a cyrus one and listening to a couple of LPs which I have also on the Ipod, the difference is massive, and likewise, on the Ipod through the Fatman amp, lossless and mp3 is a massive differance, and my theory is apple lossless on the Ipod is pretty hard to beat.I use Sennheiser PX100s and I know the difference between these and ipod headphones is infinate, but when I first got my Ipod, the free headphones where great, ofcourse I didnt know better until I discovered you lot, thankyou all very much.You have cost me a fortune and its money well spent rather than expensive mistakes.
Sorry, I think I forgot to mention my point above, I think when your sat there listening to favorite songs in mp3 on ur mp3 player, your not really thinking about what it would sound like on a Linn Sondek or a Krell cd player, they are still your favorite songs and your brain automatically fills in the missing parts until you climatise to it and once you have got used to your chosen hardware, your favorite band is still the best in the world, your just enjoying your favorite music in an incredibly versatile and convenient format, its only when you learn from word of mouth and sites such as this that there are ways to improve your sound, often for not much money, and just a little research, if I hadnt walked into a HiFi shop when a dealer was demonstrating the Fatman Itube, I would not have bought one, but I heard it, saw it and new I needed it because it offered so much more than my headphones, which incidently, if I hadnt been browsing through this site reading headphone reviews, I would probably still be using those crappy white ones you get free with the Ipod which ofcourse I was happy with.....until I heard the sennheiser px100s, there is no way back, only forwards, and it costs. If your Ipod has 19 albums in mp3 and one in lossless, you will still be happy with the ones on mp3...until you hear the one in lossless, especially if your using that shuffle feature then it becomes annoying. Then you have the dilemma of deleting the one in lossless so you can get another nine mp3 albums on, or delete the 19 mp3 albums and have four or five lossless, the problem is they do not mix very well because the difference is big. Sorry, am I jibbering?
Good points sidney. I think it would be nice of Apple to start bundling better headphones with their iPods. The standard ones are so damn uncomfortable and make everything sound so tinny. Not a good advert for the iPod! Good headphones make such a big difference. Currently on the Etymotic E6i. Fantastic in every way. Fit well and tons of bass with good overall separation.
Totally agree with that because before I bought the PX100s, I used a pair of Sennheiser MX500, those little blue sit in the ear ones and I thought you couldnt get better than those for portable gadgets, the sound was (still is) miles better than most high street brands and freebies and way better than Ipods freebies, and they are relatively inexpensive, if Ipod wants to show off the market leader in mp3 players they should start by giving these away with their Ipods just to keep the competition at bay and to let Ipod buyers know what their little gadget is actually capable of. Ive heard many a bearded pipe smoking audiophile diss the Ipod, but as alex cook says above, if you want Hi-Fi quality, stick a cd in the cd player, if you want 30-40 albums in your pocket to listen to at almost unnoticeable less quality (considering your probabley out and about in the great outdoors) buy an Ipod and some good headphones.
On the question of suitable headphones for the Ipod, I have a 2Gb Nano which of course is volume capped. I have tried it with the phones supplied (thin sounding though not that bad, but no volume), some £30 Sony in the ear ones that are much better sound quality but even quieter, a pair fo cheaper larger ear phones from Sony that sound surprisingly alive, with plenty of dynamics and volume if a little dull at the top end, and finally a pair of Grado SR90's which of course are easily the most "hi-fi" but hardly practiacl for travelling with. What I am after is a pair ofd reasonable sounding but very efficient phones to overcome the Ipod volume cap problem. Price not more than £50 dos anyone have any recommendations?
I lost my sennhieser mx500s up the hoover and was a bit gutted because I dont think you can get better than these on a budget for the Ipod if your using it out and about. If you are listening to it in the house then I think the more expensive headphones will give you better and better sound but you cant really sit at the train station in a pair of grados or sennhieser ovations. I have got hold of a new pair of Koss The Plug phones for £12.99 to use at work on the night shift, these are a lot of fun and go very loud with the 2gig nano but the cable is minging and Iam forever untangling it, also you cant hear much of the outside world around you with them on which is always going to be dodgy on streets etc. I also think they may be dodgy for your eardrums as the sound is more or less shooting straight at your eardrums with no escape route and as I said, they go very loud, kind of a poor mans noise cancelling headphone but a little on the clangy and irritating side of the sound scale. I think the Sennheiser mx500s are about as good as it gets for outside the house and are cheaper than a lot of crappy famous brandnames and a million times better sounding. I dont really know what volume capped means but I kind of think it means the Ipod doesnt go loud enough for you which worries me a little if you are using in ear type headphones, I occasionally get carried away in the house with the sennheiser px100s and hanker for a little more volume, but deep down I know its wrong and damaging, I think the ipod goes plenty loud and if it went any louder would probably stop sounding as good, ipods and headphones have warranties and gaurantees and are replaceable but eardrums are non replaceable and degrade with age if abused so on this note I would suggest splashing out on a good pair of phones like the Shures Sennheisers and Etymotics mentioned by folk above and go for the quality rather than volume, sounds daft but I reckon you hear a lot more at a slightly lower volume and I bet that even though the Ipod is not designed to drive a pair of Grados at any great volume it probably sounds pretty awsome for something the size of a credit card. I must say though, if you really think the Ipod volume cap is a problem, you may be needing a hearing aid sooner than expected, enjoy the music delay the silence.
Sorry steve, got carried away above, just read it and cant help thinking anyone else reading it will think I am a patronising condesendin old fart, its just that I often find myself listening to the ipod on full volume and when I take my headphones off after an hour or so I have a ringing in my ear, I have been told this is bad, I have also been told that if I take my phones off after an hour on full wack and I dont have a ringing in my ear, this is even worse, so how loud is too loud? and if it doesnt go loud enough is it the fault of my ipod, my headphones, or my saggy swinging eardrums? Iam arguing with myself again, need to get out more, damm this internet stuff. byeeee.
forget headphones boys, THE iPod listening experience is being alone in the car with 6000 songs on shuffle and miles of road ahead of you. The Alpine CDE-9881R is specially made for the job... Had it for 2 months now and there's no lookin' back... (a 6 CD changer is SO 20th century...)
My hearing is actually better than average for my age in terms of frequency and sensitivity. I dont listen at very loud levels, but the volume caps (an electronic limit) on European Ipod's is well documented. With standard ipod phones, I cannot hear much over the noise of a jet engine on a plane, in ear types are better but the Sony pair I haved are not very sensitive.
Then I think you would be well suited to the noise cancelling type headphones, not cheap, but they are designed to do what you require of them, especially if your an international jetsetter. Its just very difficult to get a dealer to let you demo them when you got to shove em in lug holes. A stigma a bit like try before you buy underpants, which is a shame when you are shelling out £50 for something you dont know if your going to like or not.
