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JohnRice
- John Rice
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- Joined: June 2000
- Location: Colorado
- Post Count: 7,506
Re: ipod classic as audio source - sound quality problem
Try turning down the volume on the iPod. It sounds like it may be overloading the input stage of the receiver.
They flutter behind you, your possible pasts.
Some bright-eyed and crazy, some frightened and lost.
- Joined: April 2004
- Post Count: 788
Re: ipod classic as audio source - sound quality problem
You may never get great sound out of an Ipod, or any other MP3 player, since all of them compress the audio to an incredible degree. Is it possible to use something larger, with less compression, like a PC audio server?
--ignore the man behind the curtain
- Joined: August 2001
- Location: New York City Area
- Post Count: 3,477
Re: ipod classic as audio source - sound quality problem
Felix,
How exactly are you connecting your iPods to your audio system? You're not relying on the regular headphone outs, right? If you're using an iPod dock, which one?
I haven't really tried using any iPods for serious listening on my main audio system. But I read that the headphone outs are more or less junk for this purpose, and even the separately available, current model iPod dock (w/ the remote included) isn't that great. I do actually have the old iPod dock that used to be included w/ some of the old iPods -- mine is the 60GB iPod Photo from maybe 4 years ago. I don't use that dock for my main system, but have passed it off to my daughter for her iPod Nano connected to some old, Yamaha sat/sub speakers (originally pretty good for computer use).
Anyway, if you had just been running headphone out straight to your system w/out a dock, I'd suggest trying a dock instead, probably preferably the old version dock (though it might not actually matter which one).
_Man_
Just another amateur learning to paint w/ "the light of the world".
- Joined: August 2001
- Location: New York City Area
- Post Count: 3,477
Re: ipod classic as audio source - sound quality problem
It's not surprising that the (variable) headphone out would be inferior and get worse for certain subsequent generations to boot -- that's just how things tend to be when cost-cutting comes into play. Afterall, most people buying an iPod just won't know the diff anyway.
RE: the suggestion of using headphone amp, I assume you'll still need an iPod dock (or similar) to get the separate line out from the iPod and not rely on its regular headphone out.
Finally, if you're using WAV files, you might want to consider using Apple's lossless compression codec instead. That will save you a ton of space, especially when it comes to classical music (to my own surprise). The only downside I've noticed w/ that is I can't seem to get gapless playback that's fairly essential for certain pieces of music unless I combine the tracks that need that -- maybe the newer versions of iTune and iPod firmware solved this. Well, also, I guess the extra processing needed might eat up a bit more power though I'd think no more than the extra HDD usage needed to handle much larger WAV files. Anyway, if you use Apple lossless, maybe you can still fit all your music in that 60GB iPod and not need the 160GB upgrade.
_Man_
Just another amateur learning to paint w/ "the light of the world".
- Joined: August 2001
- Location: New York City Area
- Post Count: 3,477
Re: ipod classic as audio source - sound quality problem
Quote:
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Originally Posted by Scott Strang
I also tend to use only 320 kbit to straight WAV's on mine which helps a lot. It really sounds pretty decent. The sound quality becomes considerably worse one you get to 192 and lower. NEVER recompress your mp3's as the sound gets drastically worse when doing so. Cascading compression is a serious problem with TV audio and radio station audio.
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For my own iPod, I stick w/ 320Kbps MP3 and Apple lossless -- the latter for what I care more about. However, I've been too lazy to re-rip everything for my daughter's iPod Nano, so she gets 320Kbps-to-192-Variable-AAC in some cases instead (and she hasn't complained so far).
Quote:
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Originally Posted by felix_suwarno
I am using an old receiver. How do i connect an ipod dock to the receiver? Sounds like a dumb question, but i am really busy to do my own research on this subject. If i had more spar cash i would upgrade my receiver ASAP. I know there are receivers out there with ipods in mind.
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I wouldn't bother w/ those new optional features for newer receivers since they charge extra for them -- probably more than the cost of the standard dock and might not be reuseable for the next receiver you buy after that -- unless they can actually move the DAC-plus-line-out section off the iPod and into the receiver itself to possibly improve quality. Even then, it's not really worth it to me since I can usually just pop my CDs (or SACDs) into the player instead.
For the iPod dock, just use a decent mini-plug-to-stereo-pair splitter -- pretty standard stuff you can get from Radio Shack or similar. My old one actually came w/ that.
_Man_
Just another amateur learning to paint w/ "the light of the world".
- Joined: August 2001
- Location: New York City Area
- Post Count: 3,477
Re: ipod classic as audio source - sound quality problem
Felix,
You really need to try the dock (or something similar) to bypass the cheap headphone opamp on the iPod -- this aspect would be true of most headphone outputs you find on any non-highend A/V gear, not just the iPod, as it's the one area that makes sense for them to cut corners.
Maybe there is some affordable 3rd party solution like Brent mentioned, if you don't want to spend the $50-60 on the official dock. I haven't tried those myself, so don't know.
_Man_
Just another amateur learning to paint w/ "the light of the world".
