Reply With QuoteNope you're not imagining it. Have always found Sony mp3 players to be much better sound quality than Apple. Still prefer to use my Sony mp3 over my iPhone when out running.
i have been listening to my iphone through mini speakers and the like.
when i hook up my sony mp3 [which is a few years old now] to the same speakers i am sure the sound is better and clearer at louder volumes or am i just imagining it?
Nope you're not imagining it. Have always found Sony mp3 players to be much better sound quality than Apple. Still prefer to use my Sony mp3 over my iPhone when out running.
agree..apple need to get this sorted
Try a Cowon mp3 player, sound quality is fantastic.
I have an old Sony mp3 and hooked it up to a mates Cambridge system after his ipod.
The Sony does seem to have a fuller sound.
Apple also has volume limits to stop them being played too loud and damaging listeners ears, Sony doesn't. I know this as I did some research as my wife is hard of hearing. I think therefore that the Sony would be better at higher volumes as well.
I'd put money on the Sony sounding better. I've got iPhone and iPods. They get better over the generations but they're not great. My gen 2 iPod nano which I found recently sounds horrible.
If you check out the test sites generally apple ipods get an okay write up as to the quality of the sound whilst cowon and sony always score better. It's when it comes to the while package that ipods tend to come out at the top.
It'll be the EU volume cap. Bet your Sony player predates it.
Are you comparing like for like here?
What compression rates are you using for each player?
Are there any sonic benefits to using the headphone socket to output rather than the dock connector, some people i've asked said the sound quality improves this way? Anyone know about this..I bought a decent output cable go into a good amp & speakers and its better than you'd think..
Yes, this needs to be approached. I have a friend who has an identical iPod set up to me and plays similar music but mine always sounds better than his. When we went through my set up, i showed i was saving my music through iTunes and using the 'Apple Lossless' which certainly made my music sound fuller than his. He's not noticed this on his set up and was using a higher compression to fit more music on his iPod Classic.Originally Posted by Josh B
The Ipod Classic has a better DAC in it than the rest of the Apple range. If you recorded 'lossless' on this, your quality should be excellent. I was at Arcam's listening room streaming a 'Classic' through an rDACkw into some Audiovector speakers - the sound was superb. We then changed to a member of the listening panel's Iphone and the sound difference was almost imperceptible. It's amazing how good the sound can be from these devices
Rod
i just let everything download as it came i didnt know i could adjust settings?
I think we are talking about ripping a CD into iTunes rather than downloading from digital stores (??) - i prefer to buy a CD that way it gives you choice rather than the so-so sound from an iTunes download. For the price they should offer loseless download quality but thats another topic of discussion! You can always compress a file if needed but you can't go the other way..
point is the same either way. itunes default download was 128kbps, thats now up to 256. But the default rate at ripping is around the same iirc. i manually set mine at higher to get an acceptable compromise between quality and quantity. 32GB dont go that far!
Does the EU cap apply to quality as well as quantity, I wonder ;). I guess if they just use a crude compression algorithm to comply with unelected government intervention orders (oops, little bit of politics there), that would have a negative effect on the quality.
IME iP* products are perfectly fine for music (although you'd think the iPod range, being dedicated to music, would continue to be made with better-quality components) but the headphones they come with are no better than the 50p trash phones you can buy at the local market. Why Apple does this make complete sense, of course...
...but what do I know; I don't even like watches!
At setup tell your device it isn't in the EU, no volume limit...
IMHO ;-)
A £20 Sansa Clip+ with Rockbox will probably sound better than both the Sony and the iPod
It will also support gapless playback and FLAC.
The iphone sounds pretty good through etymotics too as it happens
The Ipod Classic has a better DAC in it than the rest of the Apple range. If you recorded 'lossless' on this, your quality should be excellent. I was at Arcam's listening room streaming a 'Classic' through an rDACkw into some Audiovector speakers - the sound was superb. We then changed to a member of the listening panel's Iphone and the sound difference was almost imperceptible. It's amazing how good the sound can be from these devices
Rod
I have an idea the iPod's onboard DAC is nothing to write home about. The way you describe it, you were really listening to the rDACkw, which is a well-sorted piece of kit.
I like my iPod (the idea of a whole collection being stored in a small device and readily accessible is alluring), but I still think that playing the actual discs on a proper CD player beats it hands down.
EDIT Of course, I'm a Naim fanboy and we have a somewhat limited outlook
Last edited by SternG; 16th August 2012 at 22:08.
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