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Should I be able to hear a difference between my computer and my ipod / iphone?

post #1 of 2
11/3/11 at 4:00pm
Thread Starter 

I sometimes listen to my Grado SR-225i's plugged straight into my computer, or I'll listen through my iphone 3gs through a Fiio E5 and Fiio L9 LOD. 

 

My computer is a 2005 Dell Inspiron laptop... nothing special. 

 

My question is, should the ipod sound better than the computer? Because to be honest, I can't tell much of a difference when playing Apple Lossless files on my computer and then listening to the same files on my iphone.

 

Another question I have is that I hear people saying you should use a DAC if you are using your computer, however it isn't necessary with the Ipods because the Ipods have a decent DAC. How true is this?

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post #2 of 2
11/3/11 at 5:25pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by bmd004 View Post

I sometimes listen to my Grado SR-225i's plugged straight into my computer, or I'll listen through my iphone 3gs through a Fiio E5 and Fiio L9 LOD. 

 

My computer is a 2005 Dell Inspiron laptop... nothing special. 

 

My question is, should the ipod sound better than the computer? Because to be honest, I can't tell much of a difference when playing Apple Lossless files on my computer and then listening to the same files on my iphone.

 

Another question I have is that I hear people saying you should use a DAC if you are using your computer, however it isn't necessary with the Ipods because the Ipods have a decent DAC. How true is this?


The sound should be slightly different if you listen closely, but if there's almost no difference, then the computer could sure use a better sound card. The iPod DAC is not comparable to a decent separate DAC, and you won't get much overall improvement from the E5. The best bet would be to get a DAC/amp combo that uses the digital signal from the iPod to bypass the iPod's DAC. The next best thing would be to get a better quality amp that takes the line out from the iPod.
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