iPhone / iPod equalizer app for best music listening experience - Page 5

A new version of Equalizer was posted right after I wrote my last post. It should fix that bug . . .

I have an older iPod Touch (1st gen). Anyone know of an OLD EQ App that would work with an older Touch? Anyone got an old version laying around you could drop to me? 

Edited by bareyb - 2/19/13 at 9:08pm

Equalizer is still unstable and is completely useless on my 4g Touch. Crash and burn. It can't get through one complete song.

I downloaded Accudio today and it works well on our iPad. I wish it could load on my Nano... Anyway, it's pretty cool but it would be cooler if they had HiFi Man HE 400s in the database. The HE500 setting does't really work for 400s. It has a decent EQ that is fully configurable and that's really the reason I bought it anyway. Pretty cool little product and the playlist feature works well. 

I wish accudio had ATH-CK10 on their list. But they sound great anyways.

 

If anyone else experiences this, here is the work around:

 

Go to the EQ preset screen and click on the gear icon in the top right corner.

Find the "checking files" option and turn it OFF.

 

This will stop the crashing from scanning your library for DRM and iTunes Match.  The Dev will push out a fix later.

I just got a Pure i-20, and have been using the analog DAC. I was surprised there was no difference in sound quality between it and my iPad's on board DAC (the i-20 DAC is supposed to be pretty good). After running the iPad directly to the amp, bypassing the i-20, I noticed something: it sounded no different. I mean zero difference. So, rather than playing the music through the Equalizer app, as I usually do, I used the iTunes app with the i-20 hooked up: the sound was completely different, completely. So my question is this: is the Equalizer app routing to the iPad's DAC, then out through the PURE analog out? Is that even possible, electronically? If so, does Accudio do the same?

i consider myself to have a darn good ear and i couldn't tell the difference between the headphone out of an ipod, and a full CLAS system.

 

I've done exhausting tests trying to hear the differences between my o2/odac and the headphone out of my ipod, and many other combinations of gear.

 

what most people don't realize is that as far as solid state gear goes, its pretty hard to get it wrong.   The problem is tube gear.. it all has radically colored sound, and since its so popular still, people are used to the premise that most gear sounds so different.    The truth of the matter that most people just cant or wont hear is that most solid state gear sounds indistinguishable or very very very similar, unless the manufacturer really made a big mistake, or purposely colored the sound.

 

on the note of the two apps sounding different.. make sure the eq settings on your stock ipod app are turned off. or that the eq settings on the eq app are turned off

there may be some other quirk or bug happening but the two apps should not make a difference in the sound unless the eq settings are different.

What??? Are you saying the Amp and DAC in your iPod sounds just as good to you as an outboard DAC and AMP? I just hooked up my iPod to a iDo and the difference is like night and day. It was like going from listening to an old Cassette to listening to a CD. It's great you cant' hear the difference though... I wish I couldn't. It would save me a ton of money... Surely I'm misunderstanding your post right? 

as I said, i use volume matching and an a/b box.   I play a song i know very well so that its plays exactly simultaneous on both players at once.  Given all those parameters, when i switch back forth, if it wasnt for the ever so slight pop that occurs as the switch is flicked, they sound absolutely identical to me.

 

If people are trying to compare in any way other than what i described, for example listening to one for a while, and then casually switching to the other at some point, then i cant take it very seriously.  People dont have nearly the capacity for sound quality memory that they convince themselves they do. 

 

I dont want to hijack this thread, and frankly i'm totally fine with agreeing to disagree, so lets not persue this any further. 

Well in that case carry on... For the record the two do NOT sound identical to ME or any number of professional audio equipment reviewers out there. Most say the difference is obvious. So not sure what's going on in your scenario. I WISH it didn't make a difference! I could simplify my set up considerably. 

 

I did A/B comparisons and when I switched to the outboard DAC, the Bass tightened up, the voices became less congested, and the overall airiness and sound field was noticeably expanded. Sounded like going from cassette to CD is the best way I can describe it. Read some reviews online about outboard DACS and then listen again. I think you are doing what is called "wishful thinking" in order to keep it simple. I know I've done the same in the past.

Thanks for your replies. I'm playing Equalizer with a flat EQ and the iPad music app has the EQ turned off. There's a major volume difference between the two (I assume that's because Equalizer has to turn down the baseline, so it has room to make the EQ adjustments? But that's a guess.). More than that, there's a very noticeable difference in the quality of the sound (I mean once I adjust the volume to match). No, I'm not doing A/B switching, but I used to be a semi-professional classical musician, and have a very ear--and, really, the difference in sound quality is quite stark. The major, but not only, difference is in the tonal quality of the mids: voices just sound a great deal clearer. In addition, the treble seems to have a greater range, and with a good deal more clarity. And the bass is less bloated. On Equalizer, by comparison, the mids sound muddy, and not nearly as foregrounded, there's a great deal of reticence in the treble, and the bass sounds, well, thicker.

 

Can you tell me if Accudio does not drain the battery of my iPhone4?

 

And does it work with all audio apps like Spotify etc...?

 

Frits.