[Langrath]

I have had minidisks before. Now I think of buying a harddisk based portable mp3 player. Are the differences in sound big between them or more subtle and subjective?

Georg

 

[Necros]

That depends on how the music is encoded..

MP3 45kps CBR
or
OGG 500kps VBR

Pretty obvious differences. Please elaborate.

 

[Langrath]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Necros That depends on how the music is encoded.. MP3 45kps CBR or OGG 500kps VBR Pretty obvious differences. Please elaborate.

I mean diferrences in sound between brands with the same encoding let us say lame 320 kb/s

Georg

 

[Michael1980]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Langrath I mean diferrences in sound between brands with the same encoding let us say lame 320 kb/s Georg

Sound quality might be similar, sound characteristics might vary especially depending on what eq is used.

 

[dura]

I find generally sound quality is more determined by the hardware, the player (and of course the headphones and the interaction between the two) then by the used codec/kbs. Think about dynamics, nature of treble and bass, spatiousness...really large differences IMO.

 

[Langrath]

I have no experiences except for minidisks. Which brands are most recommendable in good sound? Some special that many of you say has bad sound? E.g. are Apple's MP3s better than Creative's mp3s?

Georg

 

[socrates63]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Langrath I have no experiences except for minidisks. Which brands are most recommendable in good sound? Some special that many of you say has bad sound? E.g. are Apple's MP3s better than Creative's mp3s?

As someone already mentioned, the sound will totally depend upon how it was encoded. You're somewhat alluding to the fact that different softwares often use different encoders (if I remember correctly, Ars Technica published an article on the sound quality of different encoders). Different encoders will produce MP3s will different sound.

If line-out is used, as opposed to the player's headphone jack, to output the sound, then MP3s should sound the same regardless of the player since they are digital data. Once the sound leaves the player, the quality of sound you hear will depend on the equipment between the player and your ears (e.g., headphone, amp, cables etc.).

Some players that support line-out include the iPod and Karma.

 

[Necros]

Quote:

Originally Posted by socrates63 If line-out is used, as opposed to the player's headphone jack, to output the sound, then MP3s should sound the same regardless of the player since they are digital data.

Don't agree with that at all..line out is still based on the units sound quality and is not digital output, and no relevance just because the source format was digital at one point. If that was a correct statement every single CD player will sound the same via it's line level outputs. They don't...there is a huge difference between my cheapo DVD player analogue outputs compared to my pretty decent CD player.

Now if you were comparing two DAPs with digital out then possibly identical, however I guess the decoding algorithm in the DAP will still result in final sound quality.

As for the variables in comparing HD players versus MD, he needs to use these variables...

Bitrate
MP3 or OGG
Encoder
Decoder in DAP
Other settings
Quality of DAP
Headphone amplification
Headphones
And whether you have cloth ears or not.

 

[supahfreak]

Looks to me all he's asking is if there are any players you guys would recommend or advise against. I have no idea what you guys are talking about but I'm sure you're right...

 

[Langrath]

Quote:

Originally Posted by supahfreak Looks to me all he's asking is if there are any players you guys would recommend or advise against. I have no idea what you guys are talking about but I'm sure you're right...

Thank you. I thought I had got a brain disease or something. Everybody give good answers to quite another question than mine.

Georg

 

[bigshot]

The iPod has as good sound as the average CD player with high bitrate encoding.

See ya
Steve

 

[funnytimes]

all other variables the same, all eq and enhancements off, they will all have a flat frequency response

 

[supahfreak]

Langrath, I think your question needs to be tightened up a bit. How much were you looking to spend, how much capacity do you require, do you want FM, lineout, etc. I think if you look through some other posts you may get some of the answer you need to make an educated choice.

 

[socrates63]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Necros Don't agree with that at all..line out is still based on the units sound quality and is not digital output, and no relevance just because the source format was digital at one point. If that was a correct statement every single CD player will sound the same via it's line level outputs. They don't...there is a huge difference between my cheapo DVD player analogue outputs compared to my pretty decent CD player. Now if you were comparing two DAPs with digital out then possibly identical, however I guess the decoding algorithm in the DAP will still result in final sound quality. As for the variables in comparing HD players versus MD, he needs to use these variables... Bitrate MP3 or OGG Encoder Decoder in DAP Other settings Quality of DAP Headphone amplification Headphones And whether you have cloth ears or not.

I humbly stand corrected

 

[Girdag]

The Rio Karma has better sound than most other DAPs, and is cheaper than most to boot. It also has a great 5-Band parametric equaliser.