[T07]

I told everyone not to buy an ipod. I told them the sound quality was inferior to the Zen. I told them there were battery and volume issues. I told them it was WAY too expensive. They all listened to me.

So I went out and bought a 30gb ipod (I like to be different!!). Now I have a great looking bit of kit, but i'm terrified that one day one of my zen friends is going to ask if they can borrow it. Then they will say its broken because they can't hear it. I cant hear it. My dog cant hear it. It has no volume.

Please someone, whats the answer, headphone amp?

Please make suggestions as I've no experience of headphone amps.

Thanks

A. Schmuk

 

[MusicLover]

Either your ipod is broken or maybe you are plugging your headphones into the ine out jack instead of the headphone jack. Its a weird question, that's all I can think of.

 

[T07]

....my attempt at sarcastic humour has it seems soared way higher than intended.

Its not broken and i have the headphone inserted into the correct orifice, thanks for covering that.

The volume is low. All the new ipods are low, both US & Euro spec. Even the old ones were usually only adequate at max.

It needs more….much more

 

[austonia]

yeah whatever. my old 10gb iPod powers Ety ER4P's (~100 ohm)to a blistering volume. it drives Koss KSC-35's waaay loud. what else do you need. christ

 

[T07]

What else....that would be a long list...but i have time for that.

Apparently lemon...sorry, Apple....have restricted the output on the new gen ipods because of some dork in NJ who is taking legal action over the ringing in his ears........ incredible that these people have the power to vote......though that explains much in itself.

What I 'want', is to be able to hear my music at a reasonable level. I 'want' to be able to hear which track is actually playing when I'm on the train. I 'want' to stop kicking myself for not getting the Zen that I told everyone else to get.

Is it so much to ask? remember that in Europe we pay $600 for these things...Zen is $320. I'm so dumb...I was swayed by looks....I....I......

 

[austonia]

you know what, your whining sucks. if you don't like the iPod, take it back or throw on it on eBay and get a damn Zen. I had one for 6 months and it feels like a brick in your pocket compared to iPod.

 

[usc goose]

i'ma have to agree with austonia on this. i have the 30gig new one. powers my er-6s (48 ohms i think) w/o an amp to where i feel the hearing damage set in. and i used rave hardcore so i realize what happens when you spend hours infront of speaker cabinets the size of most people's houses. so yeah.

what kind of headphones you using?
where'd you hear this lawsuit thing?

 

[T07]

...No sense of humour mate? Had a bad day?

When do you differentiate between 'whining' and legitimate complaint? I’m asking how to improve something that for $600 shouldn’t need improving. Nice to know that such intolerance still exists…though maybe that explains a lot too.

Cheer up mon ami, the day is young.

 

[usc goose]

no, i think it was whining. i have a high tolerance for whining though, so it's fine with me. watch your mouth about austonia though.

btw, welcome to head-fi, can't we just kick back and enjoy our music with a fat splff and relax? (non standard greeting around here)

 

[austonia]

Quote:

Originally posted by T07 ...No sense of humour mate? Had a bad day? When do you differentiate between 'whining' and legitimate complaint? I’m asking how to improve something that for $600 shouldn’t need improving. Nice to know that such intolerance still exists…though maybe that explains a lot too. Cheer up mon ami, the day is young.

except in your case, whining is just that, and annoying. thanks for sharing.

 

[usc goose]

oh yeah, but back to life.

what kind of music do you like? what kind of battery life are you looking for. where in europe are you? fill us in. we can help you out. it's what we do.

 

[T07]

Quote:

Originally posted by usc goose i'ma have to agree with austonia on this. i have the 30gig new one. powers my er-6s (48 ohms i think) w/o an amp to where i feel the hearing damage set in. and i used rave hardcore so i realize what happens when you spend hours infront of speaker cabinets the size of most people's houses. so yeah. what kind of headphones you using? where'd you hear this lawsuit thing?

Using the Lemon ones included, Sony MDR3, MDRV6 (barely audible at all on those big muthas) and borrowed a mates Sony MDR-G52 which he said were great but to honest they sound and look like $20 givaways.

I think an amp is the answer but have no experience with headphone amps so would appreciate any advice.

Size is an issue but not the ultimate consideration as most of my listening time will be on aircraft.

 

[T07]

Europe...based London but travel worldwide. Music ...the Cure.....Stranglers...bit of Tchy.....Mozart.....

Batt life - 6 hours tops

Home set up

Heart CD6000 valve CD
Musical Fidelity A300 Dual Mono
PMC- FB1's

 

[usc goose]

www.headphone.com
www.fixup.net
tangentsoft.net/audio

these should get you started. i'm using a meta42 right now, a diy (do it yourself) amp (but built for me by someone else). Uses a 9v rechargable, lasts about 7-8 hours. The one's with AA or AAA last a lot longer.

 

[paulj]

I've always been puzzled by the number of people that complain the volume is too low on iPods.

I run all my wavs through wavegain before encoding which usually reduces the volume between 5db and 15db. With my Shure's or my PX100's, one third volume is still plenty loud enough. Anything over half way is just way too loud. Without the wavegain, I doubt I'd even get past one quarter!

All I can surmise is that these people are using ear buds or some open headphone in a very noisy environment that requires the volume to be cranked up to dangerous levels.