[darkfusion]

I don't want to go through the hassle of importing, but I've heard that there's a volume cap on the UK iPod's. How bad is it? Is the volume reduced by an extreme amount, or can it still blow your ear drums?

The iPod I'm lookin to buy is the 3rd Gen 10GB one, I take it that model has the volume limiter on?

Thanks.

 

[bangraman]

The UK iPods are a bit (15-20%?) louder than the Sharp MD's, which are in turn a bit (same again?) louder than your Sony MD's (if your N10 is limited to the 2mw of European models, then it's even louder).


In terms of numbers, I would say the output would be comparable to a device rated at about 8mw @ 32 ohms.

 

[aroon]

the ipod sound quality webpage talks all about the volume cap. you can check it out here:

http://members.chello.nl/~m.heijligers/ipod/volume.html

and a snippet from that page which pretty much summerizes his experience:

Quote:

If I would have known in advance, I'd probably would have bought an US version of the iPod, not suffering this limitation. On the iPodlounge forum, people mention about dealers shipping to Europe.

gl =D

 

[darkfusion]

Quote:

Originally posted by bangraman The UK iPods are a bit (15-20%?) louder than the Sharp MD's, which are in turn a bit (same again?) louder than your Sony MD's (if your N10 is limited to the 2mw of European models, then it's even louder). In terms of numbers, I would say the output would be comparable to a device rated at about 8mw @ 32 ohms.

That doesn't sound bad at all? Why are people complaining?

 

[aroon]

Quote:

Originally posted by darkfusion That doesn't sound bad at all? Why are people complaining?

i dont know for a fact since i havnt listened to either version, but if i understand everything correctly then the euro ipod will not sound as good as the amercan ipod especially at higher volumes. i would imagine the difference is probably not a big deal if you're using the stock earbuds but if you already have some really good headphones it would make a difference [if they have high resistance]. one of the tips on that ipod sound quality page is to purchase some high efficiancy headphones. but again, some people have already invested a lot in a really good pair of headphones that the euro ipod just wont power at certain volumes.

 

[pingles]

Well, you can always use iTunes or Xplay to up the gain on tracks and this does have a significant benefit, and I'm yet to hear distortion through my ER4Ps.

 

[bangraman]

The software does work... There's a guy doing a freeware volume booster on iPodlounge too.


Have you imported before? There are far better deals to be had across the pond...

 

[darkfusion]

Quote:

Originally posted by bangraman The software does work... There's a guy doing a freeware volume booster on iPodlounge too. Have you imported before? There are far better deals to be had across the pond...

I've had a look but not had much luck, could you direct me to some sites that ship to the UK?

 

[bangraman]

Quote:

Originally posted by darkfusion I've had a look but not had much luck, could you direct me to some sites that ship to the UK?

Do the guys who shipped your iHP-120 to you carry the iPod? Worth asking them first I suppose...

 

[st5150]

I believe reading about a trick to get full volume on Euro models. Something about down gradiing to a certain rev and upgrading to the latest rev, skipping the firmware rev update that induced the volume reduction.

 

[pingles]

st5150: The trick you mention is actually re-partitioning the iPod's HDD to resize the firmware part of it. They noticed that the US' firmware (which has no volume cap) is larger. So, by re-creating the partitions and then copying a US firmware image onto it effectively gives you a US iPod.

However, the only guides I found used Mac OSX and I didn't have a Linux box around that had a firewire card in to try.

The various pieces of software do work though. If I were you I'd take a look around the forums at iPodLounge as there's a huge number of posts there about this.