[vkvedam]

Quote:

Originally Posted by HeadphoneAddict /img/forum/go_quote.gif I think for certain music like electronic, new age, rock, hip hop etc that the 256AAC should be good enough to enjoy. Heck, one of my best albums is a 180-190 kbps eMusic CD (Guinea Pig "Kool Cats"). If you ripped 1,500 CDs at 256AAC you are not missing out on a lot and I would never go back and re-rip them all higher, unless I was doing it to have perfect backups in case the CD were lost stolen or damaged. But to have them on an ipod and bring it all with you, you should be fine. But for music with real instruments or live performances or where the ambience is vital to the transparency of the music, then lossless rips off a CD is my choice. The iQube should have no problem resolving the extra ambience and detail, if connected to the Line Out Dock with a good cable and headphones. In my case, I now import my CDs as Apple Lossless which uses 200-350 mb hard drive per CD (like a zip file and lossless, not like a jpeg and lossy), and then I will have iTunes convert it to a smaller 256k bitrate file for iPod. So I often have two playlists for a CD, where one has ALAC and one has 256k, so I can know whether it goes on the 80gb iMod or the 8gb nano.

This is what I do on a regular basis.

 

[Swelled Head]

Quote:

Originally Posted by vkvedam /img/forum/go_quote.gif This is what I do on a regular basis.

I like the idea of two playlists, but I would have to reconfigure my storage to make room for all that lossless data, and it took me two weeks to rip my collection the first time, when I wasn't working. Now that I'm back at work, it would take months, I fear. I hate being a copy slave for mass reproduction. Maybe next time I'm off for an extended period, I'll do it. It certainly maximizes flexibility.

When I made a comparison between lossless and AAC coding, and couldn't tell the difference, it was with jazz recordings. Frankly, I didn't spend much time agonizing over the issue. Lazy, I guess. If I couldn't tell the difference easily, I didn't want to go down that road. For too many years I spent way too much time straining to hear differences between recordings, equipment, etc. I'm not convinced at this point that it was worth all the attention. On the other hand, all those baby steps eventually improved my appreciation for good audio, and my system evolved from mid-fi to a high end system, my credit card debt soared, and I had to take out a low interest second mortgage to pay off the credit card. That's all behind me now, thank heaven. I don't buy anything I can't pay cash for (housing excepted if I ever move again). I'm even saving for my next car.

Audiophilia is aptly named. It is an obsession. Technically, it doesn't qualify as a neurosis because it isn't the product of trauma, at least it wasn't for me. But it certainly is living life out of balance. It even gets in the way of enjoying music, which ought to be the main reason for the hobby. I envy the guy who gets more pleasure out of listening to an old mono recording of Louis Armstrong than anyone ever got from listening to some audiophile recording. Interestingly, though, a good system makes ordinary recordings more interesting, too. It's all in what you love. What thrilled me about these new, high end IEMs and the iQube was how the combo reignited my love of music.

Thanks for the tips, vkvedam.

 

[vkvedam]

Well my storing is slightly different to that of HeadphoneAddict's (Larry) as I have got only one iPod. I use lossless for Rock/Vocals and 256~320 Kbps for Trance or New Age etc... I prefer listening to CD at home in my Sony D-301, iPod can't match that.

 

[Swelled Head]

Quote:

Originally Posted by vkvedam /img/forum/go_quote.gif Well my storing is slightly different to that of HeadphoneAddict's (Larry) as I have got only one iPod. I use lossless for Rock/Vocals and 256~320 Kbps for Trance or New Age etc... I prefer listening to CD at home in my Sony D-301, iPod can't match that.

The new Wadia 170 iTransport picks up the digital code directly from the iPod, and uses it's own DAC to convert to analog. It sounds very good. You'd never guess you were listening to an iPod. Moreover, it's not that expensive ($379). I love having my entire music collection at my fingertips fed by an excellent source. Convenience matters to me because my collection is unwieldy, and I'm not well organized enough to put my hand on a particular CD without searching. If I really wanted perfection, I'd feed my headphone amp from the Wadia. Hmmmm. Now there's an idea.

 

[trickywombat]

I thought the Wadia doesn't have a DAC - you have to supply your own.

 

[vkvedam]

Instead I am thinking of going for an iMod.

 

[davidhunternyc]

Yes, I was under the impression that the Wadia doesn't have its own DAC too. I thought it was purely a digital transport.

 

[HeadphoneAddict]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Swelled Head /img/forum/go_quote.gif The new Wadia 170 iTransport picks up the digital code directly from the iPod, and uses it's own DAC to convert to analog. It sounds very good. You'd never guess you were listening to an iPod. Moreover, it's not that expensive ($379). I love having my entire music collection at my fingertips fed by an excellent source. Convenience matters to me because my collection is unwieldy, and I'm not well organized enough to put my hand on a particular CD without searching. If I really wanted perfection, I'd feed my headphone amp from the Wadia. Hmmmm. Now there's an idea.

Basically the Wadia makes the iPod work like the optical digital out on a Mac, without needing to spend $599 on Mac mini + the cost of monitor or $999 on a Macbook. It turns the ipod into a hard drive based media server without needing to use a computer.

There is no DAC onboard.

 

[qusp]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Swelled Head /img/forum/go_quote.gif The new Wadia 170 iTransport picks up the digital code directly from the iPod, and uses it's own DAC to convert to analog. It sounds very good. You'd never guess you were listening to an iPod. Moreover, it's not that expensive ($379). I love having my entire music collection at my fingertips fed by an excellent source. Convenience matters to me because my collection is unwieldy, and I'm not well organized enough to put my hand on a particular CD without searching. If I really wanted perfection, I'd feed my headphone amp from the Wadia. Hmmmm. Now there's an idea.

yes, this begs the question do you have a wadia?? because if you werent using an amp before, how were you listening to it?? considering its the wadia iTRANSPORT and therefor has no amp or dac in it

 

[Swelled Head]

You guys are absolutely correct. The Wadia doesn't have a DAC. I mispoke. What it does is decode the files on the iPod, outputing a digital stream. When I expressed the thought of maybe mating the Wadia to my headphone amp, I momentarily overlooked the lack of a DAC. My preamp/processor has a built-in DAC, and once I hooked it up, I sort of overlooked that important fact. Getting old will do that to you. Thanks for correcting my mistake, fellas.

 

[3602]

Curious about the fact that with the Qube, SE530 is the more neutral IEM while it is almost always regarded as 'too mid-forwardy'.
So the Qube has perfect synergy with the TF10 (some people here say) but has better synergy with the SE530? :headscratch:

 

[Swelled Head]

I was humbled by the surprising degree of interaction between the i-Qube and brand/model of earphones. I still prefer the SE530 earphones with the i-Qube, and the Ultimate Ears straight off the iPod Classic. Forget the iPod touch with earphones alone. 

 

[ibis99]

That was a outstanding review! Welcome.

 

[i_djoel2000]

i've been experiencing a problem with my iqube. there is this scratching noise made by the iqube volume control when i rotate it(turn up or turn down the volume). the noise is only present when the volume control is rotated, but totally silent when the volume knob is motionless. nevertheless, it's still a little annoying when i'm enjoying the music to listen to this kind of problem. is this thing normal?

 

[ClieOS]

Quote:

i've been experiencing a problem with my iqube. there is this scratching noise made by the iqube volume control when i rotate it(turn up or turn down the volume). the noise is only present when the volume control is rotated, but totally silent when the volume knob is motionless. nevertheless, it's still a little annoying when i'm enjoying the music to listen to this kind of problem. is this thing normal?

Almost all pot will face that problem eventually. It is caused by either rust or dust accumulation. The easy fix is to unplug your headphone, turn the pot from one side to the other and repeat it for 3~5 minutes, then check if the problem goes away or not.