[WhatMACHI]

Well ive had my new classis for a month or so now, and there are certain strong vocal tones that bring in static/fuzziness in the sound.

The reason i notice this is that if i play a song on my computer the strong singing tones are fine, but if i play them on my ipod i get static or slight crackling in the voice...

Have i got a dud ipod, or is this because i havent updated my ipod firmware since i purchased it (trying to stay away from the bad versions

)?

BTW: ive tried different headphones just to make sure they arent the problem.

 

[bigshot]

Standard questions... EQ turned on? Tried normalizing the track down to 85% and reencoding? Compared to the original CD? Tried encoding at a higher bitrate?

See ya
Steve

 

[TheMarchingMule]

Quote:

Originally Posted by bigshot /img/forum/go_quote.gif Standard questions... EQ turned on? Tried normalizing the track down to 85% and reencoding? Compared to the original CD? Tried encoding at a higher bitrate? See ya Steve

Two things:

1.) Turn EQ off.

2.) Check the original CD; does it sound like that too?

 

[MadDog]

The static and distortion are quite common with Ipod, especially with the strong low freq That was the main reason I couldn't accept this cute device.

 

[shigzeo]

well, i don't have that problem. my first guess would be to see if the cd has that problem as many cd's are recorded now either too loudly or something else that makes them do that. my d2 and meizu and sony all do that if the original source is like that. very common in digital music

 

[beefman]

Quote:

Originally Posted by bigshot /img/forum/go_quote.gif Standard questions... EQ turned on? Tried normalizing the track down to 85% and reencoding? Compared to the original CD? Tried encoding at a higher bitrate? See ya Steve

I've been having the exact same problem shigzeo has. It seems to be mostly on higher frequency tones, especially layered vocals.

My EQ is off, the original CDs do not have the issue, I use AAC lossless exclusively, so bitrate shouldn't be an issue, and the files when played on my PC, with the same Shure 420s, do not have the crackle. I don't know how to normalize the track down, unfortunately, but if somebody would be kind enough to tell me how, I'll try that.

This has been infuriating to me, since I've avoided Apple products for years, and I finally caved with the new Classics, and now it's unlistenable. I'm sure a "normal" person wouldn't give a damn, but this is driving me absolutely bonkers.

Thanks Folks,
Ben

 

[shigzeo]

i wonder what it is. i do not get that problem. what firmware are you using? i hear that 1.1 has some issues. don't worry it will be cleared up. my nano 3g only does that on really loud songs that are obviously bassed up or volumed up: like chromeo albums for instance. none of my trance does this neither does either.

had you a chance to listen to it in the store? I hope you get this cleared up, sounds like something a blood type 'a' (me i think) would have severe trouble with...

 

[bigshot]

I'm assuming you mean Apple Lossless, not AAC.

Quote:

Originally Posted by beefman /img/forum/go_quote.gif I don't know how to normalize the track down, unfortunately, but if somebody would be kind enough to tell me how, I'll try that.

Try this... rip the song that is giving you trouble to a WAV or AIFF file. Open it in an audio editing program and reduce the volume to 85% of the current level. Save. Drop the revised file into iTunes and encode it to Apple Lossless and to AAC 256 CBR. Load those onto your iPod and see how they sound.

One more question... does it distort through the line out? If not, try different headphones, or try amping the cans.

See ya
Steve

 

[vYu223]

Do NOT normalize; do NOT edit the songs' volumes.

 

[xlEnt]

i dont know about certain tones but my 160gig class sometimes pauses/skips on certain tracks randomly. I can't renact the situation even if i tried to w/ the same tracks at the same moment. Did not have this problem w/ the 5g =\ kind of discerning but i kind of knew i was getting myself into for the sake of capacity

 

[bigshot]

All iPods will pause or skip if the buffer overflows. You're probably trying to play tracks that are larger than the built in RAM. Use AAC instead of lossless and that problem with go away.

See ya
Steve

 

[TickTockMan]

I have a Classic 80 gig, and have had no problems with the latest update (1.1.1). I would not hesitate to recommend updating.

I do get the crackle/static on some songs when using the EQ. If I turn it either to "flat" or "off" I have no problems. Songs I have encoded myself from CDs at AAC 320 or lossless seem to deal with the EQ just fine for the most part, although I generally still prefer to keep the EQ off because I feel the sound is more true, at least when using ER4-P IEMS. With my Sennheiser CX300's, I often set the EQ to "acoustic" though, because it seems to help tame what I feel is their too-heavy bass.... but that comes at the cost of introducing some minor fuzz or distortion with some tones or frequencies.

 

[beefman]

Quote:

Originally Posted by vYu223 /img/forum/go_quote.gif Do NOT normalize; do NOT edit the songs' volumes.

Do you mind if I ask why you say that?

I'm actually quite wary of doing this, I just wondered if there was a concrete reason.

Just as a side note, the crackling definitely seems to be independent of volume settings, since it's very much as prevalent at low volume as high.

Is it an issue where the iPod's amp isn't strong enough? Or do we think it's something else?

I'm tempted to hit up an Apple store, but I'm sure I know more about the audiophile world than anybody at their genius bar will.

 

[bigshot]

The problem is overdriving. When a CD is normalized up to 100% (as most are nowadays) it doesn't take much to push them over the line into digital distortion. I'm betting that you are either using EQ, or when you encode, the volume is getting bumped up a hair. It would all be solved by normalizing your track down.

See ya
Steve

 

[beefman]

Quote:

Originally Posted by bigshot /img/forum/go_quote.gif The problem is overdriving. When a CD is normalized up to 100% (as most are nowadays) it doesn't take much to push them over the line into digital distortion. I'm betting that you are either using EQ, or when you encode, the volume is getting bumped up a hair. It would all be solved by normalizing your track down. See ya Steve

I know I'm not using the EQ, I tried fiddling with it for a while to fix it and it didn't work. If it's a case of overdriven distortion, though, why don't I get the issue when I'm listening to the same files through my PCs headphone jack?