Apple's big in the US? No kidding, it's in every Best Buy, Target, etc etc. Moreover, Apple's been there year after year, and will probably be stocked next year too. As a consumer, you can count on them remaining a player in the market. Sony is big in Japan? Equally what a shocker...
It confuses some that the average ipod user uses ibuds? Another shock, show me the SE530s or any high end product on the store shelves. Even if they were stocked, no general consumer in their right mind is going to spend 2x, 3x for hp on their DAP. It makes no sense to expect them to do so. Do you really think they are critical listening and need or would notice such accuracy?
Why don't other products sell more? Because they aren't marketed and sold. As others have pointed out, it is all about branding to the general public. Mom can pick up one for each of their kids and buy them an occasional music card to load them up. It's convenient and in our busy world, convenience rules.
None of the above has anything to do with SQ; it is all about consumerism. Trying to impose the rationalizations of an audiophile on a lay person never works, don't even bother going there.
Originally Posted by itsborken /img/forum/go_quote.gif
Why don't other products sell more? Because they aren't marketed and sold. As others have pointed out, it is all about branding to the general public. Mom can pick up one for each of their kids and buy them an occasional music card to load them up. It's convenient and in our busy world, convenience rules.
None of the above has anything to do with SQ; it is all about consumerism. Trying to impose the rationalizations of an audiophile on a lay person never works, don't even bother going there.
True but until they have heard better, they don't know any better. That's the best 'rationalisation' you can give. Perspective is based on two things: knowledge and experience. Since they don't have the knowledge, give them the experience.
The rationalisation also helps if you sub in-ears/headphones for speakers. i.e. Would you spend $300 on a nice source/reciever and then buy $2 speakers from Walmart to hear them out of?
the later iPods aren't bad sounding, but they're not the best either. Consumerism is purely based on selling a middle of the road product with lots of marketing.
And yes Shizgeo, the D2 suffered badly from FOTM. Bass rolloff (guessing use of non Class AB amp to blame) = not cool
my family (brothers, sisters) and wife, daughter, son all have plenty of experience with higher end audiophile products. I've tried the 'listen to this, can you hear the extra detail, soundstage, etc.' many times. If they aren't critical listening it isn't going to sink in. Even if it did a little bit there's still the weighing of the cost to get that bit of detail out, with the result that older brother is out of his mind spending what I do on a rig. There's background music, then there is listening to the music. I'm convinced most people treat music as the former.
Well, apparently Budweiser is the best selling beer in the world. Not the beer for beer lovers perhaps, but for most people it is enough. "Best selling" does not need to equal "best quality", it is just a matter of people starting to identify one manufacture`s products with the product type as a whole. I agree with itsborken, many people want something in the background and when they think "music" + "portable", Apple`s products are probably the only thing that comes to mind. You have to have a special interest and/or do a bit of research to find out what other brands than iPod there is.
Back in Sweden, I mostly see iPods and ibuds. Sometimes I see people who have advanced to Koss Portapro - these are sold just about everywhere in Sweden, so a lot of people think they are the ultimate headphone sound quality wise. I own and prefer Sennheiser PX100, but these are almost impossible to find in real stores, so people are not exposed to what alternatives there are and therefore get whatever is available.
Here in Japan, I see a lot if iPods, different Nano generations and classics, along with iPhones. I also see other brands sometimes. I saw a Cowon S9 a 2 or 3 months ago. That was nice. Not that many ibuds, but I do see them. On a whole, there is a bigger variety in ear- and headphones than in Sweden.
My biggest What moment was last year in Stockholm when I saw a guy with a Sansa clip, the only time I have seen that in Sweden. Guess what sort of earbuds he was using with the clip - ibuds!!!
I see pretty much 95% of people who are using a player for music using an iPod. I have no problem with them. But I do have a problem with the people who think that because it happens to be a popular player, it's the best at everything and can lift 100 pounds and anything else. It's not the best player. However, like all other players for the most part, it does do what it does well. Play music. But personally i'm much more into Zunes. I like the GUI and also i'm a old school techie when it comes to my media players. I don't like having something so thin in my pocket, i'd thought I would have lost it...That's what happened to my friend's iPod Nano in my pocket and he nearly killed me lol.
Originally Posted by Bassheadd /img/forum/go_quote.gif Well my point was that most people who own ipods think its got good SQ. This right there gives them absolutely no credibility what so ever. Until they try other brand DAP and headphones, they have no say in saying Apple is the best. Like I said, you'd be surprised just how many people think Apple is the only brand DAP you can buy. Sad but true. Its just like how they dont even realize that ipods dont come with a real set of headphones, but yet they settle for the garbage cause everyone else is rockin them. Oh its Apple it must be good!!! (sigh). Like I said, its likke buying a car and running it on piece of sh4t tires. waste of money IMO.
The general consumer who wants a DAP, will just go buy an ipod because like I said everyone they know including their godfathers dog has one. These people lack originality.
Well I am glad that you are able to know exactly what "most people who own ipods" think. I assume that this is either based off of extensive research or some sort of extrasensory perception. Since you know so much about this group, can you fill us in on how many of them are using low quality recordings on their devices or have music collections that come almost entirely from itunes? Maybe the best approach is to tell these people that they should invest heavily in higher quality headphones that won't make their music sound better.
Another good statistic that you can share with us is how many of those people considered sound quality a deciding factor in their purchase. I assume you know these things too, since you know what they think.
Maybe you can share some numbers with us like the percentage of people that bought their ipod from brick and mortar stores like Wal Mart and Target and the number of devices from manufacturers like Cowon that are stocked at those stores to provide them an alternative?
Ultimately, its clear that you just want a pat on the back and I will oblige. Congratulations on noticing that the highest selling portable audio player is the most common one.
Exactly. They will never approach perfection due to physical constraints such as size and power. It's like arguing which subcompact is the best performing automobile. One may argue about one versus another ad nauseum, but in the end, it's still a subcompact.
The uDac only has a USB digital input, the others are all outputs; the line out adapter will not work with the uDac its for the Icon Mobile as the USB part is for charging only, no digital out
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