[sjino]

I searched the archives and didn't find anything. I'm surprised this topic hasn't come up before.

How does the sound quality of the iPod compare to a mini disc player? I'm not talking about mp3s which are slightly compromised to begin with. Instead, how does a CD copied to an iPod vs. a CD copied to MD sound?

 

[Andrew Pielet]

From what I have heard, I like MD alot more than the iPod. I am aware that there are several ways to burn music on the iPod, and several ways to listen (I am somewhat computer illiterate). I believe my friend listens/burns WAV files. I guess he can do this because he has a 20 gig iPod. We did a little test with my R900, the iPod, and my P.O.S. source a Kenwood DVD player. If you want to check my setup, look at my profile. The iPod was missing all the high end, and the seperation had no soundstage. The tone was on, but there were no high ups and low downs, kind of a mono-tone. The breath of the voices were kind of hissy and rolled off, rather than hearing every syllable and almost seeing the spit come from their lips. You dig? Its kind of hard to explain, but I just couldn't feel it like a minidisc/redbook player. By the way, the DVD player is not near the sound of my expired portables. Music used: Stevie Wonder Songs in the key of life, 12/31/02, 1/1/03 From the Phish Live series, Norah Jones. Burned to MD Digitally SP, Kenwood the playing source.

 

[PodMan]

I have an iPod and my brother has a NetMD NZ-505. I use EAC + LAME APS settings for the ipod and that Sony Simple Burner for the NetMD. My iPod (30mw/channel @ 32ohms) beats the NetMD (5mw/channel @ 16ohms?). The NetMD has more bass but the iPod has more mid-range and high end detail. To be fair, I've never heard an SP Type R encoded song because Sony does not allow their users to go above 135kbps when using a PC.

 

[JonCovenant]

Andrew-

Something's fishy here. The iPod can record with no compression at all. IOW, it can make an exact copy of the CD. I use mine all the time with my own 192VBR rips and even then there is no difference from the CD that I can hear.

JC

 

[Peddler]

I have not heard the IPOD but a lot of people have compared it to my Nomad Jukebox 3.

I swapped my Sony R-900 MD recorder for the Nomad and didn't regret it. Although I rate MD highly (excellent battery life, cool format, re-usable discs, small form factor, good headphone remote, clean sound, outstanding build-quality) it does have some minor faults as well - limited disc space (compared with HD-based MP3 anyway) and poor headphone amps (compared to my Jukebox).

I really feel that the Nomad 3 is the finest player out there. It can do real time optical recordings (like MD), record off the built-in mic on the remote, good battery life, doesn't skip but best of all - outstanding sound quality and good headphone amplification.

I'd love an Apple IPOD for the coolness factor but I honestly don't think I would trade my Nomad for one.

 

[Andrew Pielet]

Podman, we all know that SP blows away NetMD.
JonCovenant, I am aware that you can make a copy with no compression, and that is what my friend did. Like I said, I don't know about burning from PC, so I can't give you correct terminology. What I do know is sound, and that is my explanation of the 3 against each other. Again, I am sorry for missquoting the format he used, but what ever it was, it was lossless.

 

[jona]

sjino

iPod sound is outstanding when songs are in uncompressed format. I have heard nothing better from a true portable (i.e. not counting a fannypack full of separate amp & IC's), and I've heard alot of them. The newer iPods (2002+) have a wonderful amp for a portable and the stock ear buds are a big improvement over the originals. I find nothing lacking in the soundstage or high end. Sure the iPod (esp. the 20 Gig) is a bit pricey, but the vast majority of iPod owners of the current iPod owners are very happy campers. You might be able to try one out at a local Apple store, and some Target stores have them as well.

Jon

 

[x0mbi]

im a big fan of md. the sound quality is great, the size and battery life are certainly high points. but i bought an ipod a week ago and haven't listened to my md since.

to me, its about having a large chouce of music with me at any given time. ive only ripped about a gig or so of music so far, but being able to shuffle a couple hundred songs on the commute to work is great! i always hated trying to change discs while driving too (im sure my passengers hated it also

)

as for sound quality, im not really like most of the posters here at headfi

i listen to my music primarily thru the casette adapter in my car, thru terrible speakers. but to me, it works (for now)

i have listened to the ipod with my d22's, and with 160k rips, it still sounds good to my ears (although definately not as full as my SP recordings on my md)

im sure ill go back to the md at some point here, but i like having both to choose from on my way out in the morning.

x0m

 

[Watchdog]

I have an MD and think the sound is pretty good for a portable, however I would think the iPod is better.

I will admit I've never actually heard an iPod, but I've read the amp is the best you can get in a portable today and with the 20 GB capacity you can copy uncompressed music to it. I would think that 320 kbps mp3's would sound great and that in most listening environments in which you'd use a portable that even 160 or 192 kbps would sound good enough.

Sure if you have no background noise and great headphones and a headphone amp, then you might tell a difference. But if you bought an iPod, likely you're listening to it while you're commuting on transit, exercising, etc.... where there's background noise.

Come to think of it, given that, although the iPod would no doubt sound better when you're at home in a quiet room, in most portable listening situations it might be hard to tell the difference between MD and the iPod, but I'm only guessing here. There must be someone else who's listened to both.

 

[williamgoody]

Quote:

The iPod can record with no compression at all. IOW, it can make an exact copy of the CD.

Just to point out, as I'm sure it was an oversight; the Ipod can not record.

I think that one of the advantages that the Ipod has, as it was pointed out here, is that you can listen to uncompressed music on the Ipod, and have more capacity with you at one time than you can with a PMDP. Granted of course that pertains to how many minidiscs you wish to carry wirh you.

I've had both and I much prefer the Ipod. The sound to me is undeniably better as far as overall texture (again given the bit rate odf the mp3's), and versatility. Again I'm a big believer in hardware synergy, and as far as portable headphones for me, I can adjust the Ipod to match up well to more headphones and types of music setups than I could with a PMDP. For the record I could as well with a NJB3.