Ipod/Zen sound quality (with wav files) vs classic PCDPs?

[Patrickhat2001]

I just received a Nomad Zen NX and I love the sound, especially with wav files. I wonder, though, how does the sound quality of a zen or ipod (when playing wav files ripped by EAC) compare to the sound quality of classic portable CD players? Has anyone done comparisions?

 

[MacDEF]

Quote:

Originally posted by Patrickhat2001 when playing wav files ripped by LAME

You don't rip wav files using LAME. LAME is an MP3 encoder. Wav files are unencoded audio.

 

[Patrickhat2001]

Whoops, I meant EAC. Mistake has been corrected.

 

[usc goose]

in my experience wavs sound about the same to me as alt.preset extreme mp3s out of an ipod. using that as a reference i think even my d-ej855 sounds better out of the headphone out than my ipod. everything just has more weight and sounds fuller and more open. it's not a huge edge but it's there. then my d-141 sounds slightly better than my d-ej855 and my d-2 sounds even better. if you have any more specific questions i'll be glad to see what i can do to compare and elaborate.

 

[Patrickhat2001]

Thanks for the reply goose but I've already found my answer--I just borrowed an oldschool sony PCDP player (D-220--not that old but it lacks anti-skip) from a friend of mine and it blows away the Zen. So now I'm going to return the Zen and try to convince my friend to sell me his D-220.

 

[austonia]

Compressing music will never yield 100% equality. You are buying convenience and somewhere-near-CD quality. My MP3 player holds 650 albums and sounds good enough considering its a portable player. I'm not expecting a $3500 Meridian CD player experience. But, it sure is nice having all that music at my fingertips, and no CD's to tote around.

 

[Patrickhat2001]

Good point Austonia, but remember I was talking about playing wav files on an ipod/nomad zen

 

[purk]

Pat,
I compared Ipod (wave file) vs. my legendary discmen, and all of my Discmen sound better. My ipod is the 2nd generation, and the discmen in my arsenal is D-303, D-311, D-626, D-555, D-777, D-E900/905, and Panasonic SL-S651C.

 

[Patrickhat2001]

Update--
I no longer like the sound quality of the nomad zen at all. During the first few days I had it I was in love with its musical midrange but the more I listen to it the more flawed I find the sound from it to be (and this is with listening exclusively to wav files)--the top end is very rolled off and it has quite a bit of white noise in the background. Let this be a lesson to others to always listen to something for a few days before posting opinions about it. As for me I'm going to check out mini disc players and try to hunt down some classic PCDPs.

 

[hackeron]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Patrickhat2001 Thanks for the reply goose but I've already found my answer--I just borrowed an oldschool sony PCDP player (D-220--not that old but it lacks anti-skip) from a friend of mine and it blows away the Zen. So now I'm going to return the Zen and try to convince my friend to sell me his D-220.

Really?

I just got mine out of the attic. The output from the headphone out is completely disgusting. The line-out is too loud to test properly (still need to get an attenuator for my E5).

 

[bigshot]

AIFF files played on my 3g iPod sounds exactly the same as my home stereo CD player when patched out of the line out. No difference at all. Some home componants may have a better headphone output, but the iPod's DAC is just as good as a home stereo CD player.

See ya
Steve