[calvinhobs]

I though of this idea for a thread and thought I'd post it...let's see where it goes.

List your current MP3 player(s), or players that you've owned, and talk about the characteristics of the player.

__________________________________________________ _______________

1. Musical Accuracy: how accurate do you think your player reproduces sound?

2. Imaging / Soundstaging

3. Laid Back, Forward, or Neutral Sound?

4. Low / Mid / & High Range Response

5. Background Noise / Distortion

6. Any other note-worthy aspects of your MP3 player that you'd like to provide.

7. And the all important fun-to-listen-to and enjoyment factor.
__________________________________________________ _______________

I know these factors can depend on many things...type of headphones being used, personal preferences, music selection, biases, type of compression used, etc...but I'd like to see how everyone rates their players in these categories. It'll be fun to compare!

 

[bigshot]

iPod.

The line out sounds exactly like the source. The headphone out is fine for my Sennheiser PX-100s (portable) and HD-590s (home).

These sound quality threads are exercises in futility.

See ya
Steve

 

[jerb]

From my understanding all portable sources are flawed int heir design because of their dependence on a low density energy source (aka batteries) batteries do not produce alot of voltage (AA produces about 1.5V) so therfor all the internal chips inside of any portable player must be a low voltage. Low voltage chips do not preform aswell as their higher voltage counterparts.

To sum it up... all portable players will sound close. this difference of quality people talk about all the time is meerly their opinions coupled with the ambient conditions and the placebo effect.

 

[so_cal_forever]

Rio Karma. Awesome sound quality, great EQ, and really shows how badly ripped some of your files are. Awesome player.

 

[Sparky191]

Quote:

Originally Posted by jerb ...To sum it up... all portable players will sound close. this difference of quality people talk about all the time is meerly their opinions coupled with the ambient conditions and the placebo effect.

How do you explain that blind listening tests are consistent then. In that the majority will have a similar preference of one device over another, even when they don't know what the source device is.

 

[drarthurwells]

Originally Posted by jerb
...To sum it up... all portable players will sound close. this difference of quality people talk about all the time is meerly their opinions coupled with the ambient conditions and the placebo effect.


Quote:

Originally Posted by Sparky191 How do you explain that blind listening tests are consistent then. In that the majority will have a similar preference of one device over another, even when they don't know what the source device is.

Art: They sound very different but still close in quality - poor.

They each have their own coloration, and sound different. Different doesn't mean better or worse, necessarily.

My best portable sound is the iRiver IMP 350 and up models, used with commercial CDs, powered by AC or Car battery, lined out to bypass its own amp and fed into a high quality amp with high quality power supply.

Here the iRiver is very clean and nice, but not as good as say a NAD home CDP, or not anywhere near as good as my Eastsound E5 home CDP.

 

[jerb]

I never said any specific "device" was worse than another as far as quality goes but rather that ALL of them will suffer from the same flaws. I am in no way saying that player number one sounds better than player number two but rather different.

Take amplification for example, two higher end amps: the SR-71 and the SM v3. Now, ask which one's better and you’ll start a holy war. They both have different sonic signatures which please some but not others.

I feel the portable market is the same way, these units or "devices" as you refer to them all have a similar flaw in design, that isn't saying that they sound the same. Every one has a different sonic signature, a different color if you will. This color or sound signature will go well with some headphones and not with others, it will appeal to some ears but sound lacking to others.

If one "device" come's up being liked by more people it’s just saying that more people like that flavor or color of sound as opposed to another. A way to demonstrate this would be to give a survey of what someone’s favorite color is, you may find that brown is less popular then blue. Is blue a better color? No, just more people like it. The same holds true in the portable market, player one isn’t better that player two, just different

Good day sir

 

[chrisfromalbany]

Quote:

Originally Posted by jerb I never said any specific "device" was worse than another as far as quality goes but rather that ALL of them will suffer from the same flaws. I am in no way saying that player number one sounds better than player number two but rather different. Take amplification for example, two higher end amps: the SR-71 and the SM v3. Now, ask which one's better and you’ll start a holy war. They both have different sonic signatures which please some but not others. I feel the portable market is the same way, these units or "devices" as you refer to them all have a similar flaw in design, that isn't saying that they sound the same. Every one has a different sonic signature, a different color if you will. This color or sound signature will go well with some headphones and not with others, it will appeal to some ears but sound lacking to others. If one "device" come's up being liked by more people it’s just saying that more people like that flavor or color of sound as opposed to another. A way to demonstrate this would be to give a survey of what someone’s favorite color is, you may find that brown is less popular then blue. Is blue a better color? No, just more people like it. The same holds true in the portable market, player one isn’t better that player two, just different Good day sir

I am going with they sound about the same. Wolf DAC in the ipod is the same one used in many other mp3 players. They basically color the sound differently but I don't think this is one superior to another. More long the lines as what you like to hear, option you get with the player and UI.