[Slow_aetk]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ipodstudio I haven't read every word of this thread, so my apologies if this has been said, but the IHP-120/40 has optical out, too, which really helps. I wish my ipod had it so I could utilise the DAC in my amp.

On top of that this optical out looks "true" as it is not influenced by volume or EQ. It has also low jitter.

Great to connect to a DAC

 

[Jon L]

Quote:

Originally Posted by chumley If you'd spent the extra $50.00 for a 4G 20GB iPod instead of an iPod Mini, you'd be enjoying Apple Lossless, instead of AAC 224kbps, from headphone out... you'd probably prefer the BIG sound quality boost over the size/weight savings, especially with just headphone out... As for the others- I've listened to the iAudio M-series, iRiver H-series and the Rio Karma- forget the 4G (click wheel) iPod's Line Out; its Headphone Out and no amp is superior to these other three, with anything that can be driven by H/O alone!

I still get smiles when I think about other people's reaction when I let them listen to 4g iPod/Apple Lossless-->Ety 4P. I had to pick up every single one of them's jaws off the floor, and a lot of them were classically-trained musicians.

I've since moved on to iPod->SuperMacro for a different playing field (mainly to compete with my second setup using tripath->K1000), but every setup with 4G iPod has been fantastic so far.

 

[yeeyy]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Thisp DACs are all pretty much the same, so long as they're well designed ones.

Hmm.... this is arguable.

While EMU 0404 and 1212m sounds good, but they do sound differently since different DAC is used.

 

[ipodstudio]

DACs are all pretty much the same, so long as they're well designed ones.

Hmm....that doesn't sound quite accurate to me. I think the Laroccos of this world would have something to say about that...

 

[hawkfire]

hello,

"Audiophile" and mp3 shouldn't be used in the same sentence.

Same applies to any "lossy codec" in terms of accurate sound reproduction from an original source.

But to answer this persons question in a nutshell.

No such player exists.

 

[Mr Iriver]

What about the sony qualia minidisk player?
For such a price is better sound good.

http://news.sel.sony.com/pressrelease/4696

 

[hawkfire]

hello,

"need audiophile mp3 player, does that exist?"

is the thread topic.

ATRAC is not mp3 and that is what the minidisc uses.

Do not make the common misconception that expensive=audiophile or good sounding as there are many high priced electronics that are supposed to be top quality sounding, yet leave much to be desired by the listener.

(Bang & Olafsen and BOSE comes to mind)

In all its a matter of opinionated perception and what sounds good to you in the end.

Why are people going off on a tangent anyhow?

I mean the thread starter asked a simple question which could have easily been asnwered with a simple yes or no unless the definition of audiophile is to be determined by each user.

 

[pufftissue]

I think on this board, no mp3 player is regarded as audiophile quality.
But stereophile magazine or someone reputable tested the ipod as being audiophile quality, no?

So, which hard-disk mp3 player comes the closest to being audiophile (given properly encoded 192 or 256 kbps mp3s). Using a vintage PCDP seems very dated to me and impractical nowadays, b/c I don't want to carry around so many cd's. But if the improvement in sound quality is that much better, well, then I'm all for it, b/c I would gladly be inconvenienced for sonic bliss. However, I have heard mp3's at say, 192 kpbs on a B&W stereo system, about $2500 worth, which should pass for being audiophile, and I was very, very impressed. So I just wonder how much better the digital audio converter could be in a PCDP or a home CD player than an ipod or something like that, b/c it's all digital anyway. Maybe the only way I'll know for sure is to just try a PCDP that can play mp3's. How close can I come to audiophile bliss with an ipod and the right amp (sr-71) and headphones (hd650)? Can someone explain to me (nicely) why so many think the ipod is a waste of money if I own an sr-71 and hd650? I figure the ipod will decode an mp3 or digital file as well as a home cd player, and a lot of the sound signature will come from my super nice amp and hd650.

 

[chumley]

Quote:

Originally Posted by pufftissue I think on this board, no mp3 player is regarded as audiophile quality. But stereophile magazine or someone reputable tested the ipod as being audiophile quality, no? So, which hard-disk mp3 player comes the closest to being audiophile (given properly encoded 192 or 256 kbps mp3s). Using a vintage PCDP seems very dated to me and impractical nowadays, b/c I don't want to carry around so many cd's. But if the improvement in sound quality is that much better, well, then I'm all for it, b/c I would gladly be inconvenienced for sonic bliss. However, I have heard mp3's at say, 192 kpbs on a B&W stereo system, about $2500 worth, which should pass for being audiophile, and I was very, very impressed. So I just wonder how much better the digital audio converter could be in a PCDP or a home CD player than an ipod or something like that, b/c it's all digital anyway. Maybe the only way I'll know for sure is to just try a PCDP that can play mp3's. How close can I come to audiophile bliss with an ipod and the right amp (sr-71) and headphones (hd650)? Can someone explain to me (nicely) why so many think the ipod is a waste of money if I own an sr-71 and hd650? I figure the ipod will decode an mp3 or digital file as well as a home cd player, and a lot of the sound signature will come from my super nice amp and hd650.

As someone who listens to a wide variety of music on just that system (4G 40GB iPod L/O>Apple Lossless>Sik Din>Cardas mini-to-mini cable>SR-71>Senn HD650 + Cardas Cable or Senn HD25 or Ety ER4S), four or five days a week, I can tell you that this system is as close as portable gets to 'audiophile', IMO. I occasionally use this portable setup with my Grado SR225s, Alessandro MS-2s, and even my HP1000s, and it is amazing what I can hear compared to swapping out my iPod for ANY other DAP, from Archos to Creative to iRiver to Rio. One of my 'day jobs' is an instructor in professional digital audio and video production; many of my students/trainees are in their teens and twenties, and they have the latest of EVERYTHING, running everything from 128k MP3s to all flavors of lossless codecs, from Line Out, Optical and Headphone Out... IMO, the above setup I run sounds best, and not by a small amount. The smiling, amazed looks on the faces of my students when they hear this setup (as long as they have clean ears and hair, LOL), or when I let them place the 4G iPod into THEIR setup for a listen is invariably: 'how can it sound like THIS?'...

 

[pufftissue]

Quote:

Originally Posted by chumley As someone who listens to a wide variety of music on just that system (4G 40GB iPod L/O>Apple Lossless>Sik Din>Cardas mini-to-mini cable>SR-71>Senn HD650 + Cardas Cable or Senn HD25 or Ety ER4S), four or five days a week, I can tell you that this system is as close as portable gets to 'audiophile', IMO. I occasionally use this portable setup with my Grado SR225s, Alessandro MS-2s, and even my HP1000s, and it is amazing what I can hear compared to swapping out my iPod for ANY other DAP, from Archos to Creative to iRiver to Rio. One of my 'day jobs' is an instructor in professional digital audio and video production; many of my students/trainees are in their teens and twenties, and they have the latest of EVERYTHING, running everything from 128k MP3s to all flavors of lossless codecs, from Line Out, Optical and Headphone Out... IMO, the above setup I run sounds best, and not by a small amount. The smiling, amazed looks on the faces of my students when they hear this setup (as long as they have clean ears and hair, LOL), or when I let them place the 4G iPod into THEIR setup for a listen is invariably: 'how can it sound like THIS?'...

Chumley,
This is exactly what I needed to hear to validate myself (sad, but true). I saw something about professional and digital audio as your livelihood, so I trust your judgment. Basically, I am lucky enough, and crazy enough, to try to afford the best, with the caveat that I want it to be decently portable as well. Now that I know what the best portable hard disk DAP setup is, I can check it out for myself. If I don't like it or think it's not worth the money, then I will just "downgrade," with the reassuring comfort of knowing that to my ears, I am not missing out on anything.

As a caveat, do your SR-225's or MS-2's benefit that much from an amp? I found that they did benefit, but not nearly as much as I had hoped. I'm now waiting for the HD650, b/c it's my impression that while the other headphones are solidly mid-fi, the HD650 are considered by some to be the best headphones out there. So I know the SR-71, supermacro, superdual, are all pretty nice amps, so I was wondering if my SR225 might be the weak link.
Thanks

 

[jpelg]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mr Iriver What about the sony qualia minidisk player? For such a price is better sound good.[/url]

It does.

 

[bundee1]

I owned a Zen Xtra 40GB with all WAV rips. The sound quality was very good but the battery life was quirky and the software su*&ed donkeys. I exchanged it for a 40GB Ipod and filled it with ALAC files. Almost twice the capacity with lossless files and great sound as well. I would characterize the Xtra's sound as full while the Ipod sounds leaner but has greater instrument seperation and a better soundstage. Itunes is also a million times better than Creatives software.

Im keeping the Ipod!

 

[chumley]

Quote:

Originally Posted by pufftissue Chumley, This is exactly what I needed to hear to validate myself (sad, but true). I saw something about professional and digital audio as your livelihood, so I trust your judgment. Basically, I am lucky enough, and crazy enough, to try to afford the best, with the caveat that I want it to be decently portable as well. Now that I know what the best portable hard disk DAP setup is, I can check it out for myself. If I don't like it or think it's not worth the money, then I will just "downgrade," with the reassuring comfort of knowing that to my ears, I am not missing out on anything. As a caveat, do your SR-225's or MS-2's benefit that much from an amp? I found that they did benefit, but not nearly as much as I had hoped. I'm now waiting for the HD650, b/c it's my impression that while the other headphones are solidly mid-fi, the HD650 are considered by some to be the best headphones out there. So I know the SR-71, supermacro, superdual, are all pretty nice amps, so I was wondering if my SR225 might be the weak link. Thanks

Aw, shucks- thanx for the props, pufftissue (kicks dirt, blushes)...

I find my Senn HD650s benefit more from * good * amping than do the SR225s; the MS-2s benefit almost as much from the SR-71, though, as the MS-2's (admittedly slight, compared to the SR325's) tendencies towards sibilance/slightly granular highs (compared to my HP1000s, for example), are largely honed smooth by good amping, as well as more completely articulating the midbass and bass... that said, my (well burned in) HD650s w/Cardas cabling benefit most obviously from quality amping generally and, in portable use, the 'lil SR-71 in particular... great synergy with those two, IMO...

As for running Grados/Alessandros from the H/O on my 4G iPod, music sounds better than out of the H/Os' on all the other DAPs through which I've listened to music, bar none, IMO... no match for L/O>SR-71>headphones, but it'll do in an emergency...

 

[jturn00]

As I was reading this thread I want to understand Line-out.

When everyone refers to line-out is that the same as digital out / optical out? (Where as the headphone jack is analog.) Is there a player that does do digital out/ optical out for connecting to home stereos?

Thanks,
Jeff

 

[philodox]

coaxial or optical digital out -> digital signal
line out -> line level analog signal
headphone out -> amplified analog signal