[balou]

Listen for two weeks to a good vintage pcdp like the sony d-33 (good like in "good enough for me"

). then switch back to an ipod+cmoy because the d-33 eats batteries like mad and it does NOT accept rechargeables (voltage to low).

Ouch. Where has my sound gone? Why is there so much hiss? 192kbps LAME encoded MP3s do sound way inferior than uncompressed. Oh, the harsh highs I complained about in the grados don't seem to be the grados fault at all. Why is the music so uninvolving? Why, why, why....
Why is there only a

sad and no :'( weeping smiley?

Well, to be frank, I don't know the exact purpose why I wrote this. Maybe it's because nobody else will understand me if I say that the ipod sounds crappy

Ok, one question could be asked: who of you also prefers to carry around a big bulky vintage pcdp instead of a small digital player?

edit: one thing to add... I didn't think at all "oh dear now I'm going to switch back to my crappy iPod". I just plugged it in, and without thinking much I noticed that something's wrong. First I thought it was the album, so I switched to another one, until I figured out after a while that it must be my ipod...

 

[Morph201]

I would carry around the small digital player (heck, look at my sig). I enjoy the convenience when travelling or jogging, etc.. and I REALLY don't care about ultra-perfect SQ in those situations it becomes more of a background process since I have to be more aware of my environment while out and about and especially if the wife accompanies me (

), but at home.. it's a different story..

 

[Kabeer]

wouldnt an iMod be better than pretty much all PCDPs'? Since people say iMod is as good as $1500 home cd sources.

 

[ronin74]

Quote:

Originally Posted by balou /img/forum/go_quote.gif Listen for two weeks to a good vintage pcdp like the sony d-33 (good like in "good enough for me" ). Ouch. Where has my sound gone? Why is there so much hiss? 192kbps LAME encoded MP3s do sound way inferior than uncompressed. Why is the music so uninvolving? Why, why, why.... Well, to be frank, I don't know the exact purpose why I wrote this. Maybe it's because nobody else will understand me if I say that the ipod sounds crappy Ok, one question could be asked: who of you also prefers to carry around a big bulky vintage pcdp instead of a small digital player?

balou,
Been there, done that. About a 100 days ago I pulled out the ol' D-303 and rediscovered my music, thanks to Head-fi.

iMod vs pcdp: Still a big question for me. Spent $400 for my 4G iPod, now add another $200 for the iMod to get the equivalent SQ of my $50 (NOS) D-NE20?

As far as bulk is concerned, adding the Tomahawk makes things less portable, but still very do-able, I just haven't figured it out yet.

 

[blinx]

get a line out doc and an amp..your headphone out on your ipod is the culprit

 

[Kabeer]

Quote:

Originally Posted by blinx /img/forum/go_quote.gif get a line out doc and an amp..your headphone out on your ipod is the culprit

I just assumed that he was using line-out since he mentioned iPod+cMoy amp...

Yeah if you are using your headphone out to cMoy your iPod wont sound anywhere near as good. If the line out + amp is that much worse than pcdp then there is a lot to be considered about the state of mp3 players...

 

[faichiu]

vintage PCDP is a lot better than now a day mp3 player.

 

[sidewinder]

I just use my Cowon with IEMs for comfort, still great SQ though. For this price, I mean, $50 for this setup (second hand) ain't bad at all. Great value in this aspect, but I wouldn't pay $200 for an IEM again or the same amount of money for a DAP. PCDPs are cheap nowadays, so the're a great value for the sound they bring. My KSC35 sounds fine too out of the iAudio U3, don't know what would beat it in this priceregion. I do prefer my amp + Philips PCDP at home.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kabeer /img/forum/go_quote.gif wouldnt an iMod be better than pretty much all PCDPs'? Since people say iMod is as good as $1500 home cd sources.

I understand your argument, but the're also people who prefer a KSC35/75 over (much) more expensive heapdhones, and I'm one of them. I'm not saying that every Koss headphone is great, just the KSC35/75. Why? Not because the're great value, but because I like their SQ compared to higher-end phones. I'm just saying that a $600 source (iModded iPod) isn't going to outperform a well-regarded vintage PCDP on any given moment. As for value for their price, there's really no contest, PCDPs win hands down.

 

[balou]

I'm using the line out dock (headphone out is broken anyways...). but the sound quality difference is next to nil (ipod video 5.5g), and I don't seem to be alone with this oppinion. thats btw the reason why the imod exists... the so-called "line-out" of the ipod still has crappy smd caps and a crappy opamp in the signal path.

and sidewinder is right, my sony cost me 3$ at a swap meet (I just love 'em, great stuff for nearly free), an iMod will cost me several hundred times more.

other thing I heard... the ipod really is bass shy. I heard they used 0.1uF caps in the signal path, no wonder you get a whole lot of bass rolloff.

hopefully the sound of the ipod could be improved with a better quality headphone amp (cmoy with opa2132 really is a very very basic setup, and mine is outperformed by the headphone out of the sony d-33!). guess I'll have to wait till I build that pimeta


Quote:

If the line out + amp is that much worse than pcdp then there is a lot to be considered about the state of mp3 players...

we live indeed in very sad times. every piece of junk has the labe "hifi" attached to it.

morph: Is that rig in your sig your portable rig? (it says home rig, but it does sound alot more like a portable rig). Well, my main rig should be portable, as in my case the meaning of "home" is quite diluted, I have two places I could call more or less "home", but sometimes it seems to me like I live a somewhat nomadic life.

 

[Kabeer]

Quote:

Originally Posted by balou /img/forum/go_quote.gif I'm using the line out dock (headphone out is broken anyways...). but the sound quality difference is next to nil (ipod video 5.5g), and I don't seem to be alone with this oppinion. thats btw the reason why the imod exists... the so-called "line-out" of the ipod still has crappy smd caps and a crappy opamp in the signal path.

Hmmm maybe this is something limited to iPods? I dont have a quality pcdp to test with. But I tested a home seperates system (Technics eh550 pic)

Compared the following:

Technics eh550 > Original CD > Line-out >cMoy type ampy > Shure e5

Vs.

iRiver H140 >Lame VBR Q2 new >Line-out >cMoy >Shure e5.

And whilst the Technics was a bit louder, better detail and soundstage. It wasnt that big a gap. The entire spectrum was present from the iriver, its just a little less balanced and well presented.

I made my observation in this thread: iriver thread

Can anyone one else comment, ipod line out users?

 

[balou]

Yes, it's pretty much limited to ipods. My mp3 cd player for example has an extremely harsh and 'digital' sounding headphone out. via line-out and with cmoy, the sound has strikingly more warmth, not to speak of the vastly improved detail resolution. not anywhere near my vintage d-33 though.

but as already mentioned, nearly no difference between the ipod headphone- and line-out. some people say the lineout has a bit better bass response, but I didn't hear a difference

 

[cooperpwc]

I own a Turbodock which is a nifty little piece of hardware but I was always disappointed that my Bithead off the Turbodock + iPod Video didn't sound much better than my iPod headphone out (except with my DT880s/600s which the iPod simply couldn't drive). Turns out that the culprit is the iPod line out, not so much the Bithead. Garbage in, garbage out. Comparing the H140 line out through the Bithead, hey that sounds pretty good!

Anyway, I promised Kabeer that I would compare the Micro DAC (fed optically from the H140) through the Bithead to the H140 lineout through the Bithead. I'm going to do that tonight. I'll add the iPod line out to through the Bithead to the comparison. I'll post in my iRiver H140 line out thread.

balou, I think that your problem is just with the iPod. There are beter choices (like the iMod, I understand, and the H140 as I will investigate further tonight.) I used to think that my iPod sounded good until I got to this place...

 

[Lou Erickson]

I'm right there with you, balou, and like ronin74 have rediscovered music because of listening to real CDs instead of compressed stuff.

I'm still going to carry my DAP - it's really portable, and sounds fine for out-and-about. At home, though, I'm going to listen to uncomoressed music on better gear, and really enjoy it.

 

[Assorted]

When I get my DCP-150, I'm gonna carry a DAC and a good amp around with me. I would totally kick myself if the iMod has a better DAC than something like Headroom's micro dac.

 

[johndoe12]

I own a Sony d-34 and use the line out with my pa2v2 with sr60s....Woah thats great sound.

It blows away my zune, iaudio u3 by a pretty huge margin. Got it for 20 bucks with all the accessories...

Is the imod any better than a vintage pcdp? If so is it worth the $500 for one?