What! Massive clipping with iPod's EQ.

[jeek]

Ipod -> LineOut -> Classic -> HD580 clipping with some songs (not all), with EQ off much less clipping but still there (Pink Floyd's Wish You Were Here albom first song for example lots and lots of it in the begining)

 

[chumley]

Quote:

Originally Posted by mavis So, in your opinion, the only possible way to get decent bass is to use an amp? And the only possible way to get any kind of decent bass boost is to use an amp with a built-in bass boost?

Higher impedance cans. Amp+Line Out. Lossless. Any/all three of these will eliminate clipping/distortion, on the iPod and anything else. It's not rocket science, or legend, or fiction, or Calculus.

It's amazing what laws of audio get twisted to fit the anti-iPod fanboy rhetorical logic. iPod = Bad; anything by Rio, iAudio, Creative, or iRiver = Good. No amount of evidence to the contrary seems to make a dent in this facade. Don't like iPods? Get a life. I just picked up an iAudio M3L, and it is fantastic. I don't suddenly 'dump' the iPod, as Karmalicious suggests... the DAPs made today have trade-offs that suggest they DO adhere to the laws of audio and physics... if the popularity of one DAP over another bothers any of these tiny fanboys, they should buy one of the many 'superior' players, and not the iPod they seem convinced is junk.

All this pro/anti DAP yapping doesn't make anything clearer, except how emotional some children can become when their toys are discussed in anything other than glowing, fictional terms. This includes some iPod owners.

I'll be spending less time in the audio sandbox of Portable Audio threads such as these. Daycare shouldn't be free.

 

[Juggularity]

There is a good article over at dapreview.com that I found last weekend which addresses this exact issue.

http://www.dapreview.net/content.php?article.133

Enjoy!

 

[mavis]

Quote:

Originally Posted by chumley Higher impedance cans. Amp+Line Out. Lossless. Any/all three of these will eliminate clipping/distortion, on the iPod and anything else. It's not rocket science, or legend, or fiction, or Calculus.

So in other words, you're saying that my $500 headphones won't work properly straight out of the iPod? Because using Apple Lossless didn't do anything to help the bass situation for me (yes, I tried) which leaves only 1) new headphones and 2) an amp. In either case, you've basically confirmed exactly what I was trying to say ...

Quote:

Originally Posted by chumley It's amazing what laws of audio get twisted to fit the anti-iPod fanboy rhetorical logic. iPod = Bad; anything by Rio, iAudio, Creative, or iRiver = Good. No amount of evidence to the contrary seems to make a dent in this facade. Don't like iPods? Get a life. I just picked up an iAudio M3L, and it is fantastic. I don't suddenly 'dump' the iPod, as Karmalicious suggests... the DAPs made today have trade-offs that suggest they DO adhere to the laws of audio and physics... if the popularity of one DAP over another bothers any of these tiny fanboys, they should buy one of the many 'superior' players, and not the iPod they seem convinced is junk. All this pro/anti DAP yapping doesn't make anything clearer, except how emotional some children can become when their toys are discussed in anything other than glowing, fictional terms. This includes some iPod owners. I'll be spending less time in the audio sandbox of Portable Audio threads such as these. Daycare shouldn't be free.

You know what I find amazing, chumley? I find it amazing that you have to get all defensive when an iPod owner dares to make a negative comment about what is apparently your favorite DAP. Seriously man, grow up. It's just a DAP, it's a good one but far from perfect -deal with it.

 

[sumone]

I thought they would've fixed the distorted bass problem by now...I had a 2nd gen iPod & couldn't stand it due to the distortion when using any EQ function that boosts the bass. I listen to R&B and rap, so it was not tolerable at all. Quickly got rid of it & low and behold, the rio karma. best dap out there IMO. Hard drive may have some problems but you can't beat the 5-band para-eq on that there thing....

 

[JeffL]

Quote:

I ripped the whole CD using EAC+LAME (--apx) and then used MP3Gain to adjust each song to 89.0db, as I always do. Then I transfered to my iPod, and what I heard when I played it back almost made me sick. Basically, it's unlistenable.

I'm surprised nobody has suggested this, as it is the MOST OBVIOUS thing in the entire statement, and is absolutely the WORST thing you can do...

Using EAC+lame is GREAT, but its effect is absolutely negligible if you then MP3Gain it! Why? What is it that MP3Gain does?

MP3Gain rewrite the file (this is not replaygain, nor does the iPod support it) with boosted GAIN. And most CDs already are normalized and compressed for maximum volume, as you should know. But running MP3Gain on an already hot CD will clip any transients that are now forced to exceed 0dB...

Now, bass boost does have an effect on distortion, and I don't ever use bassboost, because just about all players are already pushed for headroom as it is. But MP3Gaining your music is the worst thing you can do. If you need more volume, get an amp!!

 

[mavis]

Quote:

Originally Posted by JeffL I'm surprised nobody has suggested this, as it is the MOST OBVIOUS thing in the entire statement, and is absolutely the WORST thing you can do... Using EAC+lame is GREAT, but its effect is absolutely negligible if you then MP3Gain it! Why? What is it that MP3Gain does? MP3Gain rewrite the file (this is not replaygain, nor does the iPod support it) with boosted GAIN. And most CDs already are normalized and compressed for maximum volume, as you should know. But running MP3Gain on an already hot CD will clip any transients that are now forced to exceed 0dB... Now, bass boost does have an effect on distortion, and I don't ever use bassboost, because just about all players are already pushed for headroom as it is. But MP3Gaining your music is the worst thing you can do. If you need more volume, get an amp!!

I hate to break it to you, but you have absolutely no idea what you are talking about.

MP3Gain does NOT rewrite MP3s, and it DOES use the Replay Gain algorithm ...

http://mp3gain.sourceforge.net/faq.php

BTW, the reason I use MP3Gain is not to INCREASE the volume, but rather to LOWER it, to give me more headroom. Exactly the opposite of what you seem to think ...

 

[Fish Tank X]

Apply the EQ at the computer, not the iPod. Problem solved.

 

[Imyourzero]

Quote:

Originally Posted by bangraman Eagle_Driver is incorrect to make such a generalisation. I won't say "get a better MP3 player" since you have the best already.

Just wanted to point out that you forgot something.

[size=large]IMO[/size]

Saying the iPod is the best MP3 player is an extremely opinionated statement and is in no way a "fact."

 

[naddy]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fish Tank X Apply the EQ at the computer, not the iPod. Problem solved.

I know how to set the EQ in iTunes, but what do you set the EQ to on the iPod to where it accepts the iTunes EQ?

And why would this cause less distortion?

 

[naddy]

Hey I just wanted to thank those that suggested mp3gain. I tried it last night and it is amazing at how much it actually allows the EQs on the ipod to work properly without distortion!

One question though, since the volume of the files is lowered to where you have to play them on your ipod at higher volumes, does it drain the battery quicker, or is it relative to where since the volumes of the files are lower that even though the volume on the ipod is higher it is equivalent to the to a lower volume before the files went through mp3gain?