[overlunge]

Hi there, I'm having trouble with the audio output quality through my (1/2 year old) Powerbook G4 15". I recently tried to play Nelly's My Place, through both Apple Lossless and original CD. The intro bass sound distorted and full of noise. I'm using HD650 (stock cable)/Belkin Pure AV cable/Rega ear amp...

Strangely, my old iBook G3 (2 y.o) plays without the above symptoms...

I wonder if upgrading the sound card to Echo Indigo is the only way around it...

Any help will be much appreciated.

Thank you

overlunge

 

[Erukian]

are you running panther? You should call apple support if your under that program, they should be able to help.

If your feeling adventerous, try out the latest Tiger seed, hard to get a hold of but it's good fun and faaaster.

 

[3lusiv3]

I have a PBG4 1.3GHz with 768 MB of RAM and have no problem. Make sure your OS is fully up to date and make sure you have at least 768 MB or RAM.

 

[drminky]

Mine sounds fine with 512MB of RAM. I doubt its your ram. I would check your settings in iTunes on the powerbook. Make sure the eq is turned OFF. In preferences, Make sure 'sound check' is turned OFF, and make sure the 'sound enhancer' is turned off. In the importing tab, make sure error checking is turned ON when ripping cds from now on. Does this help your problem?

 

[3lusiv3]

There's nothing wrong with "Sound check". It has no effect on audio quality. I wouldn't be without out it.

 

[overlunge]

Thanks for the advices, I will try to play with the settings and I will post the result. Wish me luck

Anyone uses a addition sound card (pcmcia) with their powerbook? I read powerbook's sound card can only handle 16 bit sound...

 

[Oliver :)]

Quote:

Originally Posted by 3lusiv3 There's nothing wrong with "Sound check". It has no effect on audio quality. I wouldn't be without out it.

Soundcheck does the same volume on all tracks trick, right? (dang localized iTunes...) If so, you wish to compare it to iVolume ( http://www.mani.de/en/software/macosx/ivolume/ ), there is a limited demo functionality. Let me know whether it makes a difference for you.

 

[gloco]

Now, i know nothing about apple pc's, but maybe the volume is set too hot? I had the same problem playing music with winamp, i lowered the volume on winamp down to 20% and the noise cleared up.

 

[3lusiv3]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Oliver Soundcheck does the same volume on all tracks trick, right? (dang localized iTunes...) If so, you wish to compare it to iVolume ( http://www.mani.de/en/software/macosx/ivolume/ ), there is a limited demo functionality. Let me know whether it makes a difference for you.

I had a look at ivolume, but I don't really want to pay for something like that. Sound check is good enough for me.

 

[overlunge]

Thanks for everyone's input, I thought that I might just deal with the iTune setting first before I venture into third party software.

So with my iTune's setting at:
Sound Check - ON
Sound Enhancer - OFF
EQ - OFF (was on R&B)

And the song I was talking about was GREAT, the bass was solid, and clean. Not as destorted and bloated as before. Thumbs up!

Thanks for your help again... I think I will eventually get around to try iVolume, but I'm too busy enjoying my HD650 (amp'ed, ya!)...

overlunge

 

[drminky]

Almost all the pre-cooked eq settings in iTunes will cause distortion. IF you ever need to do one yourself (avoid if possible, cause it will otherwise lower sound quality due to re-processing), remember the proper way to use an eq is to SUBTRACT rather than ADD.

..Pull sliders down into negative rather than up. If you HAVE to push a slider into gain, pull down the preamp slider on the left to compensate and use your main volume (amp volume) to get the desired volume again. Adding gain at the eq level will distort, simple as that..

 

[overlunge]

Quote:

Originally Posted by drminky Almost all the pre-cooked eq settings in iTunes will cause distortion. IF you ever need to do one yourself (avoid if possible, cause it will otherwise lower sound quality due to re-processing), remember the proper way to use an eq is to SUBTRACT rather than ADD. ..Pull sliders down into negative rather than up. If you HAVE to push a slider into gain, pull down the preamp slider on the left to compensate and use your main volume (amp volume) to get the desired volume again. Adding gain at the eq level will distort, simple as that..

Thanks for the advice! Will definetly try that if I HAVE to.