Who all uses ipods instead of cds for their decks

Mackenzie · Post by **Mackenzie** » Wed Aug 27, 2008 12:11 pm

Just curious. I am really debating on getting an ipod touch for the car, but I am having second thoughts, mainly due to sq..

Post by **stipud** » Wed Aug 27, 2008 12:25 pm

If you're burning MP3s to CD, the quality difference is inaudible. If you're comparing to a real CD, then yeah there is a difference, depending on how good the MP3 is. If you record in lossless, there should be little difference, but it will quickly eat up the flash space that's on a touch. Personally I record 192kbps VBR AAC, and it's indistinguishable to me.

The only major problem I have found with using iPods in the car is the headunit interface. I haven't used a headunit yet that makes it easy to browse on an iPod... ESPECIALLY when you've got more than a couple albums on it. It just requires you to take your eyes off the road for way too long, or you have to scroll through hundreds of band names or albums to find what you are looking for. I honestly have an easier time changing CDs, which is why I haven't bothered to convert yet (though I do still hook it up via Aux-IN for roadtrips).

Post by **Bfowler** » Wed Aug 27, 2008 12:36 pm

i still keep cds in th car for sound quality...but since i usually have my windows down the sq difference is inaudinble

i have a thumb drive that i keep 8-10 albums that are my "new" material

and i keep an 8gig with my "collection" on it. can't remeber the last time i listended to a cd in my car other then when it was parked and i was showing someone my system.

Post by **fuzzysnuggleduck** » Wed Aug 27, 2008 12:51 pm

I pretty much exclusively use my iPod touch (32GB) in the truck. I can hear a big difference in terms of SQ for certain tracks, especially those encoded as low-quality MP3 files. My AAC files are better but many still are distinguishable from Lossless or CD-quality, still. I Just started encoding a few albums with Lossless and it sounds great! No difference fom the factory pressed CD as far as I can tell so the DAC in the iPod must be at least on par with the DAC in my deck.

Like Tom said, it can be annoying using Alpine's interface when there are hundreds of Artists. Although, I've been getting better at it. I now spin the rotary knob for a while, peek, spin, peek and when I'm getting close I slow down a bunch so I don't shoot passed it.

If you're thinking of just using the iPod interface with an AUX in instead of an HU that controls the iPod, I guess that works, but I wouldn't want to be holding and fussing with that interface while driving, even if it would be "faster". I would feel more distracted.

Edit: Forgot to mention, the album I have encoded in Lossless is about 270MB while an AAC encoded album of similar (although not identical) length is only 70MB.

Mackenzie · Post by **Mackenzie** » Wed Aug 27, 2008 12:57 pm

I planned on using the ipod interface on the pioneer headunit. I guess I may give it a try. Im a bit stuck on which deck to get at the moment though, as I just sold my 880 prs.

Either the 980bt color screen, or the 800prs

SolacE · Post by **SolacE** » Wed Aug 27, 2008 1:50 pm

I have my ipod touch hooked up to my clarion hx-d10. As for sound quality there is definetly a difference. I encode my mp3s at 256 Kps. But I still keep my newest stuff handy on cd in the car. But I also buy alot of mixtapes so the sound quality is poor anyway.

Mackenzie · Post by **Mackenzie** » Wed Aug 27, 2008 1:51 pm

hmm, thats a bit discouraging

STROKD · Post by **STROKD** » Wed Aug 27, 2008 3:11 pm

I have A/Bed ipods on different compressions including lossless and the cd always had more mid bass and highs (dynamic range) This was on a front and rear component system with a MS-275 hooked up in 2 ohm stereo (no fader). It was noticeable at all ranges, esp the 128/192 compressions. Lossless sounded DANG good, but not quite as good as cd. If you have a good stereo, stick to CDs, and use the iPod as back up... my opinion anyway.

Post by **stipud** » Wed Aug 27, 2008 3:46 pm

If you have a digital connection, there is no reason lossless would sound any worse than CD. If you are forced to use the iPod's DAC, then it will obviously alter the sound.

I know my 5G iPod has the really good Wolfson DAC. Not sure what the iPod touch uses...

Mackenzie · Post by **Mackenzie** » Wed Aug 27, 2008 3:53 pm

Hmm, is their any way to find out what the touch uses? The only reason I want the touch over the other ones is for the internet/ cool factor.

Zarnov · Post by **Zarnov** » Wed Aug 27, 2008 4:35 pm

I'm runnin' a 4gig Nano with a cassette adapter!!! LOL

(But it still sounds better than an FM modulator)
And prefer CD's for quality, but can't argue with the convenience of digital formats.

However...

The Premier FH-P800BT I'm looking to get has a USB input for either ipod or a 250gig HD and claims to de-compress and reprocess an MP3 to a much improved quality (near CD!?!). We'll see.

Post by **stipud** » Wed Aug 27, 2008 4:54 pm

Zarnov wrote:claims to de-compress and reprocess an MP3 to a much improved quality (near CD!?!). We'll see.

Oh so it's powered by leprechauns is it?

Zarnov · Post by **Zarnov** » Wed Aug 27, 2008 4:56 pm

Possibly...maybe even pixies...can't rightly say

Post by **fuzzysnuggleduck** » Wed Aug 27, 2008 6:55 pm

iTouch uses the same Wolfson audio chip a iPhone (WM8758BG) and not the Cirrus audio chip as the iPod Classic/Nano ..

Later in the thread where I pulled that from someone says despite having the same DAC, the iPod touch and iPhone "sound worse" than the 5G iPods. I dunno.

steelbath · Post by **steelbath** » Wed Aug 27, 2008 11:30 pm

I use USB with 256/320kb mp3z i cant hear the difference between that and cd's but i have heard a few friends ipod's and the sound quality wasnt that good it really lacked bass below 60hz and the highs were a bit harsh.

flogger11 · Post by **flogger11** » Thu Aug 28, 2008 7:06 am

stipud wrote:
Zarnov wrote:claims to de-compress and reprocess an MP3 to a much improved quality (near CD!?!). We'll see.
Oh so it's powered by leprechauns is it?

Funny stuff!

Post by **fuzzysnuggleduck** » Thu Aug 28, 2008 7:33 am

Hear the detail, warmth and clarity, the way the artist intended it, from all of your highly compressed MP3, WMA and AAC files stored on USB memory device, iPod and portable digital players. By restoring data (especially higher frequencies) that tend to get lost in the digital compression process, Pioneer?s Advanced Sound Retriever technology enhances audio reproduction nearly all the way up to 20 kHz frequencies.

Sounds to me like it's trying to be a full range Epicenter. While the Epi might rock the bass, I dunno if creating data that doesn't exist based on a math equation is "what the artist intended". It's simple, MP3 mostly sucks for SQ. If you're "restoring" data that isn't even in the damn file, you're basically up-sampling. And that's pretty worthless unless you want that colored sound.

Zarnov · Post by **Zarnov** » Thu Aug 28, 2008 7:46 am

fuzzysnuggleduck wrote:
Hear the detail, warmth and clarity, the way the artist intended it, from all of your highly compressed MP3, WMA and AAC files stored on USB memory device, iPod and portable digital players. By restoring data (especially higher frequencies) that tend to get lost in the digital compression process, Pioneer?s Advanced Sound Retriever technology enhances audio reproduction nearly all the way up to 20 kHz frequencies.
Sounds to me like it's trying to be a full range Epicenter. While the Epi might rock the bass, I dunno if creating data that doesn't exist based on a math equation is "what the artist intended". It's simple, MP3 mostly sucks for SQ. If you're "restoring" data that isn't even in the damn file, you're basically up-sampling. And that's pretty worthless unless you want that colored sound.

Pretty much my thoughts on it too, but it plays CDs too, so I may still give it a try

bretti_kivi · Post by **bretti_kivi** » Thu Aug 28, 2008 9:11 am

just as a question "in the room":.. why do you think I'm putting the effort in for a CarPC?

Post by **fuzzysnuggleduck** » Thu Aug 28, 2008 9:27 am

bretti_kivi wrote:just as a question "in the room":.. why do you think I'm putting the effort in for a CarPC?

So you can watch porn while parked in a dark lot behind the school?

bretti_kivi · Post by **bretti_kivi** » Thu Aug 28, 2008 9:37 am

^^ no

Besides, I live across the street from the school.......... :shock:8):D

I wanted quality formats (I personally use .ogg) and they're difficult to find.

plus I wanted 30+GB with.

Bret

Post by **fuzzysnuggleduck** » Thu Aug 28, 2008 9:54 am

Yep, .ogg isn't very well supported among the most popular pocket-sized digital audio players. I think Cowon supports it though...

bretti_kivi · Post by **bretti_kivi** » Thu Aug 28, 2008 10:21 am

... as does Oggplay for Symbian Series 60 feature pack 3, as on my N95...

which also does Nav. And Phone. And surf.

Bret

Stereo Junkie · Post by **Stereo Junkie** » Thu Aug 28, 2008 10:57 am

So here is my experiences.

I currently run my Nakamichi head unit with an 8G nano (new black square one) and I have music encoded all the way from 96kbit/s (think old reel to reel -> cd -> mp3 ugh!) to ACC lossless. While I (and everyone else for that matter) can hear the difference between a cd and the 96kbit/s for the most part no one but me can hear the difference between the CD and the ACC lossless format. That is until you crank it up really high and point out the differences by listening to both and doing an A/B comparison. But I degress as most people do not do the latter (not including people who read this board).

I have used several FM transmitters and while some are good they just don't have the wattage to push out the other radio stations no matter how out of range they are (espcially in metro areas).

I used to hate changing cd's in my head unit and usually only listened to the radio b/c of this. But now that I have my iPod I flip between my old stuff on the iPod and the radio to avoid commercials. I now dislike having to scroll through all the albums/songs/whatever to find some music I want to listen to.

My ideal fix would be able to have a heads up display that was in hands reach, but in an S-10 and my height I have not figured out a good answer other than the low tech one I have right now. I just have an RCA pair from the aux input of the headunit run from behind the dash to a Y converter to feed the RCA's to the headphone jack on the Nano. I leave the Nano just lying in the middle console in front of the stick shift. So when I have to change songs then I have to pick it up and thumb through it that way.

I just know that voice controlled would be pointless as my stereo would be to loud to hear me scream "S-P-I-C-E G-I-R-L-S".....JK