OK, I know this is an old topic, but I have read all the forums and done my own testing and have a very specific question if someone has already gone down this path...
I have a near-audiophile stereo system that includes a couple of daisy-chained 400-disk CD players. I want to replace the players with a single 160GB iPod. I have done all my own testing and determined that for all intents and purposes I cannot tell the difference between the lossless formats and bit rates as low as 192, so I know I can fit everything onto a single iPod.
The problem is that the sound coming out of my speakers via the iPod is just downright terrible compared to the sound from my CD player. Even songs recorded in lossless format are flat and mushy in the middle and is completely unacceptable in the bass range.
When I just listen to the iPod through the stereo it kind of sounds OK, but when I play the same track on the CD and quickly switch between the two, the difference is obvious to everyone I ask to listen. (Although few can tell the difference in formats at 192 and above.)
I've tried connecting via the headphone jack to RCA plugs - this is just pathetic. I've tried a $150 "high end" home theater docking station from DLO that has RCA jacks. This is better but there is still no where near real CD quality coming out.
I know that the lossless format is real CD quality. I've read that if you burn a CD using it and play it on a CD player, the sound is real CD quality. So, the problem must be that the iPod hardware just cannot output anything close to CD quality sound through either of its output ports.
Am I off base? Can someone shed some light on this for me?
Thanks.
Yancy
I have a near-audiophile stereo system that includes a couple of daisy-chained 400-disk CD players. I want to replace the players with a single 160GB iPod. I have done all my own testing and determined that for all intents and purposes I cannot tell the difference between the lossless formats and bit rates as low as 192, so I know I can fit everything onto a single iPod.
The problem is that the sound coming out of my speakers via the iPod is just downright terrible compared to the sound from my CD player. Even songs recorded in lossless format are flat and mushy in the middle and is completely unacceptable in the bass range.
When I just listen to the iPod through the stereo it kind of sounds OK, but when I play the same track on the CD and quickly switch between the two, the difference is obvious to everyone I ask to listen. (Although few can tell the difference in formats at 192 and above.)
I've tried connecting via the headphone jack to RCA plugs - this is just pathetic. I've tried a $150 "high end" home theater docking station from DLO that has RCA jacks. This is better but there is still no where near real CD quality coming out.
I know that the lossless format is real CD quality. I've read that if you burn a CD using it and play it on a CD player, the sound is real CD quality. So, the problem must be that the iPod hardware just cannot output anything close to CD quality sound through either of its output ports.
Am I off base? Can someone shed some light on this for me?
Thanks.
Yancy