Thread: Apple=Fail

Originally Posted by dex71

With the fiber setup,I could have listened to the music on my ipod without driving me nuts....not completely cd quality,but a hell of a lot closer than it is now. There is really no comparing the two different setups...it's not even close.

"CD quality" sound can be transmitted over analog stereo cable just fine. The source determines the quality, not the output (unless the source is higher quality than the output can handle, which yours is not). I'm not sure what is going on with your setup, but something is fishy. A 256kbps "podcast" is not going to suffer any loss by playing back over a stereo output.

And as I hinted at above, don't attempt to play a stereo source in surround sound... it will sound like crap no matter which output you use.

Originally Posted by Blakeman

Sansa Fuse... never looked back.

Does everything I want it to and can play mp4s if I ever need it to. Can sync with media player and a few other players. Has a micro sd slot for extra space/storage.

Sansa players won't play any music with DRM, regardless of the format. So any iTunes purchased mp4s (that still have DRM) will not play on a Sansa. I also have a Sansa player, (an e250) and I like it well enough, but I prefer the additional functionality the iPod Touch offers. I never really found myself loading more than a couple gigs of songs onto my Sansa and using the MicroSD made the power-on process slow, so I usually left out the SD card.

Originally Posted by Veovis

Originally Posted by dex71

With the fiber setup,I could have listened to the music on my ipod without driving me nuts....not completely cd quality,but a hell of a lot closer than it is now. There is really no comparing the two different setups...it's not even close.

"CD quality" sound can be transmitted over analog stereo cable just fine. The source determines the quality, not the output (unless the source is higher quality than the output can handle, which yours is not). I'm not sure what is going on with your setup, but something is fishy. A 256kbps "podcast" is not going to suffer any loss by playing back over a stereo output.

And as I hinted at above, don't attempt to play a stereo source in surround sound... it will sound like crap no matter which output you use.

In both cases (the digital dock and the analog wire setup),I was using the Multi channel stereo setting. It is basically in stereo,but using all of the surround speakers,and not just the two front towers. The settings on the stereo were identical....the difference in sound quality was astounding. It's certainly not the amp....or the speakers. Listening to the two,nearly back to back (in the same day at least) there is just absolutely no comparasin. The only things that changed was the different output on the ipod and the cable used to carry the signal to the amp.

I'm not really sure what you are saying Veovis.....there is a huge difference between hooking up a cd player with just the analog RCA cables,and the digital fiber,coax,or HDMI methods.

Originally Posted by dex71

Originally Posted by Veovis

Originally Posted by dex71

With the fiber setup,I could have listened to the music on my ipod without driving me nuts....not completely cd quality,but a hell of a lot closer than it is now. There is really no comparing the two different setups...it's not even close.

"CD quality" sound can be transmitted over analog stereo cable just fine. The source determines the quality, not the output (unless the source is higher quality than the output can handle, which yours is not). I'm not sure what is going on with your setup, but something is fishy. A 256kbps "podcast" is not going to suffer any loss by playing back over a stereo output.

And as I hinted at above, don't attempt to play a stereo source in surround sound... it will sound like crap no matter which output you use.

In both cases (the digital dock and the analog wire setup),I was using the Multi channel stereo setting. It is basically in stereo,but using all of the surround speakers,and not just the two front towers. The settings on the stereo were identical....the difference in sound quality was astounding. It's certainly not the amp....or the speakers. Listening to the two,nearly back to back (in the same day at least) there is just absolutely no comparasin. The only things that changed was the different output on the ipod and the cable used to carry the signal to the amp.

I'm not really sure what you are saying Veovis.....there is a huge difference between hooking up a cd player with just the analog RCA cables,and the digital fiber,coax,or HDMI methods.

Try it in true 2.1 stereo with both connections and let me know what you find. You are processing the signal digitally with your receiver. I would not recommend that. Play it back as it was recorded.

Well....I can't compare the two anymore. I returned the digital dock. As for trying the 2.1 stereo option......it is really the exact same thing as the multi channel stereo,it just uses less speakers. In multi,it broadcasts in 2.1 stereo,but sends the signal out to all of the speakers(120wx7) instead of just the front two and the subs.

And Chronic....I know. The little dock I had was supposedly able to use the tv for an on-screen menu,and be able to put pics/videos from the ipod up to the tv. I tried both...I have every cable known to man sitting around here....multiple HDMI,digital coax,and fiber. The company I used to work for had a low-voltage (half-ampers ) division,so I would get any cable I wanted for little or nothing. Otherwise CablesDirect.com is another great source.The retail mark-up on cables is amazing.

Originally Posted by Muqtar SGT_Clintok

Sorry Dex, I was telling my wife about this. When our two IPODs expire, we will move on to other vendors.

I put an IPOD type cable into the aux mount in the back of my honda radio in the pilot. I am now wondering whether or not your IPOD would work on it. I doubt it.

Those cocksuckers.

I think it has something to do with it being the newer second generation ipod. I'm not sure if the first generation ones have the proprietary chip in them. I know all too well mine does. I would be happy as a clam of I could find a docking system with digital outputs on it,not made by Apple,and under $370. I had one that worked beautifully for $125....until the chip figured it out. No wonder people are jailbreaking their iphones....to climb the Berlin Wall that Apple has built for "their" products (even though people have purchased them,and they are now private property).

Originally Posted by dex71

Well....I can't compare the two anymore. I returned the digital dock. As for trying the 2.1 stereo option......it is really the exact same thing as the multi channel stereo,it just uses less speakers. In multi,it broadcasts in 2.1 stereo,but sends the signal out to all of the speakers(120wx7) instead of just the front two and the subs.

Which signal does it send to the center channel... left or right?

I will have to do some test with CD audio from my PS3 over optical SPDIF vs lossless digital rip (or as close as possible) on my iPod over stereo cable. Of course, some of this will come down to the strengths of the digital processor in the iPod.

Actually, I think I just may have solved all the confusion here. If you send digital to your receiver you are letting the receiver process. If you send stereo analog you are letting your iPod process. I have an older generation iPod and when I bought it I compared it to several other mp3 players and digital audio processors and I was fairly impressed with how well it did. Maybe the newer ones (or whatever you have) have worse processors? One of the Creative players I tested once was so shitty that even in my cheapy car system my non-audiophile friends could tell the difference between it and a CD. I actually wanted to avoid an iPod at all costs since iHate apple too... but, it proved to be the best option at the time in terms of audio quality.

Originally Posted by Veovis

Originally Posted by dex71

Well....I can't compare the two anymore. I returned the digital dock. As for trying the 2.1 stereo option......it is really the exact same thing as the multi channel stereo,it just uses less speakers. In multi,it broadcasts in 2.1 stereo,but sends the signal out to all of the speakers(120wx7) instead of just the front two and the subs.

Which signal does it send to the center channel... left or right?

I will have to do some test with CD audio from my PS3 over optical SPDIF vs lossless digital rip (or as close as possible) on my iPod over stereo cable. Of course, some of this will come down to the strengths of the digital processor in the iPod.

Actually, I think I just may have solved all the confusion here. If you send digital to your receiver you are letting the receiver process. If you send stereo analog you are letting your iPod process. I have an older generation iPod and when I bought it I compared it to several other mp3 players and digital audio processors and I was fairly impressed with how well it did. Maybe the newer ones (or whatever you have) have worse processors? One of the Creative players I tested once was so shitty that even in my cheapy car system my non-audiophile friends could tell the difference between it and a CD. I actually wanted to avoid an iPod at all costs since iHate apple too... but, it proved to be the best option at the time in terms of audio quality.

I think you did! :9

And that is a damn good question....I'm not sure what the center channel is getting.

So,you compared Apples to other Mp3 players....and at the time,Apples won. Now compare any of the Mp3 players to a mid-high end receiver and hear the difference. I did.....and that is back to my original point....Apple=Fail. I had a docking system that I was completely happy with(since it sent the signal digitally,and let the receiver do the heavy lifting)....until the Apple chip detected it. To listen to the two,back -to-back,the difference was incredible. It was night and day.