Looks like no one’s replied in a while. To start the conversation again, simply ask a new question.

Level 1

65 points

iPod Photo: Poor Sound Quality - Updates

As most of us who have bought the iPod Photo already know, the sound quality IS FLAWED. The distorsion (or background crackling) of high frequency/high output sound (such as piano, high output electric guitar & some deep bass output - however the vocals seem to be fine) is there and something needs to be done about it. Some good examples of where this kind of problem occurs, from what I have found are: Radiohead (most of the OK Computer album), The Hives (the iPod Photo cannot seem to cope with their loud distorted guitar style & very high output), and Incubus (a lot of Morning View). Some people who are still using the tinny, lacklustre stock earbuds, or just don't listen to their music carefully enough, or listen niavely, may still not recognise this.

I refuse to let this issue drop, as I have spent good money on what should be, a technically flawless sound player. I do like this player though (mine is 60GB). The features are good, the photo element is excellent, the 60GB storage is unrivalled, but the main function of the player, to play music, is not good for this one issue. It is so disappointing considering Apple have obviously overlooked this issue (or simply let it slip by thinking nobody would notice), for what is otherwise an excellent piece of equipment.

I record all my music on iTunes, using the MP3 encoder. Some people think the MP3 encoder in iTunes is poor, but it is as good as most. It is all ripped at 224kbps VBR. I use Shure E2c earphones, which are also excellent, and by far the best value for money if you're looking for a warm tone & deep bass in your sound. The step up in price to the Shure E3c might be worth it if you prefer a more detailed, but possibly colder sound.

All that considered, there is absolutely no reason why the sound should be poor on my iPod Photo (when it is fine on the iPod Mini, and using Audio software on my PC), apart from there being a hardware/software glitch. There simply must be. Either that, or something in the sound has been compromised to accomodate the photo elements or colour screen.

I have sent an e-mail to Apple regarding all this, and will hopefully hear from them soon about what is going to be done to resolve this. I will keep this post updated as and when I hear news from them. I also have a case number in motion with their customer services department, and they cannot ignore this anymore.

Something must be done! Redeem yourselves, Apple!

Posted on Apr 10, 2005 10:29 PM

348 replies

Nov 18, 2005 1:23 AM in response to Andrew Buckle

Update on sending my iPod back.
All Apple did was to send me a brand new ipod, wrapped in cellophane. The sound is still distorted plus so far I am not that impressed with its battery life which seems a lot shorter than my previous one. Also I have had to reset it twice now as it went 'weird' on me.
Phil

Ant1

Level 2

415 points

Nov 18, 2005 7:51 AM in response to Johnny Wood

I do not believe that Apple would replace 4th generation Ipods ("photo"model) with the newer 5th generation "video" model sent by all the people that sent them for repair because of the sound problem discussed in this thread. Similarly, I believe Apple could not release any software or firmware updates that would openly state to fix said problem.
The reason? Because this would be an admission from their part that they released a faulty product. With the huge numbers of existing 4th generation iPod "photo" on the market, one can only imagine what a potential product recall would cost them once the word would get out and, let's face it, many competitors would love to pounce on that bit of information. Try to see the problem from Apple's point of view, and you soon realise that from their perspective, this issue is best left within the realms of speculation. They simply cannot do anything that would confirm the distortion mentioned by many. Or, to be more exact, they fixed it in the 5G iPod, and that can safely fall under the heading of "product improvement" as the product "evolves", not only by providing video facilities, but sonically as well, from 4G->5G.
I thought that the distortion issue was isolated, at best. I didn't hear any distortion whatsoever when listening to my usual musical dance fare. In fact, for this kind of music, the iPod sounds quite good. I used to work as a professional music producer, and in that field, there are devices that "enhance" the sound by ADDING harmonic distortion, perceived as a brighter sound. It could be that the distortion thus introduced by the 4G iPod acts in a similar fashion with harmonics-rich music, such as dance music, and therefore making the distortion inaudible (with similar types of music). It is only when I listened to some solo piano sonatas - and being classically trained on piano -that I could clearly hear the "buzziness" around some piano notes.
It seems that the only practical solution - especially if you're listening to piano-based music (classical, jazz) is to buy an adaptor that raises the impedance and thus masks to a certain extent the problem, albeit at the cost of volume. Or get a video iPod. Catch 22: the people who have been disappointed by the distortion problem and Apple's silence on this issue, might be resentful towards buying another iPod.

A.

Nov 20, 2005 11:58 AM in response to Ant1

So there you are in court the judge listens to some solo piano being played by iTunes on an Apple Laptop computer. You then play exactly the same piano track but now from an iPod using the same headphones. The sound from the laptop is clean and free from distortion, the sound from the iPod is distorted. What is the judge going to say?
Phil

Nov 21, 2005 9:18 PM in response to Ant1

I never said Apple should replace all the 4G models with video. They should re-engineer the headphone jack and allow people to send in their iPods to be updated, or replaced; whichever is the cheaper solution.

I don't think the fact the distortion doesn't exist on the video models falls under the category of "product improvement or evolution". The distortion only exists on the 4G, not 1G through to 4G. The sound quality of previous generations is actually better for the affected types of music. That's what makes it unacceptable for me.

While I agree, a recall would be extremely expensive for Apple, I don't understand your reasoning for their being unwilling to release a firmware update. I'm not sure whether or not this problem could be fixed through firmware, however if it could I see no reason why Apple couldn't do this. Sure, it would be admitting there was a problem; but it would only have cost them the development of the new firmware version; from there, customers owning affected iPods would be responsible for downloading and installing it. Since there are likely to be new Firmware releases for the 4G iPod photos anyway, I don't see why this is outside the realm of possibility.

And personally, I don't want to lug around yet another piece of hardward with me all over the place, even if it would compensate for the distortion issue. The iPod was advertised as a portable music player; never was it said additional accessories would be required to play music containing particular frequencies and instruments.

And while you're very good at seeing things from Apples perspective, you're remarkably poor at seeing things from the perspective of those who bought a defective product.

iSkratch

Level 1

5 points

Nov 22, 2005 6:19 PM in response to Johnny Wood

Crap.

I just bought an ipod photo 40gb last week and I'm currently waiting for it to arrive.

If I had seen this thread, I might have gone a different route.

So... um...

Crap.

DenZ

Level 2

250 points

Nov 22, 2005 7:00 PM in response to iSkratch

Doesn't appear that Apple's going to do much about this problem.

I'm still using Apple buds because I can't buy the EX71/81s or an etymotic 6p without worrying about low impedence causing major problems.

Nov 22, 2005 8:27 PM in response to DenZ

i think we are dealing with a faulty product here....my original ipod 20g Photo stopped responding to my commands entirely....the apple 1 year warranty aloud me to get a replacement since i've owned it for 4 months....i now have the replacement that has zapped its entire 18g collection within a month....please check out my first post at this thread:

http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=242557&tstart=0

i still haven't received a decent reason why it would format itself like that....

so look, the point is,,,,me and a lot of other people spent a lot of money on our ipods....and we just want them to work like they should....so am i going to have to keep replacing my ipod until i get one that does work....or is this a software issue that can be updated....

i'm a dj and i can't rely on my ipod

Nov 24, 2005 6:28 PM in response to Johnny Wood

i have a 60gb photo and i only had sound problems when the apple headphones were going bad, i heard it if i was listening to judas preist or some heavy metal with high vocals. but i just bought some $20 sony headphones and i have better sound quality now.

Nov 26, 2005 9:33 AM in response to Johnny Wood

I have just returned from the Apple Store having been given a full refund on my 60gig iPod I purchased!
My iPod was returned to Apple for distorted sound, especially when listening to solo piano music. Apple sent a brand new replacement by return which exhibited exactly the same problem. I contacted Apple again and eventually spoke to a 'product specialist' who said and I quote "it is a technical issue we are unable to resolve"!
So off I went to where I bought it and saw a store manager who sanctioned the refund. I then went to a checkout and had a full refund given me.
So if you are unhappy complain, complain again, and complain again, eventually you will get a result.
The last two days have been the most infuriating days so far of my life as I attempted to resolve this issue with Apple. It will be a long, long time before I buy another Apple product!

Phil

15 PB 1.25G 1.5Gb / iMac Rev B Mac OS X (10.4.1) 60 Gig iPod 4G, Lacie d2 250Gb, Lacie DL DVD.

DenZ

Level 2

250 points

Dec 3, 2005 9:23 AM in response to Philip Tyler

Apple can't find a way to fix their own products' problems. Interesting. Not very reassuring to send my iPod back just to get another one with the same issue 😟

I'm going to buy one of those cMoy Headphone amps off eBay which will hopefully remove the distortion (due to Apple's crap amp, or so others report). I'll report back on how that works out when I try it out with my cousin's low impendence Sony EX71s.

I contacted Apple
again and eventually spoke to a 'product specialist'
who said and I quote "it is a technical issue we are
unable to resolve"!

Phil

Feb 19, 2006 11:38 AM in response to Johnny Wood

At First i thought i had this problem with the sound cracking but then u set the EQ to Vocal Booster then i guess it makes it alrite (atleast its good enough for me)

At first maybe i did set it to Vocal Booster (cuz i remember i had this problem before) and then somehow later on after a long time (maybe 2 0r even 3 months) the cracking came up again and i came to this forum for help and then i tried it on most of the EQ and the Vocal Booster EQ was finewith some tracks but then with the other tracks its still there only in high volume and if u lower the volume a lil bit then the max then its fine i guess

I guess i helped............and i hope there is no issue of this with the i-video or later models

Mar 1, 2006 12:53 AM in response to Johnny Wood

Oh boy. Me too.

(I actually read every single post on this discussion. Haven't run out to buy the discussed headphone models, ipod accessories (radio shack or otherwise) - or even a new ipod yet.)

30 gb ipod photo. purchased July 2005.

Distortion with both ipod and various other headphones as well as two different models of powered speakers (one sold at the apple store), while the ipod EQ setting is "rock" or "R &B," anything that "amplifies" bass or mid-levels.

Calling Apple ASAP, hopefully tomorrow, to share my mounting frustration and concern, and hopefully to hear some recommendations and guidance. And of course I'm writing here with the hope that I might potentially hear anything from someone here, especially if you've recently had any luck.

Thanks in advance for your time and patience!

Eric

powerbook g4 Mac OS X (10.4.1) 1 gb ram. 30 gb ipod photo.

Mar 2, 2006 1:59 AM in response to Johnny Wood

Hi, everyone. My ipod photo has been replaced for three times, an the static on the left channel an distortion is still there. Then i called apple and sent me a brand new ipod sealed, I mean as if i buy it through apple store.
And guess what, the same problem. Every single ipod photo is affected by this prob. We can´t fight against apple.

P.D. I have shure e3 canal earphones and i can say that distortion is stronger. I won´t buy anything from apple again.

Jeff Bryan

Level 9

61,791 points

Mar 2, 2006 5:03 AM in response to Nicolas Marotta

"Every single ipod photo is affected by this prob"

So you've contacted every single person who owns an iPod with color display to determine this?

"Every single iPod photo" is a bold statement to make unless you have research to back it up.

Mar 2, 2006 9:54 AM in response to Nicolas Marotta

Hi, everyone. My ipod photo has been replaced for
three times, an the static on the left channel an
distortion is still there. Then i called apple and
sent me a brand new ipod sealed, I mean as if i buy
it through apple store.
And guess what, the same problem. Every single ipod
photo is affected by this prob. We can´t fight
against apple.

P.D. I have shure e3 canal earphones and i can say
that distortion is stronger. I won´t buy anything
from apple again.

My 40GB iPod Photo is not effected. It is not every iPod.

iPod Photo: Poor Sound Quality - Updates