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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

Jun 1, 2005 11:17 AM in response to Roy Hooper

Using Line Out via a dock and a headphone amp (or other amp) sounds good, and even improves the stock headphones.

mp3gain/aacgain also helped.

Ed Alton

Level 1

41 points

Jun 2, 2005 1:14 PM in response to Johnny Wood

I bought a iPod photo 30 and within a short period of time discovered it's now documented "flawed" design resulting in distorted sound. I was lucky enough to return it to the Apple store and get my money back. I've been waiting to see if at the WWDC on 6/6 they introduce a new model of the iPod photo but from the "rumors" it doesn't look like thats the case. Can anybody recommend a previous model/generation of iPod that does not have this distortion problem? If I can find one on ebay this would hold me over till Apple fixes the problem in newer models.

Ed A

Loge

Level 1

45 points

Jun 2, 2005 3:07 PM in response to Ed Alton

This distortion has only been reported on iPod photo models. The other models and previous generations do not have the problem; you could get a 20GB non-photo iPod, for example, or if you can find one, the fourth generation 40GB model that has only recently been discontinued.

Jun 2, 2005 3:52 PM in response to Loge

Do you guys think photo ipod is worth the trade-off? On one hand, it is more convenient to be able to store your photo on the road by linking your ipod with your digicam, but on the other hand, the sound quality is really not up to par with other players in this price range...

I am still debating myself, but I thought you guys can give me hand by offering your opinions... I also have a iPod U2 now, and eventually I will have to pick one between the two...

I can't have all my songs on the 20GB U2, and I can't upload my pic... that means i will have to carry my laptop around whenever I am on a trip... U2 DOES have better sound quality, and better build quality actually... I don't know if they put in more effort to ensure the fit since it's a limited edition... It doesn't have that ugly gap in the click wheel like many regular ipods have (maybe it's only this one)...

Should I keep the U2 with its limited capacity and no photo capability? Should I go with photo with it's limitation in sound quality and $150 more in price..? HELP!!!

MacGee

Level 6

8,564 points

Jun 2, 2005 4:42 PM in response to Arthur Hsu

I have one of the iPPs that's okay, but I wouldn't recommend anybody to buy one until the situation is resolved.

MacGee.

Jun 2, 2005 6:10 PM in response to MacGee

I was thinking in buying an Ipod in the next couple of days. Not anymore unfortunately. Being a bit audiophile, obviously I don't expect great things from an portable mp3 player, but distortion so bad that anyone can clearly listen to with cheap headphones has to be unbearable to listen to. I guess I will buy an ipod when they make one ipod photo that sounds decent. This is really unfortunate as I was planning to get one while visiting the US... 😐

Best wishes,
BA

Jun 2, 2005 8:04 PM in response to Johnny Wood

Now I know why iPod photo and the regular iPod cost the same. The stupid guy in circut city didn't tell me the sound quality was worse!

For a guy who bought an iPod photo a few days ago, this thread really made me fell better!!

Jun 2, 2005 8:06 PM in response to bruno afonso

This bothers me a lot. I bought the 30Gb photo on Apple's reputation alone.

I have experienced the distortion in my car. I have an XM Roady (Sat player) which uses XM's cassette adapter into my head unit. The plan was to use the same adapter (the Roady uses a miniplug output like the Ipod).

With the Ipod it was unplayable at any level on a lot of my music from Pat Metheny to Ozzie Osbourne. I have wasted houres re-ripping in different formats and different bitrates trying to get the disortion to go away.

Luckily I have a Shuffle and decided to compare the same files through it. The Shuffle (and the ACC files on my notebook) play fine - perfect in fact so I thought I had a duff IPP (I guess technically I do).

The solution was a different cassette adapter that luckily I had lying around. It must have a much higher impedance than the Roady's and the Ipod sounds great.

Apple needs to rectify this ASAP. Until they do I can't recommend this player and since the Photo is the basis for future Ipods, they need to get on the ball.

jamesmw

Level 1

0 points

Jun 3, 2005 1:27 AM in response to Johnny Wood

Greetings:
I have been reading these post with some concern as I have just purchased an iPod 30meg Photo and I thought I would share my initial experience.

I thought that I would try to hear the distortion as discussed with two DGG cds. An Der Schonen/Blauen Donau, von Karajan, DGG 400 026-2 and Vladimir Horowitz/ The Last Romantic, DGG 419 045-2.

I used "Exact Audio Copy" to rip and the LAME mpeg encoder to do the mp3 VBR conversions. The max source level didn't exceed 63% on any of the conversions.

I have to say that I have heard none of the distortion/clipping that has plagued others. I have used the supplied ear buds, Sony earplugs, and Sennheiser HD 280Pro headphones which are 64 ohms. I don't have the rated impedance for the Sony earplugs.

I will be trying to do a close a/b with my iPod mini over the next few weeks but so far things sound good with both units. In terms of emotional reaction, I haven't done as much of a double take since I first put a Stanton 681EEE phono cartrige on a turntable and listened to West Side Story.

James

Rachel R

Level 6

18,705 points

Jun 3, 2005 7:19 AM in response to jamesmw

I have to say that I have heard none of the distortion/clipping that has plagued others.

I can say the same. I was concerned reading this thread, but decided to go ahead and buy the 60GB iPod and see what happened - it can always be returned if necessary.

So I tested for distortion immediately, playing some classical music that I'm very familiar with (in particular Glenn Gould playing Bach, a long-time favorite of mine), along with other songs that I was sure I'd hear a difference in if there was a problem. With headphones or with the iTrip I hear no distortion.

I am not an audiophile, so there are things some would hear that I would not. But I have perfectly good hearing and like listening to good music, so I think I'm a good example of the average attentive music listener. My iPod has nothing that can be called distortion.

Clearly there is a problem with a subset of iPod photos. But clearly it does not exist in all of the iPod photos. Personally, my advice to those wanting to buy an iPod photo and worried by this thread would be to buy from a dealer who will take a return without question and without a "restocking fee," and don't worry about it beyond that. If you have a problem, return the iPod. But it seems likely you won't have a problem.

Remember that these are help forums; people with problems come flocking here in disproportionately high numbers. When you read about an Apple product in its forum on the Discussions, it can sound like there's a very high number of complaints about it, but that's simply due to the nature of the forums - people with problems seek out the Discussions and report the problems; people without problems usually don't even come here, let alone post to report that all is well. 😉 Even so, the number of people reporting the distortion problem in this forum is relatively small, indicating that the proportion of problematic iPod photos is relatively even smaller.

Jun 3, 2005 9:13 AM in response to Rachel R

I'm surprised by these posts - I must be missing something as my IPP 40Gb unit has good sound quality, ripped as AAC 320kbps or Lossless, Shure e3c earbuds. What it does have is a truly horrible pause "feature" - pressing pause and re-starting gives you a short burst at high volume of completely unconnected audio from, usually too short a burst to recognise! I've tried re-loading the entire database, no effect. Curiously, it doesn't do it when using line out! Irritation rather than annoyance but has anyone else got this? And by the way, the sound quality of the shuffle is better than either my 3G or photo ipods!

Jun 3, 2005 9:16 AM in response to Rachel R

Four questions for you guys. I haven't heard any distortion yet with the little that I've listened to but ....

1. So you're saying that on the regular ipod it doesn't distort like that, and if it doesn't why would adding the photo feature weaked the sound quality?

2. For songs that don't have high notes or those certain things that cause distortion, is the overall sound quality still not as good, or is it only less than perfect with those certain things such as high notes and stuff?

3. I listen to classic rock and not much metal but some of the stuff has metal-like dostortion. Is the quality bad only with that one metal band, or does most metal distortion sound bad through the iPod photo?

4. Does the regular iPod have all the games and features iPod photo has (besides the photo feature)?

Loge

Level 1

45 points

Jun 3, 2005 2:05 PM in response to Rachel R

If it was a small proportion of iPod photos that were affected, then it would be a straightforward matter of getting a warranty replacement. However, there are many reports on these and other forums where a replacement was no better or the iPod was returned with "no defect found". That does not look like it affects an isolated few.

As to why it doesn't affect the regular iPods, well obviously I can't answer that. The internals are not the same because photo viewing capabilities were added. I have not seen any post on any forum reporting this particular type of distortion with the non-photo iPods.

However, there's no reason why anyone shouldn't buy the photo. If the sound quality is deficient, return it straightaway for a refund.

Rachel R

Level 6

18,705 points

Jun 3, 2005 2:17 PM in response to Loge

If it was a small proportion of iPod photos that were affected, then it would be a straightforward matter of getting a warranty replacement. However, there are many reports on these and other forums where a replacement was no better or the iPod was returned with "no defect found". That does not look like it affects an isolated few.

Seriously, if you look at this forum and compare it to a forum for an Apple product that has a current, more common defect (or perceived defect, for example the so-called "heat problem" for PowerBooks), you'll see what I mean. This thread and the number of people posting in it, for a product that is selling in huge numbers, and in a tech support forum where people with problems will concentrate, indicates that the percentage of iPod photo owners with this problem is definitely small. At least so far. You wouldn't be able to find the other threads amongst the "distortion" threads if this were a very common problem with the iPod photo.

There's always the chance that the problem some people are reporting is something more subtle than the major distortion problem that this thread seems to be about. So some may be saying they simply don't like the sound quality - audiophiles in particular. While others, such as the majority in this thread, seem to be talking about something much more serious and obvious, even to non-audiophiles.

Loge

Level 1

45 points

Jun 3, 2005 2:31 PM in response to Rachel R

The problem is not necessarily obvious. I had my iPod photo for four months before noticing the problem. Many users of the iPod do not listen to solo piano music, or use low impedance phones. If it was not a common problem, many who had this issue would just get a warranty replacement and not even bother posting.

iPod Photo: Poor Sound Quality - Updates