iTunes sound quality

You do not say when the songs were downloaded from iTunes. Until about a year ago (just an estimate, it may be a little more than a year or a little less), all songs in iTunes were encoded at 128kbps, which is far from optimal if you are looking for quality reproduction. All tracks on iTunes are now encoded at 256kbps (iTunes Plus), which should be virtually indistinguishable from CD.

Check the bit rates of the songs with poor quality. If they are encoded at 128kbps, I believe there is a way to upgrade them for a small fee (the difference between the old cost and the new cost). If the songs are already at 256kbps, then I am at a loss and cannot think of anything that will fix the issue. You can try downloading one or two of them from another vendor such as Amazon and compare the two different copies.

In addition to GLNHP's comment, I would also like how you are connecting your iPod to your home stereo system...

Based on the connection your quality could be very different, based on cables and connection ports.. As some home stereo's put different parts and equalizer technology levels on the different inputs so you can sound good on a CD input port, but due to FM radio they may raise the Trebble due to the lack of quality on a FM input source.

Can you clarify more about that connectivity, because that could be a spot adding to this problem as well.

Amazon uses an external downloader (required if you download complete albums). It's been a while since I set it up, but I believe there is a way to have it download directly to iTunes. I have mine set up to download the music to a dedicated directory, then I import the album's folder manually into iTunes (File > Add Folder to Library).

I do not know how you normally encode your CDs (MP3 or AAC), but you should be aware that Amazon's music files are all 256 kbps or higher MP3 (as opposed to the AAC files on iTunes). I have only one album from iTunes (which sounds fine), so I cannot speak to the sonic quality of the rest of their files in general. However, I have many albums from Amazon and have had only one issue (and was credited the price of the download).

I think iNexxFear's point is if you are comparing music on your iPod to actual CDs, you may need to change the bass/treble balance on your stereo as its internal equalizer may treat the CD player and the input used for the iPod differently. Also, the iPod's sonic balance is different than your CD player.

I was under the impression, though, that you were only talking about music actually on your iPod (you were not comparing the iPod quality to actual CDs). If this is the case, then we are looking at file quality. I've read posts in the past complaining about the quality of some iTunes purchased music, but that was before all the songs were upgraded to iTunes Plus.

If you missed it, see my post above in response to your query about Amazon.

Also... If you want dramatic enhancements on your home stereo system, please consider buying a cable which plugs into the bottom connector of the ipod (and not the 3.5mm cable connector). In order to get any quality out of the iPod that way you need to have the volume at the max, which can tend to drain the battery faster.

If you have a cable that uses the iPod connector (via Griffin Technologies, or Apple Dock with supplied cables, or other 3rd party). You will have an amazing and different field of sound quality.

The 3.5mm connector does ok for most headphones, as your ears and headsets can't quite produce what a stereo system can. But the dock connector on the bottom will ACT like Dolby digital sound quality in movies... Please note the word ACT, because it is not really the case and wanted to use it as a reference point...

Don't spend alot, but those cables will help with quality.... And actually griffin if ordered online looks like they have a deal going on... Otherwise you can find this at your local best buy or walmart

http://www.griffintechnology.com/products/stereoconnect

Ughh... Your right, that's what you get for being in a hurry...

For my iPod, I just bought the universal dock by apple... It will give you the hookups for audio and video... But cradle in like the dock... However, looking at the back it's only got the extended 3.5mm jack on the back.. HMMM!

Why did I think this existed... It's gotta be around here...

After a long day I'm second guessing myself... However I think that this may be the cable I'm thinking about...

http://store.apple.com/us/product/MB128LL/B?fnode=MTY1NDA0OQ&mco=MTA4MjUwNDc

However, without seeing it out of the box to see if the iPod dock connector breaks off appropriately right from there, I can't be certain...

Sorry... If my mind comes back to me later, or I can find the actual box/cable I'm thinking of I'll update...

Right now it can't be trusted... Must need food! 🙂

Unless you are planning to connect your iPod to your home entertainment center (for viewing video as well as listening to audio) this cable is overkill. This cable is primarily for viewing video on TVs with component inputs; notice that this cable has five RCA inputs - one each for red, blue, and green as well as the left and right audio connectors. Here is something from Amazon that I believe iNexxFear is trying to point you towards ( http://www.amazon.com/Cables-4-Feet-Stereo-Connector-Cable/dp/B000JG3WBY/ref=pdcp_e1). iNexxFear, is this pretty much what you were looking for?

And yes, a dock connector to RCA cable should improve audio reproduction for all of the songs on your iPod, both downloaded and ripped. The audio that is output though the dock connector on the iPod is essentially unprocessed, line level output. The signal is not passed through the iPod's amp (which begins to distort the sound). All audio passed through the headphone jack gets processed by all of the appropriate circuitry on the iPod.

Oh, and what wine did you have? Personally, I am partial to Spanish wines (nothing like a good Jumilla).