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Latest iPod Configuration -- Any New Hope?

I know there are several threads on the pieces of this question, but I hope this will be a convenient all in one place update for iPod users who really care about the sound.

I was an early adopter for iPod with great hopes for portable, audiophile sound. I know they are fine for convenience, working out blah blah blah, but that was not my main goal. Rather I wanted truly portable and truly high end sound for traveling. And even 20 or 30 uncompressed CDs would be wonderful and -- maybe Im weird - but more than enough for most plane flights!

In the end, I got frustrated and kept hitting dead ends even with the so called experts, so at this point, I have two iPods, several sets of headphones, some noise cancellation headphones, one of the original top of the line Headroom portable amps, circa 1996 with D Cell outboard battery pack, a 9V battery powered Grado headphone amp, and expensive custom earpieces gathering dust in my drawers.

I have tried the Apple lossless scheme and for me, it is unacceptable, not to mention the devious tricks which apparently limit the number of times the files can be copied.

Maybe some of you have cracked the code, but I have had nothing but problems trying to easily "tag" uncompressed files.

In addition, it seems WAV files drain the battery life and cause brief skips in the operation of the hard drive.

Taking my iPod for the first time for months today on my motorcycle, I was reminded that the Etymotics high end headphones DO NOT play well with the wimpy internal amp of the iPod.

I was so disappointed, that I thought I should somehow velcro the Grado amp into my bike jacket or something, but aside from the geeky complexity of this there is no line level out?!

You get the idea...

Dont get me wrong, its a great little gadget for casual listening.

But WHY isnt it so so so so so so much better?!?!?!?!?

Or have I missed something?

Thank you.
cwlondon

Showing 5 responses by gunbei

gunbei
2,327 posts
 
CW, good questions.

I bought my iPod last summer with similar, but maybe not with as lofty hopes. I wondered if it would sound good in my 2 channel rig. I bought an Audience Conductor [not the AU24] adapter and connected it to my preamp and was pretty disappointed. I borrowed a set of Sennheisers from Viggen, but the little iPod had a big problems pushing it. I have good luck with a pair of Grado SR60s at work and a set of Koss KSC-50s with a Channel Island headphone amp for late night Tivo listening at home. I bought a Dension car adapter for the iPod, but have yet to install it. What I like about this unit is that I'll be able to control it using my car CD player controls.

I'm surprised to hear that the iPod has trouble powering the Etymotics. I've never heard that before, but that's good to know. When I take it on the plane next week, I'll bring along the stock earplugs and the little Koss headphones.

What is it about the Apple Lossless you don't like? The fidelity? Compression? For my use I find it completely acceptable.

I guess getting back to my earlier statement, I probably did have less expectations of its performance than you did. It does almost everything I'd hope for. Sounding good through my stereo would have been the icing though.
gunbei
2,327 posts
 
Hi Glen,

Yeah, I went through exactly the same thing when I first got my iPod.

I leave all my music files on a 400GB LaCie Firewire drive. If you make any changes to your iTunes library like changing titles, artists, descriptions adding or deleting songs, unless you have "automatic update" turned off your iPod will be "updated" automatically when plugged in.

You should be able to turn automatic updating on or off in I think the "advanced settings" of your iTunes preferences. However, if you want to leave it set to automatic but still have the option of mounting the iPod in "manual update" mode look at this:

http://www.dummies.com/WileyCDA/DummiesArticle/id-2385.html

Apparantly, you just hold own Command+Option as the iPod is mounting and it will override the auto setting and mount the iPod without updating it. You can then do everything manually.

I think it's a good idea to keep all your ripped files on your hard drive. Definitely make sure it's a non-boot drive so any system problems won't cause you to lose your music files. The music files can also contribute to fragmentation of your start up drive, which is another reason to keep them separate.

Dean
gunbei
2,327 posts
 
Good deal Glen!

Here's a link to the drive I use:

http://www.lacie.com/products/product.htm?pid=10491

You can buy it direct from the them or most online computer stores. I have the 400GB which LaCie sells for under $400. I keep my iMovie and iDVD projects on it. Are you using a Mac or PC? If you're using a Mac, places like MacMall, MacZone, Mac Connection, MacWarehouse, etc. carry those drives.

Have fun!
Dean
gunbei
2,327 posts
 
Hi Glen,

You should have no problem at all.

If you elect to keep your music files in both locations, I believe the next time you launch iTunes it will sense that you have two locations and ask which library you'd like to use.

If you move your files to the new drive and delete them from the other partition, iTunes will prompt you with the same question.

At that point, All you have to do is choose the new folder and you're good to go!

Have fun!
gunbei
2,327 posts
 
Hey Carl,

You're using a first generation iPod with a current version of iTunes? I'm wondering if you need to perform a firmware upgrades to your iPod in order to make it more compatible with iTunes.

Finding a cable connection thru the iPod dock rather than the mini plug would be my preferred route as well. Does anyone know if one exists?

I get hard drive skips no and then and bad freezes three times. I have a 4th gen 40GB with click wheel which I've heard has this problem. When it happens th eunit becomes totally nonresponsive and the only recourse is to let the battery drain so the unit will shut down by itself.

I'm using Apple Lossless compression and have about 30 or 40 albums on my iPod. I sometimes get weird skips on certain albums only, which I'm suspecting is related to them not being ripped cleanly. That or it may be the sector those files are sitting happens to be fragmented.

I'm doing everything on a hotrodded Apple Cube. I know it's frustrating Carl, hang in there.
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