Compressed Music - I am a little confused on this matter

[dsw1204]

I am under the assumption that the music I play from my Iphone 5S or Ipod Touch might not sound as good as music played from CD's. The SQ is not not going to be as good (I know I am sounding vague here, but I don't know how else to put this).

I don't want to lose SQ (if at all possible) when (or if) I switch my listening of music from CD's to the Iphone or Ipod.

Currently, I am running an Eclipse 55040 but it has no AUX input, so I cannot play music from either the Iphone or Ipod. But, wanting to keep the high quality of my 55040, I was able to acquire a new Eclipse CD8454 which does have an AUX input.

I guess my question is: If I download music from my CD's to my desktop computer and then transfer the music to my Iphone or Ipod, will I lose SQ when I listen on my car's new head unit? Also, is the music going to be compressed?

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[Jeffdachef 5,000+ posts]

I am under the assumption that the music I play from my Iphone 5S or Ipod Touch might not sound as good as music played from CD's. The SQ is not not going to be as good (I know I am sounding vague here, but I don't know how else to put this).
I don't want to lose SQ (if at all possible) when (or if) I switch my listening of music from CD's to the Iphone or Ipod.

Currently, I am running an Eclipse 55040 but it has no AUX input, so I cannot play music from either the Iphone or Ipod. But, wanting to keep the high quality of my 55040, I was able to acquire a new Eclipse CD8454 which does have an AUX input.

I guess my question is: If I download music from my CD's to my desktop computer and then transfer the music to my Iphone or Ipod, will I lose SQ when I listen on my car's new head unit? Is the music going to be compressed?

I wouldnt worry about it too much. The signal is just weaker due to the aux so volume might need to be turned up more or use the source level adjuster. However if you are a picky audiophile with ridiculously picky ears then yes you might notice something.

 

[keep_hope_alive Premium Member]

any form of compression will result in a noticeable reduction in sound quality.

the reason is due to the process of compression. digital music is basically made up of samples, and lower bitrate means fewer samples.

also, phones are noisy and that noise comes through.

CD's will always sound better.

 

[keep_hope_alive Premium Member]

I wouldnt worry about it too much. The signal is just weaker due to the aux so volume might need to be turned up more or use the source level adjuster. However if you are a picky audiophile with ridiculously picky ears then yes you might notice something.

you should take these tests. anybody is capable of discerning low bitrate and the OP has already stated they notice the reduction in SQ that is obvious to many. he has a great head unit built for SQ.

https://www.goldenears.philips.com/en/index.html

 

[keep_hope_alive Premium Member]

the iPod plays lossy formats at lower bitrates. 320kbps 48kHz is about as good as you'll get with mp3. iPod can play a "apple lossless" format which is much better than mp3. but you need to take CD's, rip them in iTunes in Apple Lossless, then transfer to your device.

 

[dsw1204]

any form of compression will result in a noticeable reduction in sound quality.
the reason is due to the process of compression. digital music is basically made up of samples, and lower bitrate means fewer samples.

also, phones are noisy and that noise comes through.

CD's will always sound better.

That is a little disconcerting to hear. I've been running CD's forever and the only drawback is having to change CD's every 45 to 100 minutes. With the Iphones/Ipods you can listen for almost forever. That benefit is why I was changing my head unit. I was hoping that by downloading all of my CD's onto my Iphone that I may not get that compression, but you are telling me that it will still be compressed. Bummer!

 

[keep_hope_alive Premium Member]

Apple Lossless takes up nearly as much space as a CD. so 500-700MB per disk. It adds up quickly. A 160GB iPod Classic with Apple Lossless is a nice option.

But then you have the cheap DAC inside the iPod/iPhone. Alpine has a connection to the iPod that bypasses the internal DAC and uses a 24bit DAC.

 

[Jeffdachef 5,000+ posts]

I was assuming he would go lossless with ipods. These tests are pretty cool! on my road to golden ears lol!

 

[keep_hope_alive Premium Member]

I was assuming he would go lossless with ipods. These tests are pretty cool! on my road to golden ears lol!

a good set of headphones (over the ear) are helpful. the golden ear level tests get pretty tricky.

 

[dsw1204]

Apple Lossless takes up nearly as much space as a CD. so 500-700MB per disk. It adds up quickly. A 160GB iPod Classic with Apple Lossless is a nice option.
But then you have the cheap DAC inside the iPod/iPhone. Alpine has a connection to the iPod that bypasses the internal DAC and uses a 24bit DAC.

I know you love Alpine. I once owned an Alpine head unit 30 years ago and was a phenomenal unit. This Alpine connection that you are talking about...is it a separate device that I can connect between my Eclipse CD8454 and my Iphone/Ipod or is it built into an Alpine head unit?

 

[dsw1204]

Apple Lossless takes up nearly as much space as a CD. so 500-700MB per disk. It adds up quickly. A 160GB iPod Classic with Apple Lossless is a nice option.
But then you have the cheap DAC inside the iPod/iPhone. Alpine has a connection to the iPod that bypasses the internal DAC and uses a 24bit DAC.

I am new to the Smartphone craze, getting my first smartphone a few months ago, and I do not know of Apple Lossless. I will check this out. Thanks for this info, especially about Goldenears. I will take their test, for sure.

 

[Jeffdachef 5,000+ posts]

a good set of headphones (over the ear) are helpful. the golden ear level tests get pretty tricky.

Need to bust out my ath m50s for this.

 

[negolien]

Could u delve into USB and thumb drives for clarity loss?

 

[keep_hope_alive Premium Member]

Could u delve into USB and thumb drives for clarity loss?

USB connections use the DAC in the head unit - so that can be a weak point.

the biggest downside is the limited bitrate of USB connections - the head unit is the decoder and most will only do 320kbps mp3 or 256kbps windows media. By comparison, a nearly lossless format is .WAV and it's 1,411kbps.

the losses are in the DACs and in the compression of the music.

Beginners Guide To File Formats - SqueezeboxWiki

 

[Jeffdachef 5,000+ posts]

To be honest, i'm glad i cant tell from lossless to 320kbps to 256kbps, makes life so much easier not having to be worried about the slightest degradation or mp3 artefact out there. Failed like a noob on the bitrate part on the golden ears test.