Sound quality from an Ipod?

[Wfs0801 10+ year member]

Hello,

I recently began plugging my Ipod Touch into the AUX port on the front of my head unit because I'm tired of switching CD's and just having to lug those in the car. I immediately noticed a drastic decrease in sound quality. Every song is crackly and distorted, even though they sound fine when listening through headphones. After doing some research I've figured out that Ipod's are more a fashion statement than a quality device. Has anyone had this similiar issue or know of a solution? I'm considering trying a different, cheaper, music device and using it just for the purpose of listening in my car. Any suggestions for a device?

The cars stereo is fully stock, but it's still not that bad of a system. I plan on upgrading everything later but would like to get some decent sound quality still before doing that.

Click to read more...

 

[Dirtrider4eva 10+ year member]

hello there.

to break it down, auxillary ports generally have a decreased sound quality. buying a quality cable and making sure the connection is solid can help, but the sound quality of a disc will always be superior. ive noticed is past experience by aux the sound isnt as full and bass is drastically decreased.

ipods via usb still sound very good. almost any device using and aux cable will suffer in SQ.

as for the distortion, i assume it is the cable. a good cable can be bought for $20. thick jacket and solid terminals is key points.

 

[West]

hello there.to break it down, auxillary ports generally have a decreased sound quality. buying a quality cable and making sure the connection is solid can help, but the sound quality of a disc will always be superior. ive noticed is past experience by aux the sound isnt as full and bass is drastically decreased.

ipods via usb still sound very good. almost any device using and aux cable will suffer in SQ.

as for the distortion, i assume it is the cable. a good cable can be bought for $20. thick jacket and solid terminals is key points.

Buy the CD FTW

 

[Dirtrider4eva 10+ year member]

Buy the CD FTW

its pretty unfortunate music wise. for example i have a music library of only 1050 or so song, well in discs thatd take 50 or so discs.

 

[Joseph7195 10+ year member]

With a stock stereo system, you really shouldn't notice that big of a difference. I think you may have a connection problem. All Ipods have internal D/A converters used to make the sounds from the unit, to sound the best in a set of headphones. You can bypass this with a properly equipped head unit that has a USB that plugs directly into the dock at the bottom of the Ipod, not the headphone jack. Even then you will not notice much of a difference of you are not utilizing an uncompressed form of music (not MP3's). You have a lot to change if you are really interested in the quality of sound in your vehicle. it doesn't have to cost a million bucks, but it will require you to learn a lot of information.

With the lack of your stock sytem's ability to play an extended range of output efficiently, you will not hear enough detail to make an impression on Sound Quality. This is why I believe you have a connection problem, or really bad downloads at a very low bit rate. This will cut the amount of information downloaded to a minimum, but allow you to download faster.

I hope this helps!! I know others here have a lot ot help you with too

 

[Wfs0801 10+ year member]

The funny thing is that I've also plugged my phone in through the AUX with the same cable, and played music off Pandora. It sounded just fine, no distortion, no reduction in quality. That's why I initially thought the problem was the Ipod. I guess I'll just have to suffer until I can get a new head unit. At least now I know to look for one with a usb port at the very least.

 

[Alrojoca 10+ year member]

I think the problem is a cheap cable and the fact that you never want to play your music through the headphone jack. You can find cables that have a dock connector and and 1/8 inch plug for the aux, The sound will be smoother and with way less distortion if any.

Like other posters mentioned USB will give you the best SQ as long as it is not coming from the headphone jack.

You want to make sure your music files are at least 256K AAC, anything less is low quality, 320K is better but very few can notice the difference between a CD and 320K, you will have to have a $2K plus system to tell the difference. Apple lossless is just a waste of hard drive space.

 

[Devil Tiger 10+ year member]

Make sure you're not turning iPod up past 75% max volume. At 100% it WILL ALWAYS clip.

 

[ladysmanfelpz 10+ year member]

I have a question on this as well. I know CD quality is best, but I only download high quality music. I know these sound a lot better than playing my friends low quality DLs from his/her ipod. But the last time I hooked up my ipod, it had a playback setting that was set at 128 kb/s. I upped it to 256 kb/s. Does this mean itunes automatically down-regulates music to play at 256 kb/s even if i have a high quality 320 kb/s song? I could tell when it was a low bitrate song before, but my high quality songs still sounded quite a bit better, but am i still missing out on some bitrate?!! thanks.

Oh and your issue sounds like the aux cord for sure. Buy a new one and i bet you'll notice a big difference. And for future reference only download HQ music and look for the playback feature I am talking about next time you sync your pod.

 

[Wfs0801 10+ year member]

I think the problem is a cheap cable and the fact that you never want to play your music through the headphone jack. You can find cables that have a dock connector and and 1/8 inch plug for the aux, The sound will be smoother and with way less distortion if any.
Like other posters mentioned USB will give you the best SQ as long as it is not coming from the headphone jack.

You want to make sure your music files are at least 256K AAC, anything less is low quality, 320K is better but very few can notice the difference between a CD and 320K, you will have to have a $2K plus system to tell the difference. Apple lossless is just a waste of hard drive space.

I guess I will look online for the cable the goes from AUX --> dock connector. Thanks a lot, I wasn't aware they made those.

@ladysmanfelpz,

As you've suggested, I recently went into the playback settings on my Itunes and switched up the settings to what I have seen others suggest through my online searching. I also plan on only downloading HQ songs from now on just to get rid of that issue in the first place. I haven't had a chance to download any new songs as of yet to see if this new setting helps, but that will come shortly.

Thanks for the help guys, it's really appreciated.

 

[UnderFire 10+ year member]

Part if the problem might have been the iPod itself as well, the earlier touchs did not sound very clean through anything more than earbuds.

 

[Alrojoca 10+ year member]

I guess I will look online for the cable the goes from AUX --> dock connector. Thanks a lot, I wasn't aware they made those.

@ladysmanfelpz,

As you've suggested, I recently went into the playback settings on my Itunes and switched up the settings to what I have seen others suggest through my online searching. I also plan on only downloading HQ songs from now on just to get rid of that issue in the first place. I haven't had a chance to download any new songs as of yet to see if this new setting helps, but that will come shortly.

Thanks for the help guys, it's really appreciated.

Here are 2 options, they come from China but takes like a week, not bad, I got both of these. One has option to charge it.

Keep in mind when you use this cable the volume is useless because the sound is almost digital coming from the ipod and not going to a D/A converter like the ear plug output.

iPod iPhone Dock Connector Male to 3.5mm Plug Cable MM | eBay

2 in 1 USB 3.5MM Aux Audio to Dock Charger Data Cable for iPad iPod iPhone Black | eBay

I have a question on this as well. I know CD quality is best, but I only download high quality music. I know these sound a lot better than playing my friends low quality DLs from his/her ipod. But the last time I hooked up my ipod, it had a playback setting that was set at 128 kb/s. I upped it to 256 kb/s. Does this mean itunes automatically down-regulates music to play at 256 kb/s even if i have a high quality 320 kb/s song? I could tell when it was a low bitrate song before, but my high quality songs still sounded quite a bit better, but am i still missing out on some bitrate?!! thanks.
Oh and your issue sounds like the aux cord for sure. Buy a new one and i bet you'll notice a big difference. And for future reference only download HQ music and look for the playback feature I am talking about next time you sync your pod.

You can only go from higher memory files to lower memory files, you can not convert a 128k file from the library to your ipod and make it a 320K or 256K file. When you first hook your ipod to your computer go to the main pages where it shows info./ memory etc. there is an option to check. Chances are you have it set to convert files to 256K even though you have 320K, this is to save memory, uncheck this, the problem is the files your ipod will be 256k and you need delete files in your ipod then move playlists and songs from your library that are 320K back to your ipod/iphone. Just make sure you uncheck that option to convert them before you move files to your ipod. Bad recordings will sound bad regardless of the rate you choose, but sound always better with a high rate.

 

[Wfs0801 10+ year member]

Part if the problem might have been the iPod itself as well, the earlier touchs did not sound very clean through anything more than earbuds.

It's not an earlier touch, it's pretty new. However, Someone earlier posted to not turn the Ipod itself up past 75%. Well today I remembered that tip and turned it down to about 50% and all the distortion and static has gone away. The bass is actually noticable now, and sound quality is amazingly better. Not quite CD quality but close enough that I can't complain.

However I am still going to try one of the AUX --> Dock cables just to see if that makes it any better, can't hurt to try.

 

[groundpound4200 5,000+ posts]

Garbage in, garbage out with an iPod. If you rip your CDs at the highest quality and use the bottom connection on the iPod you will get very accurate reproduction. Not so much with the headphone jack and compressed mp3s.

 

[ladysmanfelpz 10+ year member]

You can only go from higher memory files to lower memory files, you can not convert a 128k file from the library to your ipod and make it a 320K or 256K file. When you first hook your ipod to your computer go to the main pages where it shows info./ memory etc. there is an option to check. Chances are you have it set to convert files to 256K even though you have 320K, this is to save memory, uncheck this, the problem is the files your ipod will be 256k and you need delete files in your ipod then move playlists and songs from your library that are 320K back to your ipod/iphone. Just make sure you uncheck that option to convert them before you move files to your ipod. Bad recordings will sound bad regardless of the rate you choose, but sound always better with a high rate.

Oh so its downgrading your higher quality music to save space. Unchecked!!