Poor iPod sound quality

I have a third generation 15GB iPod and have never been impressed with the sound quality. I've tried all variations of the EQ and have replaced the iPod earbuds and rip most of my music at 168kb mp3 formats. I'm sure the quality is subpar after listening to a friend's Samsung mp3 player with my own headphones and hearing a big difference. Is there anything I can do to remedy my iPod's sound? Would restoring the factory settings and reloading the music help? I've got all the latest iPod software, according to iTunes.

I have not tried it with the phone on, it's always been in the airplane mode when I listen to the music. So with airplane mode the 3G and Wi-Fi are off. Not sure what BT is.
Odd thing is that podcasts, tv shows and films all are okay ... I don't hear any real difference. It's only with the music. Know that when I downloaded my music from both the MBP and MBA I used the lower bit rate, but would not think that should make a difference. Since the iPodnano is loaded at the same bit rate as well.
There are previous posts here in Discussions that seem to show there is a problem with the iPod on the iPhone4. But, most of those were posted in the last year with nothing recent. So if it was an iPhone4 firmware issue I thought maybe it had been resolved over time. Now I'm wondering.
I did just to the latest update this week on the iPhone4, maybe that's what did it?

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Poor iPhone4 (iPod) sound quality

I have an iPhone4 (iOS-4.3.4 | 32GB) that is only 1 month old and I'm finding that the phone's iPod sound quality basically stinks. It's extremely tin can quality even Vs my iPod. My cheap earbuds that came with the iPod sound 1000% better than my $400 Monster earbuds.
I know that unlike the iPod you can download your music on the iPhone at about any data size, but went with the lower to keep the size of the music library smaller. But, did that kill the sound quality or is there some problem with the iPhone4 and the way it operates, especially on the iPod?
The same music sounds fine on the iPod, but when played on the iPhone4 the quality is so bad that it hurts my ears. It's like I'm listening to music between two tin cans attached by sting.
Is there a way around this or is this just simply a problem with the iPhone4?
It's amazing that my tiny iPodnano can produce better sound than the iPhone4 even with the same headphones or earbuds.
Thanks for any hints...
Mike

I have not tried it with the phone on, it's always been in the airplane mode when I listen to the music. So with airplane mode the 3G and Wi-Fi are off. Not sure what BT is.
Odd thing is that podcasts, tv shows and films all are okay ... I don't hear any real difference. It's only with the music. Know that when I downloaded my music from both the MBP and MBA I used the lower bit rate, but would not think that should make a difference. Since the iPodnano is loaded at the same bit rate as well.
There are previous posts here in Discussions that seem to show there is a problem with the iPod on the iPhone4. But, most of those were posted in the last year with nothing recent. So if it was an iPhone4 firmware issue I thought maybe it had been resolved over time. Now I'm wondering.
I did just to the latest update this week on the iPhone4, maybe that's what did it?

Ipod sound quality dropped

hay,my ipods sound quality has dropped with the earpods and I even use the earpod with other devices and the quality is perfect but still having the problem with my ipod.any suggestions?

Go and see if your EQ acidently got changed. Or the format of your songs.

Poor headphone sound quality w/ bluetooth

I connected my Motorola S805 headphones using bluetooth in my Mac but the sound quality is pretty bad (yes I am using the Headphone setting and not Headset)...there is a low hissing sound, the quality of sound is extremely poor (the headphones themselves have excellent sound quality when attaching them to my Ipod jabra connector) and they cut in and out constantly. Is this because my keyboard and mighty mouse are connected using bluetooth as well? Is there some sort of bandwith limitation? Any new drivers I need to know about. This is ridiculous......

I am bumping this post because I want to set up a wireless bluetooth workstation for my MBP- keyboard, mouse and headphones. I don't hear a lot of people talking about this type of setup. I would primarily be using the setup for gaming.
Did you get your headphones to work properly?

Ipod sound quality worse than iTunes

I'm not too knowledgable in this area so this may be an obvious answer to some. Though my ipod doesn't seem defective, I've noticed that sound quality seems to decrease (compared to listening to songs on iTunes with the same headphones). Is this decrease in quality, which is not huge but still noticeable, an expected occurence?

perhaps try working through the possibilities from the following document:
iTunes and QuickTime for Windows: Songs and other audio don't play correctly

Ipod sound quality in hi-fi

hey.
my friend is thinking to buy a new IPOD, and one of his major considerations is the sound quality while connecting the IPOD to a top-class hi-fi stereo.
can anyone help from his experience?
thanks!

From my experience the quality of my music is improving with the system I'm playing it on.
I have my music on my G4 and played through JBL Creature speakers and the quality and the things I hear is way beyond what I've heard my music when put through hi-fi's and other 'mini' systems.
As the AAC codec gets updated and improved I re-import all my music and as I purchase better speakers the quality keeps going up and up. If I really wanted the music to sound good I would get a top quality amp and speakers and hook them up, but I ain't got the space and to be honest the quality is already good at present, can't wait to get my Soundsticks II as an upgrade to my creatures. I'm sure I'll be noticing more and more detail I never noticed before.
At some point though the quality of the system and the difference the human ear can perceive will be virtually none existent so as long as the user can hear the music in as good a detail as they are happy with then there really isn't a need to purchase amazing pieces of kit.

Iphone 5 poor outgoing sound quality

Don't want to sound stupid but I am getting complaints that I sound like I am inside a tunnel. I tested my iphone5 and outgoing sound quality is up and down. for a few seconds it is normal then it drops and then again normal and drops again, like a wave. Any sugestion? Anybody experienced it?

We finally gave up on the iphone 5. I think it is a dud. We started to address our issues by speaking to Verzion tech support. They recommended a reboot / restore of the phone. No joy. They passed us on to Apple. Apple thought I was crazy, but replaced the phones. Ten minutes later, was still having the same issues described in an earlier post. Over time, they became more prominent. Worked with Apple support over the phone and email. Worked with a more senior technician and even he became baffled by the problems, but atleast acknowledged that their was growing evidence their was a problem. Apple could provide no solutions to any of the 4 issues I posed, nor could they provide a timeline for an OS update that might resolve some of the problems. After listening to crappy calls for more than a month and having my ear pop no less than three times a day on phone calls, we finally threw in the towel. Apple / Verizon could do nothing but recommend reset processes and genius bar appointments to consider replacement. How many times do you have to replace it to acknowledge that a problem exist in the device, not just one of the devices??? Verizon agreed to free us of our contract and we returned the phones to the vendor, albeit for a very reduced restocking fee. We couldn't get them to agree to nothing given all the technical issue we'd had; but honestly, it was worth the nominal fee to be done with it. We went back to AT&T and decided not to risk the iphone 5 even on their network. We went with the Samsung Galaxy SIII and it has been great. Great sound, great speaker, great functionality, no popping, fluid messagin, etc. No complaints. The iphone 5 was / is just plain disappointing when you take a step back and look at the what Apple has done, and then compare it to the Galaxy. Apple is losing its edge fast; and that's coming from someone who owns an iMac, Macbook pro, iPad, ipod, and 2 ipod touches. Look at the new touches... same thing different shape. How inventive.

Poor 6G sound quality

I had my original nano replaced under warranty with what appears to be a refurbished model. The replacement however has obvious sound quality issues where music sounds muddy, and EQ adjustments don't really help. I've tried a multitude of earphones but none seems to help. Too late to take the device back. What is the problem? What are my options?

Try to convert the music format.... iTunes can do that for you. You choose the converting you want (ei. AAC 128kbps or better)..... the higher the bitrate is, the more memory it consumes.....

Poor import sound quality

My import settings are now set to AAC Encoder 128 kbps. Every Cd I import has popping, hissing and other noise issues on at least a couple of the tracks. What settings should I use to minimize this issue?

You may check with the manufacturer of your computer or disc drive to see if there is a firmware update for the drive.
If you have Sound Enhancer enabled, or equlizer - try and disable it to see if it gets better
128kbps .aac files shouldn't have these popings. You may try and enable Error correction and then re-import one of the bad sounding CD's to see if it helps.
To enable Error correction:
1. Choose Edit > Preferences
2. In the General pane, click Import settings
3. Select "Use error correction when reading CDs"
If nothing helps, try and select a higher bitrate in the Import settings (160kbps , 192kbps , 256kbps etc.)
Message was edited by: Thomas Sjöholm

IPod sound quality

Does music converted to AAC format sound as good as CDs? because if they do, I'm going to start buying digital albums. Thanks for the help.

That really depends on who you ask. In *theory* compressed files like AAC and MP3 will never sound as good as the original CD. AAC are supposed to sound somewhat better than MP3s at the same bit rate (e.g. a 128-kbps AAC is supposed to sound as good as a 160-kbps MP3 or better). Of course the way to check is simply import one of your favorite CDs as AAC file format and then compare that file to the original.
Patrick

Recent update has resulted in poor sound quality

Recent update from apple has spoilt sound quality. Any one else have same problem

I had poor music sound quality, ect, after installing Update 7.1.1. Issue was resolved by holding down Homebutton and power on/off button simultaneously until Apple logo appeared. Sound quality now perfect from my mini iPad .

Poor sound quality on ipod and G4

The last three albums i have downloaded from itunes music store have poor sound quality. On both my G4 and my ipod the songs have a lot of noise. They sound as though the speakers are blown, or the eq is maxed. All my songs prior to these last three downloads sound fine on the same speakers and headphones.
Am i nuts?
Marc Cohn and St John's Childrens Choir are the last two albums i have downloaded.

? well idk what theyre talking about but i just got a new 160 GB classic 3 days ago and ive been perfectly happy with it and my music is only encoded at around 160, some down to 92 VBR! (saves disk space) and i work with music everyday as a listener, player, and engineer.

IPod classic poor sound quality

Hi,
I have a three year old iPod classic, and have noticed over the last month an issue with the sound. The sound quality is extremely poor and static sounding, like an am radio station whenever I use ANY setting on the equalizer. When the equalizer is set to off, the sound is normal again. This happens both with earphones and a dock with speakers.
Can anyone help?
Thanks in advance!

Hi,
I have a three year old iPod classic, and have noticed over the last month an issue with the sound. The sound quality is extremely poor and static sounding, like an am radio station whenever I use ANY setting on the equalizer. When the equalizer is set to off, the sound is normal again. This happens both with earphones and a dock with speakers.
Can anyone help?
Thanks in advance!

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!

yes i know what distortion and clipping are - i don't hear them.
anyway perhaps this website:
http://www.dapreview.net/content.php?article.133
has a solution that will work for you, it's at least worth a try.
here's a sample:
"All mp3 files have a default volume tag of around 95 to 105dB (decibels - a unit of loudness). When the iPod plays at this output volume, distortion does not occur. When you boost the iPod's bass however, with the equalizer, you are increasing the volume of the lower frequencies past this value (in order to make them more prominent amongst the other frequencies of the sound), and this, in turn, causes clipping and distortion. Basically, the iPod's amp is trying to output a volume that is greater than its inbuilt volume limit - so it serves crackling. By using MP3Gain to reduce the volume tag of your mp3 files to around 89dB, we can leave some headroom to further boost some frequencies without overdriving the iPod's amplifier."
"For example: if you boost the 60Hz frequency (low bass) by around 10dB, the iPod will output that frequency at 99dB (89 + 10). At 99dB, distortion does not occur. If you boost a song playing at 105dB by 10dB, however, we get a total of 115dB which, no doubt, has passed the threshold of distortion. From experience, 105dB is about the limit; we need to reduce the volume tag value of our mp3's significantly below 105dB to avoid distortion. 89dB is the value recommended by MP3Gain developers, and I concur, as this value has eliminated all distortion on my iPod that used to result from boosting frequencies via equalizer presets."
the other "fix" that comes up time and time again involves using higher impedance headphones. I think the basic idea is to go no lower than the stock buds, stick to 32ohm+. a lot of people report problems with 16-25ohm 'phones.
Along the same lines; you could use a pocket-dock (to get line-out) and a 3rd party amp, then use the headphones of your choice...

Has Apple addressed poor sound quality issues with new 160GB iPod classic?

I just bought a new 160GB iPod classic, replacing a perfectly good 80GB iPod Video (5.5), thinking that the newer one would be superior to my 3 year old model. I discovered that the sound of the new unit was flat and muddy compared to the older model. I found that the 5th gen iPod video was more "spacial", if that's an appropriate word to use; the bass was more present and more clearly defined, as was the rest of the sonic spectrum. I searched several forums to research this issue and while there were numerous references to this issue, all of the posts I found referred to the original iPod classics (80GB and 160GB) and not the later 120GB classics nor the new 160GB classics like the one I bought. Has Apple done anything to address this issue since the first classics were released or are the new ones still suffering from the same sound quality issues as the original classics?

Based on your observations here, they apparently have not changed the sound quality since the original 160GB classic. I noticed a clear narrowing of the sound stage (ambiance) between the 5.5G 80Gb and my 6G 160GB. You're describing the same characteristic. I don't own the newest 160GB version and came here today to see if it might have improved the sound quality back to the 5.5 spaciousness. Note that the 5.5G has a higher signal to noise ratio than the 6G, making it difficult for me to enjoy it through efficient balanced armature in ear monitors like the Shure SE530s or Ulimate Ears Triple.Fi 10s.

Poor iPod sound quality

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