Questions About Ipods

2001sierra4wd · January 10, 2008

bought a new Pioneer headunit for my truck DEH P4900ib. Was given a 1Gig MP3 player for christmas. Hooked up through the AUX in on the deck, But it sounds like crap to me. Do ipods sound better than a cheap MP3 players does. Cause I have direct ipod control with my new deck. But should I spend the money for an ipod since I have a sirius radio.

pottercon · January 10, 2008

I have direct ipod hook up on my kenwood dnx 7100 my ipod sounds as good as a cd. Love the controls. Put my ipod in the console and forget about it.

CalixEros · January 10, 2008

Find a friend with an iPod and test it yourself. The quality of the mp3 is the most likely culprit, IMO...

conrad1995 · January 10, 2008

bought a new Pioneer headunit for my truck DEH P4900ib. Was given a 1Gig MP3 player for christmas. Hooked up through the AUX in on the deck, But it sounds like crap to me. Do ipods sound better than a cheap MP3 players does. Cause I have direct ipod control with my new deck. But should I spend the money for an ipod since I have a sirius radio.

2 Issues with an AUX input. First is if you are using the earphone jack, the high (amplified) level output will distort far more than a line (non-amplified) level output. This has always been the case when moving a signal from one device to another.

Second, if you record songs at a low bit rate to save space, they loose some of the highs, some of the lows, and some of the mids, although the mids tend to be less noticeable.

Ipods have the advantage of several car docks where you can plug your Ipod in, and run a cord from a line level out jack to your aux input and get a much better signal.

Lastly, depending on the MP3 player, the I-pod will most likely have better converters that interpret the signal. There are better units than I-pod but there are far more that aren't as good. For me the I-pod is the best compromise with the most accessories and after-market support.

Edited to add, if you are after sound quality, a good MP3 will beat any sat radio on the market. Their compression, decompression sucks the life out of music.

Zembonez · January 10, 2008

You can control the quality to some degree by varying your recording compression but MP3s as a rule are ANYTHING but audiophile fair. I know, I know, somebody will chime in and disagree but their sound quality isn't very good to those of us with a discerning ear. They are really a casual listening format, at best.

For the record I have nothing against iPods or MP3s ... just don't think they sound very good.