My OperaEven the simplest things get complex
Tuesday, May 1, 2007 3:35:42 PM
A couple of weekends ago I finally cracked and bought an iPod. Up to now, I've existed on a couple of cheapish flash players and my mobile, but following my current flash player throwing a wobbly I went looking and there is no contest in terms of build and style, at least from the range in local shops - the iPods were by far the most appealing devices.
On the whole I'm very pleased with it, but am now paying the price for being over-ambitious. I have plans to use it a fair bit pumped through my main hi-fi, only to find that many of my albums (ripped by a variety of software but all at 128k) sound 'orrid - flat and muffled. Some sound OK, but a lot are pretty bad. OK, so that shouldn't be big news, except that previously I'd had some of the same files on my Toppy PVR and they hadn't sounded too bad. Possibly as they were coming through my TV's electronics, which certainly give them a treble boost, and possibly a bit of a bass cut.
The upshot is that I've been trying to decide the best way of re-ripping my CDs and doing listening tests. Which have just left me confused, to be honest. Reading around the web, it becomes clear that the recommended method is to use LAME at 192k/VBR/joint stereo, and loads of people loathe the iTunes MP3 encoder. I want to avoid AAC as you never know what you might want to use for playback in future, and I don't have infinite drive space on my laptop for syncing to the iPod so I don't want to have huge files. Anyway, using LAME at those settings produces quite listenable files, but still a tad short on treble, and while the drums sound a bit more convincing the bass is a bit lumpy and the whole thing is short on ambience. Using iTunes set to 192k/VBR/normal stereo (joint gets turned off if you choose the "optimised" setting), the treble's back, and with it the ambience (possibly too much), but the drums have less kick and the bass is a bit vague. Some vocals seem to be a bit grainy, particularly if they are a tad distorted in the original - it gets emphasised. Upping the quality setting in iTunes to "highest" actually made matters worse - it sounds thin and weedy. Of course what I really want is a combination of the two - essentially LAME with a bit more top end! It's actually easier to choose on headphones - LAME sounds really lumpy through the supplied earbuds, the iTunes rips sound way better, though the vague bass is an irritant.
The worst-sounding rips seem to be ones I did using Windows Media Player - they're terribly dull sounding, and it's not much better at 192k. This wasn't a problem on my tatty old player as I used EQ to add the sparkle back, but the iPod EQ is less helpful and it tends to sound best with EQ off, both through headphones and the hi-fi. My hi-fi being a real one, it doesn't have any tone controls anyway, so that's no help...
Argh. I don't really want to rip any more CDs till I've made my mind up, and that's proving hard. I really don't want to have to do it all again in the future so need to find a livable-with solution, yet I really want to get on with the job so I can get the most out of the iPod.
*taps fingers*
Edit: After some more listening I'm feeling mellower about the sound quality of the 128k files - quite a few which I didn't try before don't seem so bad through teh hi-fi, and most are fine on headphones. I still plan to re-rip, and haven't given up on LAME yet. This weekend's project is to upgrade to 3.97 and try again. If it brings back a little top end sparkle and ambience and un-lumps the bass a tad I reckon it'll be OK. MP3s encoded by iTunes really seem to be too vague in the bass and the stereo image is also a bit diffuse. Though I reserve the right to change my mind again
On the whole I'm very pleased with it, but am now paying the price for being over-ambitious. I have plans to use it a fair bit pumped through my main hi-fi, only to find that many of my albums (ripped by a variety of software but all at 128k) sound 'orrid - flat and muffled. Some sound OK, but a lot are pretty bad. OK, so that shouldn't be big news, except that previously I'd had some of the same files on my Toppy PVR and they hadn't sounded too bad. Possibly as they were coming through my TV's electronics, which certainly give them a treble boost, and possibly a bit of a bass cut.
The upshot is that I've been trying to decide the best way of re-ripping my CDs and doing listening tests. Which have just left me confused, to be honest. Reading around the web, it becomes clear that the recommended method is to use LAME at 192k/VBR/joint stereo, and loads of people loathe the iTunes MP3 encoder. I want to avoid AAC as you never know what you might want to use for playback in future, and I don't have infinite drive space on my laptop for syncing to the iPod so I don't want to have huge files. Anyway, using LAME at those settings produces quite listenable files, but still a tad short on treble, and while the drums sound a bit more convincing the bass is a bit lumpy and the whole thing is short on ambience. Using iTunes set to 192k/VBR/normal stereo (joint gets turned off if you choose the "optimised" setting), the treble's back, and with it the ambience (possibly too much), but the drums have less kick and the bass is a bit vague. Some vocals seem to be a bit grainy, particularly if they are a tad distorted in the original - it gets emphasised. Upping the quality setting in iTunes to "highest" actually made matters worse - it sounds thin and weedy. Of course what I really want is a combination of the two - essentially LAME with a bit more top end! It's actually easier to choose on headphones - LAME sounds really lumpy through the supplied earbuds, the iTunes rips sound way better, though the vague bass is an irritant.
The worst-sounding rips seem to be ones I did using Windows Media Player - they're terribly dull sounding, and it's not much better at 192k. This wasn't a problem on my tatty old player as I used EQ to add the sparkle back, but the iPod EQ is less helpful and it tends to sound best with EQ off, both through headphones and the hi-fi. My hi-fi being a real one, it doesn't have any tone controls anyway, so that's no help...
Argh. I don't really want to rip any more CDs till I've made my mind up, and that's proving hard. I really don't want to have to do it all again in the future so need to find a livable-with solution, yet I really want to get on with the job so I can get the most out of the iPod.
*taps fingers*
Edit: After some more listening I'm feeling mellower about the sound quality of the 128k files - quite a few which I didn't try before don't seem so bad through teh hi-fi, and most are fine on headphones. I still plan to re-rip, and haven't given up on LAME yet. This weekend's project is to upgrade to 3.97 and try again. If it brings back a little top end sparkle and ambience and un-lumps the bass a tad I reckon it'll be OK. MP3s encoded by iTunes really seem to be too vague in the bass and the stereo image is also a bit diffuse. Though I reserve the right to change my mind again
