No, Redbook CDs are
Linear PCM, or uncompressed WAV files; AIFF is Apple's proprietary approach to the format. The higher resolution CD formats employ a 20 bit word as opposed to the Redbook 16 bit word, and employ higher sampling rates, allowing for greater frequency response, improved signal-to-noise ratio/dynamic range capability, enhanced phase correlation and steering, and broader harmonic retention.
yes... right.? Uh what are you talking about?
Hardcore audio ... no kid stuff.
No offense, Timber but sometimes I get the impression that you intentionally try to talk over people's heads.
No, what Timber has said is right on.
The MP3 file is the worst and for all the reasons Timber has pointed out, it uses ADPCM (adaptive differential pulse code modulation) as its main compresion technique, improved apon with the AAC which is used by Apple and in the MPG4 recordings.
In addition to the formats mentioned by Timber there is also SPDIF (Sony and Phillips digital format) which is not uncommon to see 2 channel up to 192Khz with 24 bit resolution as well as AES/EBU that in addition to the bit rate provided by SPDIF is transmitted via XLR and provides better immunity against noise. TOSLINK allows the SPDIF format to be transmitted by lightpipe.
ADAT could be worth mentioning (A format developed by Alesis) which is 8 channels of audio at a standard 44.1Khz or 48Khz , 16 bit resolution or by Smux at 88.2Khz and 96Khz, but lowers the channel count to 4. But is a good way of transmitting large volumes of audio sometimes with the aid of an audio snake that multiplexes the ADAT into Ehternet.
It brings up an interesting point , with all these formats and so much money to be made by those who own the royalties, any guesses why the iPod doesn't play WMA ?
Timber is trying to increase our knowledge base.
Able to Know, and all that.
Oh, okay. I better start increasing then.
No offense taken, Snood - jp asked a more or less technical question, I gave him a more or less technical, though simplified, answer. I take audio pretty seriously, have since the '50s, and I stay pretty close to the front of the wave.
Its sorta sad, really, that so many folks never have heard really good music reproduction. Even what you'll hear in an upscale club, live or recorded, or live at most major tour venues, typically falls far short of real quality. "Real loud with lots and lotsa bass" ain't music - but it sells.
Get used to listening to really well recorded music on a competent sound system, and your iPod will seem like listening to music over the telephone.
timber, you have definately expanded my knowledge on the subject. My spouse feels the same way you do about getting really good sound. I'm actually glad I don't feel so strongly about it, because my time at work is much more enjoyable with my iPod, despite the fact that its not as good as a nice stereo system - but if it were, it would probably be too distracting to listen to at work.
timber. who do you think you are? are you like some sort of computer nerd, that spends all his time trying to think of that kind of stuff?
timber - that's a great problem: lotsa lotsa bass. It overwhelms everything. The music comes out as nothing more than a fat rumble.
I listen to books on tape a good deal too, and let me tell you, "enhanced" bass does nothing at all to improve the sound of the reader's voice.
I am listening to my iPod through my stereo, very cool!
Just thought I'd share since this thread is still alive for some reason.
Hickory, for once I agree with you. Everything sounds better on stero, but unfortunatly it is not very portable.
Hi everybody!!
I stumbled across this thread during some online searching and I just couldn't resist sharing my findings.
I work for a company that tests products such as stoves, fridges, tv's, computers etc. About 7 months ago, we had the opportunity to test Ipods and other Mp3 players. We performed drop tests for Apple Ipod Shuffle, Video, Touch, Nano (old and new). As well as Insignia 1GB MP3 Player, Creative Zen V 4GB MP3 Player, Samsung 2GB MP3 Player. Here are the results of the drop tests. We dropped from three heights, 2 feet, 3 feet and 5 feet. To prevent bias, we received 3 of each player to drop from each height. Once the player was dropped, we tested wether the players functions worked (plays videos, plays music, searchs the internet) and we came up with either "Okay" (all functions are operational and nothing appears to be broken) or we came up with "broken" meaning that the player is visibly broken and/or it isn't working the way it should.
2 feet 3 feet 5 feet
Ipod Shuffle(new) - - - - - Okay - - - - - - - Okay - - - - - - broken
Ipod Video (80 GB) - - - - broken - - - - - broken - - - - - broken
Ipod Touch - - - - - - - - - okay - - - - - - - broken - - - - -broken
Ipod Nano (old) - - - - - - broken - - - - - - broken - - - - -broken
Ipod Nano (new)- - - - - - broken - - - - - -broken - - - - -broken
Insignia 1GB - - - - - - - - Okay - - - - - - - Okay - - - - - - broken
Creative Zen - - - - - - - - Okay - - - - - - - Okay - - - - - - broken
Samsung 2GB - - - - - - - -Okay - - - - - - - Okay - - - - - - Okay
Our results are conclusive that other brands of MP3 players are more durable then Ipods. The Ipod has a %84 of breaking compared to other MP3 players. It seems like bond is right in this case, Ipods are poorly made, all you are buying is the name. I am sorry if my chart is a bit messy but I hope you see the information. If anybody requires any more information, such as exactly what broke one each player or anything else regarding this experiment, to please contact me via private message or a reply to my reply. Thanks for reading!
My 2yr old iPodvideo has been fallin' down 3 feet numerous times, protected by a silicon skin, and it's still working totally awesome, like wow! And battery life has turned to the better...
Gotta know how to treat your Apple!
Our tests dont apply to people who have protective skins on their Ipods.
@bond77770,
Hi everybody and thanks that you use your time to read this. Im going to tell you how iPods really ROCK!!! First of all its NOT a ****.maybe they cost a lot of money but because they have a lot of space and you need to pay for quaility. First of all they dont cost 400 dollars like this sh*t said but maximum 250. Yes. You can buy an mp3 player for 80 dollars but i will last for maximum 1 month and you have only 1GB space on it and you cant even watch video. Even with iPod nano you can watch video. They attract people because there are more smart people on the world than people like the one that wrote that iPods suck. So the smart people know that its better to buy and iPod for 150 dollars on which you can also watch video than to buy three 80 dollars sh*ty mp3 players that all you can do is listen songs at poor quality. I strongly recomend to buy an ipod (or iPhone 3G ) than buyng 3 other mp3 players. Thankyou for reading this article and hope you like it.
