I'm really unhappy with this unit. I have an amp, 2x Focal door speakers but the problem is the iPod music. I've switched the speakers out for Boston Acoustic and it sounded just as bad.

I have the ipod settings turned to max bit rate but still get poor quality at highway speeds. Radio sounds perfect (and better than the ipod) when the reception is good. I am on the road a great deal and 99% of the time with the top down, it's a chore to not be able to turn up music because it sounds so bad.

Installation is okay and I have left-side controls still but I'm looking for a decent cd headunit to replace this pos.

Did anyone else experience this? Or did you just trade back the headunit? Please don't tell me it sounds fine at city volume, hell, I can sing and sound good at city volume. I need better sound at highway speeds.

 

I have an IDA and its playing off of a pair of amped infinity references. and turned all the way up there is NO clipping. Are you sure your speakers are getting sufficient power and they arent clipping?

Its not the deck that is not letting it get the high volume, your speakers must be powered sufficiently, especially since you said you had your ipod playing at Max Bit Rate (and what is the bps that its set on?). your speakers will need to work harder to produce such clarity with that high of a bit rate so you need to make sure they have the power to do it and its not over powered or under powered.

Also how are you playing your ipod? did you use the USB cable that the deck came with? or did you use the seperate ipod cable you can buy as an accessory?

 

I don't think we're talking about clipping here. The issue you're seeing is related to the format of the music.

To store music on your Ipod, the size of the music file is reduced (compression). In order to achieve this compression, the audio levels deemed to be out of most human hearing range is eliminated (just watch a VU meter of a CD vs the same track that's been compressed). This accounts for the low quality sound you're receiving. Compression involves reducing the bitrate from over 1Mb/s to a few hundred Kbps.

Additionally, using the headphone output from the Ipod to connect to your deck can make an even greater difference in sound quality. Remember, the sound processing components of the Ipod are designed for headphone use, not for a wide sound stage. Really, how wide does the sound stage have to be when using headphones - the sound stage is already formed due to the isolation of each ear. (Not that I expect you're using the headphone jack, but...it does cause issues, and we're talking about Ipod sound quality issues). In the end, the difference you hear is a very narrow sound stage (almost like a tunnel, with no echo).

As soon as I realized this, I returned to using regular CDs. Sure, it's annoying to have to change the CD, and I can't fit massive numbers of tracks on a single CD. However, when you're cruising top-down at 70, every bit of SQ helps. And there's always the option of a CD changer.

 

I think it has to do with the quality of music on the iPod. The settings for the mp3 quality are not located on the iPod, but in more in the structure of the actual song file. It really depends on the quality of the source file. Chances are if it is something like a torrent download, the bitrate is probably crap. I think a bitrate of 192 is CD quality... Most downloads are 128 tops. Anything below that, and there is audible signal degradation.

Do you have any Apple Lossless Media files on there? How do they sound? Chances are it is in the iPod, because the radio works fine (and that is a crappy signal to begin with). Are you using the Fullspeed connection of the USB connection? Is your iPod compatible with the OTHER iPod hookup on this headunit? If so, try it plugged into the other jack and see if the problem follows...

It is probably not the head unit, as the same amplification source / channels are being used across both audio sources.

John

 

But he has the IDA, you wont be using a headphone jack. The IDA uses a usb cable for actual data transfer not a signal like a headphone jack would. So this isnt a cheap way to transfer those high bitrate files to the deck. I can agree that when your playing compressed files they will sound really bad towards a higher volume. But he said he was playing these songs at a high bitrate, my interpretation of high bitrate would at least be 192kbps which would be better if not at least cd quality.

Also he said he was getting better sound with his radio with good signal. Radio is considered between 56kbps to 96kbps. So thats where im coming to the conclusion where he might not have good setup as far the speakers and amp is concerned because radio is compressed signicantly and he said that he was hearing that better than the ipod.

I have my music running at 192kbps and with my amped infinitys there is no poor quality or clipping while turning all the way up.

To the OP: what amp are you running to power your speakers? and what model speakers are you using? that COULD be the problem. or else your running a poor bitrate like jwa4378 said.

 

Please, reread my post.

CD quality > 1.0Mbps

1Mbps > 5x 192Kbps

Rip a CD to a lossless audio format (WMA Lossless or WAV) and you'll see this.

And as for the bit you quoted, please read where I mentioned that I doubted that's what he was doing, but it's important information.



-JD

 

ahhhh lol sorry i should have kept reading

so then the only reasons why you could be experiencing this horrible sound, is either the bitrate on the songs, or the setup with your speakers.

like JD said, lossless would sound better, but it just takes up so much space on the ipod If not then i would check your speakers and amp. Your deck just produces the signal and the amp and speakers do all the work.

 

True. But the average human ear cannot tell much of a difference above 192.

This is irrelavent as the iDA takes the pre-amp output of the iPod... The head unit just sees an mp3 file that has not been processed by the iPod (acting more like a HD than an mp3 player).

John

 

LoL...

I disagree about the difference in sound quality. It all depends on what music you listen to. Listening to heavy metal, sure, you won't notice too much. Listening to classical or smooth jazz or blues, there's a big difference.

Regardless, I wasn't saying he was suffering the quality issues associated with using the Ipod headphone jack (I even mentioned I assumed he wasn't using the headphone jack). Just pointing out the differences in sound quality associated with Ipod use.

 

Ah. I was confused about the headphone jack comment.

And SQ also really depends on the listening environment. I doubt you can tell the difference above 192 in a performance convertible that is already really loud to begin with. In a sound booth or with a nice home audio setup, yes. In an S2000, probably not so much.

John