The High Fidelity Geek

The Consumer Geek: Neil Young slams Apple, iTunes

2008-07-25T09:34:00.000-07:00

Neil Young criticizes Apple for crappy sound quality

The Consumer Geek: Neil Young slams Apple, iTunes

Jawbone Bluetooth Headset

2008-04-11T16:58:00.000-07:00

I have been through several Bluetooth headsets that have more or less worked well on their own, or have had problems with my Treo 650. My wife and I finally settled on the Aliph Jawbone (she got a red one, natch), and we are very impressed with this unit.In order I have had a Plantronics 510 behind-the-ear (very good sound and very comfortable) that I promptly lost in the Bell Centre.

I then bought a Motorola H-500 on sale that would shut itself off after 5 minutes when paired with the Treo (but worked fine with the Powerbook and Wifey's Sony Ericsson phone).

I then bought a Moto H-375 at Costco (really cheap, and it came with a car charger) that looked quite nice but would also shut off after 30 minutes (an improvement), although it would slip out of my ear all the time. It was also not loud enough and the multi-function button was hard to press. Of course I promptly lost this one as well which was not quite as painful in the wallet as losing the Plantronics.

Since I found out on the 'net that the Treo's unique power saving didn't keep a constant link to Bluetooth peripherals, meant that headsets with power saving modes (like Motorola) meant you always had to keep turning them back on after they powered down. The ones that did not were Jabra and Plantronics, so this narrowed my choices. The local Wal-mart had the Plantronics 220 for under $30, so I decided to try it (thinking that I would promptly lose it)...but that was a big mistake. Incredibly poor reception and sound quality on the Treo, a Nokia 4400 and my wife's Sony Ericsson, so this was returned.

I had been curious about the Jawbone, having looked at it before buying the Moto H-500 in October, but the price was too steep, at $149. Lo and behold, NCIX in Vancouver had them on sale for a mere $75 (in silver, $95 in red). So we ordered one of each based on the amazing demo video on the Aliph site.

So far, we are very impressed with this headset. The noise cancellation works as advertised and is quite astounding for people to find out you are talking to them in a car or walking down a noisy street. All the receiver hears is your voice. Yes, the noise cancellation is that good!

My only complaint, which seems to be shared by many others on the forums is the fitment is not terrific. Wife has no complaints with the elongated ear tips but for me they don't sit right. The round tip was just too big and the ear piece would keep popping out of my ear.

After reading some posts about how people have been substituting Jabra eargels, I decided to order some on Ebay (try and find them in Montreal, I dare anyone!!!). I received them today and they are fantastic! They look like they were made to go right on the Jawbone, with the sound hole lining up perfectly, and even a slot to keep the small back mic open! Sound quality has improved (wider frequency response) and it is acceptably LOUD, whereby the sound before was quite tinny and not loud enough. Not only that but I could remove the ear loop - the Jawbone stays snugly in the ear without any assistance. Comfort is superb, even after 5 hours.

What I'm wondering is with all of the options that Aliph provides for fitment, they just didn't seem to get the ergonomics right. I am going to suggest they adopt Jabra-style gels, at least as an option.

For the rest, this is a very slick technology.

More on iPod audio quality

2008-03-27T12:04:00.000-07:00

I can definitely say that my refurbished 80GB iPod Video has superior audio quality when compared to the latest generation Nano and iPod Classic. Now Electronista is piping in with a report that Wolfson is being dropped as the supplier of the digital to analog converter (DAC) for many iPod models. No mention is made of the iPod Classic.

What is interesting is how mid- to high-end audio gear, including car audio decks, are bypassing the iPod's DAC through USB connections providing the digital signal. More to follow.

Link.

revised 5th generation iPod definitely sounds better than Classic

2008-03-12T13:03:00.000-07:00

I received my refurbished generation 5.5 iPod Video this morning (fast shipping, way to go FedEx!). As I expected it certainly looks like a brand new unit with no scratches on the polished back or the lucite front (which is notoriously scratch prone).

However when I plugged it in iTunes showed its capacity as 27 GB! This unit was clearly identified as an 80GB but it looks like some refurb tech dropped in a 30 GB drive. A call to Apple, and in less than 5 minutes I had a return authorization and a replacement unit on its way. Kudos to Apple, this kind of service is truly top-notch!

So how about the sound quality? Read on...The sound is definitely better than my 4th generation iPod and the Classic I returned last week. So the user comments on various blogs were largely correct. Stereo imaging, resolution, accuracy, bass response are all markedly improved. High frequency roll-off is much sooner and there is a very warm feel to the sound. There is a noticeable absence of harshness that is most associated with clock jitter. I can also say that this iPod sounds better than any portable CD player I have ever owned.

I also played the iPod through my high-end audio system (Bryston B-60 and KEF Q5a) and compared song-for-song with my very analog-sounding Rotel RCD-975 CD player. Of course I did not expect the iPod to sound as good, but aside from compression artifacts the sound is very similar at low volumes. It does become noticeably harsh when you crank it up, with a noticeable lack of depth and resolution. Listening to Led Zeppelin's Since I've Been Loving You, the Rotel had much more detailed in the lower frequencies (it is known for this) and sounds much softer when all the instruments are playing. on the iPod you could hear where the VBR is shifting between quiet and loud passages (but this is the MP3 compromise I was willing to live with when I re-ripped my music collection) .

This is very impressive for a music player that cost about one fifth the Rotel when it was new 15 years ago. (and NO I will not sell my Rotel!). I'm sure this iPod sound better than the majority of consumer HiFi CD players and probably a few entry level high-end units (e.g. Denon).

Ordered the updated 5th generation iPod

2008-03-08T15:49:00.000-08:00

After researching the net looking for information about iPod sound quality, I found I wasn't alone in my opinion about the iPod Classic. There are also a number of reviews of the previous generation iPod videos (30 and 80 GB) that claim that there were huge improvements in sound quality over previous iPod models due to the Wolfson DAC.

Lo and behold, Apple Canada had 80GB refurbs on the Apple Store for $199. This was $50 cheaper than the new 80GB classic at Future Shop. I have had a relatively positive experience with Apple refurbs (I'm sure my iPod 4th generation was brand new) and they have a full 1 year warranty. So I ordered one, and I look forward to seeing if the sound quality is what the reviewers say it is.

New iPod classic sound quality not so good

2008-03-07T18:28:00.000-08:00

So after setting up the new 6G iPod Classic I found the sound pretty shrill and lacking bass, and virtually no stereo staging at all.

I have to say I am really picky about sound quality. I stayed away from iPods and other MP3 players for years as I find MP3 compression just flattens the sound, just like listening to AM radio.

It wasn't until I started using Exact Audio Copy and testing different encoders that I managed to get an MP3 file that I could live with. Once I set up the DAAPD server on my Linux box, I reripped all of the CDs in the house and bought my first iPod, which was 2 years ago. The first thing I did after getting the iPod was scrap the horrible horrible earbuds and ordered a set of Westone UM-1 earphones. These aren't for everybody but they do drop ambient sound by around 20 db and make walking downtown or flying much less fatiguing. They have also proven to be extremely durable considering the pulling and tugging that typical earphones are subjected to. These phones come the closest to the "British sound" of Mordaunt Short, KEF or Celestion speakers (very transparent bass).

Very disappointed indeed. Seriously considering taking it back for something else or ordering an older refurb from Apple. Too bad we can't get the Zune in Canada.

The Consumer Geek: iPods are not durable

2008-03-07T15:32:00.000-08:00

The Consumer Geek: iPods are not durable

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2007-08-20T12:04:00.000-07:00

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