Improving your sound system on the cheap
Safety Car
Joined: Jan 2007
Posts: 4,295
Likes: 8
From: Issaquah WA
So when I load a store bought CD on my iTunes, and then make a copy of that store bought CD...the copy will never sound as good as the original because itunes is degrading the quality?
I am obviously clueless about the whole process
I mostly listen to the ipod using a Pac2 interface, but also burn CD's, until I get burnt out on them.
That type ipod interface is much better than using the jack on the car radio to plug in the ipod, correct?
I am obviously clueless about the whole process
I mostly listen to the ipod using a Pac2 interface, but also burn CD's, until I get burnt out on them.
That type ipod interface is much better than using the jack on the car radio to plug in the ipod, correct?
It's not iTunes itself that's bad (okay, iTunes isn't great, but that's a discussion for the tweakers), it's really how it's set up. If you google "iTunes compression settings sound quality" there are tons of articles on how to improve the sound.
Last edited by WAwatchnut; Apr 7, 2012 at 02:08 PM.
Race Director
Joined: Oct 2010
Posts: 14,475
Likes: 785
From: Las Vegas NV
i just don't get it. i consider my self to be somewhat of an audiophile and do play an instrument. so i know what i want to hear and for the most part the bose delivers. on my 12 coupe with the PROPER RECORDED material the bass rocks the highs are crisp and the volume is plenty. alot of people trash the bose and i was ready to cringe when i turned it on for the first time when i took it off the showroom floor. not so. i dont know what type of media format you use to play your music or how good your recorded music is but my recorded music sounds nothing like you guys describe. at 3/4 volume on most of my good stuff you can not talk over it(and the quality is very good) nevermind full volume. maybe some people need to have their hearing checked(i just had a full hearing spectrum test done 6 months ago on my hearing so i know im good). the bose is plenty good of a system for me.
Tech Contributor
Joined: May 2003
Posts: 7,035
Likes: 134
From: North Augusta, SC
The latest round of Bose gear is definitely different than in previous years.
A few weeks ago I traded in my '07 for a '12. The '07 stereo was 100% stock for my 150 mile drive back to the dealer. The '12 stereo was 100% stock for my return trip.
The '12 with 9-speaker system is definitely better sounding that the '07 7-speaker setup was (and I had the '07 sound-insulated quite a bit). It obviously has the two dedicated tweets in the dash that were added, and the door sub looks a bit different also (I briefly had the drivers door skin off for something else and took a quick peek at the sub). I can't say what changed, but the '12 version definitely looked more like a 'real' sub instead of that thing the '07 had.
I'm one of the first to help people mod their system, but IMHO the '12 system really wouldn't benefit much from the $50 3.5" mod in the doors. I have the speakers sitting in my garage, but I'll be leaving my stockers alone until I have time to do my complete 3-way active + sub system in a few weeks
A few weeks ago I traded in my '07 for a '12. The '07 stereo was 100% stock for my 150 mile drive back to the dealer. The '12 stereo was 100% stock for my return trip.
The '12 with 9-speaker system is definitely better sounding that the '07 7-speaker setup was (and I had the '07 sound-insulated quite a bit). It obviously has the two dedicated tweets in the dash that were added, and the door sub looks a bit different also (I briefly had the drivers door skin off for something else and took a quick peek at the sub). I can't say what changed, but the '12 version definitely looked more like a 'real' sub instead of that thing the '07 had.
I'm one of the first to help people mod their system, but IMHO the '12 system really wouldn't benefit much from the $50 3.5" mod in the doors. I have the speakers sitting in my garage, but I'll be leaving my stockers alone until I have time to do my complete 3-way active + sub system in a few weeks
Team Owner
Joined: Jan 2009
Posts: 73,568
Likes: 33
From: Somewhere in Mo
St. Jude Donor '09-'10, '14
Actually, it's not. ITunes purchased music is much worse than CD, but the iPod is just a playback medium... garbage in, garbage out.
Try ripping music in a lossless format, or at very least, in "High" quality MP3, with lower compression. You'll find the sound is much better when it's not compressed to heck... Like they've done with satellite.
There is some fidelity loss when you're using the headphone jack, or through some lower quality direct connections. But the iPod has a pretty good DAC built in, and the output is quite good (when the recording is).
Try ripping music in a lossless format, or at very least, in "High" quality MP3, with lower compression. You'll find the sound is much better when it's not compressed to heck... Like they've done with satellite.
There is some fidelity loss when you're using the headphone jack, or through some lower quality direct connections. But the iPod has a pretty good DAC built in, and the output is quite good (when the recording is).
It's not so much the Ipod as it is itunes. I download a lot of muisc from them just for convenience sakes but I can tell which songs I download and which ones I have transferred to my playlists from an actual CD. If it's from an actual CD the sound is quite good. I have also compared it to the CD and the CD does come out on top, but that's because of the transfer to another medium and then retransferring it to the ipod. You always lose a little when the transfers are done.If you think CD's sound good now, you should hear some of the properly mastered CD's of the 80's & 90's. Truth is all modern pop recordings regardless of the format, are severely dynamically compressed, and bass boosted, to play loud and boomy, through a 9 year old kids ear bud speakers. I have high end home audio equipment, and find all of these modern recordings totally unlistenable on it.
This is why I say I don't really need a sub for the music I listen to. Most of it was not recorded in the manner they record today.They always record muisc to be played back with the technology they are using at that time. This has always been the case and why the Beach Boys sound quite good in our old cars, but not as good as we remember it when playing them on the modern equipment.
They try to remaster it but it's impossible to get the true sound in the manner it was recorded.
Pro
Joined: Jan 2010
Posts: 646
Likes: 11
From: San Antonio Texas
There are a lot of variables involved in the quality of sound from XM and ipods. If your setup is FM Modulated, bluetooth or direct connect plays a major factor. Also, the quality of your radio itself has a lot to do with it. Most aftermarket setups that offer the direct connect option will produce a better sound quality. As many have stated, loose the stock and the bose.
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Melting Slicks
Joined: Mar 2007
Posts: 3,327
Likes: 166
From: Summerton SC
Tech Contributor
A digital to analog converter would likely really clean up the iPod's sound, I've been thinking of getting one ($300 or so) to see if it makes much difference. Anyone used a D2A???? 
Advanced
Joined: Jan 2008
Posts: 79
Likes: 0
From: Midland TX
I don't understand how you are getting better results out of a CD than with a iTunes AAC file in a corvette lol. iTunes files are typically at a 192 Kbps rate where a cd is at a VBR. But you should not be able to notice a difference unless you are running a high end audio system.