Ipod's dirty little secret

I don't fancy intrusive corporate websites that require one to sign up before they'll give you their precious little gem of info.  Maybe Moby does, though I'm not sure...

[Bags]

Oy.  It's a really long article -- I'll post it if anyone's interested.

[ratioci nation]

For new york times articles, just use the google news link
 
 http://www.nytimes.com/2003/11/30/magazine/30IPOD.html?ex=1070773200&en=6cc3b984324f9225&ei=5062&partner=GOOGLE

Well it was rather an interesting article, but I still wouldn't get an ipod, even if it shat golden cufflinks.  Why?  Because I simply have no use for any headphone-based device.  
 
 BTW, Does anyone know what's ipod's signal-to-noise ratio when plugged into a decent set of speakers?

[chaz]

Originally posted by Dupek Chopra:
 BTW, Does anyone know what's ipod's signal-to-noise ratio when plugged into a decent set of speakers?

Between like 95 and 100, but noone is 100% sure cuz apple never released the specs.  There's 2 outputs - the headphones and the one on the dock.  The one on the dock bypasses the Ipod's amp altogether.  I'm really no expert on these things, but to my ears when I plug my Ipod into my HK receiver, it sounds great.  As good as the cd's I ripped the tracks from.

[ggw]

What about these Creative Jukebox NOMAD systems?
 
 40GB for under $300 and 60GB for under $400.
 
 (Signal to noise ratio of 0.98)

[chaz]

Yeah those seem pretty good too, but quite a bit heftier than the Ipod and the user interface is not nearly as elegant.  But it wins in the storage/price ratio category.
 
 I'm not considering replacing my Ipod but if I had to I'd get either  this or  this .

[brennser]

found this funny in the article
 
 About a week later Jobs played host to one of the ''launch'' events for which the company is notorious, announcing the availability of iTunes and access to the company's music store for Windows users.  (In what seemed an odd crack in Apple's usually seamless aura maintenance, he did his demo on what was clearly a Dell computer.)

[markie]

I think once you have got to 40GB or so, for the normal person a much bigger hard drive is not such a great selling point.  Having an integrated package and easy transfer of songs is more important. Itunes and its store are really rather good.
 
 Plus the ipod looks nicer and less fussy than all the other players. As well as that by now its a known quantity and sold in plenty of stores. Its flaws are well documented, but that is much more than you can say for its competition.

[brennser]

I'm not considering replacing my Ipod but if I had to I'd get either this or this .  

so you'd get these rather than get a new ipod? just curious - I've been reading alot about the iriver on cnet and people really seem to love it
 
 also, what are these ogg and aac file formats that people keep talking about - do folks here still deal primarily in mp3s or these newer formats? do you need seperate software to rip something in ogg, or do you just convert exisiting mp3s?

[markie]

I still use MP3's.
 
 It is usually pointless to try and convert one compressed file type to another.
 
 Another advantage of the ipod is its OS is upgradeable, so if a new standard comes along it can be adjusted to accomodate

[chaz]

Originally posted by brennser:
  [so you'd get these rather than get a new ipod? just curious - I've been reading alot about the iriver on cnet and people really seem to love it
 
 also, what are these ogg and aac file formats that people keep talking about - do folks here still deal primarily in mp3s or these newer formats? do you need seperate software to rip something in ogg, or do you just convert exisiting mp3s?

No I'd get another Ipod.  What I meant is if I had to get something else.  A lot of the other players do more, but what the Ipod does it does so well.  As I mentioned earlier battery life could be better.  Also, one feature that is starting to appear that I wish the Ipod has is a digital audio out on the dock to plug into my stereo as opposed to the standard analog out.
 
 I don't know anything about ogg file formats, but aac is just another compression format like mp3, but the Ipod is the only mp3 play that supports it.  When you buy something from itunes music store it is in aac format.  Then of course you can burn it to cd to be played in any cd player or whatever.

There are more factors at play than signal-to-noise ratio.  There's also compression rate and impedence.  There seem to be other factors, as well...but I'm getting out of my depth now.
 
 The creative nomad has okay response when hooked up to a stereo, but it's not cd quality, even cranked to the max settings.  I've a PD Hercules stand-alone mp3 model that does a much better job of sound reproduction as a home stereo.  Good enough for my damaged eardrums.  I suspect the ipod would leave me wanting..?  But I'm not above trying new things.  It's just I'm completely satisfied with the current setup.  BTW, I use the nomad pukebox in the car now.  My car has lousy cardboard-type factory speakers, so I don't care about sound quality too much there.

[markie]

Originally posted by Dupek Chopra:
  I suspect the ipod would leave me wanting..?  

I use 160Kbps MP3s (middle compression) and the ipod doesnt sound any different to my ears than the CD at moderate volumes. At loud volumes there is a difference, but only if I look for it. It does noy bother me.

Those sluggish compression rates really bother me.