iPod HiFi personal review
After listening to the iPod Hifi today for a good period of time, I have some pretty good things to say. It looks nice in person, simple. WIth the grill cover off, it's pretty sexy. As for sound quality, there is DEFINITELY a noticeable difference between the music we buy off of iTunes (compressed) and lossless/uncompressed music. Compressed sounds exactly that. The sound is very flat at high to close to maxxed out volume. Lows are strong but mids and highs get meshed into those lows. Uncompressed or lossless is music is a different story entireley. Lows and mids are clear, highs are fairly clear, not trebly, but not perfect either. Playing at max volume, there was not clipping of sound and the bass is truely booming. Playing bass-heavy music caused the woofers to bounce violently and the bass could easily be FELT in your chest from 6-10 feet away. Very impressive for a $350 single unit system, I wouldn't trade it for my 6.1 theater setup though. That's all I have for now folks
Comments
Originally posted by MovieCutter
Very impressive for a $350 single unit system..
I'm no audiophile, but do you really think $350 is a good deal for what's essentially a large speaker? Beforehand, everyone was predicting the Boombox would be some great new device with a hard drive, screen, wireless capability, etc. but it really doesn't have any features at all. Also, while it might look nice in a dorm room or a teenager's bedroom, what use is it for the average living room? It's also not optimal for outdoor or travel use, so I think I'm just really missing the point of it.
Sorry to be a such cynic, but it seems to me Apple is starting to coast a little bit on the heels of their success.
Originally posted by MovieCutter
As for sound quality, there is DEFINITELY a noticeable difference between the music we buy off of iTunes (compressed) and lossless/uncompressed music. Compressed sounds exactly that. The sound is very flat at high to close to maxxed out volume.
Seems odd that Apple would release something that would accentuate the negative characteristics of a product they are selling (lossy-compressed music).
Weird.
http://www.misterbg.org/AppleProductCycle/
particularly this section:
"he finally introduces the new Apple product. The product has sleek, clean lines, a diminutive form factor, and less than half of the useful features that everyone was expecting."
Obviously 'diminutive form factor' doesn't apply in this case, but anyone with a passing familiarity with acoustics knows that big sound from small devices isn't possible without rewrite a few laws of physics.
Apple's strategy has been fairly consistent, so there's no big surprise here. The actual results vary from wild successes to complete flops, but the strategy is fairly clear.
Originally posted by Jleon
I'm no audiophile, but do you really think $350 is a good deal for what's essentially a large speaker?
Exactly my sentiments!
allthough I am attracted by the style and the quality of the hifi, it is a little bit too sparse for me. I'm in the market for a new and affordable home stereo system at the moment but won't get a hifi as it is not (well, not really) stereo...
I'm hoping that one day they will offer a two-speaker hifi stereo (or better, 5 speaker iPod surround).
As far as Apple releasing a product that shows up the deficiencies of iTMS downloads, I had originally wondered if they wouldn't tailor the frequency response and dynamic range to favor compressed music, but upon further consideration I have to agree with whoever was chiding me in an earlier thread: you can't really make a box that sounds "better" with worse input.
What you can do is hit a price point by assuming that your product won't need to resolve fidelity past a certain point, but that's not really Apple's thing.
I liken it to playing back iTMS videos on a Cinema Display-- there is no way Apple is going to put out a monitor with low resolution just to fudge the shortcomings of their low res videos.
128kbps downloads sound "good enough" on stock ear buds, low res video downloads look fine on an iPod.
We can only hope that Apple has further plans for both formats.
Not saying you're wrong though; I'll check and see how a lossless source sounds.
Originally posted by Jleon
I'm no audiophile, but do you really think $350 is a good deal for what's essentially a large speaker?
I spent $16,000 on a pair of large speakers, and that was used ($65,000 new).
Originally posted by JonE
Is ANYONE else getting distortion at max volume with piano music? They want me to drive out to an Apple Store to get this thing looked at and serviced, and the closest one is on the other side of the state!
Are you situated so that you can run some other (or, ideally, the same) piano music through the HiFi from another source (other than the iTMS)? Like perhaps a CD or CD lossless rip?
In my experience, recorded piano is one of the things that suffers most from low bit rate conversion.
Originally posted by e1618978
I spent $16,000 on a pair of large speakers, and that was used ($65,000 new).
What are they ?
Better than my ProAC response D100 ????
Nahhh... didn't think so, either...
Originally posted by European guy
What are they ?
Better than my ProAC response D100 ????
Nahhh... didn't think so, either...
Everybody likes different stuff, but I like them better than ProAc - they are Nearfield Acoustics Pipedream 18s. ProAc makes pretty good stuff, though - if they sound as good as the smaller ProAcs, then you have good taste. I know the local ProAc dealer, and the D38 sounded quite nice.
I wasn't trying to start a speaker contest - just trying to put the "$350 is overpriced" comment into context.
Originally posted by addabox
Are you situated so that you can run some other (or, ideally, the same) piano music through the HiFi from another source (other than the iTMS)? Like perhaps a CD or CD lossless rip?
In my experience, recorded piano is one of the things that suffers most from low bit rate conversion.
Yes, I've played the same tracks using a CD through AirTunes into the Hi-Fi, same distortion. It has absolutely nothing to do with compression, or EQ, or anything else. I just want to know if anyone is able to recreate this situation at max volume, to avoid a 3 hour drive to an Apple Store.
If everyone's just listening to pop or techno to gauge this and this thing is junk for instrumental music (compression doesn't bug me, but ckCKCcKKKK does), I want my money back.
Originally posted by JonE
Yes, I've played the same tracks using a CD through AirTunes into the Hi-Fi, same distortion. It has absolutely nothing to do with compression, or EQ, or anything else. I just want to know if anyone is able to recreate this situation at max volume, to avoid a 3 hour drive to an Apple Store.
How loud are you playing the music? It sounds like you are clipping the amp.
You could also have a blown speaker driver - most of the time blown drivers will make flapping noises at all volumes, but one time I had it so it only shows up at high volumes.
If there is a way to do it, try playing the right channel and left channel seperately - to see if the problem only occurs in one channel.
"It's distorting"
"Is it compression?"
"No, it's distorting"
"Is it EQ?"
"NO, REALLY, IT'S DISTORTING"
"Maybe low bit rates?"
(gunshot)
Sorry about that, dude. Sounds like they owe you a new box.
Originally posted by e1618978
Everybody likes different stuff, but I like them better than ProAc - they are Nearfield Acoustics Pipedream 18s.
ProAc makes pretty good stuff, though - if they sound as good as the smaller ProAcs, then you have good taste. I know the local ProAc dealer, and the D38 sounded quite nice.
Sure. I was just kidding.
Never had the pleasure of listening to your but I'm sure I would like them, too.
I have the smaller ProAc ( Reference 8 ) in my home office, together with a pair of Quads 12L in my wife's office. Them sound magnificently , both.
But the Big D100 is my pride and joy. Have them in the bigger music room.
I am very curious about the ones you mentioned... Hmmm.
UPDATE: Just saw the Nearfield PipeDreams
Very, very impressive. Just out of curiosity, what do you have driving them ?
Originally posted by European guy
I am very curious about the ones you mentioned... Hmmm
They were very popular a couple years ago, and they pretty much blow away everything else if you like dynamics and soundstage. The helicopter on Pink Floyd's "the wall" is a life sized helicopter right over your head.
If you like sweet midrange, then Kharmas and JM Lab Utopias are slightly better (have not heard the new BE tweeter, though). I really need two stereo systems in two different rooms, which is my eventual plan.
Originally posted by e1618978
They were very popular a couple years ago, and they pretty much blow away everything else if you like dynamics and soundstage. The helicopter on Pink Floyd's "the wall" is a life sized helicopter right over your head.
If you like sweet midrange, then Kharmas and JM Lab Utopias are slightly better (have not heard the new BE tweeter, though). I really need two stereo systems in two different rooms, which is my eventual plan.
Well, I gave my son a iCube from JM LAB and I don't like it ( he does ).
I expected better quality even for a low end system like that. Listened to the Utopias in the dealer and was quite impressed. But I have small rooms in the apartment, and I guess I became accustomed to small speakers.And for istening in small rooms the ProAc monitors are top notch IMHO.
Still I would go for the Nearfield PipeDreams in a really big room. PS. Took a look at some reviews...