RichieST

iTrader: (2)

If I play a CD or radio in the car, the sound is pretty good, plenty of bass through the sub etc, but if I plug my ipod in then it is crap, no bass at all and it just sounds a bit flat. Have tried adjusting both the cars EQ and the ipod's EQ but it just makes it sound boomy and even worse.

Standard headunit by the way with ipod connector

Any ideas as to what could be going on?

Rich

B19 JUB

ipod cable on its way out poss.songs sound ok through headphones?

RichieST

iTrader: (2)

Yeah they sound fine through the headphones. Might have to look into changing the wiring about see if anything improves.

B19 JUB

could be the socket in the car aswell.they not the best tbh.does it improve when u wiggle the cable or pull it out a touch?

cfoster

Is it a proper iPod connector or just an 'aux' out on the stereo? On my mercedes I have an aux out in the glovebox and my ipod sounds crap as well, plays louder from one corner. It does have the Bose amp/speaker thing so whether its a mono/stereo issue through a standard jack plug I dont know!

pani_k

iTrader: (1)

I think it's to do with the connectivity. If I play a CD through the headunit sounds crisp, bass sounds spot on. Anything connected through bluetooth or AUX is OK but not as crisp as the CD. Similarly if you play through proper iPod connectivity on some devices I've played back off the quality is good however if you plug the iPod in through AUX the quality is worse.

RichieST

iTrader: (2)

yes it is a headphone socket in the glove box. I've got one of those harman kardon ipod interface things plugged into it too, but it's no different if i bypass it and just plug the ipod straight in. I'd have thought if it had a dodgy connection, it would just not work all together?

Brian

iTrader: (2)

I have the same trouble sometimes with connecting my phone to the AUX on our mondeo if i wiggle the connector/lead it works fine i reckon its a doggy lead/connection


Brian

Rob Virgo

iTrader: (6)

Recon your all barkin up the wrong tree, try loading up a song at 320 kbs or an apple losssless format, you may be uploading or downloading in 96 kbs which will sound crap on anything but apple headphones, proper bass and full range music on 320 kbs

RichieST

iTrader: (2)

how do i go about doing that mate? Is there a setting or something i need to change in itunes?

Ade500

iTrader: (1)

Have you tried the graphic settings, most things I plug into sound better on a different setting rock indoors on a Dennon and r@b in the van on an Alpine.

DanW@FastFord

iTrader: (1)

96kbs music will not sound good on any headphones, let alone the utter shite Apple package them with!

RichieST

iTrader: (2)

Well I've had a look round in the apple settings and converted a song that was originally 320kbps to apple lossless, which has changed it to 1019kbps. Shall load it on to the ipod later and see what happens. This song when burned from itunes to a cd sounded really good in the car but crap on my ipod so hope it works!

Quite why apple makes all this so bloody over complicated is beyond me

JohnnyB

Because its over priced shit!

RichieST

iTrader: (2)

Right have had another play today. I did forget that I've also wired in a supressor to get rid of the alt whine that I never could shift. I've bypassed the ipod controller and supressor and plugged the ipod directly into the 3.5mm jack socket in the glovebox and it sounds much better.

I reckon it is probably the supressor giving me the trouble. It's wired up behind the dash so will get it disconnected tomorrow when it stops raining!

cossiegreg1

It wont make a difference now mate. Once a tune has been compressed down, you cannot get it back.

A c.d is WAV which has a bitrate of 1411 kbps, a ipod is generally 192 kbps.

If you play 192kbps through a sub/ decent set up, the sound is horrendous.

Always try and use wav/flac, if you do use mp3 try and never go below 320kbps.

RichieST

iTrader: (2)

Thanks for that. As per my above post, it was the ground loop isolator that was causing my problems, have removed it now and will just have to find another cure for the alt whine that I never could sort!

Carlos-Titx

Rich, if your iPod cable is on the way out I have one you can have for nothing mate.

I have no use for it as my iPod was stolen

RickyLee53

Good earths should sort it.

DanW@FastFord

iTrader: (1)

Agreed. A suppressor will ease the symptoms, but ideally you need to find the cure!

PileOfRust

my ipod sounds fine through the aux in my car, but yeah cd's do sound slightly better. Barely noticeable though

DanW@FastFord

iTrader: (1)

In your average car set up you would be hard pressed to notice much of a difference unless you did back to back tests - It's when it comes to high end audio that you really notice the difference between compressed and uncompressed. Even then, most people (and all women) wouldn't notice any discernable differences.

PileOfRust

ive got a mk1 fez so the radio and speakers are all aftermarket. The standard speakers are shockingly shit
sound wise im happy with it, its just the aireal (spelling) on them that are abit shit

cossiegreg1

on a big system (320/wav), i always say you cant really hear the difference, you can feel the difference