4G iPod Audio Problems

[MacBytes]

Category: Apple Hardware
Link: 4G iPod Audio Problems (http://www.macbytes.com/link.php?sid=20040727101921)
Posted on MacBytes.com (http://www.macbytes.com)

Approved by Mudbug

[iMeowbot]

ipodlounge.com moved their servers this week. Alternate link (http://67.19.89.180/ipodnews.php?id=P4563) to the article if your ISP's DNS hasn't caught up to the changes yet (you'll know you hit the old server if there are ugly warning and error messages instead of an article).

[Abstract]

Wow, what a way to scare people into thinking that this is a big deal. Seriously, how many people use Apple Lossless on their iPod anyway? Its such a drain on power, since not as many songs can be loaded onto the cache memory, and so the iPod has to access the HD much much much more often. And of course, there goes the "25 minute" anti-skip as well.

So if someone doesn't use Apple Lossless, are they okay? Or did they want people to use Apple Lossless in order to FORCE the cache to fill up (and the HD to be accessed) after each song, in order to better show us what they're talking about? They don't even explain it well. What a poorly written article.

[Laslo Panaflex]

Wow, what a way to scare people into thinking that this is a big deal. Seriously, how many people use Apple Lossless on their iPod anyway? Its such a drain on power, since not as many songs can be loaded onto the cache memory, and so the iPod has to access the HD much much much more often. And of course, there goes the "25 minute" anti-skip as well.

So if someone doesn't use Apple Lossless, are they okay? Or did they want people to use Apple Lossless in order to FORCE the cache to fill up (and the HD to be accessed) after each song, in order to better show us what they're talking about? They don't even explain it well. What a poorly written article.

HD access all the time or not, the sound of the hard drive spinning should not be heard through the headphones, and that is the problem.

And thus begins the obligitory "I never buy Rev. D Apple hardware, it's too buggy".

[Stella]

Apple's QA is dire.. there have been some significant problems in all of Apple's new product releases for the past year:

- dodgy headphone socket in mini iPod
- the white spots in PowerBook screens
- iBooks - the motherboard and display cable problem ( machines affected over several years)
- G5 fan problems

Perhaps Apple should invest some of their profits into making their products more reliable.

[iMeowbot]

So if someone doesn't use Apple Lossless, are they okay? Or did they want people to use Apple Lossless in order to FORCE the cache to fill up (and the HD to be accessed) after each song, in order to better show us what they're talking about? They don't even explain it well. What a poorly written article.
As I understand it, the point of using lossless was simply to eliminate encoding artifacts as a possible source for the strange noises.

People are describing the noise as being pretty much the same as the whine that comes out of an iTrip transmitter when the hard disk spins up, and that's going to be seriously annoying if it's being transmitted to the headphones. That kind of noise suggests that there is a shielding or grounding problem in some of the new iPods, it could be as minor as a stray bit of solder.

[iMeowbot]

Perhaps Apple should invest some of their profits into making their products more reliable.
This is what they get for outsourcing all their manufacturing.

[nagromme]

Apple's QA is dire..

Four points to keep in mind:

1. A few people with a problem will be vocal--and understandably so. A problem in 1/100 of 1% of units will sound like 50% in forums where people go for help (or just to complain). Especially with news sites being tempted to report them instantly and dramatically to draw traffic.

2. All products have some failure rate, and the first units of a new model from ANY company will have a higher problem rate than later units. But some (us!) watch Apple products with a microscope many products never face--or if they do, there's less of a community spreading and magnifying reports of any little thing.

3. Apple consistently, year after year, has the highest hardware-reliability ratings and lowest failure rates of any computer maker--and the highest rated tech support and highest-rated customer service too. That's shown in large-scale surveys by Consumer Reports--including this year's survey. Of course some people have problems, with some models more than others. But anyone who singles Apple out should keep in mind that the others are much worse.

4. Your warranty covers the problem.

Bottom line: this is almost certainly a trivial issue for anyone shopping today.

[michaelrjohnson]

Slightly troubling, however, it's a manufacturing defect, thus it is covered by the warranty. So Apple will repair/replace the affected units.

My new 20GB is not affected.

[ALoLA]

My friend has a 4G 40 GB iPod and he has not complained about this problem. He's more of an audiophile than I am, so if it were there, I'm sure he would have mentioned it. Probably not that widespread of a problem, and (as others have already pointed out) it's covered under warranty. A non-issue.

[Chip NoVaMac]

We better be prepared for multiple threads on this issue.

[Mudbug]

if you do see duplicate threads on this, report them and they'll get merged together. I'd rather have a clean house.