Custom ringtones are lower quality on iPhone 4s

[Moonflow]

Yup, i also realized this as well. On the 4S it seems like the trebe is maxxed out and the bass is completly turned off. I have an iphone 4 right next to me when comparing and the 4 sounded much more realistic with both trebe and bass at the right level.

Hope they can fix this.......... and yes it sounds perfect when listen to the song in the music app.

[jszetho]

Somehow, I believe that apple is well aware of this issue. My reasoning behind this is that Apple is progressing and manipulating their technology to support their future plans to create a sturdy market. Decreasing the quality of FREE customarily made ringtones will persist apple's plans to encourage iPhone users to use and purchase off the Apple iTunes Store. Something as simple as decreasing the ability or quality more rather, to create a custom ringtone translates to a genius multi-million dollar scheme on apple's behalf.

[Rocko1]

Can someone with a line out cable analyze the sound file off the phone then the sound being played on the phone and compare the waveforms? I assume it's being dumbed down to 80kbps or something.

[AlphaVictor87]

hmm that's really weird, i went from the 3gs to the 4s and my ringtones sound just as good if not better. I know for sure they are louder as the speaker on the 3gs sucked.

[Moonflow]

Originally Posted by jszetho

Somehow, I believe that apple is well aware of this issue. My reasoning behind this is that Apple is progressing and manipulating their technology to support their future plans to create a sturdy market. Decreasing the quality of FREE customarily made ringtones will persist apple's plans to encourage iPhone users to use and purchase off the Apple iTunes Store. Something as simple as decreasing the ability or quality more rather, to create a custom ringtone translates to a genius multi-million dollar scheme on apple's behalf.

If a ringtone on the apple store costs anywhere between 99c - $5, lets take $3 for this case. Multiply that by at least a quarter of the iPhone user population - well over 100 million and still increasing (quarter of 100 million = 25 million) - and it may give you a rough idea of the potential revenue simple adjustments as such can achieve. From this case which represents a microscopic fraction of apple's actual plans and achievements, we can gather that apple has already earned a luscious $75 million of which the figure seems to just be getting started.

I think that this small adjustment in the recently released IOS 5 will make iPhone users more incline to actually purchase ringtones off the apple music store. Something as simple as a perfect quality ringtone for 99c will be bought impulsively as the obvious observation of a ringtone lacking in quality will frustrate and detract those held accustom to these heavy burdens.

My predictions lean towards a subtle put down to these relating matters as apple as a whole is beginning to carve with finesse and revisit areas in the past that could exceedingly contribute to a brighter future.

Must be kidding right?

[i hate phones]

Originally Posted by jszetho

Somehow, I believe that apple is well aware of this issue. My reasoning behind this is that Apple is progressing and manipulating their technology to support their future plans to create a sturdy market. Decreasing the quality of FREE customarily made ringtones will persist apple's plans to encourage iPhone users to use and purchase off the Apple iTunes Store. Something as simple as decreasing the ability or quality more rather, to create a custom ringtone translates to a genius multi-million dollar scheme on apple's behalf.

If a ringtone on the apple store costs anywhere between 99c - $5, lets take $3 for this case. Multiply that by at least a quarter of the iPhone user population - well over 100 million and still increasing (quarter of 100 million = 25 million) - and it may give you a rough idea of the potential revenue simple adjustments as such can achieve. From this case which represents a microscopic fraction of apple's actual plans and achievements, we can gather that apple has already earned a luscious $75 million of which the figure seems to just be getting started.

I think that this small adjustment in the recently released IOS 5 will make iPhone users more incline to actually purchase ringtones off the apple music store. Something as simple as a perfect quality ringtone for 99c will be bought impulsively as the obvious observation of a ringtone lacking in quality will frustrate and detract those held accustom to these heavy burdens.

My predictions lean towards a subtle put down to these relating matters as apple as a whole is beginning to carve with finesse and revisit areas in the past that could exceedingly contribute to a brighter future.

lol... explain to me then why when i preview a NOT FREE ringtone in itunes it sounds great but after i BUY it and select it as a ringtone it sounds like crap

[jszetho]

in my case, the ringtones that i have purchased play back in perfect quality, but the ones i custom make with "free ringtone maker" play back distorted to *****

[Rocko1]

If you choose the same custom ringtone as a text tone for your text messages, the sound is great. Could this be a blatant, transparent way to get you to buy ringtones?


Regardless, send Apple feedback. The more the better.

http://www.apple.com/feedback/iphone.html

[w00t951]

The kbps for ringtones is far lower than normal music. It helps the iPhone play it faster when you get a call - the phone must hold the connection, launch the phone app, patch the connection through, and then play the ringtone. Also, you're going to be playing a ringtone through the crappy speaker on the iPhone. It doesn't matter.

[GerMo]

may i ask, what app/software are you guys using to convert the .mp3 to .m4a ?

[Rocko1]

People, it's not the conversion. If it was the file would sound bad when used as a text tone, but it doesn't, it sound's great. It's a bug.

Does anyone have a purchased ringtone and a custom made ringtone of the same music, how do they compare?

[Rocko1]

Originally Posted by GerMo

may i ask, what app/software are you guys using to convert the .mp3 to .m4a ?

iTunes.

[HKUSP.40]

Add me to the list...mine sound craptastic.

[Rocko1]

I am hoping 5.1 beta 2 might fix this.

[mattraehl]

I noticed this after making some custom ringtones recently using GarageBand. The 4S is my first iPhone so I wasn't sure if it was normal or what. Has anyone tried to see if you get the same result with headphones?

[Rocko1]

Originally Posted by mattraehl

I noticed this after making some custom ringtones recently using GarageBand. The 4S is my first iPhone so I wasn't sure if it was normal or what. Has anyone tried to see if you get the same result with headphones?

It's very noticeable with headphone. You have to hold your finger over the phones speaker as it plays there also, but the sound difference is very apparent. The custom ringtones are being dumbed down, but I don't' have any apps on my PC that will let me record both for comparison. If any can do this it would really help.

[i hate phones]

Originally Posted by jszetho

in my case, the ringtones that i have purchased play back in perfect quality, but the ones i custom make with "free ringtone maker" play back distorted to *****

it might sound better than a custom made one... i haven't tried it with the same exact song.. but i bought the "wizards in winter" trans-siberian orchestra ringtone which sounded GREAT when i previewed it compared to the one i was trying to make for their christmas canon and carol of the bells tracks... but when i bought it, downloaded, set as ringtone it only sounded marginally better than my custom ones and worse then it sounded when i previewed the track in itunes store using my iphone speaker. i mean theo ne i bought doesn't sound horrible... but when you preview something you expect it to be the same quality when you buy it.

[Rocko1]

I have two sound files-one from the ringtone and one from the text tone. I don't know how to analyze them. Anyone with the program or know how is welcome to them. I used a 3.5mm male/male cable straight into a sound recorder. Both files are 128kbps mp3. There is a big difference in quality.

[mattraehl]

After playing with this for a bit it seems to me that the built-in ringtones are also being played differently - no conspiracy here about custom ringtones, iOS is making ALL ringtones sound crappy. I'm a new iPhone user so I can't speak to whether this is the case with previous iPhones or iterations of iOS.

[Rocko1]

Originally Posted by mattraehl

After playing with this for a bit it seems to me that the built-in ringtones are also being played differently - no conspiracy here about custom ringtones, iOS is making ALL ringtones sound crappy. I'm a new iPhone user so I can't speak to whether this is the case with previous iPhones or iterations of iOS.

The customs seem to have more degradation when used as ringtones Vs. text tones but I will check out the stock ringers in more depth.

Does anyone have a 4 or older iPhone? Is it the same way on these? Maybe a IOS 5.0.1 issue?

[JacksTLOS]

Recently moving from a PC to a Mac this year all my previous ringtones were made in Windows. Recently my first Mac was stolen on a business trip, with my backup (luckily Match saved me from re-importing all my cd's). Anyways, I replaced my Mac and was creating ringtones last night in Garageband (my first time) and when I transfered them to my 4s I was irritated that they sounded atrocious! I spent 4 hours last night trying to figure this out. What I noticed was if you press Send to Itunes as Ringtone, all the Bass is taken out, treble is turned up and it's very distorted! Playing around I realized if I did the custom ringtone like i would in windows it sounded normal. Also if I did the ringtone in Garageband (so I could use the fade in/out) and Send to Itunes as Song, then just changed it to M4r and moved it to Tones it also came out NORMAL. So that's what seemed to work for me

[AbSoluTc]

Just tested this. Custom ringtones sound "bland/tinny" as ringtones. However as text tones, they sound normal/full. Like they should. Pretty weird really. Wonder why they are so different?

[Rocko1]

Originally Posted by JacksTLOS

Recently moving from a PC to a Mac this year all my previous ringtones were made in Windows. Recently my first Mac was stolen on a business trip, with my backup (luckily Match saved me from re-importing all my cd's). Anyways, I replaced my Mac and was creating ringtones last night in Garageband (my first time) and when I transfered them to my 4s I was irritated that they sounded atrocious! I spent 4 hours last night trying to figure this out. What I noticed was if you press Send to Itunes as Ringtone, all the Bass is taken out, treble is turned up and it's very distorted! Playing around I realized if I did the custom ringtone like i would in windows it sounded normal. Also if I did the ringtone in Garageband (so I could use the fade in/out) and Send to Itunes as Song, then just changed it to M4r and moved it to Tones it also came out NORMAL. So that's what seemed to work for me

Are you saying it sounds Normal when it is played as a ringtone on your phone?

[JacksTLOS]

Originally Posted by Rocko1

Are you saying it sounds Normal when it is played as a ringtone on your phone?

Yes, if you're using Garageband DON'T send to Itunes as Ringtone. Send to itunes as a song and manually change the file extension to M4R and move it to tones. Otherwise the process of garageband converting the song distorts the sound.

[Rocko1]

Originally Posted by JacksTLOS

Yes, if you're using Garageband DON'T send to Itunes as Ringtone. Send to itunes as a song and manually change the file extension to M4R and move it to tones. Otherwise the process of garageband converting the song distorts the sound.

I don't use garage band. They still sound worse as ringtones and fine as text tones.