5G Ipod Better Sound than MBP?

[pur3h8r3d]

I recently acquired some Shure EC210 headphones. I use to have some Shure E2C headphones but I upgraded. I really love them they really bring some nice sound isolation and great sound quality. They really bring more life to my music.

The thing is I noticed my music sounds a lot better coming from my 5G iPod then the music coming from my Macbook Pro. Is this normal? I know MP3's are naturally less quality due to compression but even so I would assume my MBP would have a better audio device than my iPod. Maybe it has to do with the mixer? I'm no audiophile so its hard to for me to tell (but I do know what sounds good )

The songs I'm testing are either 192kbs or 320kbs. The music is just a lot more clear and more full. I can easily distinguish the individual instruments and beats on my iPod. I can too on my MBP but its just not as nice.

Any thoughtst?

-David

 

[Hydroxs]

The some of the older mbp has a problem with the audio where it has a really low hiss when you play a song. You can't really hear it unless you play a song that is simple (ex. While My Guitar Gently Weeps by Jake Shimabukuro where you only hear his ukulele).

 

[pur3h8r3d]

I really dont think thats the problem. I dont hear any hissing. The sound quality just doesnt seem as good. Anyone know of any Mixer Software that might help?

 

[drewsof07]

I've had very good luck using the iWow plugin for iTunes. It's not a free app, but it was part of a macvault bundle earlier this year. Excellent EQ plugin, much more advanced than the standard EQ.

 

[jackiecanev2]

FWIW, the 5th gen iPod had a very nice, high end wolfson audio chip... the only drawback was the internal amplifier which was less-than-stellar. Not sure about the MBP...

 

[eron]

I've had very good luck using the iWow plugin for iTunes. It's not a free app, but it was part of a macvault bundle earlier this year. Excellent EQ plugin, much more advanced than the standard EQ.

If you are using a high-end stereo/earphones, you wouldn't want the EQ to distort the sound/music. Best to set to neutral.

 

[bjorn989]

The some of the older mbp has a problem with the audio where it has a really low hiss when you play a song. You can't really hear it unless you play a song that is simple (ex. While My Guitar Gently Weeps by Jake Shimabukuro where you only hear his ukulele).

... maybe the hiss is the Macbook pro telling you to start listening to original Beatle tracks...

 

[drewsof07]

If you are using a high-end stereo/earphones, you wouldn't want the EQ to distort the sound/music. Best to set to neutral.

I love the iWow plugin, you can choose to optimize sound for headphones, external speakers, or built-in speakers. Also there is a slider for changing the size of your speakers, level of sound stage, and high/low volume. It greatly improves the sound quality and clarity through my Comp3 Bose speakers and JBL OverEar headphones, for listening to most music and watching movies.
(*please resist starting bose arguments*)

More on topic, I have noticed my 5th gen sound quality is also excellent compared to my 2nd gen touch. And FWIW the new unibody MBPs have improved sound quality from the previous Penryns (less buzzing/beeping)
Only thing that bothers me is that it takes a couple seconds for it to detect there is an external audio source and it will continue playing through internal speakers until it switches.

 

[Hydroxs]

... maybe the hiss is the Macbook pro telling you to start listening to original Beatle tracks...

I have both but you can't hear the hiss with the drum/bass/voice in the beatle tracks

 

[Teej guy]

(*please resist starting bose arguments*)

Doing so is incredibly hard, but I'll resist

The fact of the matter is that using DSP plugins like iWow for playback is distorting the original sound in an attempt to make it sound more "pleasing". Whether you like it or not is down to the individual, but all you're doing is making the sound less like the source material.

If you want to actually improve sound quality, think about getting an external audio interface, something either firewire or USB based. Something like this product may or may not be expensive for you, but it is high quality for its size and very portable. Other products by M-Audio or various companies like them aren't quite as portable but accomplish the same thing.