Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

iWinnipegger

macrumors regular
Original poster
Nov 8, 2006
142
0
When I Rip CDs onto my iTunes ---> then put it on my iPod, and i connect my iPod to my stereo system, will it have the same audio quality as the original CD,

pretty much what i'm asking is do you lose any quality when you rip your CD onto your iPod and plug it into a stereo system, or does it sound better when you physically put the CD into the cd player and play it through the stereo,,

thanks for the help.
 
The songs on your iPod will be lower quality because they are compressed. The question is whether your ears can actually tell the difference between the CD version and the MP3/AAC/whatever version on your iPod. That varies based on a number of factors: the type of compression used, the bitrate of the compressed file, the type of music being compressed, the quality of the stereo system, and your ears.
 
You will lose some quality by putting it through your iPod because the music is now in a lossy compressed format. However, for most people, this loss in quality is not noticeable. Only audiophiles can hear the difference.
 
It depends on the format you use. If you rip the CDs using AIFF or Apple Lossless, then you won't lose any quality because the information is identical. But then the file sizes will be much larger (and the Shuffle won't play those formats I don't think).

--Eric
 
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.