iPod Nano sound quality vs. Mini

[CAlvarez]

I recently got a Nano to replace my Mini. Mostly because I kept losing hard drives in them and I suspect that using it on the motorcycles had an effect on the drives.

I don't know if I have a bad one, or I'm completely losing my mind, but...the sound quality seems quite inferior to the Mini. Not with the earbuds, which are crap, but sometimes I notice with the Etymotic headphones and I notice it a lot in the car (dedicated dock via a Clarion head unit). I hear encoding errors where I never did before, and I hear sibilance in the high frequencies that I never noticed before, and which I don't hear using the other sources (CD, DVD, Satellite).

Anyone noted a difference between theese? Worth trying another Nano if I can get one?

[Photek]

have you turned on 'sound check' in the iPods prefs? It makes a MASSIVE differance to the sound quality on my iPod 3g. Without sound check on my music is really crackly and feeble... with it on it sounds like it should.

[acme.mail.order]

... Mostly because I kept losing hard drives in them and I suspect that using it on the motorcycles had an effect on the drives.

You mounted a Mini on a bike?!? It worked for more than 5 minutes? I ride with a videoPod, but it's in my shirt pocket.

[CAlvarez]

It won't work if "mounted" on the bike. I tried that and it would skip immediately. For the most part I kept it in the tank bag and used the remote control, but I think maybe the vibration and general jostling might have been too much for it still. I broke three of them and decided it had to be me, not the iPod.

I do have "sound check" turned on. That should only affect volume though, not actual sound quality. It can't change the decoder quality.

[trevor]

Anyone noted a difference between theese? Worth trying another Nano if I can get one?

My son has a nano. I've listened to his nano and my iPod with video on my car stereo (hard wire connection with a H/K Drive+Play), and have not noticed any quality difference. No encoding errors, no differences in sibilance, nothing of that sort. It may be that you have a bad nano, although encoding errors and sibilance makes me wonder about the sound files themselves. Are you comparing the same sound files? Or did these files get re-encoded, and possibly that is where the problem lies?

but sometimes I notice with the Etymotic headphones and I notice it a lot in the car (dedicated dock via a Clarion head unit). I hear encoding errors where I never did before, and I hear sibilance in the high frequencies that I never noticed before, and which I don't hear using the other sources (CD, DVD, Satellite).

(This may have nothing to do with what you are describing, but...) Etymotics are great in-ear headphones, but, through no fault of the manufacturer our ears generate wax which tends to block them after awhile.

Etymotic sells replacement filters: http://www.etymotic.com/ephp/er6i-acc.aspx (that link is for the Etymotic ER-6i. If you have a different model, you'll need to find it on the Etymotic website.) If you start to have sound quality issues with the Etymotics after you've used them for awhile, replace the filters.

Trevor

[acme.mail.order]

Carlos: How do you have things wired up? Intercom system? Regular headphones under the helmet? (My lid takes the ear-hangar style speakers perfectly - don't know they're there) Completely unrelated to the OP, but we're getting a new bike in 10 9 days and I'd eventually like to communicate to the back seat with something other than hand signals.

[CAlvarez]

Are you comparing the same sound files? Or did these files get re-encoded, and possibly that is where the problem lies?

They are the same files, 320 VBR MP3. The same files sound better if played from a CD in the same player in the car where I connect the iPod, so it really is down to a decoding/analog issue in the iPod.

I did a little research and found that people raved about the quality of the outputs on the Mini and the Shuffle, and said they were clearly superior to the "regular" iPods. No word on the quality of the Nano. So maybe I'll get a Mini for the car and the Nano for the bike... Sheesh.

Acme, right now I've gone to just using the Etymotic headphones with the iPod and the remote control. I used to have an on-bike sound system, but sold that bike recently. The remaining bike has no sound system.

The sound system was by Autocom in the UK, but I think it sucked. I had a lot of problems with it. My previous sound system was by J&M in Tucson, AZ, and it was fantastic. In 8 years I had one failure, and they replaced it free even out of warranty. Autocom couldn't be bothered to replace a broken cable IN WARRANTY. I'll never buy from those clowns again.

Both systems are pricey, but they work great. Even the Autocom worked very well when it worked, but I had failures every 45-60 days (granted, I ride a lot of miles, but the J&M had no issues). I could use the cell or talk to the passenger up to around 120 MPH (that's miles, not kilometers) very easily.

What bike are you getting (I ask jealously)?

[acme.mail.order]

Nothing you'll be jealous of, and nothing that will go 120MPH (not that that speed is even a practical reality in Japan) Just a 180cc 2-seat scooter. Anything over 250 has to have a biannual extortion tax inspection which adds US$400/year to the ownership, gas is $4.20 / US Gallon, getting a license for a big bike is insanely complex (I have a mid-size automatic license, took 5 tries), and with Tokyo's roads anything larger isn't any faster than a car. People do buy BMW 1200s, Harleys, Gold Wings and reimported Suzukis, but I usually catch up to them at the next red light on my 50cc Honda.

This (http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&ie=UTF8&ll=35.258744,138.973038&spn=0.005221,0.016823&t=k&om=0) is the first weekend destination after the engine break-in riding, and this (http://www.hakone.or.jp/english/trafficcam/trafficcam.html) is what those roads look like up close. Note that these cameras are on National Route 1 between Tokyo and Osaka :eek:

[CAlvarez]

Yeah, I've heard about the taxes and licensing issues, sounds crazy to me. A friend of mine over there has the same bike I just sold, the Honda CBR1100XX, and he had a hell of a time getting licensed and all that.

[ThreeBKK]

I recently got a Nano to replace my Mini. Mostly because I kept losing hard drives in them and I suspect that using it on the motorcycles had an effect on the drives.

Problem solved (http://geektechnique.org/projectlab/753/how-to-turn-your-ipod-mini-into-a-flash-based-ipod)!

This guy replaced the hard drive in his iPod Mini with a 4 GB flash drive, and it works flawlessly! I'm very happy to see this is possible.

Perhaps we'll see the resale value on used iPod Minis go up as people realize this is an option.

Be sure to read through the comments at the bottom. It appears that this doesn't work with all flash drives currently on the market, and choosing the wrong kind could be explosive.