****.

DreamThrall

DreamThrall

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So, I had to trade in my Mini Cooper (;(), since a baby + things needed for traveling with baby do not fit into a Mini.

We ended up getting one of the new Nissan Rogues. It's a pretty sweet car for an SUV (I hate SUVs with a passion... but our lifestyle sort of demands it). We got the premium package, which includes a Bose sound system. So, we hooked up the iPod to it and holy crap, it SOUNDED LIKE ASS. We could hear in crystal clear fidelity how ugly mp3 compression is when not done at a decent bitrate. So, now I have to go re-rip probably 50% of my music collection.

****.
 
Do it at 12 gbps to allow for potential future HDMI audio systems.
 
DreamThrall said:
So, I had to trade in my Mini Cooper (;(), since a baby + things needed for traveling with baby do not fit into a Mini.

We ended up getting one of the new Nissan Rogues. It's a pretty sweet car for an SUV (I hate SUVs with a passion... but our lifestyle sort of demands it). We got the premium package, which includes a Bose sound system. So, we hooked up the iPod to it and holy crap, it SOUNDED LIKE ASS. We could hear in crystal clear fidelity how ugly mp3 compression is when not done at a decent bitrate. So, now I have to go re-rip probably 50% of my music collection.

****.
Click to expand...

Poor man, you appear to have gone from crap, to slightly better...
 
Didnt you just get that Mini like... last week?


(exaggeration, but I could have sworn you posted about getting it not too long ago)
 
Yeah, we'd had it for 11 months. We actually custom ordered it from the factory, since Mini doesn't keep a lot of stock on hand because there are so many combinations of colors, packages, addons, etc. Of course, when we ordered it, we weren't planning on getting pregnant in the next 3 months... It was a little depressing trading it in, but I'm totally psyched to be having a kid, and it'll be much easier with a larger car.
 
This could be attributable not only to the bitrate of the files, but the sound quality from the iPod itself.

I don't know any of the technical details, just that the sound quality from the iPod itself, when hooked up to any large scale speaker system, pales in comparison to when you're just listening on headphones. Here's a bit of an explanatory paragraph from an unrelated article I just found (a DAC is a Digital-to-Analog-Converter, btw):
There are actually two problems with the iPod, and digital compression is only the first. Second, and more troubling, is that there's no way to get the music out in its digital form, so you're stuck using the 29-cent DACs that are built into the iPod. We have a technical term in the industry for the quality and performance of those DACs, and it starts with a C.
Click to expand...
tl;dr - Don't be surprised if your music still sounds shit at 320kbps, as long as you're still playing it off your iPod.
 
I'm not an audiophile, so it isn't a HUGE deal to me because for the most part I don't notice... but the Bose system makes it painfully obvious when something's ripped at 128-160kbps. I tried some tracks that I knew were 256kbps, and they were much better - but I think tracks that have been "normalized" will need to be redone as well.

Besides, I don't know of any other way to get 30gb of music into that system :\
 
There are connectors you can buy online that plug into the bottom of the ipod instead to avoid the ipod's DAC on top. But I think they are mainly used with headphone amps.
 
Ooh... I might look into those.

EDIT: Jesus, those are expensive... and I can't find them on a US site... :\
 
This might do the same thing. I actually have an old firewire car charger for the original ipod. Might look into this one myself.

It probably will be quieter though since it skips the DAC.
"without interference and distortion from the headphone equalizer and amplifier circuitry." (from the link)
 
I thought it was gonna be something like the Bose system was defective.

I think it's what Lavaisse describes first - it might be in the actual mp3 bitrate compression.

If it is the other problem perhaps it is less expensive to buy a new or used mp3.

/shitty tech-support end
 
Awww, poor Mini. *hugs picture of DT's wife in front of Mini.*
 
Ennui said:
Start ripping to .flac :D
Click to expand...

I honestly cannot tell the difference between 320kbps MP3 and FLAC. Maybe it's my sound card, my headphones/speakers or even my ears. To me, the filesize is not worth it, plus the fact that NO portable player supports FLAC therefore needing two files of every song which ajdbsnkht;e

Also: http://mp3ornot.com/
 
Qonfused said:
I honestly cannot tell the difference between 320kbps MP3 and FLAC. Maybe it's my sound card, my headphones/speakers or even my ears. To me, the filesize is not worth it, plus the fact that NO portable player supports FLAC therefore needing two files of every song which ajdbsnkht;e

Also: http://mp3ornot.com/
Click to expand...

I could tell there was a difference, but I picked the wrong one. It's a bit unfair, because it's not a song I've heard before and the sound wave itself isn't very complex :p
 
Same here :\ Then again, my computer speakers aren't exactly pro quality.
 
Qonfused said:
I honestly cannot tell the difference between 320kbps MP3 and FLAC. Maybe it's my sound card, my headphones/speakers or even my ears. To me, the filesize is not worth it, plus the fact that NO portable player supports FLAC therefore needing two files of every song which ajdbsnkht;e

Also: http://mp3ornot.com/
Click to expand...

There are loads of portable players that can play FLAC, some are listed here http://flac.sourceforge.net/links.html#hardware

The iPod can also play it but it needs the Rockbox fireware to be installed. I do agree it's not such a great format for portable devices due to the size and that with the crappy earphones you usually get with them you generally won't be able to hear the difference.
 
DreamThrall said:
which includes a Bose sound system. So, we hooked up the iPod to it and holy crap, it SOUNDED LIKE ASS.
Click to expand...

Bad Mistake

If you go into the recording industry and mention the word Bose everyone will laugh at you. There are plenty of sound systems out there that sound 100x better, for a hell of a lot cheaper then a Bose system.

I find I hear a small difference between FLAC and MP3 (Actually I can hear it a lot on the Nine Inch Nails remixes I was doing. I think that was fault on my part and the compression process, but for anything else I can barely tell the difference.).
The sound difference doesn't justify the size difference.
 
Wow.. I don't know where you're from, but Mini's are the COMPLETE opposite of a chick magnet in Canada.. Plus they are lame.

Probably the last car I'd get is a Mini.. I'd get a gremlin before I'd get a Mini!
 
Grats on the baby (if it's yours D: )and the car. You're stuck now buddy. It's safer.

I'll tell you exactly how to rip your stuff.


This is assuming you play your music through 2 speakers, because I'm not sure how it will sound with 5.1 or what-have you. If you force your stereo CD's into 5.1 sound then I can't help you.



Insert Music CD.

Use EAC (Exact Audio Copy) to rip to FLAC (select highest bitrate) (find it and any answers you need on google)

Use Winamp to convert from FLAC to VBR [Variable Bit Rate] NEW* 32 kbps to 320 KBps in Very High Quality / High Quality Joint Stereo. This uses less space than 320KBPS, and it seems to me it sounds better, but I'm not sure on that.

I play them one after the other (comparing CD source with Very High Quality VBR 32-320kbps) with Studio Reference Cerwin Vega Floorstanding Loudspeakers / X-Fi Music / 100 watt per channel amplifier, and there is absolutely no difference in sound quality, yet a track uses only about 12% of the space as FLAC, and about 9% of the space of WAV. It does compress it though, some data is lost from the original so you won't want to convert it again from the new MP3 source you just made.



Warnings:
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Some media players cannot play VBR (my creative mp3 player plays them and displays the correct info, so iPod should be able to play them with no problems)

Some media players display incorrect details about VBR tracks.

if you convert FLAC To VBR with any old random media utility (like the creative software that comes with your audio card), then winamp (and probably other media players) will not show the correct time. The songs will play fine, but the bit rate won't display right, and time remaining on all songs will always be 0:00. !!

So don't feel bad, I ripped my entire CD collection over the period of a week, before I noticed that all the tracks display 0:00 in length. So I'll have to re-rip my entire collection too.




If you have a scanner, scan the CD cover and put it in the folder. 300dpi with max compression should be fine.

Put the CD cover JPG in the individual CD rip folders and name each cover jpg "folder.jpg" this way each folder shows the CD cover, and also, media players like winamp will show the CD cover when you play the song (Winamp 5.52 with default (benzo) skin)

That is why - once you rip a dozen CD's, you back them up to a DVD with as many CD rips as you can, which is about 8-12 CD's on one DVD in FLAC. Flac is lossless. It sounds exactly the same as the CD, it just uses a better storage compression.

'
1 Now you have FLAC lossless backups of all your CD's on DVD, (CD's tend to get damaged easy you know) Next time you want to add your music to your hard drive, instead of ripping your CD's, you can just drop the DVD in the drive and copy the DVD (about 8-12 albums) on your hard drive.
2 Now if you ever get a good sound system for your PC and a huge hard drive, you can put all of the FLACs on your hard drive for the ultimate in quality.
3 now you have perfect sounding Mp3 rips for your MP3 player and they are small so you can fit a bajillion on a medium sized hard drive.
4 all of your Rips have a CD cover. Create a folder called Music (or whatever) create folders for the names of artists and then put the albums in that.
5 Now do a search with Winamp media library to scan your music folder. Restart winamp and all of your music will be there.


Or not. Do what you want. :p
 
Fliko said:
Bad Mistake

If you go into the recording industry and mention the word Bose everyone will laugh at you. There are plenty of sound systems out there that sound 100x better, for a hell of a lot cheaper then a Bose system.

I find I hear a small difference between FLAC and MP3 (Actually I can hear it a lot on the Nine Inch Nails remixes I was doing. I think that was fault on my part and the compression process, but for anything else I can barely tell the difference.).
The sound difference doesn't justify the size difference.
Click to expand...

Meh... it sounds better than the stock system to me, and it was part of a package.

CyberPitz said:
When I love something enough, I'll have it no matter what....
:3
Click to expand...

You'll have to get through my boomstick, buddy :sniper:

Dog-- said:
Wow.. I don't know where you're from, but Mini's are the COMPLETE opposite of a chick magnet in Canada.. Plus they are lame.

Probably the last car I'd get is a Mini.. I'd get a gremlin before I'd get a Mini!
Click to expand...

I'm not in Canada, apparently... :D

I don't know what you folks have against Minis, but my wife and I absolutely LOVED ours. I wouldn't know whether or not they're chick magnets, since I've been married the whole time I owned it... but everyone I've met that's commented on it has loved it. Very fun car to drive, great gas mileage too :D Not practical for a family car, unfortunately.
 
Mini's are cool. IMO they are cool, sporty, and good on gas.

I love my GS-T Eclipse though. That ****ers quick.

If anybody cared, I forgot to say that after converting them to MP3, you can use Winamp to bring the gain back up to the same level the CD had. (auto-gain feature) It just stores this information so every time you play a track, it plays it at the volume the CD had. After that, I can't tell the difference between CD and MP3.

Right click the track in the Winamp media library to bring up conversion and gain adjustment features.
 
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