media

Pantocrator

A little off topic, sorry, but this is important to the mobile audio experience.
I am in the market for a new Mp3 player to use as both a personal mp3 player and for my car while driving. Obviously, sound quality is the most important trait, but that is rarely spoken of in online reviews. And when it is, sound quality is usually mentioned in conjunction with the included headphones, as if people are actually going to use those.

I am looking at the iphone/ipod touch (same thing audio wise) and the archos 605 right now. Any other ideas would be greatly appreciated.
For example, i've heard that the ipod touch has terrible audio quality, but i've heard that if you use legitimate headphones the touch has awesome sound quality- its the included head phones that suck.

Right now I use the Archos 500 and it is awesome. Unfortunately, it is old and is not holding up well. The battery life is suffering and the buttons don't all work anymore. That is why I want a new one, and hopefully something that is more mobile.

eloplayspolo

what about just a regular ipod classic? the provided headphones actualy sound VERY GOOD, u wont find an mp3 player with more acessories availble to it and its super easy to use and navigate.

Pantocrator

I don't care about the headphones- the thing will be used in my car audio system, and I don't want the player to be the limiting factor of my system. Does the original ipod have excellent overall audio quality? the reason I purchased the Archos av500 is that at the time it had the highest rated audio quality overall.

eloplayspolo

the ipod sounds FLAWLESS in my car, u cant tell its not a CD when u have high quality songs

Thom

I think it depends more on how much you compress the music. You can keep everything at lossless (assuming you're importing CDs) but you won't fit as many songs. If you buy from itunes it's 128. I think my 13 year old niece has songs at 96 so she can cram more on her 2 gig player. Even with the best headphones nothing will sound good.

I have an 80 gig ipod classic and the Alpine iDA-X001 and it sounds great. But I keep everything at 320 or lossless. The X001 is being replaced by the new X100, which only looks slightly different:

http://www.crutchfield.com/App/Product/Item/Main.aspx?o=m&g=300&i=500IDAX001&tp=5684

http://www.crutchfield.com/App/Product/Item/Main.aspx?o=m&g=300&i=500IDAX100&tp=5684


The new X300 is way cheaper, since I guess the display is way cheap looking:

http://www.crutchfield.com/App/Product/Item/Main.aspx?o=m&g=300&i=500IDAX300&tp=5684

eloplayspolo

exactly, if your files are at 320 it sounds like a CD, if they are at 128... u can sometimes hear hear the diff, but at anything less u will hear a his and the bass gets dirty.

Pantocrator

So the player doesn't matter?

eloplayspolo

player DOES matter and how its connected. for example, the ipod, with the correct setup can be connected through the data cable that u connect to your computer which will put out a much better quality sound than just through the headphone jack, i notice it especialy with bass. Honestly, go with an ipod, there is a reason its the best selling mp3 player around and its not just because apple is amazing at marketiing.

tk421

the ipod for sure has better support with aftermarket (end even OEM) head units.

always go for the data cable as the other ppl said... it's worth the 25 bucks :-)