Official iPad 2 Thread

[Manic!]

Originally Posted by dangonay

I personally think all MP3 players sound like crap. I use my iPod (iPhone 4 actually) at work in a dock for music. Same thing in both of my cars (which have iPad docks and steering wheel controls to operate). I don't really care about which one sounds better since they all sound like shit compared to my home audio system, which is where I listen to music.

As an audiophile (I'm not the kind of audio buff that claims to hear the difference between $500 or $1,000 cables) I really enjoy my music. But only at home as anything else I listen to music on (my dock, my car, my earphones) is just for background. Kinda like listening to the radio. And for that any MP3 player on the market would do. So I'm going to get the one that operates how I like.


And having the ability to store files on my iPod or iPhone is of no use to me whatsoever. I have a USB thumb drive for that, and I keep it on my keychain. Why the hell would I want to carry around a USB cable just so I could attach my MP3 player to a PC to transfer files when I can simply plug in my thumb drive directly?

320kps MP3's from my MP3 player sound great on my studio monitors. I don't know why anyone calling themselves and audiophile would listen to crap.

The best part about the mini USB cable is everyone's got one and I have one that can fit in my wallet. It also makes it so I only need one cable for my camera MP3's player and GPS. I can go to my buddies house and grab something off his computer without need any special software or syncing up.

MP3's players should not need 300MB+ bloatware for them to work.

[goo3]

Originally Posted by Great68

The iPod, for all it's great innovation has TERRIBLE sound quality.

I would think that sound quality should be the most important attribute in something that plays music.

Of course most of the general public can't tell the difference between a 96kbps mono MP3 and FLAC, but I can.

No question with the iPod Apple was on top with it's interface, features and "cool" factor however I was willing to trade off those things for better sound quality, since I spend most of my time Listening to my Mp3 player, and not playing with it's features.

This is a pretty good discussion:

http://www.head-fi.org/forum/thread/...ortable-player

Examples:

Ooh, I can feel the animosity oozing from the OP. The ipod/phone has quite possibly the best overall package of apps, web browser, intuitive UI, and sound quality. A jack of all trades, master of maybe some. Have you tried, like, actually reading the portable source forum? Here's one thread discussing the iphone's SQ: http://www.head-fi.org/forum/thread/...-sound-quality

Fairly positive from what I could tell, I also owned one, acceptable sound to say the very least.

I would never have touched an iPod - especially after reading some of the threads on head-fi. The problem is that you have some who say great things about them - then others who scorn their SQ.

This year, I got a Touch Gen4 (through a rewards scheme). My original idea was to sell it for reasonable money in NZ - then buy a J3 when I'm in the US next month. I was coming from a Cowon iAudio7 (great little DAP) .... and I'd read a lot of bad things about iPods not having good SQ.

So I got a chance to actually try it.

How wrong I was. The SQ on the Touch I think is as good if not better than the J3 (personal opinion OK) - I'm talking about non/flat EQ. Cowon has excellent EQ capability and BBE - but I just really like the straight up sound of the Touch now. And there are two apps (EQU and Equalizer) that add full manual EQ capability to the Touch as well. Mostly I listen with no EQ - and just use the apps when I need to.

I have an entry level amp/DAC on the way - so I'm looking forward to seeing if that makes even more improvement.

For those who do 'bag' the ipods - I'd suggest actually trying a Touch - and if you get the opportunity, try and do it for at least a day. I'm keeping mine, and only regret now is that I only went 32Gb instead of 64Gb. I have the Cowon iAudio7 as a backup - but I don't think I've actually used it for weeks now.

The one thing that peeves me a bit now is the people who do make comment on the ipods - without actually trying them. IMO they're contributing to a continuing myth that the ipod has poor SQ.

I'm pretty sure some iPods have had terrible SQ. But the recent ones seem to be at least good.. and they support lossless compression but only Apple's own ALAC.

[dangonay]

Originally Posted by Manic!

I don't know why anyone calling themselves and audiophile would listen to crap.

Yeah, I guess I should install a high-end system at work, in my car and ask shopping centres, malls and elevators to upgrade their systems so I don't have to listen to low quality audio anywhere I go. Did you miss the word "background" in my post?

I have friends over all the time to listen to my system and all of them can easily hear the difference between an MP3 and an original recording. They also don't care - the MP3 sounds good enough for them. This is why most consumers don't bother to buy audiophile gear and are perfectly happy with a $500 all-in-one home theatre receiver or $1,000 home theatre system. I also show them my gaming rig and they're all like "why spend so much money on a pair of graphics cards - isn't one enough"? They have computers they bought at Best Buy and are perfectly happy as they do all the stuff they want. They also think gaming should be done on consoles, and for them (and most consumers) they're right.



You're trying to take the position of the technonerd and apply it to the general consumer. Oooh, this tablet has better specs. This one has extra ports. This one has a faster processor. Blah blah blah. The average consumer doesn't give a damn about specs. They care about the user experience.

Apple gets this, and the technonerds don't. This is they get so upset when Apple is so successful - they can't comprehend anyone spending money on something that lacks features they think are necessary. Necessary to them maybe, but not to the general public. Then they turn around and call people who buy Apple products "stupid", "fanboys" or "sheeple" before heading back into their rooms to install that new heatsink and spend hours playing with overclocking settings to extract another 1.2% speed increase from their system.


You know, I bet Samsung and the other tablet makers hate the Apple haters. You go into a forum and see stuff like "you're a fucking idiot to buy an iPad, you should get a Galaxy Tab instead". Does this make the average consumer go "well, I don't want to be a fucking idiot so I'll buy a Galaxy Tab"? No, it probably makes them go "I don't want to buy something that some bitter ignorant person says I should" and they'll avoid the product altogether. I think the haters are actually increasing Apple's sales numbers and hurting the competition they're trying to promote.

[Manic!]

Originally Posted by dangonay

Yeah, I guess I should install a high-end system at work, in my car and ask shopping centres, malls and elevators to upgrade their systems so I don't have to listen to low quality audio anywhere I go. Did you miss the word "background" in my post?

I have friends over all the time to listen to my system and all of them can easily hear the difference between an MP3 and an original recording. They also don't care - the MP3 sounds good enough for them. This is why most consumers don't bother to buy audiophile gear and are perfectly happy with a $500 all-in-one home theatre receiver or $1,000 home theatre system. I also show them my gaming rig and they're all like "why spend so much money on a pair of graphics cards - isn't one enough"? They have computers they bought at Best Buy and are perfectly happy as they do all the stuff they want. They also think gaming should be done on consoles, and for them (and most consumers) they're right.



You're trying to take the position of the technonerd and apply it to the general consumer. Oooh, this tablet has better specs. This one has extra ports. This one has a faster processor. Blah blah blah. The average consumer doesn't give a damn about specs. They care about the user experience.

Apple gets this, and the technonerds don't. This is they get so upset when Apple is so successful - they can't comprehend anyone spending money on something that lacks features they think are necessary. Necessary to them maybe, but not to the general public. Then they turn around and call people who buy Apple products "stupid", "fanboys" or "sheeple" before heading back into their rooms to install that new heatsink and spend hours playing with overclocking settings to extract another 1.2% speed increase from their system.


You know, I bet Samsung and the other tablet makers hate the Apple haters. You go into a forum and see stuff like "you're a fucking idiot to buy an iPad, you should get a Galaxy Tab instead". Does this make the average consumer go "well, I don't want to be a fucking idiot so I'll buy a Galaxy Tab"? No, it probably makes them go "I don't want to buy something that some bitter ignorant person says I should" and they'll avoid the product altogether. I think the haters are actually increasing Apple's sales numbers and hurting the competition they're trying to promote.

You asked what was better then an Ipod and I post one up. You haven't given me one reason why the Ipod is better or easier to use.

Do you feel special calling yourself an audiophile?

[dangonay]

Originally Posted by Manic!

You asked what was better then an Ipod and I post one up. You haven't given me one reason why the Ipod is better or easier to use.

Do you feel special calling yourself an audiophile?

I asked why it was better and you gave no answer that would apply to the general consumer. Sound quality? Pretty much any MP3 player will satisfy consumers. Store files on your MP3 player? I don't know anyone that does that. Everyone I know has a thumb drive. Typical anti-Apple talk - find a feature that most people don't care about and try to make it seem like it's the most important, then come to the conclusion that Apple is crap and almost anything else is better.

I already mentioned one huge advantage of the iPod/iPhone - integration. As in they work perfectly with both my cars (neither of which, btw, has a USB interface unless I pay extra for it). As in you can choose from an infinite number of docks to use.


No I don't feel special being an audiophile. Nor do I feel special being a PC gamer. Way to completely miss the point. I'm in the minority - I spend money on things the average person doesn't care about, even though they know it's better. I'm simply trying to explain why Apple is so successful, even if products like the iPad 2 might lack some hardware features (like SD or mini-USB). That is, the average person doesn't care about whether A is technically better than B. What they care about is if it works well for them.


Do you feel special with your "superior to Apple" MP3 player?

[dangonay]

In other news....

- Apple is offering $100 back to anyone who bought an iPad in the 2 weeks following the announcement of the iPad 2.

- Google announced changes to their development platform for Android to reduce fragmentation. Which is one of the reasons I already gave for my reason to not develop for Android - too many different systems.

[Manic!]

Originally Posted by dangonay

I asked why it was better and you gave no answer that would apply to the general consumer.

Ease of use. Has a screen. built in FM. Costs less. I think all those would apply to Joe 6 pack.

[breh]

lol @ Hyde/Renn.Sport failing people for saying bad things about Apple. I love how that little queerbait only used overpriced Sony Vaio laptops until he started noticing everyone was using MacBooks and jumped onto the bandwagon too. I bet he doens't even know why he's even using a Mac.

[Senna4ever]

I still don't understand why they would include cameras on tablets...you'd look like goddamn fucking Moses on Mt. Sinai taking photos with one of those things.

[Senna4ever]

Originally Posted by Manic!

Apple killed the MP3 player market. Before the Ipod there were number of MP3 player makers now it's hard to find an alternative to the crappy Ipod. and yes the Ipod is a crappy MP3 player compared to other MP3 payers.

I'm gonna have to agree with you on this one. I used to have an iRiver MP3 player, and it was and still is much better sounding than my newer iPod and iPhone4. The iPhone4 is better than my iPod 80GB though, but still not as good as the iRiver. For portable music, the MiniDisc still rules in my book, unfortunately it never took off in N. America. Hell, I bet my old tape cassettes played on my Sony Walkman sound better than on my iPhone.

Originally Posted by gilly

^ If the ipod is a crappy player, why is it "hard" to find an alternative to an Ipod? lol

The sound quality of iPods is just adequate, I don't know why people waste their money on high end ear/headphones for iPods - There's just too much of the sound spectrum (proper terminology?) missing from MP3 files to really get anything out of them.

I think it's the user interface and the seamless-ness of iTunes that just makes it a "better" user experience. Most consumers have never listened to a high end audio system to know that the music they are listening to on an iPod is not very good.

[Oleophobic]

Originally Posted by Senna4ever

I still don't understand why they would include cameras on tablets...you'd look like goddamn fucking Moses on Mt. Sinai taking photos with one of those things.

I'd use the camera primarily for webcamming

[TRDood]

So who is going down to the states on Mar.11?

Thinking of buying a couple and flip them in Canada.
Posted via RS Mobile

[goo3]

Originally Posted by Senna4ever

I don't know why people waste their money on high end ear/headphones for iPods - There's just too much of the sound spectrum (proper terminology?) missing from MP3 files to really get anything out of them.

For my ears (and I don't have dog ears), high bit rate mp3s sound pretty good behind a good driver and a good pair of headphones.

Where it fails is when you play them on a decent set of speakers.. the imaging pretty much disappears, whereas on headphones, you don't get any imaging anyhow.

IIRC, the mp3 algorithm chops off a bunch of stuff (proper terminology!) on either end and cuts the sounds that are "hidden" by other sounds according to how they believe your perception of hearing is supposed to work.

[dangonay]

Originally Posted by Senna4ever

I still don't understand why they would include cameras on tablets...you'd look like goddamn fucking Moses on Mt. Sinai taking photos with one of those things.

Yet one of the biggest complaints of the anti-Apple group is that they didn't have front & rear cameras on the original iPad. Again, implying a feature is "necessary" so they can then claim your product is junk since it doesn't have that feature.

Personally I think a camera on the back is something I'd probably never use.

Originally Posted by Senna4ever

Most consumers have never listened to a high end audio system to know that the music they are listening to on an iPod is not very good.

Lots of people have (including all my friends). It's not that they don't know - it's that they don't care. As long as something is "good enough" that's all that matters. It's only a small portion of the consumer market that prefers "high quality" goods, whether it be cameras, stereo equipment, food & wine or whatever.

[LiquidTurbo]

Originally Posted by Senna4ever

I still don't understand why they would include cameras on tablets...you'd look like goddamn fucking Moses on Mt. Sinai taking photos with one of those things.

Webcam and skype, yo!

[Kim Jong Un]

I'm stoked for those myspace mirror photos with the iPad 2.

[LiquidTurbo]

^ BAHAHAHAH

[Senna4ever]

Originally Posted by dangonay

Lots of people have (including all my friends). It's not that they don't know - it's that they don't care. As long as something is "good enough" that's all that matters. It's only a small portion of the consumer market that prefers "high quality" goods, whether it be cameras, stereo equipment, food & wine or whatever.

That's just sad....it's the same type of person that goes to AYCE sushi or cheap dim sum I guess.

[LiquidTurbo]

Originally Posted by Senna4ever

That's just sad....it's the same type of person that goes to AYCE sushi or cheap dim sum I guess.

lol. No one I know goes back to cheap AYCE after they've had quality sushi.

I've heard quality audio and have no problems going back to iPod. Besides, hooking it up to a car.. a car has terrible soundstage for listening to music.

You just can't beat the conveniece of the iPod.. (well, iPhone4 for me), since the iPhone right now for me is the ultimate all-in-one device for me.

I'm willing to sacrifice a small amount of SQ for that instead of carrying another mp3 player around...

[Teh Doucher]

Originally Posted by TRDood

So who is going down to the states on Mar.11?

Thinking of buying a couple and flip them in Canada.
Posted via RS Mobile

sounds like a good idea to me

[.Renn.Sport]

Originally Posted by Senna4ever

I think it's the user interface and the seamless-ness of iTunes that just makes it a "better" user experience. Most consumers have never listened to a high end audio system to know that the music they are listening to on an iPod is not very good.

it depends how you hook it up using the headphone jack could only go so far.
my mp3s all sound great in my Panamera's Burmester, the lossless files sounds even better.

iTunes is by far one of the best music management tools out there, especially accross multiple i-Devices and please, don't bring up that its a resource hog, its just your shitty computer not fast enough

[.Renn.Sport]

Originally Posted by breh

lol @ Hyde/Renn.Sport failing people for saying bad things about Apple. I love how that little queerbait only used overpriced Sony Vaio laptops until he started noticing everyone was using MacBooks and jumped onto the bandwagon too. I bet he doens't even know why he's even using a Mac.

I've been using a Mac ever since Apple decided to use a proper CPU
and I'm probably one of the most early adopters to iOS and a developer before anyone even had an iphone here.

oh and btw, Sony Vaio's arent overpriced. its just you probably can't afford it

[DanHibiki]

I fucking hate iTunes with a passion

[dangonay]

^ My iPhone 4 crapped out this week (home button quit working). Got another one sent via UPS only 2 days after I called in (under warranty).

Connected my new iPhone to iTunes and it realized it was new and asked if I wanted to restore from another backup. Restored from my previous phone backup and it went flawless. All I had to do was re-enter a couple passwords (which don't get saved) and I was up and running. Everything was exactly as it should be - it was as if my phone was cloned. Even stuff I don't care about (like my missed call list) were restored.

Yeah, iTunes sucks all right.

[JordanLee]

Originally Posted by TRDood

So who is going down to the states on Mar.11?

Thinking of buying a couple and flip them in Canada.
Posted via RS Mobile

Same, I'm down. Wheres the closest one? Southcenter?