Unlikely Ipod Purchaser Takes the Plunge

[Ljazz]

I honestly didn't expect that I would ever buy an Ipod, but here I am now (my first post) the owner of a 32GB Ipod touch.

Now I'm not your typical Ipod/Apple hater. I actually think Apple does what they do very well and there is a good reason that the Ipod has become synonymous with mp3 player. It's just that like most "name" merchandise, there is a premium one pays for the name and as a value consumer, I always felt that there were other mp3 players that offered me (and I emphasize ME) better value in terms of features, sound etc.

So, why did I buy a 32GB touch (arguably one of the least value oriented players when compared say to an Ipod Classic that offers much more memory for the dollar). Well, after searching high and low for something else that was pocket sized, allowed me to (1) consolidate an mp3 player and my Palm (which I use for just a few applications and basic PDA functions), (2) play a few music videos and educational videos while commuting and
(3) check and send e-mail (from wi-fi spots at least) without locking into a high dollar phone contract -- and did it all with an excellent user interface -- I kept coming back to the Touch as the only real solution.

Sound quality is very important to me and I have had some hesitation about buying an Ipod based upon comments on forums about mediocre sound quality, but I hope to be proven that such talk is way overblown.

Anyway, sorry for the long post. As I said, this is my first post and I look forward to posting again as I use my new Ipod and can report my experience and impressions.

Until then .... thanks for listening :-)

[Sparkee]

Welcome to iLounge and congratulations on your new touch. I'm sure you will enjoy the experience of using your new iPod.

[jasoncordelle]

I really think you'll be pleasantly surprised by the sound...unless you are an audiophile with bionic ears, that is.

You list good reasons to buy and to be honest, I think you made the right choice for your needs.

[bobb-mini]

I await your comment on the working of iTunes. ;) And at first sign of %#&^$, don't hesitate to visit here again and ask.

[Ljazz]

Thanks everyone.

I await your comment on the working of iTunes. ;) And at first sign of %#&^$, don't hesitate to visit here again and ask.

Yes, I've played around a little with Itunes and I am expecting some glitches and learning curve. I admit that I really wish you could simply drag and drop to the player, but unfortunately that's not to be. I suspect I'll be taking you up on the invitation for help ;)

[honeybee1236]

Welcome to iLounge. I would advise you to take advantage of Apple support and the Help section of iTunes as well.

http://www.apple.com/support/ipod/

I admit that I really wish you could simply drag and drop to the player, but unfortunately that's not to be.

You can set it to 'manually manage music' to drag-n-drop music and videos on the iPod but need to set your apps and photos to sync.

[gerwen]

Thanks everyone.



Yes, I've played around a little with Itunes and I am expecting some glitches and learning curve. I admit that I really wish you could simply drag and drop to the player, but unfortunately that's not to be. I suspect I'll be taking you up on the invitation for help ;)

Honestly, ditch the drag and drop methodology. Itunes works better than that, once you get comfortable with it. Automatic syncing is the way to go with an Ipod. It'll take some extra management if your music library is larger than your iPod's storage though. I suggest you find one of Codemonkey's posts and click it to read his paper on using smart playlists. It's an eye opener.

Btw, i'm no apple fanboy. I own only one apple device, and hated iTunes when i got my Touch. Mainly because i was a drag and dropper. Now i like how itunes works (if not how it performs on my laptop).

[bobb-mini]

Btw, i'm no apple fanboy. I own only one apple device, and hated iTunes when i got my Touch. Mainly because i was a drag and dropper. Now i like how itunes works (if not how it performs on my laptop).
Welcome to the dark side. :D

I concur, the iTunes+iPod model is just so much superior. Although I must say, to appease the drag&dropper, iTunes *could* do a two-ways synching, instead of (really unsophisticated) one-way sync.

[Ljazz]

Honestly, ditch the drag and drop methodology. Itunes works better than that, once you get comfortable with it. Automatic syncing is the way to go with an Ipod. It'll take some extra management if your music library is larger than your iPod's storage though.

Have no fear. I fully intend to embrace the whole "Itunes/Ipod integration experience." (or at least give it a try for a while) :D
I do have a rather large music collection, so there will definitely be some "mangement" issues.

[gerwen]

Have no fear. I fully intend to embrace the whole "Itunes/Ipod integration experience." (or at least give it a try for a while) :D
I do have a rather large music collection, so there will definitely be some "mangement" issues.
Check out this post (http://forums.ilounge.com/showthread.php?t=244379) for ways to deal with a large library.

[Ljazz]

Thanks for that. It looks like it could be very helpful. I'll look at it in more detail when I have a little more time.

My first impressions having played around a little with the Touch last night:

(1) I love the interface. The touch screen is responsive and the interface is intuitive. Better than anything else I have used to date.

(2) The integration with Itunes is great. There are some things about Itunes I don't like as much as some other "media jukeboxes" I have used, but the integration with the player likely can't be beat. So far, all of the little nuisances I have either read about or had myself were easily solved by a little reading in the help screen or searching on the internet.

(3) I am not as happy with the sound quality as I would like (and I'm keeping an open mind here). I have Shure e3 in-ear-monitors and my music is ripped (or purchased) in mp3 format at reasonably high quality (I haven't had any problem on other players). I generally listen to jazz and classic rock with some pop and classical as well. The problem: Some of the music sounds distorted (again not a problem on other players or on the computer), especially in the bass and even more so if I use the bass booster EQ. Now, I'm not what I would consider a "bass-head." I prefer a more clean and tight bass. I was trying to use the bass booster because the music generally seemed to lack "warmth," for lack of a better word, and I wanted to add a little bottom to round it out.

I will need to spend some more time with it to see if the EQ is entirely the distortion problem. But as for the overall sound quality/color or "warmth", do I need to consider different headphones? The e3s have always served me well, but I'm not sure how much coloring they do to the sound.

[gerwen]

Looking at Anandtech's RMAA tests:
http://www.anandtech.com/showdoc.aspx?i=3204&p=9
There doesn't appear to be any deficiencies in the frequency response of the Touch. I know depending on which earphones I use, there's a big difference. My Ety's are rather flat in response, so the bass seems weak compared to the $20 in-ears that I had before or my son's Skullcandy headphones(both of which boom in the bass dept.) However I'm fairly confident that that's how it really is, rather than a deficiency of any sort.

I don't use the EQ at all. I tried the bass boost, and it sounded terrible to my ears.

[Ljazz]

OK. I think I'm ultimately going to be VERY happy. I realized that I have been playing my other players for some time with the bass EQ jacked up pretty high because the music otherwise sounded like garbage (obviously this is not an option with the Touch since the bass boost seems to sound awful). So I thought maybe I DO just need different headphones ... maybe all this time I have just been letting the EQ on my other players compensate for headphones that weren't right for me. So I tried the Touch without EQ and with the earbuds that came with my Sansa Clip (which are really cheap and pretty much suck). To my surprise the music sounded better in many ways. Vocals sounded veiled and midrange and highs lacked clarity (which you would expect from cheap earbuds), but the sound was otherwise warm and the soundstage broad. Some less complex instrumental stuff sounded surprisingly good.

So, it's pretty clear to me that once I find the right headphones for this thing its going to be awesome! Let the hunt begin...:D