I hear static, do you? Please check.

[wjm]

I've been wrestling with poor sound quality for weeks now.
To start, I'm not an MP3 noob. I use expensive Shure E3c's, have freshly ripped prestine scratchless CDs, and have done comparisons with other players.

It may just be my iPod, but it adds static to certain music.

To demonstrate, I've ripped a track from the Lord of the Rings, The Two Towers soundtrack, the first track, Foundations in Stone using EAC 320 kBit/s MP3 and LAME. At exactly 2:30 into the track the chorus starts to sing, and on my iPod Classic 80 gb, I hear static mixed in with their voices. I've tried other encodings, Apple Lossless, AAC, all exactly the same at the exact same spots. However, when the track is played on my PC or another MP3 player, it sounds fine, perfect, clear and no static.

To demonstrate, I've recorded the static and posted it on my web site.
http://www.lunarorbit.net/Space/Space.html
There you will find a five second MP3 clipping of the original track that does not have the static. Play it on your PC to check. I've also posted a wav recording of a Rio Carbon playing the five second MP3, with no static - sounds just like the original MP3. And a recording of my iPod Classic 80 gb playing the five second MP3, listen carefully with headphones and you will hear static mixed into the chorus.

This is not the only track with static, it occurs quite often. I originally thought it was my old MP3s and spent weeks re-ripping at much higher quality and trying different ripping software only to eventually find static again and again.

So my question is this. Could someone with a new iPod Classic play the five second sample MP3 on their iPod and let me know if you hear static?

Do I just have a bad iPod, or is there some flaw in the model line?

[kafkef]

i get slight static but i think mine is because of the crappy ipod earphones. i'll have to wait and see (hear? :P) when my new earphones arrive. (ultimate ears super.fi 3 studio)

[wjm]

I have some bad news for all us iPod Classic owners and for you Nano owners too.
I exchanged my 80 gig Classic today at the Apple Store.
Long story told short - The new iPod also adds the same static to the sample music. I had a friend test his new Nano and he reports static also.

That about settles it. Even my RAZR phone plays this MP3 clearly - but not my iPod. I'm Sooooooooooooooooooo disappointed. And this was my first iPod too.

[SouthsideIrish]

I sometimes hear static with no music playing at all. Just moving the scroll will do it.

[RealaT]

i've been listening to my ipod classic for weeks since i first got it, and not once have i heard what i would describe as 'static'

[SouthsideIrish]

I heard it today when I was out shopping, and I have heard it before, but I only notice it when I am not listening to anything. Oh, and it's not my headphones either. Mine are not cheap!

[wjm]

Have you tried the 5 second sample MP3 I posted to my web site? Listen carefully with medium volume. Compare it to some other player (not a Classic or Nano).

[brendan99]

Originally Posted by wjm

To demonstrate, I've ripped a track from the Lord of the Rings, The Two Towers soundtrack, the first track, Foundations in Stone using EAC 320 kBit/s MP3 and LAME. At exactly 2:30 into the track the chorus starts to sing, and on my iPod Classic 80 gb, I hear static mixed in with their voices.

I've played my version of the same track (which was recorded using mp3 format at 192kbps) on my 160gb classic and don't hear the static. I've sync'd the 5 second mp3 track to my ipod and played it and again, I get NO static. So I'm guessing it might be something to do with your individual unit...

Factors that could make a difference between my lack of stack and your static:-

- your 80gb v my 160gb
- I'm using windows...you?
- my CX300 headphones v your shure ec2s? Doubt that would make a difference though.

Not sure what else to suggest.

PS - great album isn't it?!!

[wjm]

This is good information, thank you brendan99. Can someone else with a 160 gb Classic verify this? If the 160s are clear, then an upgrade is the way to go.

I exchanged my first 80 gig Classic for a new 80 gig Classic, and still hear the static in the sample. One thing to consider is that Apple may actually fix the problem, but wont admit it and those first few with older broken units are out of luck. Owners of the newer units, thinking the complainers are simple nuts.

And, yes I'm using windows on three PCs (all XP).
Also, I hear the static with all my headphones when connected to the iPod, not just the E3c's, that includes the ones that came with the iPod. The PCs and other MP3 player, even my RAZR cell phone, all sound great playing the sample, regardless of headphones (within the expected performance of the headphones, of course).

All three of them are fantastic album's.

[wjm]

Good news. fvnktion has determined that turning off the equalizer (EQ) eliminates the distortion. 6G classic static crackling noise

I've played with different settings, and many if not most, add some sort of static. But with EQ turned off, it sounds pretty good! brandan99, did you have your EQ turned off?

[laurenglenn]

Slightly off topic, but the subject of this thread reminds me of Rock N Roll High School....

Riff Randall: "Kate, I'm getting some static...."
Kate: "Not as much as you're going to get...."

[brendan99]

Originally Posted by wjm

I've played with different settings, and many if not most, add some sort of static. But with EQ turned off, it sounds pretty good! brandan99, did you have your EQ turned off?

Yes, I had the EQ turned off. Still, you shouldn't have to have the EQ function unused just so you don't hear static...there must be something else.

[fvnktion]

Hey all, i totally agree that Apple has really run down the most important aspect of their audio products, that would be the audio. So maybe we should ask apple what good an mp3 player is that produces crappy audio??? I posted on apples forums and hope that at some point apple realizes what they are doing to their product reputation and give us some audio . Lets all keep on posting and hopefully something at some point with get through their thick skulls. The link that i posted on the static problem is here:
http://discussions.apple.com/message...428079#5428079

Hey WJM, ive got another good test file that really brings out the static that runs in a loop that can be tested on the ipod. I can email it to you and you can post it on your site if you like. It would be good to have an assortment of files to test, as each file has distortion under different frequency stimulus. For example, on your file i can play it in some EQ settings with flawless results, which with my file would produce static. It seems that there is no one EQ setting that will result in no static.

Let me know and i can email it to you. Ive got a few more songs that i can clip and get to you as well.

[wjm]

fvnktion,
I also found another track, Herb Alpert's Spanish Flea, that wreaks havoc on the EQ - It's mostly trumpet.

I'm a little hesitant to add more 'samples' to the site for copyright issues. A single 5 second clip is one thing, but a selection might be pushing it. In fact I was thinking I should remove it all since I made the point.

BTW, What track is your test file?

[JazzyMac]

Originally Posted by wjm

I use expensive Shure E3c's,

Versus the cheap ones?