AAC Distortion
I am an iPod newbie.
I have many MP3 files and was dissapointed to hear how bad most of them are.
Running MP3Gain over them has helped remove a lot of the distortion I had and euPod has boosted the volume without distortion.
It's clear I need to rip my own CDs to get the quality of sound I want.
I tried using iTunes to rip to a couple of CDs last night and got the same distortion I got with my MP3s before I used MP3Gain.
Am i doing something wroung?
Is there something I can change?
Or should I just stick to MP3s?
Many thanks
# 1 Re: AAC Distortion
I had the same problem when I tried to start using iTunes AAC encoding.
I've ended up going back to MP3, mp3Gain and euPod.
The problem is caused by using the iPods eq settings and I wasn't happy just having it switched off as the sound often sounded flat. You probably won't get the distortion playing the files on your computer.
Using "Sound Check" from within iTunes and enabling it on your iPod can help but I found some tracks still distorted horribly.
If something like aacGain ever comes out I'll probably switch to using AAC as the quality / file size is pretty good.
# 2 Re: AAC Distortion
Thanks Sean,
Seems a shame and rather an oversight on Apple's behalf.
It's funny my MP3s always sounded fine on my desktop but with my iPOd and decent earphones many sound terrible!
I'm deleting many of my old files and slowly ripping my CDs.
I'm using CDex with the Lame encoder which seems to do a good (but slow) job.
Thanks
# 3 Re: AAC Distortion
Do you listen to your tunes with the iPods eq on?
If they only sound distorted on your iPod you may not need to re-rip all of your CDs. You should be able to run mp3Gain over them. I only ever do it by album gain. I'm not sure what would happen if you ran it over all of your mp3s...
That said reencoding with Lame will most likely give you better quality mp3s.
# 4 Re: AAC Distortion
I was just about to create a new post on this topic until I saw this one.
I started to re-rip my cds using aac, but they sound distorted on my iPod. Are the eqauliser settings configured within iTunes also used when transferring over hte songs to the iPod?
I used to always have my iPod set to Rock on the EQ. I have had to trun the EQ on my iPod off in order for it to sound ok.
If I changed the EQ setting on iTunes to flat, do you think this would solve the problem?
Chic0 at 2007-11-15 16:49:06 >
# 5 Re: AAC Distortion
I don't think it will. As far as I'm aware the eq settings you select within iTunes do not transfer over to your iPod.
I always have my iPod set to Rock on the eq and this seems to be one of the worst settings for distorting the output.
I found out from the iPodlounge forum that using mp3gain set to 89db and euPod set at 40% pretty much gets rid of the distortion.
If you can live without the eq switching it off should get rid of any distorted output.
As far as I can tell the problem is not with AAC but with the way the iPods eq processes the output.
# 6 Re: AAC Distortion
If your files (whether mp3 or AAC) are distorting on the iPod, it's not necessarily a problem with the encoding. I've found that the based on the way the iPod outputs sound, it distorts when EQ is on. It's strange because when I use any type of "sound-shaping" algorithm in any other music device, it does not distort the same files. This is just a limitation of the iPod. mp3gain helps tremendously with mp3 files, but there is no "aacgain".
I don't think it will. As far as I'm aware the eq settings you select within iTunes do not transfer over to your iPod.Check out this article from Apple: iTunes 2 equalizer presets: http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=61567
dcx693 at 2007-11-15 16:51:16 >
# 7 Re: AAC Distortion
Originally posted by Chic0
Are the eqauliser settings configured within iTunes also used when transferring over hte songs to the iPod?
Not unless you go into the info options of a particular song or album and set the eq preset.
tao at 2007-11-15 16:52:17 >
# 8 Re: AAC Distortion
I've never experienced any distortion using mp3's ripped by Musicmatch or by aac files ripped by itunes and I even use the eq flat setting on my ipod. I rip first as a mp3 usually 192, then run them through mp3gain and then convert to aac 128 where I set the eq that I want for that song. Most of my songs are Jazz, maybe that is the reason why I've never had a problem.
# 9 Re: AAC Distortion
I think it does depend on the music thats been encoded. I started using AAC and found it to be okay on some albums I'd ripped. Then I ripped the new OutKast album which has a fair amount of punchy bass and the distortion was awful. I guess it depends on the gain that the original CD is set at.
I'm yet to notice any distortion when mp3s have been run through mp3gain to reduce the album replay gain to 89db.
