Just curious how others would rate their music sources. I would rank mine in the following order:

1. Ipod integration
2. CD
3. FM
4. XM Satellite
5. Casette
6. AM


I was quite surprised that after I installed the iPod integration this weekend it really woke up my car's sound system. It appears to be much clearer than all my other music sources - even clearer than my CD player! I've recorded all the music on my iPod in 256kb or 192kb bit rates and the CD obviously plays at a higher bit rate so I have no idea why it doesn't sound the best(?). I'll need to compare the music recorded on my iPod with the same music CD to be sure I'm comparing apples-to-apples.

The biggest surprise to me is the poor quality of XM. Since XM is a digital signal (not sure of the bitrate(?)) I thought I'd get a much better sound quality but even a strong FM radio station sounds better. Maybe the circuitry and amplifiers in the XM unit are poor quality or perhaps XM is trying to transmit too many channels on too little bandwidth which results in reduced sound quality per channel. My guess is that they allocate a minimal datarate that varies per channel so they can provide all those channels. Have you listened to local traffic on XM? Those stations must be using their lowest bitrate possible because they sound terrible.

Just curious what others think is their best sound source?...

 

Your Ipod and the AAC format may have some built in EQ to compensate for what is lost during compression. I don't have an Ipod and never listened to one.

Like you said, CD's should sound better since they have a 44.1khz sampling rate. You need to compare the same songs from quality recordings before making a final judgement. Find some acoustic guitar, female voices and some clean cymbals (the metal parts on drums). Quality recordings should show you that compressed music should be outlawed. The world is buying lesser quality digital music while a scarce few of us are trying to upgrade to SACD and DVD-Audio.

And XM has been compared to 92kbps MP3. I can hear the compression on my ES-350's sound system but it is still better than FM in both quality and variety.

-Robert

 

The one time my cd changer worked, it was the best my stock Pioneer system (92 SC4) ever sounded with the stock amp--

I retained the OE head unit with my own amps and patched in mp3 signal through the changer input signals and the sound is great--

I'm sure a cd sounds a bit better, but when the mp3's are 320k it's hard to tell any difference at all--

CD would of course have the actual highest quality due to the sampling rate and so on-- but I can't stand having 250 cd's to jack with--

 

Try about 800 CD's. I just finished a 3 month project ripping them to WMA, 320kbps. This way my wife can pick out her "greatest hits" and put them on 6 discs. I was really surprised to find out the ES-350 supports WMA and MP3.

I prefer CD but the car isn't for critical listening.

-Robert

 

iPod probably does not have any additional EQ.
CD's should definitely sound best, unless you have an FM-modulated aftermarket CD changer. A stock one is not, it is directly wired.

An MP3 at 256kbps and above will be virtually indistinguishable from CD for most listeners. An AAC format file at 192 and above will also be indistinguishable. 128bps does not cut it with either one.

XM is not even as good as 92kbps MP3.
A clean FM station can sound better than compressed digital satellite, mainly in the areas of high frequency and channel separation. Problem is that you get a clean, strong FM station about 1% of the time - literally. (And let's not mention the commercials and repetition...)
iPod is clearly better-sounding than XM or Sirius. The satellite signal suffers from heavy compression artifacts, ESPECIALLY loss of stereo separation - due to the cramming of too many channels into not enough bandwidth. The average channel bandwidth is about 30-some kbps these days.

Jerry

 

I prefer DVD-Audio.

 

You DVD-Audio Snob.

 

1) DVD
2) CD
3) Ipod, or any other AUX input for music
4) HD Radio
5) XM
6) Casette
7) FM
8) AM

 

CD.

Now with the XM, it works better with the cassette adapter than the FM modulator.

 

x2... i do everything at 192vbr aac... heck, i can't abx 160vbr, but my wife can, so i do 192 to make her happy... the only thing i'd change is "most listeners" to "virtually all listeners"... repeated blind testing has shown it to be true, regardless of what people "think" they can hear (and i used to be one of those who "knew" i could tell the difference)...

 

Exactly. I've listened to some very high-end car systems, and they sound terrific sitting still. But road noise is always enough to degrade the sound, so good enough is good enough. I've been an audio nut for 40 years, and when I want the best sound I just stay home

 

I can't tell any difference in sound between most compressed music and CDs in my car. I have an aftermarket sony stereo and the convenience of a front panel line-in for my ipod beats out CDs any day.