There are many ways to play sound in the ML system in the new LS460. I have put them in order from lowest to highest sound quality, according to my estimates. Correct me if I am incorrect on any:

AM
FM
SAT
CD
iPod connected to AUX
DVD
HDD 128 (Good)
HDD 256 (Excellent)

Thanks for your input!

 

From what I know, wouldn't HDD 256 and 128 be the same as iPod (assuming your mp3s on your ipod are also ripped in that format).

If you have lossless on your ipod, then wouldnt that be as good as dvd or cd?

 

#1 Ranking for Sound Quality

 

From worst to best, my list is:

AM
SAT
FM
(if you have an FM station -- and they're rare -- that puts out a high quality signal with minimal compression, it sounds much better to me than XM)
HDD 128 (Good)
HDD 256 (Excellent)
iPod -- I use Apple Lossless Encoding and take the signal output from a dock connector, thus bypassing the headphone amp
CD
DVD

 

brt, what doc connector do you use for the ipod? from what i know the only interface you can use on the ls460 is the aux??

but yeah, i would assume dvd audio should be the best among all

 

He's talking about having the output from the ipod go from the bottom, not the headphone amp.

Actually if the headphone jack is good quality, I'd think iPod could theoretically be the best. An iPod with rockbox firmware can playback lossless flac. is that not as good as dvd / cd?

 

so there are connects where it takes the data from the ipod connector (bottom) and convert it to aux?

 

I don't think the Rockbox firmware eliminate the compression of the files loaded onto the ipod, does it? If not it can't possibly compare to either CD or DVD (maybe I'm missing something here)... you've lost it at the time of compression no mater what algorythms you go through to fill in the gaps.

I assume DVD also means DVD-A as well (vs DVD 5.1 via DD or DTS). DVD-A I think would have to be the highest quality sound.

 

DVD Audio is pretty cool but there is a limited selection of available titles.

 

i thought you could always create your own?

 

Hmm. Would it actually be DVD-A or would it just be a DVD with audio files on it? The pre-recorded ones have the sound remixed to 5.1.

 

ah, very good point, mark, i understand what you mean now. yeah, probably just mp3 in dvd-a format. never mind.

i agree, there are very limited number of them out there

 

Whenever I see DVD talking about audio, I automatically assume DVD-A

Rockbox allows the iPod to play .flac files which are supposedly lossless as opposed to .mp3 or .wmv which are lossy.

Of course in the end, ALL the sources depend on your recorded source, but if it's a lossless recorded transfer format, then you should be better than if you used a lossy format.

 

DVD is 24bit/96kHz wheras CD is 16bit/44kHz, so a well-recorded DVD should sound better than the same recording on CD. Assuming, of course, that they don't go crazy with the surrounds.

You always want to avoid taking the iPod signal directly from the headphone out; this adds a very cheap amplifier into the signal path. Several companies make dock connectors that allow you to power the iPod AND use the higher quality "line out" signal from the bottom of the iPod.

iPod signal quality will always depend on how you store your files. Lossless formats seem to be the best compromise for top sound with some compression of file size.

 

dont ipods only play mp3s? CD quality wave files are higher quality than mp3s