OK, so I have a first generation iPod Mini. I have the newest update for it, so I've been testing the EQ settings. A friend of mine owns an MPIO, and his ear buds sound amazing with Base Booster selected. OK, so I selected it as well. Wow, sounds like total ****. The base sounds so bad that the music is very distorted. I ordered new ear buds - an obvious different from the distortion, but I still get very bad quality from higher bit rate MP3 which should have good base. I had my buddy try the iPod ear buds in his MPIO, and the base was absolutely nothing compared to the MPIO ear buds. MPIO also has a gold tip instead of whatever most other manufacturers’ use, which apparently is better. Anyway, I'm just wondering if anyone else has noticed a different in the quality of sound (worse) compared to another model or not even in comparison.
I'm quite upset over this, seeing as I paid $450 for this MP3 player, when I could have bought a cheaper MPIO for $200 for much better music quality. Ah, and I also bought a pair of DJ-style ear phones (Sony) which do have a nice beat from them, but honestly still nothing compared to the MPIO ear buds.
If anyone has any suggestions, please let me know.

Well you could buy another pair of headphones because the one's included are almost never good sounding...

Maybe look for a manual EQ (dunno ipod's well sry) so that you can adjust the bass to your taste.

Other than that, if you still think it sounds bad, you could buy a better sounding mp3 player (*cough* creative *cough*)



hope this helps
sim1

do your sony headphones have a gold tip or gold plated tip? if the connection is gold or gold plated the sound quality will be better.

There's nothing gold about iPod. Nothing at all. It's such a waste of money it was. Anyone who worships iPod needs help. They are way over priced, and what do we get? **** ear buds, a click wheel (big deal) and lots of room. Whats the point of a 40GB ipod when it takes an hour to SEARCH for the artist/album you want?

Anyway, I'll be sticking with the ipod seeing as it cost me an arm and a leg. The ipod ear buds are not gold tipped... but I know the mpio ones are. Superising to be honest. Does anyone have any suggestions for ear buds? I don't like the bulky-ness of DJ-style, and I would prefer to be able to buy them in a store like Best Buy or Futureshop. Oh and the Sony ear phones are not gold either. pfft.

Gold tip or not, it should only have a minimal effect on sound quality (you shouldn't even be able to notice a difference unless your source is audiophile-grade). The iPod earbuds does sound like ...., but the sound quality in general shouldn't be THAT bad. IMO Apple's at the bottom when it comes to audio quality, but it shouldn't be bad enough to **** you off that much . Take it back to the store and compare it with another iPod mini, it might be a problem with the hardware.

Take a look at the headphone/canalphone threads in this forum, they should give you an idea about what to look for. DO NOT buy a headphone or earbud from FS, BB, they don't carry anything that's worth more than a penny.

gold tip helps, but the drivers make the most difference.

Anything from SHURE is awesome! I have the E3Cs and am blown away with the quality difference

Gold tip only helps the electron tranfer faster and "better". It definitely doesn't necessarily mean nickel or silver plated plugs will degrade the soundquality.
IMHO, Apple earbuds aren't ALL that bad for bundled earbuds even though they are VERY poor quality. It gets loud with no distortion.
iPods and iPod mini's have weaker output than other players with 86dB(Not perfectly sure", so technically, they have more difficulty reproducing greater quality sound.
I suggest you go to RadioShack. (Yes Canada I live there[more like here] too) And get Sennheiser PX100.
They are head-band cans, but they are incredibly small and portable, as well as excellent sounding. You'll love it.

Takes an hour to search? You have never used an iPod have you. Its the easiest menu there is.

Heard of hyperbole?
iPods do have the most user-friendly interface though.

Coming from someone that owns a lot of players, the Ipod mini sound isn't bad. If you just have the right pair of headphones without the EQ on, you can improve the overall quality. Anything that brings out the bass, either a pair of Sennheiser PX-100's or KSC-35's are a good choice as they compensate for the IPOD's lack of bass. If you need a closed pair, then the PX-200's are a good choice although not as good as the PX-100's for overall sound. The EQ on the IPOD is just plain terrible, so I leave it off. Also, I just can't get into earbud's. Canal phone prices can go to nose bleed levels on volume, but you have to deal with them stuck way in your ear and they can get rather pricey, so the sennheiser PX-100's bang for buck is pretty impressive.


Use the free program EUPOD along with MP3 Gain for your music files and boost the volume to 40% + and you'll get stronger sound without distortion. I'm not an IPOD fanboy, just trying to get the maximum sound out of the player. In the beginning I was totally disappointed with the sound. Over time, by tweaking certain things I've grown to like it. If you feel you just can't make it sound the way you want, there are plenty of other players on the market that will serve your needs. I'd recommend www.head-fi.org to find really knowledgable people that can give you input on players, headphones and amps.



Good luck
LTM

Thank you for all your replies. LTM, thank you specifically for your reply. I'm definitely going to test these programs.

As for the general sound, I guess there is nothing I can do to benefit from it, except for turning off the EQ settings? I don't like ear phones that sit atop of your head, or even behind your ears, so I want to look for good quality ear buds. Although, I'm pretty stupid, I probably would spend a hundred dollars on them, if I can be guaranteed a good base sound. If not, I'll consider the Sennheiser PX100 (thank you).

OK, so I have looked through some of the most recent threads about ear phones and I have picked out the most commonly suggested items.

As it stands, I am looking at the following:

Sony MDR-EX51LP/WHI Fontopia Headphones
Sharp HP-MD33S Four Pole Headphones
SONY MDR-EX71

As you know, most of you obviously have more experience and knowledge than me. As I said, these three were the most recommended (for ear buds). Would any of you suggest one of the three over the other for any reasons? Any know if I can pick them up in Canada (maybe the Sony store)?

You can pick up the MDR-EX71 for a hefty price online (sony.ca), I didn't see one in the Sony store in my city.

Out of those three, Sharp HP-MD33S is by far the best canalphone. You can import it from Japan ( http://www.audiocubes.com/ ,totals to $60, shipping included), which is cheaper than buying the Sonys here.

As Monkeh said already, MD33 are far better than Sony ex51/71. Some people prefer it over Shure e2c. But the four-pole plug can be...a little distracting, but I think you can mod it.
The ex51/71 can be acquired from the SonyStore as well as the A&B Sound. A&B Sound also carries Koss PortaPros and PX100.
From SonyStore, you can get ex81 (at least from mine), so I would recommend getting those out of other ex series cans.

The Sharp HP-MD33S Frequency is 20~20,000Hz tho, compared to 6~20,000Hz for Sony ex51/71. That's good?

dL

Yes.
UEs are 60 to 16000Hz.