I have been copying CD’s to my laptop using the best quality option then uploading to the Fuze. They sound quieter and have significantly less dynamic range than the preloaded tracks. In fact it’s not really a pleasure to listen to. I have done the “Rest of the World” option but obviously that would effect everything. Obviously Sandisk want to produce a quality experience on first play but how do they do it and more importantly why can’t I?
Sounds like (a) something is wrong with your ripping settings or (b) the preloaded tracks are mastered louder, which can give the illusion of better.
Look at your ripped files with Gspot codec info appliance. http://www.headbands.com/gspot/
They should be mp3 at 320kbps. That’s the highest quality mp3. If they are something else, change your ripping settings, or if your ripping program won’t give you the option, get another ripping program.
@adamn wrote:
I have been copying CD’s to my laptop using the best quality option then uploading to the Fuze.
Which CD ripper? Which encoder? What, specifically, is the quality setting for the encoder?
They sound quieter and have significantly less dynamic range than the preloaded tracks.
The sound quality depends greatly with how the music was recorded. With audiophile CDs from labels such as Telarc and Delos, it is possible to have damage-your-hi-fi-if-you-are-not-careful dynamic range.
Obviously Sandisk want to produce a quality experience on first play but how do they do it and more importantly why can’t I?
Exact Audio Copy is a high-quality CD ripper. LAME is a high-quality encoder. Recommended quality settings: http://wiki.hydrogenaudio.org/index.php?title=Lame_Compiles#High_quality:_HiFi.2C_home_or_quiet_listening.
Encoding a CD to mp3 does not change the dynamic range nor volume.
I have been using Windows Media Player as I really have little idea of what other options there are or how they work.
@adamn wrote:
I have been using Windows Media Player as I really have little idea of what other options there are or how they work.
CD ripper: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CD_ripper.
Lossy compression: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lossy_compression.
I like the Exact Audio Copy tutorials at hydrogenaudio: http://wiki.hydrogenaudio.org/index.php?title=Exact_Audio_Copy#Exact_Audio_Copy_guides.
The LAME encoder: http://lame.sourceforge.net/.
If you use a high-quality CD ripper, a high-quality encoder, and a high-quality setting on your encoder, your encodes should sound like your CDs. If, after following all these steps, you still think that your encodes do not sound as good as your CDs, then you should ABX them to verify that they do sound different. But this is an advanced topic—ABXing. The bottom line is that, short of buying audiophile-grade CDs or downloads, by following these steps, the vast majority of your encodes should sound exactly like your CDs.
Let’s not drown the OP in geekness.
It’s OK to use Windows Media Player. It’s not geek-perfect but it will do your job.
Open Windows Media Player and find the Rip tab. If you don’t see it, right-click on the top of the window, where it says Windows Media Player, go to View and choose Full Mode.
Right-click on the Rip tab. Under format choose mp3. Under bitrate choose 320. That should reproduce your CDs at very good quality.
I still think that what you are experiencing is a matter of loudness. New CDs are mastered LOUD compared to older ones. Google “loudness wars” if you want to learn more about it. They’re actually not improving dynamic range but flattening it by pumping up everything. But they will come through louder compared to older recordings.
If it were me, I’d just turn up the volume to hear your own music.
But if you want to start tweaking, the Fuze does support a function called Replay Gain that will crank up softer recordings. You can use it with Winamp, a music library software like Windows Media Player.
http://wiki.hydrogenaudio.org/index.php?title=Replaygain#Players_support
But unfortunately, Winamp wants you to pay for the privilege of CD ripping to mp3. So you’d need to rip your albums with WMP and then Replay Gain them with Winamp. Each one will want to organize your music library, so you have to very firmly say No as you are setting up Winamp.
I don’t use Replay Gain, but there are a lot of how-tos available:
http://blog.winamp.com/2009/08/24/automatic-volume-leveling-in-winamp-with-replay-gain/
You can also use MP3Gain to adjust the volume of your .mp3 files. 98% of my music library is ripped from my own CD’s, so I use this extensively. I think you’ll find as I did, that you’ll need to lower the levels of ripped CD’s rather than raisiing them as CDs today are recorded so ‘hot’ that there is a lot of clipping on them.
Personally, I think the default level in MP3Gain is set a little low at 89db but you can change it to whatever you want. I find 94db to be satisfactory and a good balance between good volume and mimimal clipping. By adjusting the levels, you’ll have a consistent volume between tracks and won’t have to keep adjusting the volume on your player up and down for a comfortable volume setting.
Thanks guys, I’ll try to get my head round this. I tend to play my Fuze through my car stereo and need a volume which if used on an FM station would make the windows rattle. The sound also lacks the bass that comes through from a CD and vocals seem to be muted. I have fiddled with the equalizer but to no avail. I’ll read through you links and see what I can follow. Incidently I already copy CD’s at 320 kbps.
@adamn wrote:
The sound also lacks the bass that comes through from a CD and vocals seem to be muted.
Rockbox’s equalizer is much better; using this equalizer, it is possible to get huge amounts of deep bass. Incidentally, I use foobar2000 to replayGain my music. You may want to take a look.
@adamn wrote:
Thanks guys, I’ll try to get my head round this. I tend to play my Fuze through my car stereo and need a volume which if used on an FM station would make the windows rattle. The sound also lacks the bass that comes through from a CD and vocals seem to be muted. I have fiddled with the equalizer but to no avail. I’ll read through you links and see what I can follow. Incidently I already copy CD’s at 320 kbps.
This sounds more like a deficiency or weak link in your car stereo unit or the interface/connection to it. Remember, the power output of the Fuze is only in the neighborhood of 60 milli-watts or so. It was designed to power earbuds and some headphones, period. Not big multiple speaker systems that also have to drown out road and traffic noise too.
It’s not the EQ. It is a simple queston of power. The Fuze just doesn’t put out very much, as Tapeworm noted.
So it’s a fact of life: You really have to crank up the Fuze to send it through a car stereo. Just max it out and turn the car stereo up too. That’s just how it is. If you were getting enough output from a Fuze to not require a big boost for the car stereo, your eardrums might cave in with headphones.
Just don’t forget to turn down the car stereo when you switch to a radio station. And turn down the Fuze before you listen through headphones.
Actually I think you mean wattage.
@black_rectangle wrote:
Actually I think you mean wattage.
http://www.sengpielaudio.com/calculator-ohm.htm:
“Power is not really something that can be ‘amplified.’ Voltage and current can be amplified.”
Wow, this is getting pretty silly, but it does seem like what’s coming out of the headphone jack is watts.
Tapeworm said:
“Remember, the power output of the Fuze is only in the neighborhood of 60 milli-watts or so.”
Headwize describes headphone power in watts as well.
http://gilmore2.chem.northwestern.edu/tech/dbohn1_tech.htm
Don’t ask me, I’m just a music lover.
The point here is that whatever is coming out of the Fuze headphone jack–watts, volts, chocolate drops, rivers of blood–needs to be beefed up before it’s going to be loud enough or rich enough for a car stereo. An underpowered signal doesn’t just sound quieter, but also lower in fidelity.
@black_rectangle wrote:
Wow, this is getting pretty silly, but it does seem like what’s coming out of the headphone jack is watts.
Power can be expressed as a function of voltage and current.
Tapeworm said:
“Remember, the power output of the Fuze is only in the neighborhood of 60 milli-watts_ _or so.”
I, too, have seen the datasheet for the AS3525.
Headwize describes headphone power in watts as well.
Yes, power is in watts. But voltage is in volts. A better way of expressing a headphone’s sensitivity is dB/V for the reason given in the following article.
http://www.akg.com/site/product_tipps/powerslave,id,35,nodeid,12,_language,EN.html.
In other words, a better way of expressing a headphone’s sensitivity is dB/V because V = the square root of (P x R) where V is the voltage, P is the power, and R is the resistance.
The point here is that whatever is coming out of the Fuze headphone jack–watts, volts, chocolate drops, rivers of blood–needs to be beefed up before it’s going to be loud enough or rich enough for a car stereo.
I am aware that MP3 players tend to be low-voltage devices.
An underpowered signal doesn’t just sound quieter, but also lower in fidelity.
I am also aware of the equal-loudness contours.
