Formula1

I have the Kensington Charger/FM Transmitter for the iPod and it works great. There is virtually no static and it sounds just like I'm listening to the radio. I am no audiophile but for me it sounds great. It also charges the iPod while it plays.

rduncan

Depending on what kind of mini cable you have you get close to CD quality... Its not quite as good I say. it is analog after all.
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I believe that the iPod quality is very good, better than MP3 CDs, since the encoding can be AAC (AAC is a losless encoder, far better at sound reproduction than MP3) and both are converted to analog before being amplified. (Clarification: The MP3 vocoder compresses the signal into a small bitstream ad throws away (loses) some of the content info in the process of converting the signal into a bit stream; AAC vocoder retains all of the sound info (lossless). After all, sound is ultimately analog (voltages moving speakers). For example, your CD player connect to your pre-amp using - what? - an analog cable.

Robert

TexaZ3

MP3 files are much inferior to CD quality to begin with, and through AUX they will sound even worse. I'd stick with copies of original CDs if you prefer CD-quality.

rduncan

Here are some advantages (and a potential disadvantage) that I've observed in using the iPod:

+ Simple User Interface: Clearly, the iPod interface is superior for finding and playing content (I doubt that even staunch iDrive supporters would prefer to use iDrive to iPod to navigate through a music collection). Your content is simply organized and accessible on the iPod.

- No Hands-free Operation: It's not a good idea to take your eyes off of the wheel to scroll through the iPod menus to find your next tune! And if you use polarized glasses, it's nearly impossible ... if you were daft enough to try, uh, hypothetically speaking. I imagine that it's similarly not a good idea to scroll through multiple menus via iDrive while driving, But at least you are doing it with your hands on the wheel. Slight edge here to the iDrive.

+ Complete Library: Your iPod can carry all of your music and podcasts along with you, immediately accessible. I find this to be a big advantage over CDs (I only use the 6-CD changer in my car for playing material that is provided to me that I do not care to permanently keep on my iPod). Far more fun than burning new CDs and shuffling through them to find the right content.

Robert

UUronL

I believe that the iPod quality is very good, better than MP3 CDs, since the encoding can be AAC (AAC is a losless encoder, far better at sound reproduction than MP3) and both are converted to analog before being amplified. (Clarification: The MP3 vocoder compresses the signal into a small bitstream ad throws away (loses) some of the content info in the process of converting the signal into a bit stream; AAC vocoder retains all of the sound info (lossless). After all, sound is ultimately analog (voltages moving speakers). For example, your CD player connect to your pre-amp using - what? - an analog cable.

Robert
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Sorry, this is inaccurate. I've been encoding and playing back audio using AAC since before it was ever commercially available - back when people were hacking together GNU code for coders and decoders.

AAC is not a lossless codec. It is lossy, just like MP3. It generally does a better job at the same bit rates, but the bit rate Apple sells on the ITMS certainly does not perform as well as an MP3 encoded with LAME at a higher bitrate by someone who knows what settings to choose.

I also fail to see how adding an analog stage is desirable. Especially considering the lackluster S/N of the iPod and the tinny frequency response compared to other portable music players.


MP3 CDs are great, and allow the onscreen display of song and artist information. This is the big win as far as I'm concerned. Fitting 10 or 11 CDs is great too, and for my listening style, more than adequate. I have an iPod and a PSP with media that I could be playing via an AUX-in, but I have no desire to add it.

Freewilly

Much inferior? MP3 is between FM and CD quality. For about 5mb per song, you can burn 150 songs on a CD. (I heard someone said e60 can only play up to 99 songs?. Not sure) But it's still a lot of songs on 1 CD.

Especially when you play them in the car while driving, I really don't think you can tell the difference.

ricky

Since beginning I had Aux input installed for my iPod, but now with CIP 20.0 I prefer MP3 Cd or DVD due to simple man/machine interface.
In other words : unfortunately iPod commands are not not integrated in iDrive (Aux Inp solution), on the contrary you can fully manage your Cd/DVD full of MP3 with iDrive controls.

List of directories:



List of files in a Directory.


File now playing with info.







OOps... this is another matter,
managing and re-burning your DVD Map Nav you can change/add/delete Points of Interest of your .....peculiar interest

UUronL

Much inferior? MP3 is between FM and CD quality. For about 5mb per song, you can burn 150 songs on a CD. (I heard someone said e60 can only play up to 99 songs?. Not sure) But it's still a lot of songs on 1 CD.

Especially when you play them in the car while driving, I really don't think you can tell the difference.
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It's far better than that even. If you throw enough bits at it and use the proper encoder + switches, it's transparent, and most sane bit rates are as close to transparent as to be able to fool all but those trained to detect the artifacts.


http://www.hydrogenaudio.org/forums/index....showtopic=40863

stream

Here's my view. I had the aux input installed & bought an iPod 6 months ago. I rip my CDs using Exact Audio Copy w/ LAME encoder @ 256kbps VBR, then normalize with MP3Gain @ 94 dB. I also use the Monster iCarCharger, and a Monster shielded mini-stereo cable (see my install here: http://forums.e60.net/index.php?showtopic=12430 ). If you rip using high quality software at reasonably high bit rates, and use high quality hardware (I swear by Monster Cable products), you'll get excellent sound quality.

When I first got my iPod, before I invested the time and effort to rip a bunch of CDs, I first ripped a few (of different types of music) to test the sound quality, and even with the car parked, the iPod tracks are virtually indistinguishable from the original CDs. The only difference you'll notice is the iPod is slightly lower volume--no big deal. And while you're driving, with all the environmental noise, I can't believe even the most over-the-top audiophile could distinguish between the 2.

The only drawback is the lack of iPod integration with iDrive, so I'll be having the dealer update my car to CIP 20 and (hopefully) activate MP3 CD/DVD playing, and see how I like having ~8MB of MP3s on a DVD.

TexaZ3

Don't get me wrong, MP3s give you very good quality for what they are - small files. But even at 320 bps they are not as good as original recordings. Of course it is not as important for the sound system most of us have in e60 anyway... :-) Sorry, I'm just a bit of audiophile... used to do professional sound editing...