I think hands down everything sounds better on my RNS-510 via an SD card than my iPhone via MDI. It sounds way better. I am so happy I decided to just try out an SD card over the weekend just for kicks. Anyone else find this to be true as well? What's the max capacity that I can use for an SD card? The manual says 2 gigs but I thought I read someone it was higher...
Anyone else think music sounds better via SD than the MDI on their RNS-510?
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Up to 32gbs, and Yes, CDs and SD cards sound much much better vs an iPod or A2DP
That's possibly because the ipod outputs an analog signal to the stereo. The ADCs in the stereo may be better than the ipod's.....although the Dynaudio system advertises digital amps so it might not use ADCs. If that's the case the analog ipod output would have to be digitized which would contribute to poor sound quality.
Ipods should output a digital signal IMO.
Ipods should output a digital signal IMO.
It all depends on your file formats. Depending on the degree of compression/data rate, mp3 files can sound great or sound like crap. The SD card supports WAV and WMA file formats, in addition to mp3, so you can get CD quality through the SD card. If you have heavily compressed mp3 files, they will sound like crap no matter what device provides them.
Interesting...I'm going to have to throw Ronin in and see what the S8 scene sounds like.
I thought it was software but wanted to make sure...mines got to be able to handle 32 gigs then as it just came off the boat last month.
not necessarily but even if it's not the brand new SW1000 the dealer can flash it for you free
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SW1000 is currently only available on new units. SW380 is the latest version as far as updating goes. We have been waiting many months for SW1000 to become available as an update.
I'm not positive but I was going to check in the setup screen...I would imagine it's shown there.
Two different topics.
MP3's sound the same whether I used my hard drive through the MDI or the SD slot. Of course it would, it's just digital data to the player just reading the same thing from a different source.
MP3's vs iPod compression is a different topic. iPods are great for convenience, good looks and ease of use. Better sounding? Usually not.
MP3's sound the same whether I used my hard drive through the MDI or the SD slot. Of course it would, it's just digital data to the player just reading the same thing from a different source.
MP3's vs iPod compression is a different topic. iPods are great for convenience, good looks and ease of use. Better sounding? Usually not.
MP3 is one type of audio compression algorithm (MP4 is another). An iPod can play MP3 files as well as many other files. So I don't know how you compare MP3 compression versus iPod compression. What do you mean by "iPod compression"? iPods can play many types of files, including uncompressed files.
AAC is the default compression for iPods, is it not? It may be capable of playing MP3's but if you have iTunes transfer music to it, it's usuall AAC.
MP3 is one type of audio compression algorithm (MP4 is another). An iPod can play MP3 files as well as many other files. So I don't know how you compare MP3 compression versus iPod compression. What do you mean by "iPod compression"? iPods can play many types of files, including uncompressed files.
MP3 is one type of audio compression algorithm (MP4 is another). An iPod can play MP3 files as well as many other files. So I don't know how you compare MP3 compression versus iPod compression. What do you mean by "iPod compression"? iPods can play many types of files, including uncompressed files.[/QUOTE]
AAC (highly compressed to save space) is the default compression for iPods, is it not? It may be capable of playing MP3's but if you have iTunes transfer music to it, it's usually highly compressed AAC.
iPods don't compress anything, all they do is play stuff.
I don't even remember what the default iTunes CD import setting is, but I think it's 128kbps AAC (AAC is just a file wrapper for MP4), which is approximately equivalent in quality to 192kbps MP3, which, yeah, is not great quality but not bad. You have full control over that though - you can set iTunes to use any compression algorithm you want. For rock, I suggest using MP3 format (it'll play on more devices) and encoding at at least 192kbps variable, and always select "highest" quality (that's a dumb Apple setting). Use 320kbps if you have space. (And if you're using variable bit rates, it should only use as much space as necessary to achieve that quality.) MP3s you buy from Amazon or eMusic are more like 320 kbps variable. For most classical I just use Apple lossless, though that'll only play on Apple platform.
ANYWAY, my point is -- the SAME music file is going to sound basically the same whether you play it off an SD card through your RNS510 or off an iPod/MDI through your RNS510. That storage media is not what's affecting the sound.
Yes, or else my sentence would have been "the default compression IN iPods" or "that iPods do" ....
Since the VW unit doesn't do AAC, I'm pretty certain that it relies on the iPod to send an analog signal to it rather than accessing its drive directly, which is why the sound is different.
Yes, Lossless compressed music is great and I use them at home, but too bad the VW unit won't do lossless. It'd be more out of convenience of not having to reconvert all of my collection, since in the car VBR 320kbps is just as good considering all of the noise and mental distractions of driving. I use WMA Lossless (used to use FLAC).
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