Now Is It Just Me..... (Brief Zune Rant/Story)

[alwaysXoutspoken]

Or does the Zune seem to dumb down the quality of all music files?

I just recently purchased an 80gb Zune after selling my 30gb Video iPod. I was excited because I was getting tired of everything to do with Apple. To me, Apple insults people's intelligence by giving them products that are almost TOO simple. So, away all of my Apple belongings went!

So, at last I got a brand new 80gb Zune off of eBay for a little bit over $200, sealed and everything. Good deal I'd say.

I'll start with the pros because this thing isn't a completely terrible beast.

1) I like the interface, it's alot less frustrating to use than the click wheel although you can kind use it like such because it's touch sensitive.

2) I like the fact that I can watch videos in widescreen by flipping it sideways. A+ Microsoft, I dig.

3) I also like how the album art is alot bigger on display than it is on the iPod. Design-wise, I have no real complaints with the Zune.

BUT

The most important feature seems to be dumbed down quite a bit. For those who don't know where I'm going with this I'm talking about the audio.

Maybe I just have an acute sense of hearing, but all of the music files I've downloaded onto my Zune have seemed to have lost something in the process. You can barely hear the bass and some of the lower-toned drum beats are muddy sounding and nearly inaudible, not quite up to CD quality.

I have to say that with the iPod, at least you got full and rich sound, and if you were disagreeing with the levels, you could always adjust them with about 20+ audio presets to tune the Treble, Bass and Mids.

Is there anyway to do this that I'm missing, or did anyone make a hack and such to correct this? Otherwise I'm moderately dissatisfied

[AnthraxDream]

I've never noticed anything along those lines, and I've had my zune for over a year. Maybe it's your headphones.

[SilentWalrus]

I've personally never noticed the difference in sound quality.
I get A-grade quality music from the Zune Pass.
Just try better headphones.

[Marshillboy]

Nothing has come out of my Sennheiser reference cans but sweet, sweet 320kbps mp3 sound. Try to get some decent headphones kthnxbai.

EDIT: What bitrate are your files at? If it's below 192kbps, I'd say you need to re-rip/buy/steal/etc. better quality files.

[Condor.Hero]

The Zune premium headphones aren't the best stuff you can get. I compared those to my old ones and there was a significant drop in quality. The bass sounded soft and the whole song was sharper (dunno if that's the correct way to describe it)

[stkr]

I don't see how you think Apple has made the iPod/iTunes too simple. Especially after using the Zune software, which is so basic that...well nevermind. Anyway, I haven't noticed a drop in quality either. My Zune sounds just as good as my iPod does. The only difference is that iPods have EQs.

[MemphisMasenko]

Originally Posted by alwaysXoutspoken

Or does the Zune seem to dumb down the quality of all music files?

I just recently purchased an 80gb Zune after selling my 30gb Video iPod. I was excited because I was getting tired of everything to do with Apple. To me, Apple insults people's intelligence by giving them products that are almost TOO simple. So, away all of my Apple belongings went!

So, at last I got a brand new 80gb Zune off of eBay for a little bit over $200, sealed and everything. Good deal I'd say.

I'll start with the pros because this thing isn't a completely terrible beast.

1) I like the interface, it's alot less frustrating to use than the click wheel although you can kind use it like such because it's touch sensitive.

2) I like the fact that I can watch videos in widescreen by flipping it sideways. A+ Microsoft, I dig.

3) I also like how the album art is alot bigger on display than it is on the iPod. Design-wise, I have no real complaints with the Zune.

BUT

The most important feature seems to be dumbed down quite a bit. For those who don't know where I'm going with this I'm talking about the audio.

Maybe I just have an acute sense of hearing, but all of the music files I've downloaded onto my Zune have seemed to have lost something in the process. You can barely hear the bass and some of the lower-toned drum beats are muddy sounding and nearly inaudible, not quite up to CD quality.

I have to say that with the iPod, at least you got full and rich sound, and if you were disagreeing with the levels, you could always adjust them with about 20+ audio presets to tune the Treble, Bass and Mids.

Is there anyway to do this that I'm missing, or did anyone make a hack and such to correct this? Otherwise I'm moderately dissatisfied

Yeah the Original headphones they gave me when I got the brand new zune 30 had at least a little bit of bass when the volume was all the way up with the sorta equalizer was on acoustic or something I forgot since I don't use my zune nowadays.
Sucks there is no real control of the bass
and idk about any hacks that's Nurta and them job.

[Zazuneafoon]

I thought that the Ipods headphones were very tiny and there was no such thing as bass on those things. As for the sound quality for Zune, I think it's one of the best sound outputs I've heard. If you have the files at the right bit rate and you have good or amazing headphones (most over the head ones) have really great bass. I use Skullcandy G.I. and it hurts to listen to bass heavy songs.
You could be also used to hearing the quality of an iPod.

[stkr]

Originally Posted by Zazuneafoon

I thought that the Ipods headphones were very tiny and there was no such thing as bass on those things. As for the sound quality for Zune, I think it's one of the best sound outputs I've heard. If you have the files at the right bit rate and you have good or amazing headphones (most over the head ones) have really great bass. I use Skullcandy G.I. and it hurts to listen to bass heavy songs.
You could be also used to hearing the quality of an iPod.

The iPod headphones are garbage. They are very tinny. Because of their material, just about all ambient noise interrupts your music as well. Most people compensate for this by blasting their music, but that's not the way it should work.

[Zazuneafoon]

Ya I totally agree with you, now that I think of it, watch only Ipoders lose their hearing at 30-40.
I've yet to see another Zuner blaring their music.

[stkr]

Originally Posted by Zazuneafoon

Ya I totally agree with you, now that I think of it, watch only Ipoders lose their hearing at 30-40.
I've yet to see another Zuner blaring their music.

I wouldn't say that. People on this board have already confessed to listening to music at max volume and close to it. I never leave 1 or 2 unless I'm watching movies.

[HipHopScribe]

It's just you, or maybe your earphones, I've owned over a dozen MP3 players, the Zune is one of the best sounding I've used.

[MasterSprtn117]

Get better headphones and/or music files.

[lilro]

Wow I'm surprised no one's said this yet, but check your Zune software settings. The software automatically down-samples the music to a lower bitrate so you can fit more on your device, but you can turn it off. Here's step-by-step directions:

1. Open Zune Software
2. Click Settings on the top-right of the software
3. Click Device on the top-left
4. Click Conversion Settings on the mid-left
5. Change the "Source Quality" to 320 Kbps, or click "Only convert formats that aren't supported by the Zune device"

[stkr]

Originally Posted by lilro

Wow I'm surprised no one's said this yet, but check your Zune software settings. The software automatically down-samples the music to a lower bitrate so you can fit more on your device, but you can turn it off. Here's step-by-step directions:

1. Open Zune Software
2. Click Settings on the top-right of the software
3. Click Device on the top-left
4. Click Conversion Settings on the mid-left
5. Change the "Source Quality" to 320 Kbps, or click "Only convert formats that aren't supported by the Zune device"

I've never noticed this before. Kudos.

[mr.handsomeman]

Originally Posted by lilro

Wow I'm surprised no one's said this yet, but check your Zune software settings. The software automatically down-samples the music to a lower bitrate so you can fit more on your device, but you can turn it off. Here's step-by-step directions:

1. Open Zune Software
2. Click Settings on the top-right of the software
3. Click Device on the top-left
4. Click Conversion Settings on the mid-left
5. Change the "Source Quality" to 320 Kbps, or click "Only convert formats that aren't supported by the Zune device"

probably the best thing to do, but that would mean having to rip your CD's again right?

Do this and if this doesn't work, you need some Kick butt headphones.

*cough*Westone UM1*cough*

[ozric]

Originally Posted by mr.handsomeman

probably the best thing to do, but that would mean having to rip your CD's again right?

Nope. All the software setting does is prevent transcoding the files from your PC on the fly while they transfer to the Zune. The original source files on your PC remain unchanged.

I leave the "Only convert formats that aren't supported by Zune" option selected so that it doesn't compress my high bitrate WMA lossless files into lossy crap. And if I have 320 kbps mp3s, I prefer to listen to them at just that quality, not "device quality".

[Netrix]

The quality of the sound is perfect for me. I have my music at 192 kbps. Anything above that is a waste of hard drive space. I use AKG Personal Audio - K 518 DJ. I never realized how great the sound quality could be until I got them. Also, I always have the equalizer set to Rock for more bass.