iPod Sound Quality August 27, 2007
Posted by Fadil in : Technology, Music , 6 comments
During the past few weeks, I’ve had the chance to have a 5.5G 30GB iPod around to fiddle with (thanks Baim). The fact that I can only borrow an iPod may surprise some, but I live in Mauritius and the 30GB model, which costs around $400 here, is not quite affordable.
The thing I’d like to point out is the rather poor quality of the sound output from the device. It surprised me that the world’s most popular portable music player does not deliver better in this respect. I was utterly disappointed by how grainy the sound can get even with the equalizer turned off. Listening to electronic music such as trance or house on the iPod was not enjoyable at times. The bass from the original iPod earphones is not deep enough, and setting the equalizer to “Bass Booster” mode does nothing but accentuate the graininess. I’ve been used to Sony products for many years, namely cassette, CD and MiniDisc Walkmans. I currently have a Sony Ericsson W810i Walkman phone as portable music player. I have to say the sound from Sony branded products is of much superior quality than from the iPod.
The Apple Store does sell earphones/headphones from other manufacturers. According to the reviews, the sound from some of these (Sony & Bose ones notably) is much better than from the original ones. I tried the in-ear earphones supplied with my Walkman handset on the iPod, and I did notice an improvement in the sound quality. It was, however, not as good as the sound you get from Sony players. Another way of supposedly improving the sound quality is to have all your tracks in AAC format, which is the format used by the iTunes music store incidentally. From what I’ve read, the AAC decoder of the device is better that the MP3 one. I’ve unfortunately not been able to try this.
Don’t get me wrong, I still think highly of the iPod. Watching movies on the device is a great experience. The file management capabilities of the iPod+iTunes combination is impressive as well; transferring files, building playlists and selecting tracks to play were never easier. A couple of third-party applications did come in handy to load the music player with files from different libraries though. The best part of it is that, of course, you get to have the whole of your music collection on the move.
The quality of the output sound was, nonetheless, a real letdown for me. There are a few questions I’d like to ask iPod owners:
- Is your opinion about the device’s sound quality the same as mine?
- If you had actually been aware of this before, would you have bought a different portable music player?
Word on the street (web) is that the new iPod, which should be out later this year, will be remastered at various levels. It is being said that it will have an interface similar to that of the iPhone, described by Steve Jobs as “the best iPod ever made”. My wish is that the new line of music players from Apple Inc. also bears an improved audio output.
Binaural audio July 22, 2007
Posted by Fadil in : Technology, Music , 6 comments
I have just found out about a very interesting audio recording technique called binaural recording. The name itself is sort of revealing. According to Wikipedia, two microphones placed a certain distance apart and facing away from each other are used during the recording process in studio. This is done to emulate the the receptive capabilities of a person’s ears. For more realistic effects, the mics are placed into ear-shaped moulds found on each side of a dummy head.
This technique can reproduce 360 degrees surround sound effects with only two output sources. It is simply amazing. A number of artists in the music industry have released commercial tracks recorded this way. The most notable of these is Pink Floyd’s 1982 album entitled The Final Cut. I have listened to a sample from the album, and I have to say it’s breathtaking, and a little creepy as well.
Here is a really great binaural audio clip called “A Virtual Haicut”. It demonstates what can be achieved using holophonics while detailing the experiment at the same time.
IMPORTANT NOTE: The clip should be listened to using stereo headphones/earphones. The intended effects are NOT achieved with regular loudspeakers.
UPDATE: There seems to be a problem on the ODEO server. Here is a direct link to the file.
The new last.fm widgets are hot and sexy May 25, 2007
Posted by Fadil in : Technology, Music, Web , add a comment
The brand new flash-based widgets created by last.fm to allow its users to share their music taste with the world are so cool… and hot! They’re an upgrade to the old school image charts which have been around for a while now.
Multiple types of these widgets are available:
- A Radio player to play tracks of specified artists, genres or based on the playlist of any registered user.
- A Playlist player to stream tracks you select from your “scrobbles”.
- A “quilt” widget displaying a sort of dynamic collage of your favourite artists or albums.
- Charts listing your favourite tracks, favourite artists, or recently played tracks with some nice “onHover” effects and with the ability to preview the songs.
I have replaced the image chart I used to have in the sidebar with the new fancy one. I have also added a “quilt” widget showing the artists I listen to the most, a real piece of eye-candy! Here’s a selection of my most-played songs, they can be streamed full-length from the embedded player.
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David Guetta à La Citadelle: Azieeeuuu Trop Bonne Ça Beunheum January 15, 2007
Posted by Fadil in : Entertainment, Myself, Music , 6 comments
Samedi soir je suis peurti voir David Guetta à La Citadelle en compagnie de Bol(Bhel) et Bil(Bhel). Bien plus qu’un artiste de musique électronique, David Guetta a forgé son propre style durant ces dernières années. Son unique mélange de house, d’électro et de rock a électrifié l’ambiance samedi soir. Les quelques photos que j’ai prises ne sont malheureusement pas de bonne qualité puisque je les ai faites avec mon portable.
On est arrivé sur les lieux à dix heures trente. Les rues autour de La Citadelle étaient déjà bien remplies, ce qui nous a forcé a garer la voiture un peu loin. Après une petite ( 
) montée et les contrôles de sécurité habituels, on est finalement entré dans ce fort transformé en boite de nuit pour l’occasion. Les jeux de lumières et la sono étaient vraiment impressionnants. L’ambiance était déjà très bonne avec David Jay qui mixait en première partie.
Comme prévu, celui que toute La Citadelle attendait est apparu à minuit et a pris les commandes des mains de David Jay. Just a Little More Love suivi par le remix de Another Brick in The Wall étaient les premiers morceaux sur les platines. On sentait déjà qu’on était passé à un tout autre niveau. Love Don’t Let Me Go, dont on connaissait forcément les paroles, était le fil rouge du set de Guetta. Le fameux The World is Mine est arrivé au milieu, attirant toute la foule présente vers la piste de danse.
Les autres moments forts (il y’en avait plein) étaient Otherside des Red Hot Chilli Peppers, Sweet Dreams de Eurythmics (extraeurdinaire) ou encore Song2 de Blur (Woohoo 
). A deux heures, le DJ a pris le micro pour saluer les 4000 personnes qui l’acclamaient comme il se doit. On en demandait tous encore et il nous a fait la très bonne surprise de terminer en apothéose avec Smells Like Teen Spirit de Nirvana. Azieeuu, inutile de vous décrire l’euphorie à ce moment là!
Voilà la vidéo de ce que le pense être le clou de cette soirée. On a bien sauté pilé là dessus! Mais, encore une fois, la qualité laisse beaucoup a désirer.
Mes Pumas et les Pumettes ( ) de Bil n’étaient plus que des chatons bien sales après le passage dans cette brousse sauvage qu’était le dancefloor. Je ne pouvais plus tenir sur mes jambes et, le comble, c’était impossible de trouver une bouteille d’eau (oui, de l’eau). C’était du bez ça je vous dis! Mais on est quand même resté jusqu’à la fin en appréciant les excellents mixes de Kevin O’Keefe et de Lebo après la prestation de David Guetta.
A cinq heures du matin, la vue de Peurt Louis du haut de La Citadelle était magnifique. Après une descente quelque peu risquée, on a trouvé la voiture pour repartir chez Bol. C’est là qu’on s’est rendu compte qu’on était a moitié sourd! Et au réveil cinq heures plus tard, c’était toujours le cas!
Cette soirée là, c’était de la bebête beunheum!
