Media bias towards IPODS

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Why do Apple products always receive 5 stars in the media?

1. How can a product that comes supplied with headphones that are not fit for purpose gain 5 stars.

2. Apple products are so unreliable insurance companies will not extend the guarantee on them, surely reliability must come into the equation.

3. Sonic ability how can a S&V reviewer state that IPODS are sonically better than Cowon and Sony?

4. Proprietry software, Surely this should go against IPODS.

None of the above detract from the what Hifi obligatory 5 stars for apple products.

A hifi magazine should take all the above into account and not give it 5 stars because it looks pretty and is popular.
 
Fighting talk for a first-ever post.

Media bias toward iPods? Next you'll tell us you've just discovered that water's wet.

(BTW FWIW I think iPods are hateful things, and single-handedly responsible for a whole generation with no concept of sound quality, but what do I know...?)

But before anyone suggests it's all to do with freebie iPods all round, think again. Doesn't happen, and even review samples are grabbed back very smartly.

IME most of the iPod evangelists paid their own hard-earned for the objects of their devotion.
 
Andrew Everard:
(BTW FWIW I think iPods are hateful things, and single-handedly responsible for a whole generation with no concept of sound quality, but what do I know...?)ÿ

Interesting comment. The iPod (and all it's compatriots) is doing plenty of good if you ask me. We can't cart turntables around in our pockets forever after all.
 
I guess it's because I drive to work, and tend to catch up with some reading or sleep on planes rather than partaking of the entertainment supplied, but I've never really felt the need for one.

And whenever I've heard one, I've struggled to work out what all the fuss is about.

Did momentarily toy with the idea of one as a means of storing music for playback in the car a while back, but then realised that most of the time I listen to speech radio when driving.

Anyway, just my 2p's worth...
 
I think the quality of sound from an iPod is great given it's limitations. I'm not an iPod owner (unless you call my girlfriends mine - which I'm not ready for yet) but I've had a couple of otherwise not really into audio friends ask me how to improve the sound. If an iPod is what it takes to make people realise there is more to be had then so be it - and more people to silently snigger at the white people.
 
smudgegib:
Why do Apple products always receive 5 stars in the media?

1. How can a product that comes supplied with headphones that are not fit for purpose gain 5 stars.

2. Apple products are so unreliable insurance companies will not extend the guarantee on them, surely reliability must come into the equation.

3. Sonic ability how can a S&V reviewer state that IPODS are sonically better than Cowon and Sony?

4. Proprietry software, Surely this should go against IPODS.

None of the above detract from the what Hifi obligatory 5 stars for apple products.

A hifi magazine should take all the above into account and not give it 5 stars because it looks pretty and is popular.

Whoa! Deep breath, and go...

Points 1 and 2 are applicable to all MP3 players

3) We comparatively test everything, with a range of headphones, and using music ripped at various bit-rates (very important, that bit) and simply have found the iPods to be better on most occasions. And we always use both legacy and current iPods in our testing, too (very few people bother to do all of this, and so fail to place players in their true context).

4) Propritary software, yes. Really easy to use software? Yes. Available for PC and Mac? Yes. Try that with a Sony player.

Oh, and we haven't given every Apple product five stars - the woeful Apple Hi-fi speaker system (to date the only product Apple has ever readily given us for review - we've had to buy all our reference iPods and the majority of others we've tested) got an initial three-star verdict that then dropped to two stars when fresh competition came along.

The iPod Touch only finally got five stars when the capacity was increased and the price dropped (it was four stars initially) and we prefer the Samsung Pebble to the iPod Shuffle.

We continue to review players from all the main iPod-rivals, and would love to find stronger competition for Apple's dominance. Bring it on, CE manufacturers!
 
Clare Newsome:The iPod Touch only finally got four stars when the capacity was increased and the price dropped (it was four stars initially) and we prefer the Samsung Pebble to the iPod Shuffle.

I'm confused.
 
Clare Newsome:Sorry, was typing in a hurry - of course meant five stars from four - amended above.

Aha! Figured it would be something like that.

Thanks.
 
Andrew Everard:FWIW I think iPods are hateful things, and single-handedly responsible for a whole generation with no concept of sound quality

No, I think JVC, Aiwa, Goodmans, Alba, Amstrad, Sharp and even Sony (inter alia) were there first.
 
JohnDuncan:Andrew Everard:FWIW I think iPods are hateful things, and single-handedly responsible for a whole generation with no concept of sound quality No, I think JVC, Aiwa, Goodmans, Alba, Amstrad, Sharp and even Sony (inter alia) were there first.

Thin ice, my friend...

aiwa, sony, jvc - all giants!!!

and, er, good giants.
 
Octopo:I think the quality of sound from an iPod is great given it's limitations. I'm not an iPod owner (unless you call my girlfriends mine - which I'm not ready for yet) but I've had a couple of otherwise not really into audio friends ask me how to improve the sound. If an iPod is what it takes to make people realise there is more to be had then so be it - and more people to silently snigger at the white people.

Hifi World rates some players as sonically superior to the iPod, but I can vouch that my iPod nano 3g paired with my Sennheiser CX300s can sound heavenly, and not at lossless but at 256k AAC or some 320k MP3 files which I purchased.

And yes, if buying an iPod, before you even open the box dump the supplied earphones - they are patent rubbish.
 
Anyway. My point was that to say that people have only discovered bad sound quality since the iPod came out is nonsense. Outside the people who frequent this site, poor sound quality has been accepted since I was a boy. My dad thought buying a 150 quid stacking system (which might have been by Alba, I forget) to replace his Fidelity record player was the height of audiophilia.

Amongst all the people whom I count as friends, I have the second best stereo (behind a Michell/Moon/Alchemis/Sonus Faber setup), the next best being an 80 quid Sony CD player with a Cambridge A1 and foul Missions until he bought all my castoffs off me. The rest have Bose/Denon minis/Sony micros/Bose iPod docks with the speakers set on top of shelves by the ceiling. The truth is that the vast majority of people don't know (and care less) what can be achieved with even modest money, and most importantly, never have. So to blame the dumbing down of sound quality on the iPod (particularly when it's a damn sight better than the first Sony Walkman) is plain wrong.

And yes, it was perhaps slightly unfair to lump Sony/JVC/et al into the "rubbish stereo" camp, but they've been as guilty as any of providing flashing light monsters to the masses ever since CD promised "perfect sound forever"...
 
That thing above looks immense - it's even got its own air con system on the speakers. I wonder whether it is rated in the back of the mag...how many stars?
 
JohnDuncan:Anyway. My point was that to say that people have only discovered bad sound quality since the iPod came out is nonsense. Outside the people who frequent this site, poor sound quality has been accepted since I was a boy. My dad thought buying a 150 quid stacking system (which might have been by Alba, I forget) to replace his Fidelity record player was the height of audiophilia. Amongst all the people whom I count as friends, I have the second best stereo (behind a Michell/Moon/Alchemis/Sonus Faber setup), the next best being an 80 quid Sony CD player with a Cambridge A1 and foul Missions until he bought all my castoffs off me. The rest have Bose/Denon minis/Sony micros/Bose iPod docks with the speakers set on top of shelves by the ceiling. The truth is that the vast majority of people don't know (and care less) what can be achieved with even modest money, and most importantly, never have. So to blame the dumbing down of sound quality on the iPod (particularly when it's a damn sight better than the first Sony Walkman) is plain wrong. And yes, it was perhaps slightly unfair to lump Sony/JVC/et al into the "rubbish stereo" camp, but they've been as guilty as any of providing flashing light monsters to the masses ever since CD promised "perfect sound forever"...

Fair point. They all also made some pretty naff "personal stereos" too, but my aiwa was the dogs. it just was ok?!

Tried to find a pic of my old jvc but couldnt. not as garish as most that come up with a google search! Circa '98.
 
I'm in my early 30's and pay attention to music quality. I know a fair few 18 year olds who have ipods and listen to music at really poor bit rates (but still enjoy the music). I hate it, but they love it. They also love their Ipods. Yes, there may be a media bias towards Ipods, but regardless of what they can and can't do - they are cool. Sound quality matters little for a lot of people today, the abillity to listen to music wherever they are is more important.

So who cares if there is a media bias towards Ipods? If you think there are better products out there, then you should buy them. As long as people who buy a product are happy with them, surely that is all that matters
 
Sound quality on Sony top end mp3 players are alot better sound quality wise. For a quality hi fi mag you should take this point as the highest priority before looking at convenience. Sony do have drag and drop system now so can be used with any mac or PC. to transfer music. You should rate the product as it comes with the standard headphones and have opinion on this and then state if one player sounded better then the other when the headphones were upgraded. This is the only way you can tell if it is the player that is responsible of the sound quality it reveals (or as I like to say audiolise to many people use visualise but we are judging by what we hear not what we see)
emotion-2.gif
 
Bobbyx:Sound quality on Sony top end mp3 players are alot better sound quality wise. For a quality hi fi mag you should take this point as the highest priority before looking at convenience. Sony do have drag and drop system now so can be used with any mac or PC. to transfer music. You should rate the product as it comes with the standard headphones and have opinion on this and then state if one player sounded better then the other when the headphones were upgraded. This is the only way you can tell if it is the player that is responsible of the sound quality it reveals (or as I like to say audiolise to many people use visualise but we are judging by what we hear not what we see)
emotion-2.gif


Sound quality DOES always come first for us - and we disagree re the Sonys being superior.

And of course we always test all players with a range of upgrade headphones to see exactly what they're capable of (as well as - as mentioned earlier in this thread - testing with a range of bit-rates).

However, if you don't like iPods, there are lots of other great options to go for, and of course you should always choose the player YOU prefer the sound of. Trying before you buy should apply to MP3 players the same as any other piece of kit.
 
I do find it odd when somebody posts pooh, rings the doorbell then runs away. Even large multi-national companies have their people post comments on forums all over the Net in order to discredit anothers products. Unreliable PS3's was a popular one last year.

Apple does often attract a division of opinion - from the flag waving worshippers at Macworld to the 'Jobs is a dollar lusting vampire' brigade. The fact remains that they do make a lot of excellent products, many very worthy, but slightly flawed ones, and the occasional dog. The one thing that ties all their devices together is price. Mr S Jobs need have no retirement worries. I read a recent post on another site where the AppleTv was described as a 'steal'. For me, an Apple product would first have to have been stolen to be described as a steal.

I own a Mac Mini, Atv, a Touch and a Classic. I am neither a flag waver nor a detractor. IMO the Touch is worth all of its 5 stars. The magazine is called What Hi-Fi Sound & VISION. Complaining about that would be a bit like saying a Pioneer tv is never going to be worthy of 5 stars because its sound system is not as good as a Naim.

iPods (or any mp3 players) do not claim to offer hi-fi solutions. Even with Sure SE210's I would never claim that my Touch is the pinnacle of music replay. What Apple (or Sony, Cowon, iRiver, Creative etc etc) have done is encouraged more music listening. As a result I now have a lossless library of 240GB of music which I can send from my Mac Mini/NAS to AppleTv and Avi ADM 9.1's in the front room - I love it!!

If someone could knock on Andrew E's office door and remind him that iPods also cater for the spoken word. Audiobooks aside, there is a wealth of good podcast material to download - Friday Night Comedy, Mayo/Kermode Film Reviews, T3,.....it's all out there. ÿ ÿ
 
david1997:I do find it odd when somebody posts pooh, rings the doorbell then runs away.

What's Winnie the Pooh got to do got to do with it? Or do you mean 'posts excrement'? In which case please don't make such statements on these forums, and anyway who's running away? I am at a loss to understand what you mean.

david1997:If someone could knock on Andrew E's office door...

You think I have an office? I only just have a desk...

david1997:...and remind him that
iPods also cater for the spoken word. Audiobooks aside, there is a
wealth of good podcast material to download - Friday Night Comedy,
Mayo/Kermode Film Reviews, T3,.....it's all out there.

Friday Night Comedy? Hear that in traffic every Friday night.

Mayo/Kermode Film Reviews? Hmmmm...

T3? Can't imagine why anyone would want to listen to that.

And the idea of downloading podcasts, transferring them to a player, blah blah blah yawn. I'm more of a serendipitous radio listener - that way one is always surprised, for good or bad...
 
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