Mystery solved! Poking around in iTunes on the Mac, I found I had set the equalizer so that it sounded good on trains, planes, and at home with the AC running.
After some research, I downloaded the EQ 10 app, and set its equalizer similarly. Zounds! Nice sounds, even here near the AC! Thanks for your input, Charles and Godfrey. I really was helpful. Rick On Jun 17, 2014, at 8:20 PM, Godfrey DiGiorgi wrote: > They should sound virtually identical if you use the same headphones for > output. I'd go to an Apple store and compare against another unit before you > do anything else. Your iPhone may have a bad part ... > > My partner bought his 4S used and the sound was terrible from it. He brought > it to the store, they agreed; they replaced it with a new one as it was still > under warranty. > > Godfrey > -- > Godfrey DiGiorgi - godfreydigio...@me.com > >> On Jun 17, 2014, at 3:03 PM, Richard Womer <rickpic...@gmail.com> wrote: >> >> Godfrey, >> >> So it appears. The files I'm listening to are from CDs, copied onto >> the MBP and thence to the iPhone. They sound much, much better on the >> MBP. I'm puzzled. >> >> I think I'll try a third-party graphic equalizer/playback program, but >> somehow I'm not anticipating great success. >> >> Rick >> http://photo.net/photos/RickW >> >> >>> On Tue, Jun 17, 2014 at 5:51 PM, Godfrey DiGiorgi <godd...@me.com> wrote: >>> Classical music sounds just fine from the iPhone, modulo the quality of the >>> encoding and output devices. Even my brother (a recording engineer) agrees. >>> So something's wrong with the encoding or the output. >>> >>> Godfrey >>> -- >>> Godfrey DiGiorgi - godfreydigio...@me.com >>> >>>> On Jun 17, 2014, at 8:33 AM, Richard Womer <rickpic...@gmail.com> wrote: >>>> >>>> Thanks, Charles. It wasn't checked. >>>> >>>> Do you listen to classical music? I imagine the reproduction would be >>>> fine for pop, but it flunks for chamber or symphonic music. >>>> >>>> Rick >>>> http://photo.net/photos/RickW >>>> >>>> >>>>>> On Tue, Jun 17, 2014 at 11:03 AM, Charles Robinson <charl...@visi.com> >>>>>> wrote: >>>>>> On Jun 17, 2014, at 08:46 , Richard Womer <rickpic...@gmail.com> wrote: >>>>>> >>>>>> Taking the train last evening, I put on my (very good) Sennheiser >>>>>> noise-cancelling headphones, plugged them into my iPhone, and started >>>>>> Beethoven's Violin Concerto (sublime after a very stressful day). >>>>>> >>>>>> "Gee," I said to myself halfway through the first movement, "this >>>>>> sounds crappy". I tried all of the equalization settings, and found >>>>>> "flat" was the best, but it still sounded crappy. >>>>>> >>>>>> Were my headphones giving out? I pulled out my MBP and played the same >>>>>> selection via iTunes--it sounded fantastic. It's the iPhone, not the >>>>>> headphones. >>>>>> >>>>>> So my questions are: >>>>>> >>>>>> 1. Is the problem that the music player on the iPhone is crap? Is >>>>>> there a better one? >>>>>> >>>>>> 2. Is the problem that the music files are compressed almost beyond >>>>>> recognition getting transferred from the MBP to the iPhone? Is there >>>>>> any way to circumvent that? >>>>> >>>>> Files transferred from iTunes to your phone aren't (or shouldn't be) >>>>> recompressed. But check your settings! >>>>> >>>>> With your phone connected to iTunes, click on the phone in the left >>>>> sidebar so you get the summary (phone, backups, options) in the big >>>>> window on the right. >>>>> >>>>> In the lowest "options" box, look for the checkbox titled: "Convert >>>>> higher bit rate songs to xxx AAC". >>>>> >>>>> If that's checked... UN-check it. Now the music sent to your phone will >>>>> just be a COPY of the file from your MBP, not a re-rip of same. >>>>> >>>>> I find that the music output on my iPhone5 sounds just great to my >>>>> 48-year-old ears. >>>>> >>>>> -Charles >>>>> >>>>> -- >>>>> Charles Robinson - charl...@visi.com >>>>> Minneapolis, MN >>>>> http://charles.robinsontwins.org >>>>> http://www.facebook.com/charles.robinson >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> -- >>>>> PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List >>>>> PDML@pdml.net >>>>> http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net >>>>> to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and >>>>> follow the directions. >>>> >>>> -- >>>> PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List >>>> PDML@pdml.net >>>> http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net >>>> to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and >>>> follow the directions. >>> >>> -- >>> PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List >>> PDML@pdml.net >>> http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net >>> to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and >>> follow the directions. >> >> -- >> PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List >> PDML@pdml.net >> http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net >> to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and >> follow the directions. > > -- > PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List > PDML@pdml.net > http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net > to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow > the directions. http://photo.net/photos/RickW -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions.
