Is an IPOD hi-fi?

In these threads about whether iPods are hi-fi I often get the sense that some posters have the odd notion that CD's, or even vinyl albums, contain actual music. The image I have is that they believe there is a tiny but completely real orchestra embedded in the little shiny disc and that pushing 'Play' is the cue for the tiny orchestra to start.

A CD is just a cheap, small, reasonably durable storage medium for digital information, for bits. An iPod is another way to store the bits and as a friend of mine in IT once said, 'bits is bits.'

as a friend of mine in IT once said, 'bits is bits.'

I agree; bits are bits. That says absolutely nothing about converting them into music though. The devices that are in between the bits and the energy coming from the speakers to your ears can make a world of difference in how those bits translate into sound. Not to mention just how many bits there are that represent a given passage of time, and how they were extrapolated from that passage of time in the first place, and eventually processed between that process, to end up on whatever media they currently are embedded into. The saying is about as silly as pointing out that LP's are LP's or a groove is a groove.

On the other hand, I like your idea of the lilipution orchestras embedded in the medium...how the heck do they get'em in there?!

Marco

As someone in the hobby for over 35 years I think the ipod is awesome . I have an 80gb set up with apple lossless and it sounds great. I use the Sony 90 ear bud headphones with a www.electric-avenues.com portable headphone amp. This set up rocks. Also streaming music to your system in itunes/airport express sound excellent and give you instant access to your music collection in seconds. I look forward to trying the Slimdevices products soon. The above have done more to keep two channel audio alive and move it to the future than anything else in quite a long time. If your goal is to spend more time with music in your life the ipod is priceless. The itunes system also makes the titles and artwork more accessible. I have listened to faceless CDs for years with cases stored away. Not to get too political but I think apple deserves to make a profit, in Manhattan Apple invested millions in building the finest retail stores of their kind. The 100+ people working in sales and free tech support on 59th street must cost quite a lot of money in payroll. It is interesting to watch competitors release laughable products. I was hesitant at first to get an ipod It seemed too trendy. I have to say its the greatest portable music device ever, and by quite a big margin. You can take your music to work, the gym or around the world.

Marco, of course, I agree with you completely, I think we're actually making the same point. Focusing on just the bits or just the medium that stores them doesn't tell you anything useful about the quality of the music that comes out at the end of the chain of reconstruction of real music from those bits.

It all depends on what type of quality you do your recordings! However I dont believe that an "Ipod" is considered a HIGH END audiophile gear. But if sounds good to whoever uses it then I am happy for them...