yet another question..

[00formulahawk]

ok.. so after fooling around with my custom 3's enough, I finally got my previous problem solved.. since then, I've been expanding my library and have run into another bump in the road..

it seems certain songs (or certain types of songs anyway) produce a great deal of crackling.. seems bands like metallica and disturbed come through almost crystal clear (just a hint of distortion if you listen closely) while others like bullet for my valentine or endeverafter, crackle horribly whenever the music picks up.. I rip everything as a 320k mp3 or full quality ogg (around 400k if memory serves..) so I don't think that's the problem.. though I guess if all else fails I could try flac or wav and see if that makes a difference..

everything's being played on a Cowon iAudio X5L (which as far as i know should be able to handle this kind of quality output..) at a low to medium volume level, so I wouldn't think that it should be pushing the armatures too hard..

anyone have any similar experiences with their custom 3's? any suggestions? think an amp would help clear it up any?

[BLSamuel]

I suspect an amp could clear it up if the distortion is caused by the headphone amp in your Cowon clipping.

Just be careful that you don't listen too loud for too long as it could be dangerously loud for your hearing.

If it sounds fine at lower levels then it could be your ampliier being pushed beyond it's limits and losing it's cookies. Maybe the tracks with problems have greater dynamic range and the amplifier exceeds it's normal operating range during the louder passages. In any case, if it sounds bad, turn it down. A headphone amplifier couldn't hurt and could solve your problem. There's quite a bit of information in the forum. A recent one is a small inexpensive model built by an engineer that goes for around $60 when shipped. Of course you can spend a lot more.

To see older posts, select the options button and set to show all posts as defaults to 2 months and newer and seems to get reset every so often.

Good luck.

[00formulahawk]

I doubt I'm listening to it too loud.. the volume control goes from 0-40, I usually listen around 10 or so, occasionally venturing to 12 or 14 for the odd album that was ripped at a lower volume level.. and the crackling seems to be just as consistant at quieter levels too.. or put another way, I listen to it 8 hours or so a day, 5 days a week at work, and my ears don't feel fatigued or sore at all from it (occasionally the canal gets a little irritated from the gel insert pressing against it for a few days in a row, but that's about it..)

I'll keep browsing through the forums and elsewhere online and see what I can't find out..

[BLSamuel]

The volume control really doesn't mean how loud it is other than relative but I assumed you meant things got louder when the music gets going or however you put it but you're probably ok there.

If the crackling also occurs at lower levels and only on certain songs or albums then it would seem the problem is with the source?

At quieter levels I don't think a headphone amplifier would help that issue unless the music has insanely wide dynamic range. At higher levels I'd think wide dynamic range could overload the amplifier in your Cowon. I'm not real familiar with the Cowon players but everything I've read sounds like they're very good.

I use the Custom 2 daily and while not up to the level of the Custom 3 I can hear a lot of things such as noise from my dinosaur Creative Labs Zen xTra. I have encountered at least one CD that was kind of noisy but I wouldn't call it crackling. I still haven't gotten aound to reripping the mp3 files at a higher bit rate. I originally used the 60% variable setting which labels most files 2xx to 3xx kbps. After that CD I've been using the 100% setting. Not sure I can tell a difference but still haven't found it so I can rerip it. No FLAC or anything special, mp3, wav, or wma.

I suspect it's also possible that for the music in question there's something that trips up the encoding? I'd recommend trying the Custom 3 with the tunes in question on a CD player (if from CD).

I've heard some raspiness every so often when I get a little dried lotion flakes (perpetually itchy ear) in the gel or even in the nozzle one time. That of course is heard on all tracks.

I'd start by listening to the original source, preferably over the Custom 3s. If that sounds fine, try a different encoding scheme. My Custom 2 are very revealing and the Custom 3 are even more so but it sounds like you're hearing a problem with something.

Raspiness also could be due to a poor recording - digital gets really bad if it's recorded at too high of a level but I'm assuming you're starting with known recordings.

I listen a lot at work also. Makes the day go a lot faster.

Good luck.

[00formulahawk]

I'm starting to think it's an encoding problem or something that happened during the recording or burning process of the original CD.. tried listening to some avenged sevenfold since it has a similar sound to bullet for my valentine.. it comes through crystal clear, no crackling at all.. I guess at this point it's a matter of trying to find out what's botching up the ripping process..

<sigh> oh well, at least it's looking like it's not a problem with the mp3 player or the custom 3's []

[BLSamuel]

Maybe it's just something about the music giving you fits that trips up the encoding. Maybe a different encoding scheme will work better. Maybe some people who actually have a clue will add their 2 cents.

That said, I've been told a good headphone amplifier will sound better even listening at normal levels, maybe even if running from the headphone jack (I'll have to check that one). Probably even better if your player has a line out which I think all iPods do through the docking connector. Not so on my old Zen. From what little I know of Cowon (read a bit), it is probably a very nice player - you probably won't hear the noise form the player I do with my Zen and Custom 2. Might be a good thing I don't have Custom 3 or the noise would bother me more - it's worse when not playing and when the battery is getting low.

Back on track to the headphone amp - I suspect a standalone amp will be able to output a lot more power, not just watts (milliwatts?) but current. Like a regular amplifier that extra capability will probably provide more open sound than a lesser amp. For normal speaker amplifiers, a good 30 watt amp with good current capability will sound better (to me anyway) than a chintzy 55 watt amp with no current capability. I'd think headphone amplifiers would work the same for IEMs. And I also think that even at relatively low levels that may require a few watts or a fraction of a watt, the transients may require many times more... better more powerfull higher current amp is better able to deliver.

I do have a CD or LP (or both) of Holst's The Planets which has some really intense LOUD passages that just totally sounded like CRAP the last time I tried to play it on my system at extremely low levels - I suspect it may have been overloading the front end but could have sent my amplifier into severe clipping which could be descrbed as crackling. I've been afraid to try it with the larger high power high current amp I've acquired since then as not sure my puny speakers could handle the onslaught if it was the amplifier clipping.

Good luck. Let us know what you find.

Hopefullly Professor Thump or others more knowledgeable will add their expert input.

p.s.

I wouldn't mind knowing what you think of your Cowon player as my Zen xTra isn't going to last forever. I think we got it in 2000? I think they made cassette walkmans smaller - but it does hold 60 GB

[00formulahawk]

played around with the endeverafter cd a bit.. it's definately embedded in the original CD.. my stereo, desktop and laptop all crackle at the same spots even when playing directly from the original CD with or without the cusom 3's.. <sigh> oh well..

as for my cowon, I absolutely LOVE it! if crystal clear audio is what you're after, this is it.. plays most audio formats (wav, mp3, ogg, and flac off the top of my head..) and comes with a 5 band equalizer.. also has a nifty bass enhancing feature that lets you tweak the low end frequencies even more.. allows for nice, deep, sharp bass with no distortion.. also one of the few mp3 players I know of that doesn't require ANY software at all to transfer media.. just plug the USB cable into the computer, it shows up as a USB harddrive, transfer whatever you want to or from it, tell the computer to unmount the drive and you're good to go.. other features include line in recording, line out, FM radio reciever, and FM radio recording.. the x5 comes in a few flavors.. 10, 20 and 30 gig for the standard, thinner, lighter version, a thicker 60 gig version, or the x5l, a thicker 30 gig version with a 35 hour battery (the other x5's get approx. 14 hours..)

now, as much as I love the player, there are a few downsides.. first off, the x5 series is no longer in production.. should still be able to find them on amazon, but some replacement parts (like the sub pack) may get hard to find in the near future.. secondly, the sub pack.. as much thought and effort as the engineers seem to have put into developing the x5 series, for whatever reason (probably to save on cost or space) they decided to make a "sub pack" that has the AC jack, USB jack, and line in/out jacks.. without it, you've only got the headphone jack, USB host jack and the remote input jack.. add to that the fact that the sub pack itself feels rather flimsy (just a little plastic adapter with a short plug sticking out of it that goes into the bottom of the player, nothing to keep it from getting bumped and breaking off..) and if it breaks, you're SOL.. also more of a nucence than anything, for whatever reason every time you plug it into a computer and disconnect it, it resets the play boundry to default (any media on the harddrive) and resets the programmable buttons..

if you're looking for more of a media player and don't mind spending some extra dough, I've heard loads of good things about the q5w (though they did load an old version of windows on it).. large screen, built in bluetooth and wireless, same sound quality, component vodeo out, s-video out, composite video out, stereo out, the works.. the o2 is soon to be released too, which may leave that in the dust.. check out www.cowonamerica.com and have a look around, they've got something for everyone..

very detailed and well written review here:

http://www.anythingbutipod.com/archives/2007/02/cowon-iaudio-x5-review.php

do some looking at the reviews they have there about any of the other players you're considering too.. they usually do a pretty good job of giving fair and spot on reviews and comparisons..

hope my rambling didn't bore ya too much, and good luck!

[Professor Thump]

ok.. so after fooling around with my custom 3's enough, I finally got my previous problem solved.. since then, I've been expanding my library and have run into another bump in the road..

it seems certain songs (or certain types of songs anyway) produce a great deal of crackling.. seems bands like metallica and disturbed come through almost crystal clear (just a hint of distortion if you listen closely) while others like bullet for my valentine or endeverafter, crackle horribly whenever the music picks up.. I rip everything as a 320k mp3 or full quality ogg (around 400k if memory serves..) so I don't think that's the problem.. though I guess if all else fails I could try flac or wav and see if that makes a difference..

everything's being played on a Cowon iAudio X5L (which as far as i know should be able to handle this kind of quality output..) at a low to medium volume level, so I wouldn't think that it should be pushing the armatures too hard..

anyone have any similar experiences with their custom 3's? any suggestions? think an amp would help clear it up any?

This could be a lot of things so I will start with the obvious and go from there...

1. Scratches in your CD's... I know it is obvious but you might re-rip the track that you think are cracking.

2. Phone plug to jack connection needs cleaned or is not connecting properly. I have heard some weird things by not full engaging the 3.5 mm jack into the iPod. You get to channels but a blend of both in one phone along with intermitent noises that could be described as a crackle noise. Substitute any cable if applicable to see if this is your issue. Also make sure the headphone cable is plugged in securely.

3. Go to: http://iaudiophile.net/forums/showthread.php?t=14780 There are numerous complaints about the output jack failing. People have replaced the surface mount jack with parts from Digikey but if it is under warranty the manufacturer should stand behind the repair. I suspect that this is your problem.

Thump it!

[00formulahawk]

the endeverafter CD I'm thinking was a problem with the recording.. my CD's hardly been used since I bought it (took it out to rip it and use it on the computer, and a few times recently to test it..) and both encoded music and the original CD in any of my CD players crackle in the same place.. tried downloading a few of their songs to see if maybe I'd just gotten a bad copy.. all of those did it in the same place..

some of the others though, like bullet for my valentine, I think it's an encoding problem somewhere that I haven't nailed down.. listening to the original CD's in the stereo sounds fine, same with plugging my custom 3's into the stereo and listening that way.. every time I rip it though, I get crackling where the music really starts to pick up the pace.. burning the ripped tracks to CD and playing them in the stereo w/ or w/o the custom 3's gets me the same crackling noise.. tried downloading a few of those songs.. found one copy of the CD that crackled just like mine, and another that sounded flawless (both ripped to mp3 at 320k CBR)

so now it's just a matter of trying to figure out why things aren't ripping right.. tried a few different programs, and tried a few different types of encoding (mp3 and ogg) and it doesn't seem ta help.. so we'll do some research and see what google can tell us

[BLSamuel]

2. Phone plug to jack connection needs cleaned or is not connecting properly. I have heard some weird things by not full engaging the 3.5 mm jack into the iPod. You get to channels but a blend of both in one phone along with intermitent noises that could be described as a crackle noise. Substitute any cable if applicable to see if this is your issue. Also make sure the headphone cable is plugged in securely.

I can attest to that. We have a set of Advent Marbl outside (not Klipsch [:$] but they were cheap and sound ok but some AW or CA series Klipsch would be a lot better) and they sounded like they were full of water for lack of a better desription - quite plausible as they're at the top of 4x4s out by the deck at our above ground pool with virtually no protection. They are angled down but being vented and knowing that rain can pretty much come in sideways ... it's plausible they could take on water... turned out the overly large headphone cable to RCA adaptor was causing a bad connection at the headphone jack of my mp3 player used as input. I was thinking or crap, there goes the headphone jack.... probably pretty chintzy on the circuit board. Thankfully no, the plug and/or cable was just pulling a bit in one direction so I'm better now at paying attention how I hook up such an adaptor and make sure things aren't pulling on the headphone jack.

Don't have that problem with Custom 2 plug and cable as it's exceptionally light and compact (the reason it works with iPhones without an adaptor). A small detail, but a very nice detail.

Remember those Kodak adds of a few years back? Something like "genius is in the details". Professor Thump and his cohorts in design have some genius moments in the Custom and Image models.

Still sticking 'em in my ears. Music at work never sounded so good.