Hacking DS sound quality for MP3

[glacialspike]

Hi, i was wondering how the sound quality is for the DS compared to the PSP and ipod... thanks

 

[R-Unit 4]

Ds quality sucks. Ipod and PSPs are much better choice. A DS is for gameplay not for graphics.

 

[OSW]

i wouldn't say it sucks completely.

I do know that it has largely inferior sound hardware to Ipod PSP etc, which would be a better option for a more serious listener.

However it's satisfactory for a non-audiophile like me, who isn't currently considering a dedicated music player.

 

[Destructobot]

My hearing really sucks, and I can still tell that the DS sounds a lot worse than your average cheap crappy audio device. The DS can play MP3s, but I wouldn't use it unless nothing else was available.

 

[jalaneme]

Ds quality sucks. Ipod and PSPs are much better choice. A DS is for gameplay not for graphics.

i would have to agree, you would have to be partially deaf if you think the DS has good sound for mp3, don't be cheap OP and buy a ipod!

 

[UchihaE]

I am not that high maintenance when it comes to sound quality but if i didn't have a PSP I would just get a MP3 player cause for the space my DS (lite) takes its not worth the music quality you get in return.

 

[noamkot]

I can only agree with all the people here.
The DS has inferior sound and it can't handle 44kHz/16bit samples.
You should buy something that's more media oriented like a dedicated mp3 player, pocketpc or psp.

 

[OSW]

but i wouldn't recommend buying an ipod because they suck

and don't get a PSP unless you're going to hack it, not to mention it only accepts the proprietary sony memory sticks.

 

[azotyp]

Ds doesnt have that much of quality like ipod or psp but ds sound quality is good enough for me, you all propably listem to music on ds lite speakers, that are crap, I use good quality earphones, and I would say that quality is maybe like in walkman with chrome technology cassette inside (not so good but not so bad). I listen music by my ds very rarely, but quality is good enough for me. But If you really want to "taste" good quality mp3 , better buy yoursealf an ipod or Iriver mp3 player.

 

[Destructobot]

you all propably listem to music on ds lite speakers

No. I've listened with good headphones, and I've hooked it up to a few different sound systems. It does not sound good.

 

[PBC]

Music sounds fine from the DS!! Who are these people??

Granted
The speakers themselves aren't very good
...the natural volume the DS produces isn't very good so you'll be tempted to max it out (which will distort anything)

BUT
if you don't max out the speakers/invite unneeded distortion/use a pair of headphones instead of DS speakers then mp3s are fine on the DS. Anyone who says otherwise is just mad they bought an IPOD in the first place.
Believe me...I hooked up thousand dollar speakers through an amp for a local party and it sounded the same as the IPOD that was connected beforehand. Most people forget that sound quailty is relative to the equipment you are running it through...cables and such....

If you really like music you'll miss out if you buy an mp3 player....since you can make music on the DS as well. Beatmapping, sampling...etc.

Stop suckin apples knob people


BTW whats easier to use Itunes or drag and drop? (rests case)

 

[ACQ]

Music sounds fine from the DS!! Who are these people??

Granted
The speakers themselves aren't very good
...the natural volume the DS produces isn't very good so you'll be tempted to max it out (which will distort anything)

BUT
if you don't max out the speakers/invite unneeded distortion/use a pair of headphones instead of DS speakers then mp3s are fine on the DS. Anyone who says otherwise is just mad they bought an IPOD in the first place.
Believe me...I hooked up thousand dollar speakers through an amp for a local party and it sounded the same as the IPOD that was connected beforehand. Most people forget that sound quailty is relative to the equipment you are running it through...cables and such....

If you really like music you'll miss out if you buy an mp3 player....since you can make music on the DS as well. Beatmapping, sampling...etc.

Stop suckin apples knob people


BTW whats easier to use Itunes or drag and drop? (rests case)

I'm totally with PBC on this one. Okay, not totally. "Anyone who says otherwise is just mad they bought an IPOD in the first place." This is pure assumption and I'll have no hand in it!

Anyway, I agree that MP3 playback volume is too low on the DS and requires a boost. Quality headphones can solve many poor/low sound problems. I think some form of EQ would help Moonshell or DSorganize MP3 playback quality though.

 

[arctic_flame]

Music sounds fine from the DS!! Who are these people??

People who enjoy their music, that was probably ripped from the CD at a fairly high quality instead of donwloading poor quality songs of the GNUtella network.

if you don't max out the speakers/invite unneeded distortion/use a pair of headphones instead of DS speakers then mp3s are fine on the DS. Anyone who says otherwise is just mad they bought an IPOD in the first place.

Actually, the DS sound hardware itself is poor. Granted, if you're using very bad headphones or low bitrate/sample rate mp3s, you won't be able to tell the difference.

Your iPod comment is slightly out of nowhere. Apart from the poor battery life, the hardware used is rather good and provides excellent sound quality.

Believe me...I hooked up thousand dollar speakers through an amp for a local party and it sounded the same as the IPOD that was connected beforehand. Most people forget that sound quailty is relative to the equipment you are running it through...cables and such....

An amplifier will drop sound quality, as you will end up having to clip some of the samples, turning a nice sounding sine wave into a harsh sounding square wave. Of course, the effect is desirable for Electric Guitars. Yes, the sound quality is relative to the equipment you're using. Starting with the DS's poor hardware.

If you really like music you'll miss out if you buy an mp3 player....since you can make music on the DS as well. Beatmapping, sampling...etc.

I agree. There's plenty of fun/useful audio apps. I used NitroTracker a while ago for a mini project.

Stop suckin apples knob people

Nearly everyone who replied to this topic suggested a non-apple product. You also don't really have an argument, and just want to bash apple. At least, that's how it comes across - moronic.

BTW whats easier to use Itunes or drag and drop? (rests case)

Again you're being moronic.

Firstly, you're assuming that everyone with an mp3 player uses iTunes. I've used Amarok to sync my iPod 4G for a while now.
Secondly, I have ~30 Gibibytes of music. When I last used the windows drag/drop interface to transfer large volumes of files to a removable drive, it would take ages, and maybe even stop halfway with a "Delayed write error."

Secondly iTunes is easier to use than many audio managers I've seen. You can drag and drop files into it, and it will automatically organise them. It will sync your iPod whenever you attach it. It downloads cover art. It rips CDs into several formats. It's easy and fast.



If you couldn't be bothered to read my dissection of your argument, then I'll explain one sentance.

You're wrong, and you don't understand.

 

[Sinkhead]

Come on guys, stay on topic

If you want to have an argument about iPods, go to the off-topic section.

This thread is about the sound quality of MP3s on the DS.

 

[pasc]

You're right... I have to admin, as much as I prefer my DS as a Gaming Machine over anything else... the sound sucks for good musik and it doesn't sound better than my cheap mp3 player even if I hook up good earphones, but for games and a bit of video the DS is good enough.

 

[arctic_flame]

Come on guys, stay on topicÂ

If you want to have an argument about iPods, go to the off-topic section.

This thread is about the sound quality of MP3s on the DS.

I am on topic.

(wait, not anymore, damn!)

 

[Saylient_Dreams]

Sound quality for the DS for mp3 listening is acceptable. Not trying to start something, but if you're looking for great sound quality, it would be best play uncompressed, untranscoded, audio files, to get the most out of them, and listen to them on a dedicated sound system. If you're so worried about sound quality on the DS compared to another mp3 playing device, then you're probably worrying too much, because I would think any pmp compared to a dedicated sound system sounds like crap. pmps imo are just for music on the go with acceptable sound quality that you can still enjoy the music. I can understand if you're an audiophile wanting great sound quality, and you get annoyed even listening to an mp3 with a bitrate of 320 kbps, probably for most audiophiles, mp3s won't cut it, and pmps arnt for them. So imo, if you're looking for a device to listen to music on the go, then the DS is a good choice, because quality on pmps compared to sound systems is very noticable, while comparing among the pmps is almost hard to tell (unless its so bad treble/bass are missing etc etc) for more than half of the average consumers. If anything you should think about the portability of the DS. If you're going to use it as a dedicated mp3 device, it is quite cumbersome just for that, it's bigger than most portable audio dedicated devices and needs to be flipped open to get to most of the controls, to me that just is kinda annoying to be using for just mp3s. However, I just listen to mp3s every once in a while, and just enjoy the fact I can carry less devices than some others, doesn't matter to me how thin ipods are now, there's still two devices, theres still more space being taken up, and theres more devices to worry about losing/dropping/getting stolen. Just my opinion

 

[auto123]

oh come on guys. the DS plays mp3's great. however, even though the original ds is better to me, the lite plays them better out of its speakers. though head phones the quality is as good as my sansa (better than ipod (idont))
psp, dont have one, cant judge

 

[Extreme Coder]

To me, the DS sound quality is just fine.
But I'm not an audiophile, just someone who listens to a few songs once in a while.

 

[sonicstorm]

Absolutely garbage compared to an iPod.