I've been using my iPod for a little while now and have had absolutely no problem with it. I think the sound quality (320kpbs MP3, normal stereo, ripped using iTunes and using Sony EX71 earbuds) is superb and astonishingly good value for the price. However, I've just come across the oddest of problems: Having just received CDs of Brucker's 4th, 5th, 7th and 8th symphonies for my birthday (yes, I really don't know any Bruckner :shame: ) I was really looking forward to giving them all a good listen and as is so often the case that usually means at work on my iPod rather than at home on the main system :rolleyes: . So, I ripped them all with iTunes and transferred them to the iPod as I normally do along with the latest album from "The Streets" (The Streets and Bruckner....odd combination :D ). I listened to the Streets album first (which I love btw) and sonically it was fine, just as good as all my other rips. Then onto the Bruckner symphonies, starting with no. 4. It opens with opens with a really haunting solo horn over tremolo strings - as beautiful opening as any that exists - but there's something wrong. The horn sounds all warbly as if it's being played underwater ??? I carry on for a while and the same warbly / gargly / underwater effect is happening to all wind and brass instruments, particularly when playing quietly. Strings seem to be oddly unaffected :confused: . Also, loud passages seem to be fine. OK, so maybe that was somehow a bad rip. I try all the other Bruckner symphonies and they're all affected by the same problem :eek: . So, back to iTunes to check the file(s). Confirm that I did rip it at 320kbps and everything looks OK. I play the file through iTunes and it seems fine. The horns are sounding just as they should. So, I delete the symphony off my iPod and transfer it again. No joy. Still sounds buggered on the iPod. I have absolutely no idea what's going on :confused: ? Other classical music I've got on the iPod (eg. Rachmaninov Piano Concertos) is fine, so far it's only been these symphonies. It seems like a very strange MP3 decoding bug that somehow only affects those particular tracks which is most odd. Anyone heard of any similar issues? I'm running the latest version of the iPod firmware and used the latest version of iTunes (4.5) to rip the tracks. The only thing I can still try when I get back home to Lisbon is try ripping the files again on my home PC instead of the work laptop but since the file is fine on the laptop I don't see that making a big difference. Otherwise I'll have to try maybe AAC or Apple lossless for those symphonies. Michael.
