Good accessories for Ipods?
 

I was wondering if anyone knew some good must-have accessories for Ipods. I'm thinking of something along the lines of an arm band strap, so you can strip it to your biceps area and possibly screen protectors or a case.

Does anyone know if the screen protectors and cases are really worth the money? Also, how about a good arm band strap? I'm sure there are a milliom variations all over. I just want to know the best of each and if they are really worth the money.

Hope everyone had a great Christmas and holiday by the way.

Thanks

definitely get a case. i didn't have one for mine the first few weeks i got it, and the screen got scratched to fuck, the stainless back is heavily scarred. I was upset by that. everyone i know uses one to prevent that from happening. the screen is still legible, but still, for something as sleek as an iPod, it's nice to keep them in pristine condition.

Yes, definitely invest in a nice, hard case. I dropped my iPod recently, and the case took the full brunt of the drop - that made me glad I bought it.

If you like to listen to it in your car and don't have a line-in jack on your stereo, buy a FM Transmitter that can hook up to the cigarette lighter in your car. I got one of those as a gift from my brother a few years ago and it's lightyears better than the old one I had that ran off of two AAA batteries. Definitely has a stronger signal, doesn't eat through a set of batteries in two trips across the state, and it also hooks into my iPod through its bottom, so it charges the iPod at the same time it's transmitting.

As for the case and everything, I think that depends on how you take care of your electronics. I always keep my ipod in the same pocket as my cell phone, so there's nothing that will scratch it, and I've only dropped it maybe two times in the four years or so I've had it. So, yeah, there's a few scratches on the back (times I accidentally threw my keys in that pocket and didn't realize my ipod was in there), but I think that actually makes it look well worn for a piece of electronics that old. I also don't like to waste the extra pocket space that a case would take up.

Thanks.

Any specific cases recommended? I've seen tons of them. Are they all the same or are there a few brands superior to the rest?

A good suggestion would be to replace the iPod ear buds, because they are shit.

I recommend the Koss KSC75s or Koss PortaPro. Best clip-ons you can buy and best headphones you can get for under $300. I don't understand why people bother with sticking things in their ears as if it's giving better quality over headphones, since it really isn't.

A high quality pair of IEMs would completely blow away the KSC75s or Portapros and many other lower-priced supra or circumaural headphones. And they certainly are not the best headphones under $300, I'll tell you that right now. Perhaps under $50, maybe. That's not to say that the KSC75's and Portapros are bad, because they certainly aren't, and they're definitely better than the stock iBuds at any rate, which I agree should be replaced immediately.

Anyway, my definition of "iPod accessory" is probably a little different than most people's. I recommend getting a line out cable and a good amplifier, perhaps something from HeadRoom or Ray Samuels. Then get a nice pair of in-ear monitors to top it all off.

...circumaural? Anyway, I listed those because putting things in your ear is retarded and shouldn't be done. You might get better audio quality out of doing it, sure, but some people just don't enjoy using ear buds instead of headphones. I really hate ear buds since I have ongoing issues with my ears.

No matter how you pimp up your system, the music is still compressed file, hence it still has limit in term of level. And since Ipod can not play FLAC, I don't think getting an amp worths that much.

My iPod plays FLAC files... and OGG, MPC, and several other formats. But that's an issue for a whole other thread.

This is good idea, but if you can, I would recommend a cassette adapter instead. People will immediately say "tape hiss", but honestly on the good ones you can't hear it, even during quiet music. The advantage is that, unlike most radio adapters, it doesn't automatically adjust the volume. I don't know about RacinReaver's but mine pretty much nixed any bass and I had to turn the car volume way up to hear separate instruments with any clarity. The tape adapter also just seems to have better quality overall, with deeper bass, transparent trebles, and clearer drum hits. I don't think there are any with chargers, like the FM transmitters, though, but it only takes up as much battery as regular headphones do anyway.

The FM transmitters sound like balls. The tape ones are slightly better quality.

However your best bet is to get a 1/8" to RCA converter at Radioshack. Then look in back of your car's stereo -- almost all will have open RCA in jacks back there. Run the wire into your glove compartment or something. Pretty simple.

To be honest with you though, I have stopped listening to my iPod in my car. Road noise and the mediocre quality of my car's stereo compared to my IEMs and home stereo have brought me back to listening to NPR in the car. I think I'm better off for it. News for the win.

Get out liberal hippie.

I'd totally agree on the cassette adapter instead of the FM transmitter, since if you live in somewhere with a ton of radio stations (or drive between areas with two different sets of stations frequently) it's possibly the biggest annoyance on earth. I'm just stuck with a car that doesn't have a cassette deck in it. :(

I'm totally going to take a look in the back of my car like ramoth recommended, since that's totally a sweet idea. And it's probably even cheaper just to buy those cables than to get any other sort of converter out there (though wouldn't this require your stereo having some sort of auxiliary input setting?).

At least I'm not a scientist. TRYING TO DISPROVE CREATIONISM, YOU JERK.

So I talked to my friend who did it and he had had a TV in his car, but it had been stolen, so he used the existing AUX jacks. If your car uses a remote CD changer (in the trunk) you might also be able to get it working. If it's all internal, it will be harder.

How good are you with a soldering gun, :rr:?

No remote CD changer, I opted to go with the mp3-cd player because that seemed like a better idea at the time. :(

I think there is a spot for AUX input if I had gone for the multi-cd changer (possibly even an unlablelled button up front as well), so with some luck there'll just be some hookups sitting in the back of my car with nothing to do.

And if soldering is needed, there's always my electrical engineering girlfriend. :forscience:

Case
Wall Plug or Clock charger / Speaker charger [<- no one mentioned this!]

After using the stock cloth case that came with my 5G iPod for over a year I finally caved and bought a rubber case. The kind which leaves the screen and wheel usable.

What put me off getting one for so long was the price - On the high street those things are anywhere between £10 ($20) and £20 ($40). Getting one at the airport was a smart move ($7.99 huzzah).

THe only real solution for listening to iPods in the car is to have a stereo with Auxillery imput. I've found FM transmitters to be a pain in the arse.

Also, I would suggest you DONT get any form of armstrap if you're using an iPod classic. It's a small harddrive your carrying and they wil break from the movement jogging will cause. If you have a nano or shuffle or even iPod touch, ignore what I said, they work fine strapped up.

I have some pretty decent headphones for my iPod: The standard Apple In-Ear Headphones. They aren't the best there is but they'll do and, even though they retail for like $50 (a pretty high price for what they are, to be honest), you can find them new on eBay for under $16 shipped. I ordered 2 pairs for myself just in case.

Also, since I can't listen to the headphones all the time, I also bought a boombox. It's not the drastic step that is a whole stereo upgrade would be but with bigger speakers it definitely boosts the sound of your music. I myself have an Altec Lansing IM7 and I keep it in my classroom where it receives the bulk of its use. It has exceptional sound, adjustable bass & treble controls and a remote to do all of this with. The only downside is its retails price but I wager you can do what I did and score one on eBay for less than $125. If that seems like a high price to pay, there's plenty of other alternatives to suit your taste and/or budget. Shop around, you'll eventually settle on something that's right.

Don't listen to Ence. The Apple In Ear Headphones are absolutely horrible and sound worse than the ear buds taht come with the machine. They are comfortable and discrete though.

You either don't know how to use them or you haven't actually used them. They have better bass quality than the stock headphones but they're not as comfortable since you have to shove them into your ear canal. Some people are OK with that and others aren't; it's a matter of taste from that point on.

See, those in-ear headphones are kind of like a set of trunk subwoofers. They're installed behind the backseat of your car and they use the trunk of your car as their resonance chamber.

Except for the fact the ear canal resonances associated with IEMs are usually around the 6-8kHz range. And in general, any kind of resonance is considered to be a bad thing in audio because is means a frequency is being amplified above other frequencies.

If you really want more bass than you can handle, these should do the trick: Ultimate Ears Super.fi 5 EB Earphones NEW Metalic Black

I also feel the iPod earbuds are really really bad. I used to wear them a few years ago but recently tried them and they felt terrible and sounded even worse.

Then I put my KSC75's on and just started laughing. The sound quality feels so different. Seriously, get a Portapro or KSC75. Sennheiser faggots will tell you otherwise but I highly recommend them. Unless you're willing to spend $50-100 and get Grado material, but uh, you own an iPod so there's no need to start looking cool now.

KSC75's are clip-ons, and are about $12 off Amazon, and I think have a kHz range of 18-24, and the Portapro is $33 off Amazon. I don't personally own a Portapro but I've heard that they're using near-identical drivers to the KSC75's, it's just that they're headphones and not clip-ons. So if you absolutely cannot stand clip-ons (I'm fine with them myself), there's your option.

Maybe it's because I honestly don't give a shit about sound quality but JVC Gummy Earphones, which go for a grand total of £5 at Virgin, I meen Zavvi, Megastores.

I meen I bought a pair at the start of the year and I've been using them since, even after geting the Nano Video.

Still podcasts perfectly well IMHO.

I already wrote a journal entry about this, but I bought the Etymotic ER-4Ps and I couldn't be happier. The ER-6is are also good, but honestly if you're going to spend that much on IEMs then just splurge and go for the 4 series.

I have yet to get the custom earmolds for mine, but I am told they make these things sound even better. Woop.