Stereo/iPod Sound Weirdness

[like2bike]

Fact:
The spinning room stereo system plays CDs wonderfully. They sound crisp and clear. You can hear all background vocals, sounds, etc. Lovely.
Problem:
When I run my iPod throught the stereo system, there are certain songs where you can barely hear the background sounds.

I know I'm not giving you much to go on, but I'm hoping someone out there might have a experienced a similar problem and can help diagnosis this for me. It's really messing up the mojo of the class. :mad:

Any help or suggestions you can give would be much appreciated! THANKS IN ADVANCE!

[kszspin]

Lori, I'm not really sure if I have your same problem, but I have volume "issues" with my ipod. Meaning that I'll make a playlist in MM with various songs, I ALWAYS check "normalization" on MM before I export the playlist. Then I import it into itunes as one long track, and when I play it (not just through the stereo at work, but even just play it on the ipod) some songs have varying volume levels and I always haveto manually adjust the volume from one track to another. So yes, it also interrupts my mojo too! :mad:

We could be having two different types of problems, so I'm curious about both.

[like2bike]

Lori, I'm not really sure if I have your same problem, but I have volume "issues" with my ipod. Meaning that I'll make a playlist in MM with various songs, I ALWAYS check "normalization" on MM before I export the playlist. Then I import it into itunes as one long track, and when I play it (not just through the stereo at work, but even just play it on the ipod) some songs have varying volume levels and I always haveto manually adjust the volume from one track to another. So yes, it also interrupts my mojo too! :mad:

We could be having two different types of problems, so I'm curious about both.

Yes, sounds like two different issues. I've no doubt the good folks here will come up with the solution for both of us!

[SpinBob]

Lori,
How do you connect your iPod to your stereo system? There may be something funky with your cables or the connection to the stereo.

Kelly,
Are you on a PC or a Mac, if you use a Mac there are some iTune scripts that allow you to turn a playlist into one track without leaving iTunes, so you wouldn't need MM. I'm not sure if anything like that exists for the PC.

[yvonne]

i agree with Bob, check the cable (make sure it's plugged in all the way.) if you plug in your earphones, and don't hear the same issues, consider replacing the "Y" cable. Better cables are more $ but totally worth it. i have a monster cable that hasn't failed me yet!

also check the volume limiter on the ipod itself.

[like2bike]

Lori,
How do you connect your iPod to your stereo system? There may be something funky with your cables or the connection to the stereo.


Bob,
I use a Y cable that the club's maintenance fellow installed into the system. However, I do have an extra one of my own that I'd be HAPPY to use instead of theirs if that takes care of the problem. So you think that might be the issue? A bad cable?

[like2bike]

i agree with Bob, check the cable (make sure it's plugged in all the way.) if you plug in your earphones, and don't hear the same issues, consider replacing the "Y" cable. Better cables are more $ but totally worth it. i have a monster cable that hasn't failed me yet!

also check the volume limiter on the ipod itself.

OK sounds like you and Bob are in agreement here. I will replace their cable with mine (mine's better--ha ha!) And yes, I have checked the volume limiter on th iPod itself.

Thanks guys--I will let you know if this solves my problem!:razz:

[kszspin]

Kelly,
Are you on a PC or a Mac, if you use a Mac there are some iTune scripts that allow you to turn a playlist into one track without leaving iTunes, so you wouldn't need MM. I'm not sure if anything like that exists for the PC.

I'm on a PC and it does allow me to do what you say w/o using mixmeister, but it doesn't give me any ability to edit/crop, change bpm, or the like. PLUS (and this is waaaay huge for me), as I am a very visual person, I love the way I can see a track in great detail laid out in the MM playlist, and to move it around so seemlessly. Perhaps, I'm just picky or a big pain in the a$$ to please, or both! :-P

[like2bike]

Perhaps, I'm just picky or a big pain in the a$$ to please, or both! :-P

Kelly you and I sound like we're the same person.;)

[Innercycling.com]

Hi there here is what might also be wrong. Most stereos if in most gyms that use mixing board usually plug into any open spot on the board. Some of these spots on the board are in mono on the board and not in stereo.If you plug in a stereo Ipod into a mono input you might get exactly what you are getting a slight muffle, no or little sound on some songs or just a feeling that it does not sound right. This happens for 2 reasons one being that the stereo output is now combined to one channel or worse 2 the stereo cord is plugged into a mono channel and some songs have lyrics or sounds that only play on right or left leaving you with what I think is happening weird or minimal sound on some songs only. So heres some advise on what to do. Ask the gym to ask the stereo guy to make sure that they plug into a stereo channel and not the leftover spot that was probably meant for the mic input and here is the other advise. In my bag of tricks I carry around several plugs to fit any mixing board input.
First I have 2 of these because these cables are constantly being pushed in and out so they go bad like people in this post have said.
#40612
40612 1.5ft VELOCITY™ 3.5mm STEREO MALE to DUAL RCA MALE Y-CABLE
Extend the reach of your existing 3.5mm Audio Cable
Availability:
http://www.cablestogo.com/product_list.asp?cat%5Fid=2004

Then I have 2 of these to adapt the rca plug to 1/4 to plug into a different spot on the board if i see that I am in a mono spot.

#40640
40640 6.3mm (1/4in) STEREO MALE to RCA FEMALE ADAPTER
Adapts a RCA plug to 6.3mm stereo plug
Availability:
http://www.cablestogo.com/product_list.asp?cat%5Fid=119

with these plugs you can usually plug into another spot like where the stupid tape deck plugs into( they don't deserve a plug anymore) These spots usually offer a stero adaption into the Mixing board. Hope this helps. B

BTW. I used to do High end private investigations and stereo installs including building 9 Spinning rooms and countless stereos installs including Johnny G Spinning World Headquarters in LA

Billy Garcia
PS, Call me if you can't figure out what you got.
305-761-SPIN(7746)

[SpinBob]

AC has a good point about the docking station and the quality of sound. I mount my iPod on my handle bars so I can subtly nudge the volume and use the song timer to cue my moves. But if you just plug you iPod in and leave it on top of the stereo, a dock is the way to go.

[like2bike]

AC has a good point about the docking station and the quality of sound. I mount my iPod on my handle bars so I can subtly nudge the volume and use the song timer to cue my moves. But if you just plug you iPod in and leave it on top of the stereo, a dock is the way to go.

Yes, I carefully mount my iPod to my handlebars as well. Bob I do the same as you: use the song times to cue my moves and adjust the volume as necessary.

I am going to replace the cable and check out the things that Billy mentions above. I think the B-man has diagnosed my problem. Will let you know if it's fixed, once I make all of the changes.

Thanks everyone for your thoughtful suggestions and wonderful help. I knew I could count on you!

[SpinBob]

It is rare that you'd have a mono input in a board with a red and white input jacks, particularly in an open aux jack on the same level with the CD and cassette inputs, but it could happen.AC, I was thinking the same thing.

If you are mounting an Ipod to a handle bar, there is a company called Marware that makes a mount. I have one on my road bike. It's an accessory to slip in the case into a clip mounted on the bar.AC, you're right on the nose, this is what I use, although I've modified it a touch because the handle bars in ID bikes are thicker than OD bikes.

[megale3]

Here is the fix on youtube
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B8H29jU8Wrs&feature=dir

[SpinBob]

Here is the fix on youtube
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B8H29jU8Wrs&feature=dirOh, the humanity. :o

[kszspin]

Thank you men! I'm sold, gonna go out and get that docking station! ;)

[like2bike]

Hi there--
Here's what DH and I found. The cable was SHOT and the EQ knob (which was behind a screen that was bolted onto the stereo system that we had to unbolt) was turned down too low!

THANKS EVERYONE FOR YOUR VALUABLE INPUT! What a great group of folks we have here.