I've been called an "audio witch doctor" before, which can be interpreted as another way of saying SQ (sound quality) is of some significance to me. I find it strange that you don't often hear people talking about SQ in mp3/mp4 players, and certainly not as much as they ought to, by me. Very little about it, if anything, gets accorded in reviews. For, I would guesstimate, slightly more than 99% of the mp3/mp4 buying public, improving your sound means getting better headphones. For me, there's a few hundred other ways. I will endeavour to describe one of them in this post, for those who can appreciate their SQ. You just need a freezer, and a right good pair of music-lovin' ears.

The first thing you should do before any "tweaking" takes place, is listen to a good song on the player, to provide a reference for changes. Otherwise, you might have an even tougher time determining if anything improved for you.

1. Toss your player in the coldest part of your freezer (if you can turn up the cold, even better). While you're at it, throw your headphones in there, what the hey! It can only improve things. Don't worry about quiching your player. I've frozen tube amps, cd players, dvd players, speaker drivers, wire, watches, and all of my mp4 and mp3 players, never had a problem. Leave it in the freezer overnight, 12hrs min.

2. Take it out of the freezer and put it in the fridge for a few hours to get to fridge temp. Then immediately transfer it to the coldest part of your house, where you will wrap it up in thick blankets or something to prevent a quick thaw. The key to this trick is -slow-thawing-, the slower the device thaws, the better this will work. (If you can manage to transfer it to an ice or ice-pak filled cooler chest, even better!).

3. Once the MP4 player has thawed totally to room temp, put it back in the freezer and repeat the process a second time! (Second time is always better. Third time? Not sure, maybe!). The whole shebang should take a couple of days.

Now you listen again to the reference song you listened to before to determine if any changes have taken place. For most people, the difference will probably not knock you out at first, but (to me), its an important one. Speaking for myself, I had no problem hearing a change in my (MyMusix) mp3 player and my mp4 1st gen Nano clone. I was particularly pleased about the MyMusix, because I found the sound of the mp3 player boring and colorless before the process, and tonal hues were more vibrant and well defined after the process. The sound of my Chipod was always better than the mp3 player, but after listening to the last song that I listened to on the Chipod (before the big freeze), which happened to be Elton John's "Tiny Dancer", I had trouble putting the player down! Its nothing about bass/mids/highs or lows, or any of that nonsense. To put it succinctly, it was simply more musical.

Video improves as well, although my eye is not attuned so much to that, so the improvements are there (in the form of >slightly< sharper constrast and colors), but less discernible. Its more discernible on video dialogue, because I heard more clarity from the voices on my chipod, while watching The Simpsons. (The blocky low resolution of the AMV-converted image, of course, did not change!).

For the adventurous only. As always, YMMV.


ADDENDUM (SQ notes): I just got through listening to my white 1st gen Nano clone that also went thru the "operation big freeze" process (the black one is the one I listend to Elton John on). I was listening to the Stones on the white one, except not through my usual phones, the Koss Sportapros, but on the cheapa** .50 cent 10th rate Apple clony earbuds that actually come with the player. I've only listened to these phones once, cos once was enough. They are easily the worst earphones I have ever heard! Everything sounds like you're in a bathroom, and drowning in the bathtub. Plus the separation is so bad, its very nearly like listening to MONO. And yet... the musical quality blew me away!

I was listening to "Gimme Shelter", which admittedly is one of my favorite Stones songs but still, I couldn't put it down. I was grooving with the music just like those silhouettes you see on the Apple iPod billboards. I remember listening to Gimme Shelter on my Koss Sportapros in the player's pre-frozen state, and I certainly enjoyed it and recall grooving to it as well, but the experience simply wasn't nearly as intense as post-freeze with the Apple-clone buds.

So that was an interesting experiment for me. It showed me that it doesn't matter in the end, how lo-fi your headphones are. Because the "soul" of the music can still come through, the brain can still pick up on that, through the grunge and in-the-toilet sound character of the earbuds, if the player is capable of transmitting that. To put it another way, I think in a comparison I would favour this (post-frozen) player with the .50 Apple fake earbuds than another player that didn't have these qualities, but had a pair of Grado SR-80's attached to it.

lol i would not want to try that.

maybe when i buy another mp4 player, then maybe yeah

sounds like an interesting idea but...
any idea why this 'works' though?

deepakrr wrote (View Post): › lol i would not want to try that. maybe when i buy another mp4 player, then maybe yeah

Why, are you worried about damaging it or about going without a player for two days? There is no danger involved, like I mentioned, I froze several of my players, no problem. Just make sure you wait til it gets to room temp to turn it on. If you're worried about condensation, seal the player in a ziploc bag before placing it in the freezer.

michiganjfrog, The "Operation Big Freeze" has begun. I will let you know.

WoW WoW.. Chinglish Master michiganjfrog has a new orthodox method of improving sound quality..

I'll try it out tomorrow and post my results.. If it works on my clone, i'm throwing my T29 in too!

CHRIST!!!

Am I on Acid today???


Joffa

nidebaba wrote (View Post): › sounds like an interesting idea but... any idea why this 'works' though?



Oh no, dont start that! Its a debate -way- too big for this board! Lets just say.... well, some claim it relaxes or realigns the crystalline structures in metal, that are fatigued by heat processes during the fabrication & treatment (ie. bending) of the metals.

Other people say those people are full of s**t. They point out that the process also works on a lot of things which dont contain metals (this is correct, actually). And the other people will say of the people who say those other people are full of s**t, that they are on acid. Not unlike our friend "Joffa" below, perhaps. Then there are the people who say everyone is full of s**t, if they think the freezer has any effect on anything except the condition of your butterball turkey. And to them I say, "you're full of s***t too". So you see, as my dear old sainted grandmother always used to say: "opinions are like a**holes. everyone's got one an dey all stink!"

If you're that curious about opinions, you can check out this guy's. He wrote about a similar procedure on CDs back in '90 for a popular audio magazine. I don't know if he posits a theory, I didn't really read his article:

http://www.stereophile.com/asweseeit/822/

JOFFA

Quote: › CHRIST!!! Am I on Acid today??? Joffa

Well... I know its Sunday. Is Sunday your acid day?

michiganjfrog wrote (View Post): › nidebaba wrote (View Post): › sounds like an interesting idea but... any idea why this 'works' though?  Oh no, dont start that! Its a debate -way- too big for this board! Lets just say.... well, some claim it relaxes or realigns the crystalline structures in metal, that are fatigued by heat processes during the fabrication & treatment (ie. bending) of the metals. Other people say those people are full of s**t. They point out that the process also works on a lot of things which dont contain metals (this is correct, actually). And the other people will say of the people who say those other people are full of s**t, that they are on acid. Not unlike our friend "Joffa" below, perhaps. Then there are the people who say everyone is full of s**t, if they think the freezer has any effect on anything except the condition of your butterball turkey. And to them I say, "you're full of s***t too". So you see, as my dear old sainted grandmother always used to say: "opinions are like a**holes. everyone's got one an dey all stink!" If you're that curious about opinions, you can check out this guy's. He wrote about a similar procedure on CDs back in '90 for a popular audio magazine. I don't know if he posits a theory, I didn't really read his article: http://www.stereophile.com/asweseeit/822/ JOFFA Quote: › CHRIST!!! Am I on Acid today??? Joffa Well... I know its Sunday. Is Sunday your acid day?

whoa

LOL!!! This is funny stuff. Freeze your player to make it sound better, is this from the guy who does BS computer tips videos?

VegasPlayer wrote (View Post): › LOL!!! This is funny stuff. Freeze your player to make it sound better, is this from the guy who does BS computer tips videos?

You mean God? No, its not from God. It's more of a science thingy. What exactly is so funny about improving the sound or video of your MP4 player? Dont knock it til you've tried it. The world is full of milllions of things you don't and/or cant understand. This is just one of them.

michiganjfrog wrote (View Post): › VegasPlayer wrote (View Post): › LOL!!! This is funny stuff. Freeze your player to make it sound better, is this from the guy who does BS computer tips videos? You mean God? No, its not from God. It's more of a science thingy. What exactly is so funny about improving the sound or video of your MP4 player? Dont knock it til you've tried it. The world is full of milllions of things you don't and/or cant understand. This is just one of them.

Actually, science is bs & fake. There is a God.

hows about a sticky?
did this to a friends old (CHEAP!) 128MB player and it worked a charm.
he is happy

clackers91 wrote (View Post): › hows about a sticky?

Good idea, but that's the admin's decision. Say... didn't the admin (or perhaps the moderator?) say he'd try it? What's the verdict?!

Quote: › did this to a friends old (CHEAP!) 128MB player and it worked a charm. he is happy

Great. Now try it on your own mp4 player! The method has the potential to improve both sound and video quality (although video is really something that's harder to tell, especially if you dont know what to look for). I know some people are wary about sticking their players in the freezer, but so long as the instructions are followed (ie. dont try to turn it on immediately after taking it out of the freezer or fridge), well I've done this to a lot of mp3/mp4 players and other electronics without any problem (I can recommend putting the player in a zip loc bag for those worried about condensation, but I have -never- used a bag with anything, and I think the results can be ever-so slightly better without one).

Thanks for this idea to improve MP4 sound quality. Now I understand why Al Gore at an Academy Award, and how the whole "Global Warming" thang could have gotten started!!!