iBook sounds terrible on my home stereo.

December 21, 2004 8:20 AM

When I plug my iBook into my home stereo, it sounds horrible. Way bass-y and mumbly. I can tweak it - setting the iBook volume way low and messing with bass and treble on the stereo - so it's passable, but I'm wondering if I'm doing it wrong. (I plug it from the headphones jack into the Phono input.)
posted by booth to Technology (11 answers total)

Do you have line-out on the iBook?
posted by signal at 8:22 AM on December 21, 2004

if your home stereo input is specifically labelled "phono", then that's your problem. Phono input and tape/line inputs are actually different. If your stereo has a different input, use that. If it doesn't, try making sure that the iPod isn't doing any un-need EQ on it's own.
posted by jaded at 8:24 AM on December 21, 2004

The phono input is pre-amplified before going to the rest of the amp. That's why you can't plug a phono into a non-phono jack.
posted by OmieWise at 8:30 AM on December 21, 2004

What jaded said. Use any input other than the "phono" one.
posted by knave at 8:32 AM on December 21, 2004

Yeah, the Phono input applies the RIAA equalization curve. Because having too much bass will cause the grooves or a record to be too wide for their allocated space, bass is cut during mastering and boosted during playback. High frequencies are most susceptible to damage, so they are boosted during mastering and cut during playback.
posted by kindall at 8:34 AM on December 21, 2004

All the RIAA does is make our lives miserable. I kid, I kid...
posted by zsazsa at 8:45 AM on December 21, 2004

Phono input is strictly for decvice that plays large, 12-inch plastic disk labeled Magical Mystery Tour.
posted by ParisParamus at 8:55 AM on December 21, 2004

Aha! I plugged into Phono because it was easiest to get to. (Me a genius, eh?) I'll pull it all off the shelf again and plug into one of the Tape inputs, since none of them is labeled iBook. Thanks a lot!
posted by booth at 9:08 AM on December 21, 2004

booth: To save you having to wait a week to ask why that didn't work: remember that you'll probably have two sets of tape connections, but only one is an input!
posted by mendel at 11:58 AM on December 21, 2004

If your receiver has PHONO and TAPE inputs, then it almost definitely has a VIDEO or AUX input. You probably want to use that one (assuming this is a semi-permanent hookup). You may want to use the TAPE OUT for some nefarious purpose someday, and you can't run TAPE IN through TAPE OUT for obvious reasons.

I haven't come across a receiver that seems to apply different compression/EQ to the tape input, but it may happen in certain ones, given the assumption that an actual tape player would be plugged into it.
posted by neckro23 at 4:08 PM on December 21, 2004

Tape inputs sometimes have a paired output that isn't active when tape is selected (sometimes there's a video in/out pair too). Other than that, tape should be fine.
posted by krisjohn at 7:56 AM on December 22, 2004