Apple iPod classic 160 GB (7th Generation)

MrVitalic85

New Head-Fier
Pros: Classic design, large capacity, dac is ok, battery life
Cons: bad EQ, hdd issue. UI can be slow at time ( hdd )
I like mine so much, that I will mod it with a msata ssd and tarkan iflash. My HDD begin to show sign of wear but this player is very sturdy. I always listen to my music on studio headphones and with no EQ. But if you want to use the EQ, stay away. Its so rubbish I cant believe it. At the moment you use an eq setting for the bass, bass become distorted and ugly.  

LeoTheAwesome

100+ Head-Fier
Pros: Build quality, battery, user interface, ascetics
Cons: Price, has to use iTunes, back is a scratch magnet
OVERVIEW
 
Great looking DAP, but I'm sure that if you have been on planet Earth for the past 10 years or so its safe to assume that the iPod looks is not a novelty.
 
The interface is a breeze, even if you are not accustom to IOS and apple devices. The OS for the iPod classic is unique to all the other apple devices. One do however has to be familiar with iTunes to sync, and that will force to convert the FLAC files to Apple Lossless. Not a big deal for me, both are perfectly fine. 
 
Battery life is spectacular! More than 24 hours easy easy, cant tell for certain the exact numbers but i change it only once or twice a week. 
 
Still uses the 30pin connector, what is actually a good thing. The new Lighting connector does not support line out, so yey!
 
Note: 
Lossless files can only be max 48.000kHz
Use XLD to convert Flac to Apple Lossless (Mac users, i care not for Windows) 
XLD can also convert frequency rate and do bulk conversion
 
 
BUILD QUALITY 
 
The build quality is amazing, not manny companies know how to make a product feel as premium as Apple. If fells so good in your hands, and the new iPod classic is quite thin also.
 
Back of the item is a scratch magnet, if you decide to not use a cover for some reason (like me) don't worry too much about the back. It can be easily polished, just use a Dremel or a cheap attachment for your screw driver and you are awesome to go! Don't forget to use a polish paste.
 
SOUND QUALITY
 
The sound quality on the iPod Classic is for all purposes really good. It is not very clean amplification, my Shure SE535 do get some light his at very low volumes. But again, those things are so sensitive. Any other headphone of mine is clear as a whistle. 
 
It add some sparkle to the reproduction, it improves sound stage but i feel that it is a little rolled off on the lows. 
 
It is a perfect addition to my SE215LTD and SE353 as they do roll off a little on highs. My Grados are already so bright, so i cant very much hear the difference. 
 
That been said, these characteristics are extremely minor. I have to listen to ****t stack back and fourth to get difference. 
 
CONCLUSION 
 
Great product! Go for it!!
 
106GB, great build quality, outstanding battery life, user friendly, looks great (to my eyes).
 
A strong point over the Fiio X3 and X5 (the most popular competition on Head-Fi) is Apple support, they are constantly updating softwares and fixing bugs. Chances that you will have a defective product and struggle back and fourth with china is about 0.001%.
 
It is not the cheapest, the X3 comes $50 cheaper, but after you added a 126GB SD its almost there anyway.
IMG_3232.jpg
IMG_3234.jpg
It was very scratched, just polish it and BOOM! awesome again!
D
davidcotton
Nice review, however various forum threads point to the fact that Fiio are still updating the x3 as well as the x5 in terms of firmware.  In terms of reliability, so long as you purchase from somewhere with a good returns policy (amazon and the like) then you should be fine (no I don't own any fiio products and am not affiliated with them.)
 
Other than that spot on.
LeoTheAwesome
LeoTheAwesome
Yeah the X3 and the X5 just got a new firmware update last week to be honest. I think that the X5 even got hardware upgrades, not 100% sure. However, my point is that a company such as apple has infinite more resources than Fiio or any other Chinese company. So their software and hardware development is more stable. 
 
That been said, Fiio has very good quality control and user interface, adverse to iBasso for example that has so much quality complaints. 
 
For you lucky people in USA Amazon is the best way, in South Africa i can only get it from Ebay that is why i pointed out the back and fourth with China comment. 

fluffyberry

100+ Head-Fier
Pros: battery life, support for wide range of file types, storage space for everything
Cons: not the best sound quality, scratches easily, chunky, dont bother with the EQ
Just some background stuff before the review...this is the second source i have owned dedicated to music (i.e not listening to music off my iphone) so i don't have much experience with high end sources. all impressions were formed listening to 320kbps mp3 or lossless rips on the eytomic hf5s unamped across a wide range of music genres, so here goes.
 
i bought this after reading through a bunch of reviews on headfi and have been using it for quite some time, switching between this and my old iphone 4, which i pretty much use only for music and videos, and (very occasionally) my galaxy ace 3, so there will be some comparisons where i can provide them.
 
Build:
the first thing you'll notice about the classic is its weight, at 140g, this thing is hefty, so forget about bringing it on trips to the gym, unless you dont mind lugging around something that feels like a paperweight. the back is a very eye catching silver chrome, which i loved at first. however, it scratches incredibly easily, even taking it out of the pouch i keep it in left a mark from the zipper, so be prepared to buy a protective case for it, unless you dont mind a severely scratched back. Aside from that though, this thing is pretty sturdy, holding up daily trips to and from school, as well as all the time spent in my bag during the day, so i expect it will keep on working for some time unless i drop it or something.
 
Sound quality:
This ipod is probably one of the most common players available, and its easy to see why. for under $300, it performs pretty well. Without EQ on, it complements my rather analytical hf5s very well, with no significant over-emphasis on any frequency, making it ideal for listening to music across a wide range of genres. however, the EQ, at least i my opinion, is quite rubbish; having played around with all the setting, the EQ settings fail to optimize the classic to play any kind of music, even the one the setting was designed for, making the listening experience very fatiguing. Compared to my iphone 4 (which has a cirrus DAC), the classic lack a bit of shine in the higher frequencies, which made the music that much less lifeless, but the difference is small. Overall, while the ipod cannot possibly compete with players like the fiio x5 or some of the iBasso players, it will do its job well for the majority of music listeners, which i guess was its original purpose anyway.
 
Misc:
battery life on this thing is really good, although it isn't likely to last the 36 hours apple claims it does, but i have never run out of battery when using this thing, even though i use it a good 2-3 hours every day. you can watch video on it, but the screen quality and size are far below any of the smartphones that are available, so you probably wont make much use of it as a video player. the click wheel also takes some getting used to, especially for me coming from listening to music on a phone, and does make searching for a particular song more troublesome than on a touchscreen. finally, and perhaps most importantly, this thing has the storage space for pretty much your entire music library, with about 150+ gb of storage (not counting the space already taken up by apple's pre installed programs) to use. I have full movements from symphonies stored in lossless and 320kbps, plus a whole bunch of other songs, and i still have plenty of space left.
 
final impressions:
the classic is a good DAP for everyday use and provides decent sound quality. portability might be an issue for those without deep pockets of bags to place the player in due to its size, but it is manageable most of the time. the storage space is a big draw, as is the ease of the itunes system (which you are forced to use), but i did have trouble, and still do, with syncing my ipod to my pc, although that might just be an isolated case; and you can always use 64gb or 128gb sd cards for other players with micro-sd slots. so while i do like the classic, i might not recommend it for those with phones with decent DAC chips, or people with slightly bigger budgets who can go for fiio or something like that, and in the end, the classic is simply the epitome of an average music player-good at what it does, but not the best 
JeremyB796
JeremyB796
hell yeah, rockbox for those things is great.
fluffyberry
fluffyberry
oooh ok i'll give it a shot. Thanks guys :)
CanadianMaestro
CanadianMaestro
try to get a 5.5G classic on eBay. sounds a bit warmer than 7G. track-dependent.

thermal666

New Head-Fier
Pros: Masive Storage
Cons: The anti-skip protection that caches the audio doesn't work well with uncompressed audio formats
The iPod is great to store your audio and obviously works fantastically with iTunes, however it does seem to skip tracks randomly and doesn't handle 48Khz/16bit WAV files very well, almost skipping at least 1 out of 3 tracks. This is apparently due to the anti skip protection cache not having enough memory to store the uncompressed data in.

KutterCraig

New Head-Fier
Pros: Durability, Storage, Battery Life, Sound Quality, Interface
Cons: Contains Cirrus® Technology
Code:
 The two main features of this portable player that stole my attention are the battery life (a single charge will last me all week) and the amount of storage you get (160 GB). Even though this iPod contains a Cirrus chip, it still sounds great with a pair of decent headphones. As far as the iPod brand goes, my last iPod I purchased in 2004 and still works today. This is the "Nokia" of media players! If you are going to be using this on your home-based Hi-Fi I recommend buying the universal dock bundle. The built-in DAC does a good job for on-the-go listening, however if you're looking to include its use in your home system, invest in the dock, you won't be disappointed! I also recommend buying a case to keep the iPod in when not in use. Dock bundle link: [url=http://store.apple.com/us/product/MC746LL/A/apple-universal-dock]http://store.apple.com/us/product/MC746LL/A/apple-universal-dock[/url]

tonyjones12

New Head-Fier
Pros: everthing
Cons: none
got to love it.this isn't my only iPod I purchased. ive had ipod 15,30, I bought it for its large hard drive.
I didn't stil fill it yet. I have bought many headphones for my ipod 160. it got real expensive. I finally .found just the right headphones. skull candy aviators
they are a marriage made in heaven. .  

White Lotus

Reviewer for Stereo.net.au
Pros: Line out, Capacity, Rockbox (and therefore native .FLAC support), Ruler-flat frequency response, battery.
It's exactly what it says it is. I've tried some great looking, incredibly expensive DAPs - Honestly, in my opinion, a lot of them just add colouration, or EQ, or look pretty. Some of them do perform well, but fall short in many areas.

If you just want your music files to be reproduced exactly as they were mastered, with a line-out to pipe your music into any amplification you might require.. Get this device.

Pinpoint accurate, to points that are far beyond the limits of human hearing. Adds no colouration, and Rockbox has fantastic EQ and crossfeed options if you want, not to mention .FLAC playback.

A lot of people will hate on this device because it is mass-produced, and loved by the general population.. If you're thinking about an expensive portable DAP, just be wary of what you're buying.

When you spend hundreds more, on a DAP that has less battery, capacity, playback options or general functionality, ask yourself - why not spend the money on headphones that will make a significant difference? 
 
My personal model is the black model, not silver. The only difference is the exterior colour. I've also put a vinyl skin on it, and installed Rockbox custom firmware. 
 
DSC00607.jpg
MarcadoStalker7
MarcadoStalker7
I love iPods. FLAT response, very low impedance and ultra low distortion!
Sonic Defender
Sonic Defender
Beyond 16 bit 44 you can't hear any difference so the whole hi-rez fad is at best questionable. I like iPods with a decent external amp. I must admit that my Blackberry Z10 with Neutron as the player is amazing, sold my pods because of that.
slash
slash
BlackBerry z30 upgraded to a Passport... best smartphone player ever!

melikhammoud

New Head-Fier
Pros: 160 screwing gigabytes!!Durable,Good Build quality
Cons: Bad EQ
Good player but the EQ isnt so good...

Alias Gu

100+ Head-Fier
Pros: Bulid Quality, UI, Powered by Itunes
Cons: average SQ (maybe less than average), do not support FLAC, APE, very bad EQ
If you can't stand some DAP without a decent UI, Ipod Classic will the best choice for you.
Powered by Itunes, Classic might be an unmatched DAP and also the most popular one.
However, some fatal cons make it (without amps) stay out of Hifi area
 
For a single DAP 5 stars,
For a hifi DAP only 3 stars
So average scores will be 4
Alias Gu
Alias Gu
Rockbox offers a great SQ; however, if someone really is looking for a singe device that can offer a great SQ, personally i won't recommend Ipod Classic as the first choice.
smpie
smpie
Considering other players i think this one is the best for me. i converted all my music to lossless alac m4a container. And sum music won't play because the bitrate is to high(more than 1640 kb/s). I kept the original and listen to it on my mac. Like my iphone 5 and ipod nano I think the build in EQ will suck. But I will be buying the Fiio E12 and using LOD and bypassing de internal AMP. So no issue there.! Still will wait until summer and see what apple does? If they come with a new model and sum Lightning doc I will go for the old model .Don’t want to bother with a lightning to 30-pin adapter. Fiio is not getting the (MFi (Made for iPhone/iPod/iPad) license ) YET. But FLAC is no issue because I can always convert back to FLAC or wav because I always use lossless. The thing is I like being able to make playLists brows to cover art and so on. Other players ? which ones? Give folder art play alac and m4a containers , sync with itunes alternative ?? Only issue I heard is that the EQ sucks ..but a amp with sum bass boost (not to much ) solves this write?
Sonic Defender
Sonic Defender
Always use a parametric EQ for the best results. A great music player is Neutron and at $7.44 from the Google App store it is a steal. Never tried to get it on an iPod mind you so unsure if that would work. Dropped it on my phone and it is amazing.

omegaprime

New Head-Fier
Pros: good build quality, good looking, large capacity, click wheel, user-friendly
Cons: don't support flac
I was looking a player to replace my imod 5.5 (ipod video 5.5 modded), as it only has 3 hours battery life. Because I love the click wheel design and I have loads of songs, I bought an ipod classic. It's thinner and lighter than my imod5.5. However, the sound quality is worse than the previous generation. The previous generation are using wolfson's dac which is way better than the cirrus logic's dac(dac that is using in ipod classic). I felt disappointed in it. In addition, this ipod classic cannot be rockboxed. The sound is quite flat and neutral.
smpie
smpie
I read lot’s of different opinions about the use of Wolfson vs Cirrus. But if it sounds flat and neutral than I suppose I’ts ok. I will be getting one soon . And a Fiio E12.. hope the two play well together. Using LOD the new lightning connector has no LOD so no option.

zinornia

New Head-Fier
Pros: Amazing Sound, Holds a **** load of music, Looks very cool,
Cons: Expensive, Syncing Problems
Right, so this has an incredible sound quality (with the right headphones, even better). I really love the way it looks, and I can fit thousands of my music on it. But it has a pretty huge problem that seems to be very common upon these iPods. So the problem lies with syncing, the very first time I synced, it worked, everything got on there fine. The next time however? It seemed to be working, it said syncing song blablabla out of blablabla, and then it finished. I disconnected my iPod from the USB, and turning it on I noticed that I had no music whatsoever. Every time I want to sync, I have to uninstall iTunes, and then install it again.
But, I still love this thing even if it annoys the hell out of me once in a while. 
Stealer
Stealer
whoa!!! I was really wrong!!!...
Now I can Rockport my Ipod too...
have 2 of them... Now I dont have to convert to itunes format...
thanks randomkid for the link...
wje
wje
iTunes is kind of a quirky software to use in general. I've had issues with the "Sync" process in getting the music transferred. I've been through this process many times with the various "i" devices that my daughter has owned.
The option to check music, uncheck files, etc. seems to lack some meaning. However, if you bring in new music to iTunes, just select the files, then drag them over to your connected iPod device under "music". Your songs should be in place. Future syncs of the device should then just back up the songs or files onto your computer.
Some day ... depending on my time, I might just read documentation on using iTunes, if such documentation exists. I'd love to find my way around the various quirks in the software. Rock on.

Mheat122134

100+ Head-Fier
Massive space with decent audio quality.

micrors4

100+ Head-Fier
Pros: huge capacity, good build quality
Cons: none
I got a classic to replace my 30GB Ipod Video after it was stolen.  It has decent audio quality with a good set of IEMs but lacks the power to drive a set of larger cans.  It does have a bit of lag as others have said but is not really a big deal once you start listening to music and is unnoticeable when jumping from tracks, however there is a company that makes a kit to convert them to use a compact flash cards which would take care of any lag and can be had in capacities as large as 128GB.  The classic is extremely tough and I have had for about 4 years and it works just as well as the day I got it despite it being abused and dropped constantly.  The only other ipod I have found that is as tough is the original shuffle as that has been through the washer and dryer more than once and keeps on living.  I had an ipod touch as well but it no longer holds a charge and the headphone jack no longer works so it is pretty much dead to me.  As much as I like the Classic, I feel that the Ipod Video was the superior player and I would take a Video over a Classic despite the smaller capacity as it is MUCH thinner and has less lag plus it comes in white which looks way better than the Classic.  Overall the Classic is a fantastic media player and I highly recommend it, now if only apple would support FLAC they could have a great media player.

Ruzhyo

New Head-Fier
Pros: large harddisk
Cons: Noisy HD, slow interface, hangs
Not as good as previous 80GB 5.5gen
 
Slow to search, loud hard disk, slow user interface, always 2seconds behind.  Hangs often.

AceTechHD

New Head-Fier
Pros: amazing WARM audio quality lots of space durable strong
Cons: Noisy. Hard Disk does not use flash memory it literary has a Hard Drive in it.
great device if you have an HUGE cd collection (like me) and want to take everything everywhere you go do not buy from game stop buy refurbished from apple.com there 200$ for this price its a great deal. i have heard that the ipod classic's hard drive dies after 3-4 years of usage so think twice before buying used. over all this is the best ipod you can buy i actualy bought this over the ipod touch 4 (crap). i have the ipod touch 2 but thats another story.........
LONG LIVE IPOD CLASSIC 

Deki

New Head-Fier
Pros: Great build quality
Cons: Cirrus audio chip, iOS, bad EQ.
i got this from a friend of mine for free becuase he had just gotten an iphone 4s (hes not an audiophile) so he gave me this. I was gratefull ofcourse and i decided to try it out instead of my sansa. the sansa wins easily, the ipod sounds meh, not very accurate and the bass is uneven/rumbly. i then traded this for an ipod 5.5 which i rockboxed later on and now i am happy.
  • Like
Reactions: RUMAY408
Deki
Deki
Worst EQ in the world.
thaistylez
thaistylez
it's a matter of individual's opinion. I too prefer Wolfson over Cirrus because of its dark and warm tone and I'm no fanboy either.
 
The Wolfson vs Cirrus thread is a long gone past and I can't believe there are still people who can't stand the others' opinions, coming out crying like a baby.
2ndConfused1
2ndConfused1
i know it has been 2 years since the rockbox ipod classic 7g arguement.  but i just wanted to point out (with a thread from 2011 so that it would have been relevant at the time) that the ipod classic (aka 6 6.5 and 7g) are/were rockboxed at the time, they merely weren't part of the rockbox installer.

(see thread started in 2011 here)
http://www.head-fi.org/t/532426/ipod-classic-rockbox-its-happening

(thread from 2012 where a guy talks about installing rockbox on his 7th gen ipod)
http://www.head-fi.org/t/630401/ipod-classic-160gb-7th-gen

as you can see just under the title on the first post it specifically mentions the 7th gen ipod.  so no, he wasn't lying you were merely misinformed.  

P.S. i hate it when people call others a liar so i just wanted to clear this up.

Thanks for reading my mini rant!

born2bwild

New Head-Fier
Pros: Fantastic battery life, Good audio quality, Great battery life, good design
Cons: HDD can be fragile at times
Due to the great battery life and an immensely large capacity, it's the optimal mp3 for those with a large collection.
 
It's also quite durable, I've had mine for 5 years now, and it still works fantastically and looks great too (practically new apart from a few scratches on the back).
born2bwild
born2bwild
Well agreed on audio quality declining since 5G, but I still think it is well above average for an mp3 player.
Though I do have a few points to make;
- you can set a custom EQ: you just need to go on iTunes make a custom EQ and save it. When the iPod is synced the custom EQ will be too.
- you can play flac, you just need to convert it to alac (which is also lossless). There are free programs available that do a fantastic job at that.
ostewart
ostewart
or just install rockbox like i did, great audio quality, great EQ and more, also it plays flac and is drag and drop, no itunes required.
CanManCan
CanManCan
Hi, thanks for that review. Good to know it can last up to 5 years! I was debating whether to buy a 4-year warranty along with it. Would you say I don't need it? I am gonna get a case (a CapsuleClassic), so hopefully that'll be protection enough.
I had a Sansa clip before, but found the sync-ing and labeling of songs to be impossible using iTunes and other apps were too much a pain to use.

Kroc

New Head-Fier
Pros: Size, capacity, style, ease, durable
Cons: itunes, no real eq, no raido / mic
Got this from a pawn shop in the hood. Prob stolen and sold to buy drugs which clearly adds value.
 
My last one died slowly from dropping upwards of 50 times, i got myself a SEXY hard case and some sennheiser cx680i headphones for the gym, and a FiiO E5 amp. Thing is wonderful
 
Ill add pics to show my case!
Kroc
Kroc
For sure, i dont use iTunes at all, but just to update the ipod. I use a program called sharepod, it works awesome. Just drag and drop files and it syncs on the spot. Worth a try at least
thrillmetoo
thrillmetoo
Just took a look at the sharepod website. Looks very nice and useful indeed.
But for me. Winamp has been the regular media player for maybe ten years now, so a seemlessly integrated plug-in was the simplest way to go. It synchronises everthing: rating, playcounts, playlists, smart playlists, you name it, but only if you want it to.
r100
r100

MosinNagantMan

New Head-Fier
Pros: Amazing capacity, battery life, style
Cons: Abuse it, hardrive bye bye, stainless steel back
The iPod has been an icon of portable music for almost a decade, and the Classic still lives up to its original expectations; battery life, capacity, while providing decent portability.  I had one before and it was stolen, it feels so good to have one again! If you can afford it, buy it.
 
For this one, I bought some generic screen protectors to protect the stainless steel back and the glass screen, I recommend you do so also. I know if you use the classic for excersise or hard activity, your increasing the chances of the harddrive doing funny things and messing up.
Henry Flower
Henry Flower
Of course it can play music videos.
MosinNagantMan
MosinNagantMan
OK I figured it out. Edited accordingly

BLACKENEDPLAGUE

1000+ Head-Fier
Pros: CAPACITY, the UI is nice and the album slideshow is awesome, battery life is good,
Cons: Not solid state (this capacity in ss would cost $300 more), Apple does not have FLAC support
There really isn't a whole lot to say. This player will hold a s*!t-load of music and/or movies and/or pictures, but I only use it for music. The hard disk is a little loud at times and it lags somewhat as well, but at 160 gb they couldn't have put solid state drives in yet.
Georgetown
Georgetown
My only problem now is that iTunes Match keeps replacing the ALAC i put on my iPhone with ****ty AAC from the itunes store via the cloud -.- anyone know of a work around for this
BLACKENEDPLAGUE
BLACKENEDPLAGUE
Yeah, shut off itunes match
BLACKENEDPLAGUE
BLACKENEDPLAGUE
you pay for something you don't want?
Hey no need to be a jack-ass buddy
Back
Top