7th Gen (2009) iPod Classic 160 SQ - Page 5

Well, it turned out that the Apple Store did not carry the Classic. They only had the Touch 3G in display, but wouldn't let me audition it. So I had the "pleasure" to listen to the new Nano which the salesclerk claimed to sound similar to the Touch 3G.

Say, I didn't know whether I was listening to sound of the Nano or the bad mp3 track. The sound from my UM3X was muffled; bass was bloated (but no impact??!); mids was recessed; soundstage was closed in and void of depth.

I'll try to audition the Classics later.

I got mine at Costco

I picked up my 7gen IPOD at Costco this past week. They have a very generous return policy. If you want to evaluate they have a label on the box. It states a 90 day return policy.



B

Shane, I am about to post my impressions of my first experience with a LOD connection into my integrated - suffice it to say that its definitely an improvement over the headphone out IMO.

fwiw, I am also getting the 'oh, all iPods sound the same BS' at almost every store I go into - seriously, if you were going to show a personal interest in something you were selling, surely it would be an entertainment device ? Its as idiotic as telling a consumer that every TV Sony makes has identical picture quality- they just charge more for a larger screen and a better manual, right ?

Are you in the US, Canada or perhaps elsewhere? In Canada Future Shop has all the Ipods cabled to a showcase to check out. Although they may not have the newest model on the showcase, they do have a 30 day return policy. In the US the parent company is Best Buy who I am guessing would have the same policy?

The Classic sounds great to me but I am ignorant of the alternatives.

Shane D

I still don't really understand LOD. So, as I see it there are three ways to feed my amp:
1) Use Apple composite (do everything ) cable from back of dock to stereo
2) Use one into two cable from the back of the Apple dock LOD to stereo
3) Use one into two cable from ipod HP out to stereo

What are the pros and cons of each of the above?

Thanks for answering all the Noob questions!

Shane D

PS: Weird that this site doesn't have a thumbs up or similar to thank people for help. I have to say that I usually hang out on cars sites and people here are WAY nicer to noobs than just about any car site.

Duh ??????????

I still believe that the older 80GB 5.5 gen uses a MUCH better Wolfson chip and is the reference for iMod.

I do beleive also, but due to this thread I have some doubts already. Unfortunately, this 2009 Classic is not presented yet here, so I am looking for someone comparisons instead trying it myself.

Kostalex, I am enjoying my Sept 2009 Classic immensely, but the only way you will know is to audition one for yourself. I spent some time listening to the current 32GB Touch (Cirrus Logic DAC) today, then the 3G 8GB Touch (the old Wolfson DAC), and they sounded quite similar through my Sony IEMs. The internals from the 3GS iPhone might give the 32GB Touch a slight edge in detail and I liked percussion on Coldplay's 'Talk', but listening to the same track on the 8GB Touch left me wondering what all the fuss was about - I would be happy to listen to either from an SQ POV, but I still have a major gripe and that is the amp. Apple were have been sued for damaging people's hearing, and I believe their legal department would be very happy with the fact that none of the current iPods respond well, IMO, to anything above 75% on the volume dial. If you can hear one alongside the Sony X Series, you will know what I'm on about - even after fixing the default setting, these players just dont have enough grunt for me. I'm not a headbanger, but I like the fact that the Sony is pushing so much great sound into my phones at 50-60%, and an increase in volume isn't accompanied by a decrease in SQ - as always, your mileage will inevitably vary.

That said, what other player lets you store so much high bitrate music for so little money ? Superb value for money - more than double the capacity of the 64GB Touch (rapidly becoming FOTM for some) for considerably less money. Horses for courses, but that is what sold me on the Classic.

May have shot myself in the foot - I think the 8G Touch was given the Cirrus DAC on release in Sept 2008, but I havent seen that in black and white.

Slightly more OT, I've read a lot of opinion elsewhere that many of the reported issues around SQ on the current Classic are a lot more apparent on high end IEMs than they might be to those of us with less sensitive phones. Hiss is the big one, and is reported to be particularly bad on Shures but almost completely absent on the current Touch. If they both use the same DAC, surely that points to Apple engineers putting a lot of work into eliminating the things which owners of sensitive IEMs have probably been complaining about for years. If so, I applaud them for it.

What does LOD stand for?

LQQK

LOD = Line Out Dock

Cheers.

my verdict

Ok, so I have a friend that works at a retail outlet that shall remain nameless, who let me audition the new 2009 classic overnight. After flipping between 2009 classic and my 2007 80GB classic, my conclusion is they sound the same. The biggest difference aside from capacity is the software (genius, genius mixes). LOD, not sure..I used headphone out.

As an ignorant noobie, I Love the sound. Feeding my amp tonight, I was FULLY impressed with the LOD (dock connector)!!

Shane D

@humanafterall: can you compare LOD SQ of 2007 80GB and 2009 160GB?