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conclusive information on ipod nano 4g vs 5g SQ?

post #1 of 13
11/20/09 at 6:23pm
Thread Starter 
Im looking at the nano, but apple sells the old one refurb for 129, vs 179 for the new one.

does anyone have a conclusive say on the sound quality difference between those two through the headphone ports and nice monitors?

reason i ask is because im getting sick of my zune 80, i can hear the hard drive spin up and when nothign is playing i hear some white noise inthe background through my se530's. it just isnt clean audio.
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post #2 of 13
11/20/09 at 6:52pm
I don't know anything about a direct SQ comparison between the two, but the "white noise" you hear is going to be there no matter what player you use - it's just unnoticeable in most cases (e.g. outside noise, inefficient headphones).
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post #3 of 13
11/20/09 at 7:31pm
My opinion is that they both suck. Big time.

Seriously, have you looked at any non-Apple players for the same money ? The Nano is about as bad as it gets from Apple, IMO.
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post #4 of 13
11/20/09 at 7:34pm
Quote:
inefficient headphones).
You mean efficient headphones, in this case IEM's. With efficient phones the hiss you're hearing is the noise floor of the unit. For example when I plug TF10 in H140 headphone out I get some hiss. It's not much. But if I connect the H140 line out to a portable headphone amp, then the TF10 into the switched on headphone amp there is no background hiss
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post #5 of 13
11/20/09 at 7:38pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by iriverdude View Post
You mean efficient headphones, in this case IEM's. With efficient phones the hiss you're hearing is the noise floor of the unit. For example when I plug TF10 in H140 headphone out I get some hiss. It's not much. But if I connect the H140 line out to a portable headphone amp, then the TF10 into the switched on headphone amp there is no background hiss
I had to go over that a couple of times, but what I did mean was inefficient headphones (as in when the hiss is unnoticeable).
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post #6 of 13
11/20/09 at 11:18pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by estreeter View Post
My opinion is that they both suck. Big time.

Seriously, have you looked at any non-Apple players for the same money ? The Nano is about as bad as it gets from Apple, IMO.
well i went from an ipod photo to a zune, i havent really played around with other devices. the thing i want is usability, sound quality matters, as long as it is greater than or equal to the zune.

also after being forced to use the zune software, i miss itunes.

what do you guys recommend?
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post #7 of 13
11/21/09 at 1:39am
You might consider giving the new 160gb classic a shot since it of course works with iTunes. To my ears, with others agreeing on head-fi and other places, the SQ is better that the earlier versions of the classic. I rather enjoy the sound of the HP out to my amp vs. an LOD to the same. Sound is clean and accurate across the spectrum unamped or amped, YMMV.
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post #8 of 13
11/21/09 at 1:50am
Depending on how much space you need I think the ipod touch is a good route to go. I have the 2nd generation 8gig, which I use for music but more so for games, apps, and internet. The 8gig nano is $149 and the 8gig touch is $199 ($184.00 at Costco). I definitely think the touch is worth the extra money just because it does so much more than just play music.
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post #9 of 13
11/21/09 at 3:35am
Thread Starter 
well i carry around an android phone, and im not the biggest fan of consolidating devices.
the 160gb classic would be overkill since im not looking for something big like my zune. the touch does not much more than my android phone.

i really dont have anything against those devices, i've considered them in the past but they just dont fit into the category that im looking to fill.

how does the sq of the nano compare to the zune? as long as it isnt worse i cant really complain. also, what about the zune hd?

basically if i get the nano, the zune will be for all video.
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post #10 of 13
11/25/09 at 2:49am
Thread Starter 
i bought the nano, compared to the zune its SQ is really similar, i found that the zune sounds a bit warmer through my se530's.

but the thing is, when nothing is playing, i hear no white noise on the nano.

the nano is pretty equivalent to the zune in terms of sound quality.
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post #11 of 13
11/26/09 at 3:14am
PCWorld's tests showed the iPod Nano 4th and 5th gens to be among the best sounding players out there.

I'm not sure how the Zune's hard drive spooling up would also be a problem with a Nano. The Zunes have had all sorts of problems, and the Nanos are not even HD-based.

Still, seems steep paying that much when there's something like the 8GB clip available for $37 refurbed.
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post #12 of 13
11/26/09 at 4:26am
Even if have to buy a secondhand Classic (5/5.5G), I think you will be better off.
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post #13 of 13
11/26/09 at 5:37am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Reticuli2 View Post
PCWorld's tests showed the iPod Nano 4th and 5th gens to be among the best sounding players out there.

I'm not sure how the Zune's hard drive spooling up would also be a problem with a Nano. The Zunes have had all sorts of problems, and the Nanos are not even HD-based.

Still, seems steep paying that much when there's something like the 8GB clip available for $37 refurbed.
i would have to agree that the ipod nano sounds great, im completely satisfied with the purchase,

with the whole hd spinning up ordeal, im just surprised that the zune had that issue, my cousin who also has a zune 80 and se530's hears the same thing, this really made me mad because i had the same issue when i had my ipod photo.

i'm really enjoying the new features of itunes that i didnt have when i switched over to the zune. i think the ability to use itunes in itself, and the genius feature is worth getting the nano, not to mention the crossfade playback on the nano.

Quote:
Originally Posted by estreeter View Post
Even if have to buy a secondhand Classic (5/5.5G), I think you will be better off.
i would have kept the zune if i would buy a classic, i wanted somethign small and lightweight.
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