http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/...082703-7527868

My Ipod doesn't sound that brilliant with any earphones, even with E5s. I am wondering of my Ipod was faulty as others have found the Ipod to have OK sound.

I am very tempted to get a Karma if it will give me a little better sound quality, Surely the fact that with the Karma i can use FLACs but with the Ipod i was using mp3s, would make some difference.

i'd say definitly get the karma for the sound quality, but that would be opening a whole can of worms on this board. A lot of folk are very happy (it seems) with their ipods. if you can get to take one for a spin then i suggest that would be the first thing to do. it really is a great player & the http://www.riovolution.com/forums/viewforum.php?f=15
board has a lot of info on it. do remember to upgrade the firmware to the latest as it has addressed a lot of bugs.

I quite like the combination of the iPod and E5 but it's true that in terms of sound quality it could be slightly better, and more importantly in terms of sound shaping it leaves a lot to be desired. The more opinions about the lesser known alternative players, the better in my opinion. Just make sure you hang on to the iPod for a while after you get the Karma. Memory's a great thing but in my early reviewing days I've made a few comparison errors which I only discovered later through re-listening.

Does any one know if European iPods are still volume capped and if anyone has found a way to overcome this?

Yes, still capped.

Fix:

http://www.ringom.no/espen/ipod/

Quote:



ditto what he said, I love my karma, and it is nice to have something 'different' so you don't look like a total conformist with the 'pod. Anyway though, read those forums, and you will get some pretty good insight, and while there is an obvious bias, we are also reasonable, I have seen the ihp recommended to people as it all depends on what you want to do with it.