[DRSpeed85]

This is a no brainer for me. I'd go for the nano. The shuffle was never a good mp3 from the beginning. Sq will depand largely on what headphones u use with them. The included earbuds will sound terrible on both units.

 

[titaniumx3]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ploop I'd say nano if anything. The shuffle sounds worse then every MP3 player i have ever heard..and i've heard quite a few.

The Shuffle sounds virtually the same as the X5 (with slighlty more toned up bass) and the X5 is one of the better sounding daps at the moment, so I don't really understand your reasoning.

 

[grawk]

Some people just like hating on the white players...

 

[sonic_rage]

i dislike white players, but i do like the shuffle.

 

[enjoi_rootbeer]

i'd say the shuffle. it's cheap, and it would hold me over until a new ipod of sorts came out. my 2 cents.

 

[The_Duke_Of_Eli]

I had a shuffle and its bass truly is amazing. Plus it doubles as a USB key. But if you want a colour screen and that the nano is a worthy advisary, then you can get a turbodock II w/ it.

 

[uzziah]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tim D Purely speculation however I think the shuffle is going to be discontinued pretty soon, but the Nano will still have a lot of life including higher capacity models. So if you choose not to get a Nano now, you will probably be able to get an even higher capacity one in the future if you wanted. If I did get a Nano I'd want a higher capacity one myself as long as it doesn't hurt battery life. Also I've seen measurements of the Shuffle with load and I'm quite impressed especially considering I believe the output was based on compressed material and not lossless (i'm not sure if it has that support). The shuffle replacement will undoubtedbly be even smaller in form factor...and there will be no guarantee on its sound quality in comparison.

i'm not sure i follow your logic with the "shuffle is being discontinued". i mean, what sort of support do you need? you have your warranty, itunes is software, and the thing just begs to not be "accessorized"

i personally don't think apple will release another screenless player; in fact i doubt anyone may ever again do so; course there's nothing wrong with that

 

[uzziah]

Quote:

Originally Posted by titaniumx3 The Shuffle sounds virtually the same as the X5 (with slighlty more toned up bass) and the X5 is one of the better sounding daps at the moment, so I don't really understand your reasoning.

you'll NEVER be free of statements like this. the truth is 95% of people think it sounds great, and the rest don't like it for numerous reasons. and i'd say a good half of the 95% over-hype it, but what you gonna do? i think the measurements are the most interesting. whether it is THE BEST dap for unamped headphones is debatable. whether it has a very good headphone out is NOT.

 

[IpaqMan]

This is not exactly a fair comparison, but I have a Ipod Shuffle 512mb, Ipod Nano 4gb, Iaudio 5 1gb, and Muvo N200 512mb. The usage rate for me is Nano first, followed by Iaudio 5, N200, and lastly Shuffle. A lot of that is based upon capacity and ease of use. I added the Apple Radio Remote to the Nano to make it easy to use pocketed like the Shuffle. I do carry these all at the same time. It makes switching from one album or book to another much easier.

However, my usage time is not similar to most users in that I listen to books, lectures, and classes the most followed by music.

The Shuffle sounds very good but I only use it when I want randomly selected music. In addition, when I was using Itunes 5, I could not load music from two PCs to it. Itunes wants to erase all the music before adding any songs even one song. With the Nano I can add music from two PCs. BTW, Shuffle accessories are sometimes cheaper than Nano accessories.

P.S. Of lesser importance is the "fun, cool" factor. The Shuffle is small. The Nano is super thin and small plus it has a clock, games (solitaire, bricks, guess the song), laptime stopwatch, calendar/contacts (pda-like), color screen and click wheel.

 

[djgustashaw]

A vote for the Shuffle here. I love the size and SQ. Also, I have a tendency when using my regular iPod to just scroll around trying to decide what to listen to, so for the most part I enjoy having to use random playback. Should it ever be discontinued, I'll wait and see what the verdict is on any replacement that might be offered before trying to find a replacement 1gb model. My current one is 512mb which has been somewhat limiting in the past. I would also get a case for it if I want it to last a long time, because I've just let my 512mb get knocked around and it's getting a little rattley.

 

[bong]

i'd definitely choose the Shuffle. the headphone out sounds great with efficient headphones, and the sound quality is very very good... when compared to my 2nd generation 10GB iPod, the Shuffle sounds warm and involving, however the full size iPod has better depth and soundstage. another gripe i have with the Shuffle though is a faint background hiss.

but at $99 for a 1GB, i don't think anyone can go wrong with the Shuffle... it's also great as it doubles as a jumpdrive. i bought my 1GB Shuffle the first week of release and at $149 i think it's a fair price. $129 was even better, but at $99 it's a flat out bargain.

also, there's this handy database updater for the Shuffle that allows multiple computer uploads. what you do is drag and drop music and/or folders in Windows Explorer, double click the database updater (which resides in the Shuffle's main root folder) and it searches for all playable audio files. no iTunes to deal with, and no computer restrictions. i'll try to find the link for that downloadable program again and post it here.

 

[Gene]

Couldn't agree more on the Shuffle. Tiny, simple to use, powers all my headphones and just flat sounds great! I've dropped mine several times on hard surfaces and other than a super tiny crack in the body, it just happily chugs along. Like a poster said, even if Apple does away with it, what does that matter?

I bought the Apple external 2XAAA battery pack for it, (highly recommended and half Apple's price at the big outlets), and when the internal cell in it finally dies, it'll still be good to go for many more years.

 

[gdpeck]

Another vote for the shuffle. I have a 1GB shuffle, and a 4GB nano, and they both have their place, but if I was looking at 1GB devices the shuffle would win hands down mainly because it has Autofill functionality in iTunes. My 4GB nano does not have this, and I have > 4GB of music in my library, so to update the 4GB nano I have to create a playlist and update it whenever I want new music. With the shuffle I just throw a few albums and songs on that I like, then autofill the rest. Or I just autofill the whole thing.

It's hard to describe just how convenient autofill really is, but I miss it badly on the nano. The nano seems to require more planning to use. Throwing an album I just decided to impulse listen to onto the shuffle is super easy. With only 1GB of storage I would think that you will be changing the music on whatever player you choose quite often. The shuffle is a lot more convenient than the nano for that.

I know this sounds like apple party line, but to me the screen and easy controls of the nano are not conducive to extended music listening. Meaning when I have the screen, I get a little "music ADD". I always wonder what else is out there, and since it is so easy to look around with the screen based ipod interface I rarely get through a whole album, sometimes not even a whole song, without scrolling around finding something else.

Battery life also seems to be much better for me on the shuffle. This could be because I'm always messing around with the nano, and with the shuffle I usually just let it play.

Sound quality between the two for me is about a wash, with maybe the shuffle being just slightly better.

Also you don't have to fuss with the shuffle. Get a case or don't it doesn't really matter. It's not going to look like ***** if it gets a few scratches. The nano seems sturdy, but it is very easy to mar the appearance of a nano. I put an Agent 18 case on mine after one day of use sitting at my desk, and it already had little scratches on the back.

Bottom line if you just want to listen to music, and get a great DAP, I don't think you can go wrong with a shuffle, especially at $99.

 

[Sparky191]

I like the shuffle. Small, cheap, tough, can feel the buttons in your pocket (except for the slider) sounds great. I don't understand why the Nano and the Shuffle have different Sync functionality with iTunes. Why is that? What I'd consider instead of the Shuffle would be a Creative 1GB Zen Nano Plus. FM, AAA battery, backlight, good tactile buttons and great sound. They aren't as robust. But I reckon I'd break a iPod Nano by sitting on it. A Nano with the radio remote, line out, dock and amp would probably sound better. But its then not a portable, and a lot more expensive.

 

[TheMarchingMule]

I myself recently got a 1 Gig Shuffle w/ iSkin Duo (Oxygen). This has to grow on me, like many of my other expensive spendings ($100+). I chose this over the Nano because:

1.) Better sound quality

2.) If you're going to have a screen that f'ing small, might as well not have one at all!

3.) Freaking good battery life; two days of playing almost, from iBuds and speakers,and the battery life is still showing green

4.) Simple to use, hard to break, almost a disposable iPod. If you lose it, you aren't going to be as upset as over losing a full iPod or Nano.