3G vs. 2G iPod Touch SQ (Lineout) ?
Sep 16, 2009 at 12:51 AM Thread Starter Post #1 of 23
SierraHotel01

SierraHotel01

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Has anyone compared sound quality of the Lineout of 2G Touch vs. new 3G Touch (16GB & 32GB models)?
(w / LOD & a decent amp)

Was disappointed with 5G Nano line out vs. 4G, on my rig.
(5G sounded more remote / veiled - although good - but not the punch & forward presentation of the DAC on the 4G Nano.

The 5G Nano DAC made my Mustang/JH13 rig sound more Sennheiser-like, comparatively speaking. An under-utilization of both Mustang & JH13 capabilities, imho.

So, was thinking of picking up a new Touch:

- question is, should I try the $199 8GB model ?
(old chipset - reportedly a Cirrus Logic DAC, which I love, on the 4G Nano)

- or, the new $299 16GB model - with the "new" chipset ?
(DAC unknown)

Any recommendations?
 
Sep 16, 2009 at 2:30 AM Post #2 of 23
I'd go with the 32gb (299$) model if you want to try something new. The 8gb model is just the same model like the G2. My 32gb iTouch would arrive tomorrow or Thursday and I'll try to give some feedbacks about the sound, both hp-out and line-out.
 
Sep 16, 2009 at 3:09 AM Post #3 of 23
HP-out on the new (3G) Touch is on par with the excellent iPhone 3GS. I have not gotten a chance to play with the line-out, but I would assume that it scales well.

FWIW, I found the 4G nano to have mediocre SQ at best. Soundstage was very narrow and detail was lost in the top and bottom ends. The 3GS was a vast improvement.
 
Sep 17, 2009 at 2:35 AM Post #5 of 23
Just received mine today.
First impression, straight out of the headphone out, the sound is a little warmer, bassier, kind of smoother. I'd say I prefer it than the iTouch G2. Tried the line-out with my iQube, definitely better but the difference is not that much.

Aside from the sound, other stuffs are nothing new, I didn't bother try out. Now waiting for the Zune HD and one of them will be returned.
 
Sep 17, 2009 at 4:46 AM Post #6 of 23
Quote:

Originally Posted by SierraHotel01 /img/forum/go_quote.gif
Has anyone compared sound quality of the Lineout of 2G Touch vs. new 3G Touch (16GB & 32GB models)?
(w / LOD & a decent amp)

Was disappointed with 5G Nano line out vs. 4G, on my rig.
(5G sounded more remote / veiled - although good - but not the punch & forward presentation of the DAC on the 4G Nano.

The 5G Nano DAC made my Mustang/JH13 rig sound more Sennheiser-like, comparatively speaking. An under-utilization of both Mustang & JH13 capabilities, imho.

So, was thinking of picking up a new Touch:

- question is, should I try the $199 8GB model ?
(old chipset - reportedly a Cirrus Logic DAC, which I love, on the 4G Nano)

- or, the new $299 16GB model - with the "new" chipset ?
(DAC unknown)

Any recommendations?


How does the HP out compare between the 4g and 5g nano?
 
Sep 17, 2009 at 6:18 PM Post #8 of 23
Quote:

Originally Posted by Lil' Knight /img/forum/go_quote.gif
Just received mine today.
First impression, straight out of the headphone out, the sound is a little warmer, bassier, kind of smoother. I'd say I prefer it than the iTouch G2. Tried the line-out with my iQube, definitely better but the difference is not that much.

Aside from the sound, other stuffs are nothing new, I didn't bother try out. Now waiting for the Zune HD and one of them will be returned.


Lil' Knight:

Since you were getting the 32GB Touch,
I picked up a 8GB new Touch (different chipset).
Disappointing line out SQ!

It's going back tomorrow - line out is worse (to my ears, through Mustang, JH13's) than even the 5G Nano. 8GB Touch seems very "thin", less impactful.

Even tried fiddling with EQ, but couldn't get it to sound anything close to the sweetness I get out of a 4G Nano with this rig.

(I've previously reported 5G Nano as not nearly as "engaging" as the 4G Nano)

We need to get a Head-Fi petition to Apple, requesting an audiophile Nano!

If you're running P-51 Mustang / JH13's,
I strenuously recommend you try to find a 4G Nano, before they are all gone.

(I picked up another spare from Best Buy - 16GB $th generation Nano - $129)

The 4G Nano / Mustang / JH13 synergy is magic (compared to 5G Nano and 8GB Touch!)

..at least, to my ears / brain
 
Sep 17, 2009 at 6:22 PM Post #9 of 23
I haven't tried the iTouch 8gb G3 but my guess is that there's no difference between it and the G2.

I no longer have the P51 but the iQube is doing a great job. It's hard to ask Apple to make a better sounding Nano, considering they keep including the crappy white earbuds.
 
Sep 18, 2009 at 1:41 AM Post #11 of 23
Lil' Knight - a bit off-topic but I've read that the new 3g iTouch is faster than the 2g. True? I'm curious in regards to pages loading within the browser.

I'm very tempted to get the 64gb model. 64gb is my magical number when it comes to flash based DAPs since I can fit my entire mp3 library and have plenty of space for some movies. I love my 2g 32gb iTouch but I am really tempted by the new gen.
 
Sep 18, 2009 at 3:39 AM Post #14 of 23
for gaming performance, however, the new touch should be about 6-7x the speed. there is double the ram for web stuff, loading apps, and storing addresses. in terms of cpu, only about 25% faster, but in terms of overall performance, well more than 50% upgrade.
 
Sep 18, 2009 at 4:09 AM Post #15 of 23
There are some benchmark tests proving that the Touch 3G is indeed 50% faster than the 2G but I haven't tried intensively. I rarely installed apps or games on the Touch. Last time I played some shooting games and the battery only lasted for about 50min-1h.
 
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