[elfary]

Finally i skipped the tempting Touch and bought a 2009 iPod Classic 160 Gigs after reading a few scattered and surprising opinions about a sound quality improvement.

Having had last year Classic 120 I never thought that i would get anything else aside from 40 more gigs which to me it's great since i like to have my entire music collection in the palm of my hand anywhere anytime...but when i managed to sync my 549 albums onto the ipod and i tried a few albums both through Line Out and through the HP out a big smile appeared on my face because i think that it sounds better than previous models kind of more open and natural both through LOD and HP. The HP in particular is quite a leap forward. It sounds really good IMHO.

Albums listened on this first test have been: Gavin Friday's Shag Tobacco, Macy Gray's On How Life Is, Diana Krall's Quiet Nights, Killers' Day & Age and U2's Linear soundtrack.

Since i have by no means golden ears i think it would be helpful for other people if users of the new classic could post here their impressions on SQ.

Overall i think that this year's iPod Classic has a great VFM and is a great device which i guess it's being overlooked cause it's interface remains unchanged and it's not as flashy as the touch ones. But sound and capacity wise i think it's a winner.

 

[YtseJamer]

I am also very surprised by the sound quality of the new iPod Classic 160gb.

 

[elfary]

What it's hard to understand for me is how Apple has not marketed this SQ improvement. Apple marketing did let the Classic down but Apple engineering did not. Well if i have to choose that's better than the other way around.

For me it's a revolution to be able to choose any song i can think of at any moment just with my thumb and with a respectable and enjoyable sound quality. It's a nice portable server & player unamped. I'm really glad to have dismissed the Touch and sticking to the Classic series. And your comments on the weekend were really accurate and helpful for me. Even if they were hard to believe at first.

 

[kamcma]

I'm so close to buying one of these, but I can't get over that they didn't give it the new Genius Mixes feature. That seems really lazy to me.

 

[elfary]

Well it has Genius mixes with the firmware 2.0.3 released last week. So you would be getting 40 more gigs than in 2008, genius mixes and a really improved HP out. Plus the awesome stability of the 2008 Classic of course.

The more i listen to it the more i appreciate this old school dap.

 

[Jack Mono]

I have this new player and it is awesome! It has the genius mixes and great stability of the year 1938!

 

[Jamiroquai]

Has anyone compared the new 160gb to the previous generation 160gb? I had the old one but sold it because it had a bug (would pause for a second randomly during songs, with wav files and apple lossless) that apple never fixed with a firmware update. That drove me nuts, but if apple managed to fix that problem I would give it another chance.

Has anyone had this issue with the new generation?

 

[3X0]

So I've heard the 2nd-gen 160GB has the same sound quality as the iPhone 3GS. If this is the case, I'm not at all surprised that so many are pleased with it.

 

[elfary]

Classic 120 (2008 model) was flawless. Classic 160 (2009 model) is acting as flawlessly as last year's one. It rocks steady.

I guess the awful Classic was the 2007 160 gigs because it had a double platter HD.

 

[Jack Mono]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Detrex /img/forum/go_quote.gif Awesome player! Does it have a line out?

Are you freakin' blind? It has 10 of them!

 

[kamcma]

Quote:

Originally Posted by elfary /img/forum/go_quote.gif Well it has Genius mixes with the firmware 2.0.3 released last week.

Well I'll be damned. That news slipped past me. Good on Apple. May have to break out the CC now ...

 

[Buckster]

anyone got anything firm that there is actually any hardware differences which would make it sound different vs the previous Classic ?

I had a 80gig Classic and I really didn't like it at all

I now have a Touch 2G which sounds better

 

[elfary]

I've no evidence of what's inside any iPod.

What i can tell 100% sure is that sound signature of 2009 Classic 160 is blatantly different from the 2008 Classic.

I wish that GSMarena would also test the audio figures of DAP's.I'm really curious about the dynamic range of this new Classic.

 

[CrisG]

Quote:

Originally Posted by elfary /img/forum/go_quote.gif I've no evidence of what's inside any iPod. What i can tell 100% sure is that sound signature of 2009 Classic 160 is blatantly different from the 2008 Classic. I wish that GSMarena would also test the audio figures of DAP's.I'm really curious about the dynamic range of this new Classic.

really? like, super really really really? I've owned both a 80 gig classic and a 160 gig classic... both were returned promptly.. absolutely HORRIBLE SQ compared to the 5.5 gen.

Please say really really.. I could save up and buy this thing but I must know if it really really is different. really =)

 

[elfary]

To my ignorant ears the HP out has improved really really. The Line Out is as clean as it used to be. It was already really really

Just try one out.