[Sound Doctor]

I'm hoping to make a humble contribution to the Head-fi community here: I have recently had a chance to do a direct comparison of the new ipod nano 6th generation with an early predecessor (2nd gen nano). In both cases, sound-check was disabled, the equalizer was completely off, and the headphones were a set of AKG K451 on-ear cans; the purpose to this endeavour was to see what the difference in sound quality might be, one apple product to another. To help out, a friend of mine actually made this a "blind" test... I had no idea which source was being used before the music began.
 
I listened to a broad spectrum of tunes, in various formats (lossless, mp3, m4a...), and the results were consistent across the musical genres: the new generation ipod nano represents a rather pronounced step forward for the ipod family. Soundstaging in classical and jazz music was improved, clarity and overall "agility" was better when listening to electronic, and I definitely thought that the overall frequency response was greater when using the ipod nano 6th generation. 
 
I suppose the next step would be to compare the 6th gen ipod nano to something of substance (Cowon, HifiMan, etc). For the price I paid, however, it was a really solid purchase and I would wholeheartedly recommend it for anyone who is hooked (however unfortunately) to itunes.
 
Happy listening...
 
 
 

 

[KaliKot]

The iPod Nano 6g is really heavent sent for a clip-based music device. It has less features than the older Nanos but damn, that sound quality really packs a punch for such a small device.
 
It's leagues ahead of old generation Nanos, the Sansa Clip+ and it has a lineout if ever you decide to pair it with an amp which means it scales pretty well.
 
It's a perfect match for on the go active music

 

[Sound Doctor]

I couldn't agree more... apple got this one right.
 
I wish I could do the same "blind" listening test with the vaunted Sansa Clip as well, since it seems as though that player has a bit of a cult following. It would also be really interesting to see what a lineout/amp combination might do? I guess I'll leave that comparison for someone with more equipment.
 
For the moment, though, I'll just sit back and enjoy some dynamic audio. Time to think about different headphones... ouch... that wallet is going to take a beating. 
 
 

 

[Achmedisdead]

The 4th-gen shuffle also sounds very good, and powerful for such a tiny device. I never heard the fabled 1st-gen shuffle, but the 4th-gen is quite good!