I personally like the sound of the 80 better.
I must first say I have never heard the hard drive through my headphones so that has been a non issue for me, but apparently some folk have. I don’t know if that was ever been deemed a defective manufacturing issue or not, because it doesn’t seem to be the norm?
I personally have never been an equalizer kind of guy. I always ran the 30 without EQ so a flat “less is more” sound has always been my ticket. Some live or die without an EQ so that may be a deal killer right there.
I own both Zunes so I have compared both directly with identical tracks (from lossless to 192K) and several headphones, from so-so budget to better higher end ones. I currently run out of the headphone jack un-amped. That will not be the case when my Pico shows up someday. Justin it is coming right.
If you don’t take into account the other features and benefits of the 80 over the 30 (smaller size, squircle interface, hard drive size, matt and aluminum case finish, etc. which IMHO are all superior) and just focus on sound quality then I would still pick the 80 without hesitation.
The 80 has IMHO much better dynamics, tighter more accurate bottom end, improved clarity, a slightly larger soundstage, more air, nicer detail, and some have said less warmth…I might say less muddiness.
All this becomes increasing more obvious with better headphones, files and time spent critically listening. Is it an earth shattering difference? No… is there improvements to be had…yes! Is it worth the price of an upgrade? That all pretty much depends on your budget, obsession level, WAF, what you prefer in your sound signature and ultimately what you hear and enjoy since we all hear things differently.
You can pick up the 80 gig for $200 now and perhaps unload your 30 gig for $100 so the difference may only be $100. That being said that same $100 spent on upgrading ones headphones (if you own basic ones) would probably yield far better improvements all things being equal. If you already have great pair of headphones then the jump to the 80 would be a nice little step up in sound quality. I myself will never go back to the 30, but that is just me.
Happy listening!