[d-slam]

Hi, newbie here. I tried a set of Shure e2c with my shuffle and was surprisingly unimpressed by the un-eq'ed sound... OK bass and mid detail, but very shy and muffled in the upper registers, sounded barely better than the stock apple buds to my ears. I was OK with the feel of IEMs.... I just jammed them into my ears until they met in the middle of my skull and I was OK.

Anyway, apple.ca is selling refurbed 4G 20GB ipods for $C199 with warranty and shipping... seems like a good deal. I think the Shures with a little bump on the treble might sound OK (currenly using old Sony MDR-V4s... not up to head-fi standards but they sound OK to me and they are bulletproof... however I really need isolation for the subway).

1. Does 4G ipod have bass/treble?
2. Etys might be too shy in the bass for me, I listen to rock mostly. Any other IEM suggestions in that price range?

I'm also probably going to get into some big boomy Sony cans (7506?) for electronic drumset use, as well as some new hi-fi cans (Grado or Senn?) for serious listening... but that's a separate thread.

thanks.

 

[ameyer17]

Quote:

Originally Posted by d-slam 1. Does 4G ipod have bass/treble?

If I understand correctly, no iPod has a usable EQ (at least not with stock firmware, I seem to remember hearing that the rockbox firmware has a 5 band parametric EQ).

 

[K2Grey]

The iPods have a variety of EQ settings, including a bass boost and a treble boost (both start with a big boost at the extremes and go down as it approaches the midrange). These are all boosts, not cuts, so you will need to mp3gain your files down to like 79db, so that the EQ has more room to work with. Otherwise you will get distortion or clipping.

The 4G is agreed upon by nearly everyone to not sound as good as the Shuffle. With low impedance cans it comes with a significant bass rolloff, about -10db at 20hz I think.

 

[d-slam]

Quote:

Originally Posted by K2Grey The iPods have a variety of EQ settings, including a bass boost and a treble boost (both start with a big boost at the extremes and go down as it approaches the midrange). These are all boosts, not cuts, so you will need to mp3gain your files down to like 79db, so that the EQ has more room to work with. Otherwise you will get distortion or clipping. The 4G is agreed upon by nearly everyone to not sound as good as the Shuffle. With low impedance cans it comes with a significant bass rolloff, about -10db at 20hz I think.

Thanks for the info K2Grey. Those are some real negatives. I like the idea of a cheap 4G as a stopgap until the 30GB flash players are here

, but if it's going to be unlistenable...

Will search for more info.

 

[rhythmicmoose]

Quote:

Originally Posted by d-slam Thanks for the info K2Grey. Those are some real negatives. I like the idea of a cheap 4G as a stopgap until the 30GB flash players are here , but if it's going to be unlistenable... Will search for more info.

I wouldn't hold my breath. The price of a 32 GB 1.8" Samsung drive is expected to be somewhere between $750 and $1000.

http://www.tgdaily.com/2006/03/21/32gb_ssd_samsung/

 

[d-slam]

Quote:

Originally Posted by rhythmicmoose I wouldn't hold my breath. The price of a 32 GB 1.8" Samsung drive is expected to be somewhere between $750 and $1000. http://www.tgdaily.com/2006/03/21/32gb_ssd_samsung/

Which means it will be $200 this time next year, which is about when a refurbed 4G iPod would die.