From the headphone out: Ipod 5.5 Gen or Ipod Classic 6 Gen?

[meurglys0]

I'm really tired of reading all the threads. My mind is boiling. So I am not doing any more researches, instead I'll ask my questions directly:
 
1. From the headphone out, which one sounds better: Ipod 5.5 Gen or Ipod Classic 6 Gen?
 
2. Also, from the headphone out, which one sounds better: Rockboxed Ipod 5.5 Gen or Ipod Classic 6 Gen?
 
Thanks in advance for your valuable replies.
 

 

[IDK]

5.5 Gen Ipod > 6th Gen Ipod Headphone Out
 
I've read that the 7g Ipod Classic actually sounds as good as the 5.5 Gen though.

 

[Hero Kid]

Of course it's subjective but I prefer the 5.5g to the 6th gen I auditioned. For me the most noticeable thing was the fullness of bass with the 5.5g.
Just so you understand, Rockbox doesn't make a player magically sound better. But what it does give you is a great parametric EQ, which poops all over the default iPod EQ.
 
When you add up all the advantages of Rockbox, for me it's reason alone to go for the 5.5g over any new iPod.

 

[meurglys0]

Quote:

Of course it's subjective but I prefer the 5.5g to the 6th gen I auditioned. For me the most noticeable thing was the fullness of bass with the 5.5g.
Just so you understand, Rockbox doesn't make a player magically sound better. But what it does give you is a great parametric EQ, which poops all over the default iPod EQ.
 
When you add up all the advantages of Rockbox, for me it's reason alone to go for the 5.5g over any new iPod.

Yes, my main reason for going after the 5.5g is to benefit from the Rockbox equalizer, because the EQ presets on the 6th gen Ipod I borrowed from my friend are just useless, especially with the SM3s.
 
Certain confusing comments on other threads led me to believe the line out of 6th gen is superior to the line out of 5.5g unmodded, but I couldn't come to a conclusion about the headphone out comparison of both gens. So thanks for clearing that out. 

 

[Sorensiim]

As I type this, I'm listening to a friends iPod Classic - 6th gen 160gb, UE5vi in the headphone out. I've borrowed his pod to fill the gap between selling my desktop kit (K271 mk II, Carat HD1V) and receiving my refurbished, rockbox-laden iPod Video 5.5 gen. It ships from the UK today (I'm in Denmark) so I should have it early next week. I'll be happy to do a head-on comparison between the two

 
I paid close to the full retail price for a brand spanking new 160gb classic for my 5.5 120gb player, but before getting out the straightjacket, lemme explain: The 5.5 uses Wolfson chips instead of the cheaper, but (supposedly) inferior Cirrus chips and as the 5.5 can run Rockbox, It will not only free me from the vice-like grip that is iTunes, but most importantly: It'll play FLAC. All my music is ripped to FLAC and it's head and shoulders above Mp3 when it comes to clarity, details and soundstage. 
 
Anyways - that's why I chose the 5.5. If you like mp3, ALAC and iTunes, feel free to grab a 6th or  7th gen 'pod

 

[meurglys0]

Quote:

Of course it's subjective but I prefer the 5.5g to the 6th gen I auditioned. For me the most noticeable thing was the fullness of bass with the 5.5g.
Just so you understand, Rockbox doesn't make a player magically sound better. But what it does give you is a great parametric EQ, which poops all over the default iPod EQ.
 
When you add up all the advantages of Rockbox, for me it's reason alone to go for the 5.5g over any new iPod.

Hero Kid, after reading your warnings about 5.5g Refurbished Ipods elsewhere on the forum I e-mailed Ipodzens, the site I'm close to buying a 240 GB Refurbihsed Ipod from, and asked them about the parts etc...

"On your 240 GB refurbished Ipod videos the logic boards of 80 GB Ipods with 64 mb RAM are used and not the logic boards of 30 GB Ipods with 32 mb RAM, right?

Also the original Wolfson DAC remains in the refurbished Ipods, right?

And lastly, the new batteries used are good quality ones, right?"

And their reply was:

"Yes, we use the 80GB boards with the 64MB of cache and the Wolfson DAC. The 850Mah batteries are new and of good quality."

Also, previously they had said:

"We use new LCD’s, batteries, front and back covers, hard drives, cables, audio jacks and frames. However, the main logic boards and clickwheels are used, but tested working. Once assembled, they must pass a 25 point inspection process."

I could be considered a noob and you seem to know about this stuff: do you think these replies are satisfactory? Anything else I should ask them about? Also, how long 850Mah batteries would last on a Rockboxed ipod using the EQ with the file format being FLAC?

 

[meurglys0]

Quote:

As I type this, I'm listening to a friends iPod Classic - 6th gen 160gb, UE5vi in the headphone out. I've borrowed his pod to fill the gap between selling my desktop kit (K271 mk II, Carat HD1V) and receiving my refurbished, rockbox-laden iPod Video 5.5 gen. It ships from the UK today (I'm in Denmark) so I should have it early next week. I'll be happy to do a head-on comparison between the two

 
I paid close to the full retail price for a brand spanking new 160gb classic for my 5.5 120gb player, but before getting out the straightjacket, lemme explain: The 5.5 uses Wolfson chips instead of the cheaper, but (supposedly) inferior Cirrus chips and as the 5.5 can run Rockbox, It will not only free me from the vice-like grip that is iTunes, but most importantly: It'll play FLAC. All my music is ripped to FLAC and it's head and shoulders above Mp3 when it comes to clarity, details and soundstage. 
 
Anyways - that's why I chose the 5.5. If you like mp3, ALAC and iTunes, feel free to grab a 6th or  7th gen 'pod

I'm about to order one, too! And hopefully I'll be ready to place my order before your 5.5g arrives! But I would love to hear your opinion and I will share mine!

 

[mootookang]

Or you can always look for a broken one, and install of the parts in manually yourself. 

 

[Hero Kid]

Quote:

I could be considered a noob and you seem to know about this stuff: do you think these replies are satisfactory? Anything else I should ask them about? Also, how long 850Mah batteries would last on a Rockboxed ipod using the EQ with the file format being FLAC?

They look like great replies to me! I was considering iPodzens when I bought my first iPod 5.5g but found a better second hand deal (that ended up falling through).
As for the battery life, I would be completely guessing, but those 850Mah batteries are longer lasting than the original stock batteries so I could imagine ~10 hours easily enough.
 
As long as you are fully aware of the classification, and what that entails (possibly scratched screen, etc), I say go for it!
They are a reputable seller and if you have any problems I'm sure they'll help you out.

 

[meurglys0]

Quote:

They look like great replies to me! I was considering iPodzens when I bought my first iPod 5.5g but found a better second hand deal (that ended up falling through).
As for the battery life, I would be completely guessing, but those 850Mah batteries are longer lasting than the original stock batteries so I could imagine ~10 hours easily enough.
 
As long as you are fully aware of the classification, and what that entails (possibly scratched screen, etc), I say go for it!
They are a reputable seller and if you have any problems I'm sure they'll help you out.

 
Thanks for your reply.
 
They said (quoted above) they use new Lcds and new frames etc... I thought that meant new/unscratched screen... Is that not correct?
 

 

[Hero Kid]

If they say it is new I would assume it would be just that, new and not scratched. 
 
Just some refurb iPods get classed as "A class", etc which could mean used (scratched) parts. iPodZenz seems to be an exception.
 

 

[meurglys0]

Quote:

If they say it is new I would assume it would be just that, new and not scratched. 
 
Just some refurb iPods get classed as "A class", etc which could mean used (scratched) parts. iPodZenz seems to be an exception.
 

Finally... Do you think there's a better option out there? I need a high capacity DAP with great sound quality and customizable EQ or Rockboxability? (I have been using Zune 120 and I would like the capacity to be at least 120 GB, but that doesn't mean I wouldn't consider a 64 GB DAP if it meets my requirements...)

 

[Sorensiim]

Don't know where in the world you're ordering from, but since I'm in the EU (Denmark [insert rant about the worlds highest tax pressure here]) I'm ordering from a bloke called "ipodsteve" on Ebay.co.uk. Never dealt with him before, but 254 ipods sold, 100% positive feedback should be a sign that he's not a total scammer. Have emailed him back and forth and he seems like a really nice guy, even loaded Rockbox 3.6 for me so it's ready to roll as soon as I get it. But your post has me worried... My iPod was apparently born as a 30 gig model but he has installed a slim 120gb drive. Can't really make out if the logic board is new with 64mb ram or I'm getting 32mb of ram for handling 100+gigs of flac... How do I check that once I receive it?
 
Quote:

I'm about to order one, too! And hopefully I'll be ready to place my order before your 5.5g arrives! But I would love to hear your opinion and I will share mine!

 

[Madgravity34]

Just for reference I currently own both a 120gb Ipod classic and a 30gb Ipod 5g. Here are my (cliffnote) remarks on sq of each:
 
Ipod Classic 120gb:
 
Overall, I feel the strength of the classic is in how emphasized the treble is. This ipod has a much colder sound than the ipod 5g, but can produce a similar level of detail.
 
 
Ipod 5g:
 
The 5g is significantly warmer sounding than the classic (at least through the HP out) and I find detail retrieval to be the same if not better than the classic. Bass emphasis is higher, but, to my ear, it seem the classic has a tighter bass note through the HP out.
 
 
So Which One Is Better?
 
     I believe this depends on a few factors. First and foremost, if you plan on doing a DIYmod, the 5g/5.5g will always be a cut above any other ipod unit. I will make a full post once my LOD comes in as a comparison between LO and HP on the two ipods, but for now, if you are only using the HP-out, I feel that which unit you prefer heavily depends on what kind of sound signature your IEM/HP may have. With my UM3X, I can honestly say that music sounds livelier via the classic (HP Out Only), but this is because the westones are very warm and sound intimate already. The 5g tends to emphasize their sound signature (which for some is maybe a good thing).
 
     I have used Rockbox and the eq does work well, however, I am not sure if its my battery (I bought the unit second hand for 35 dollars, replaced the front plate, backplate, and click wheel, and then did the DIYmod), but, with flac files, I get maybe 1 hour of playback!! (If someone could tell me if this is abnormally low please let me know as the battery could need to be replaced). Even with ALAC + itunes the battery life is not much better.
 
     I am waiting on my custom iMod LOD from twisted cables, so I will let you know how much of a difference the DIYmod makes. I would have given your a LO impression now (even though you aren't really interested in that per-say) but my ALO LOD mysteriously stopped working (???).
 
     Goodluck with your purchase and I hope this helped! I will make a much more detailed comparison once I have my rig finalized and can sit down to make notes (university + work has me busy as hell)
 

 

[meurglys0]

Quote:

Just for reference I currently own both a 120gb Ipod classic and a 30gb Ipod 5g. Here are my (cliffnote) remarks on sq of each:
 
Ipod Classic 120gb:
 
Overall, I feel the strength of the classic is in how emphasized the treble is. This ipod has a much colder sound than the ipod 5g, but can produce a similar level of detail.
 
 
Ipod 5g:
 
The 5g is significantly warmer sounding than the classic (at least through the HP out) and I find detail retrieval to be the same if not better than the classic. Bass emphasis is higher, but, to my ear, it seem the classic has a tighter bass note through the HP out.
 
 
So Which One Is Better?
 
     I believe this depends on a few factors. First and foremost, if you plan on doing a DIYmod, the 5g/5.5g will always be a cut above any other ipod unit. I will make a full post once my LOD comes in as a comparison between LO and HP on the two ipods, but for now, if you are only using the HP-out, I feel that which unit you prefer heavily depends on what kind of sound signature your IEM/HP may have. With my UM3X, I can honestly say that music sounds livelier via the classic (HP Out Only), but this is because the westones are very warm and sound intimate already. The 5g tends to emphasize their sound signature (which for some is maybe a good thing).
 
     I have used Rockbox and the eq does work well, however, I am not sure if its my battery (I bought the unit second hand for 35 dollars, replaced the front plate, backplate, and click wheel, and then did the DIYmod), but, with flac files, I get maybe 1 hour of playback!! (If someone could tell me if this is abnormally low please let me know as the battery could need to be replaced). Even with ALAC + itunes the battery life is not much better.
 
     I am waiting on my custom iMod LOD from twisted cables, so I will let you know how much of a difference the DIYmod makes. I would have given your a LO impression now (even though you aren't really interested in that per-say) but my ALO LOD mysteriously stopped working (???).
 
     Goodluck with your purchase and I hope this helped! I will make a much more detailed comparison once I have my rig finalized and can sit down to make notes (university + work has me busy as hell)
 

I am going to use it with my Earsonics SM3. SM3 is also warm and midforward. But as far as the reviews are concerned the UM3X should be warmer in comparison. My Zune 120 was just a bit warm and midforward and the result of coupling it up with the SM3 was not good. I felt a customizable EQ would solve the problem and that's why I'm buying another DAP. The real problem with the Zune 120 + SM3 combo was the overbearing midforwardness of the resulting sound. Even on foobar on my computer I have to turn down low and mid midranges along with the bass and turn up the high midrange and boost the treble just a nudge; otherwise the midrange hammers my head. But through the EQ I am able to attain my preferred sound. Does equalizing end the clash of sound signatures in coupling the UM3X and the Ipod 5.5g; I mean is it still too warm or too midforwardish after you equalize the sound to your preference?
 
EDIT: You have Rockboxed it or not? I meant the Rockbox EQ obviously...