[Kayzo]

I have an iPod Touch 2G and have been wanting to upgrade in a while .
I decided to compare my iPod to my friend's Fuze to test out how bad the iPod's headphone out really is . I used my ES7's for the test and FLAC on the Fuze and 320kbps MP3's on the iPod and told my friend to connect my headphones to either of the players and press Play , (all with my eyes closed so I couldn't know of course) . After listening to the first , I didn't hear that much of a difference , but when the second started playing , it was night and day . The second one's sound was thinner and dare I say , boring ! I immediately knew it was the Fuze and I was right . After an hour of listening to the Fuze , I had to go back to my iPod , whose sound was thin and boring to me now . I wanted an upgrade more than ever now , so I think I will buy an s:flo2 , which is even better than the Fuze .

My story of the day .

 

[shigzeo]

When you go back and forth between DAP's you need to volume match otherwise the louder one (99% of the time) will sound 'better' as its dynamics are dictated by volume. So no matter which player you have at the bottom or top, you cannot make a realistic blind or sighted test without first matching volumes.

I own both and for balanced armatures... I sort of prefer the Fuze because its resolution is a bit better, though its higher noise floor is annoying. But the touch overall is my favoured player. I hate its size, but then I really don't like the horrid GUI of the Fuze and the 'wheel of death'.

Both are very good and with sensitive earphones, I can tell them apart, but that is mostly due to hiss of the Fuze and of course, a less suckout. But I'd put the touch ahead with every dynamic earphone on the planet.

I've not heard the SFLO long enough to give any good excuses as to its sound, but I'm sure it is good though I have serious doubt as to its ability to drive balanced armature earphones well.

 

[IntelLover]

The SFLO 2 is better than basically anything on the market. Im not a expert or have the time to type what it has, but it has an powerful amp, come call it on par with most $100 amps.

 

[dweaver]

I own a Touch 2G and just recently bought a new 2nd gen Fuze. The fuze has much better instrument seperation and sound stage compared to the Touch 2G IMO. Having said that I bought the Fuze because of it's synergy with my IE8. It tamed the mid-bass that was bugging me with the IE8, improved the midrange and helped the treble as well, all with a better sound stage and instrument seperation. I have no issues with the noise floor with my IE8.

Is it better than the Touch 2G? Not really, just different and depending on your IEM better or worse as I imagine it would take a detailed cold IEM and possibly make them unberable as compared to the Touch which is a warmer sounding DAP.

 

[shigzeo]

^^ well, it is obvious that we heard different things with our DAP's; the touch drives dynamic earphones around the clock better than the Fuze, so if you are hearing bigger stage, you may be hearing something else. Left to right, the touch is more separated (demonstrably), but the Fuze does a better job with balanced armature earphones. The touch falls to pieces with most armature earphones which aren't meant as very neutral stage monitors.

My FitEar 333 which destroys most DAP's is great with the Fuze and just good with the touch.

Do you EQ the Fuze? that could be what you are hearing because with most 16Ω dynamic earphones, it is literally about a head taller (more neutral) than the Fuze.

 

[Albinoni]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kayzo /img/forum/go_quote.gif I have an iPod Touch 2G and have been wanting to upgrade in a while . I decided to compare my iPod to my friend's Fuze to test out how bad the iPod's headphone out really is . I used my ES7's for the test and FLAC on the Fuze and 320kbps MP3's on the iPod and told my friend to connect my headphones to either of the players and press Play , (all with my eyes closed so I couldn't know of course) . After listening to the first , I didn't hear that much of a difference , but when the second started playing , it was night and day . The second one's sound was thinner and dare I say , boring ! I immediately knew it was the Fuze and I was right . After an hour of listening to the Fuze , I had to go back to my iPod , whose sound was thin and boring to me now . I wanted an upgrade more than ever now , so I think I will buy an s:flo2 , which is even better than the Fuze . My story of the day .

So what are you telling us here, the Ipod sounded better or the fuze ?

 

[shigzeo]

I'll be borrowing an SFLO in the next month just to see. I've spent a few (like 10) minutes with one back in December, but not enough time to get acquainted with its sound. It was nice, but I'd not cast my vote for or against. Having dual DAC's doesn't mean better or more powerful, but it does open nice possibilities.

 

[Kayzo]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Albinoni /img/forum/go_quote.gif So what are you telling us here, the Ipod sounded better or the fuze ?

The Fuze did . :O

 

[dweaver]

Hmmm not sure what I am hearing Shigzeo. My Touch seems much darker than the Fuze and I feel like it is congested in comparison to the Fuze as well. I have to say this is all from my IE8 only as I have no other IEM's at the moment.

Could the differences we are hearing be attributed to different model versions? I am using an Ipod Touch 2G and the latest Fuze which can not be Rockboxed due to hardware changes from the original version.

I am not EQing either device with this testing. I bought the Fuze because it has a customizable EQ but don't like it that much so am waiting for Rockbox to become available for the new model.

 

[shigzeo]

I have that same units and hate the Fuze for the reason that it cannot yet be rockboxed. Its interface is pretty horrid. But, I hope it gets RB soon otherwise, it will stay where it is. I also wish the Fuze had a real EQ as I had high hopes... but I also hoped it was V1. I love its FR for balanced armatures, but otherwise, I really don't 'get' it.

 

[dweaver]

hmmm, well like I said I only have my IE8 at the moment and it's helped them mightily, but I will have to try it with some other IEM's as I have a chance. BTW the Touch kicks the Fuze's pants in the UI for sure and yes the EQ is pretty sad and yes I sad I couldn't rockbox mine when I got it

.

But it's taken me from wanting to sell my IE8 to quite liking them at the moment so thats something

.

 

[bba1973]

There's been some progress on the Fuze v2 Rockbox port. Looks like there may be more to come soon.

Sorry, but I haven't heard the 2nd Gen iPod Touch, so I can't add anything else to this thread.

 

[shigzeo]

If the Fuze V2 gets Rockbox and somehow loses the midrange grain (a very tiny bit), I'll not use another portable: the sound is good (mostly excellent, but not perfect) and the size is great. I just wish the ring of death were disabled and for a realistic firmware.

if RB gets on, hell yeah, everything else goes away. Well, my iPt2G for everything else but music, my Sony for recording 16 bit PCM and ... the others to be sold. The touch does everything I want and has the sound I enjoy, but it is waaaay too big and doesn't handle some balanced armature earphones as well as I want.