[BlueAngel66]

Just bought a new, unopened ipod 5th Gen on ebay for $249.00.. It seems like the older the better..The new ipod classic 7th gen has Cirrus DAC's.. So I first got a use Gen 5 from Game Stop. I could tell a big difference in that and a Gen 4 ipod touch and iphone 4s. With the EQ set on Rock mode. The Gen 5 sounded awesome.I the ipone 4s and 4th gen touch, the sound went way down and the highs were cut out! That was going from Fla to Rock mode on the EQ! So I bought the NEW unopened  gen 5 form E-Bay! I ipod I got from Gamestop, had a bad headphone plug.. Music wouldn't play..Would hear a skipping sound in the headphones. When connected to a Music Dock, it worked fine! I have a Logitech s715i..It sounds great! I also just ordered a iHome iP1 Studio Series Speaker Dock for $149 on Amazon.com! That's a great dock with great speakers that have soft dome tweeters! Anyways..Hope this helped with picking out some good mp3 players! Newer isn't always better!
 
 
-Enjoy the Music! 

 

[Sefelt103]

Welcome to the forum BlueAngel66. Newer players do have advantages sometimes but you are right newer isn't always better. Apple's iPod Classic is a product that has changed quite alot in some ways and not changed in others. The 5th Gen did have the much lauded Wolfson DAC but as most people know DACs are DACs and the output stage can make a big difference. After the 5th Gen the Classic became much more of a utility player than a hi-fi player. From the 6th Gen onward market research, cost considerations, slimness and battery performance took precedence over purity of sound. I recenty tried an iPod Nano 7th Gen. It is tiny, I didn't like the bass sound, unusually the ADSR seemed unnatural sort of speeded up. I much prefer my 1st Gen even though it only has 1/8th of the capacity. Many people who post on here are looking mainly for sound quality but big manufacturers know dedicated music players have only to perform better than mobile 'phones. Neither do people spend £300 on IEMs/Headphones very often so the cost/weight of big batteries/big logic boards can be dispensed with. I like the 5th Gen Classic it is durable, easy to repair, has all the availabilty of Apple products and has an excellent interface. Its sound is very good if slightly shaped and it plays well with IEMs and full sized headphones. This player sounds similar to the iPad which is also a nice and modern player.

 

[BlueAngel66]

Yes, I agree. I have a 5th gen ipod classic and a iphone4s. I had a 4th gen ipod touch for a a few days. I took it back. My Casio Commando sounded better that the 4th gen touch. In rock EQ MODE, the 4th gen volume was cut, less detail and highs. On the 5 th gen classic. In rock EQ Mode, the volume is higher with great low's, alot of detail and crisp highs that pop!

 

[Achmedisdead]

Quote:

Yes, I agree. I have a 5th gen ipod classic and a iphone4s. I had a 4th gen ipod touch for a a few days. I took it back. My Casio Commando sounded better that the 4th gen touch. In rock EQ MODE, the 4th gen volume was cut, less detail and highs. On the 5 th gen classic. In rock EQ Mode, the volume is higher with great low's, alot of detail and crisp highs that pop!

Your mistake was using the iPod built-in EQ. (also, the 5th gen is the iPod Video, not iPod Classic)
 
The 4G Touch and the 5G Video are both nice sounding players, provided you don't use the crappy onboard "EQ" presets. With the Touch, there are a number of apps you can get that provide great EQ adjustment.....and with the Video, you can install Rockbox, which  will let you access all kinds of EQ adjustments and other tweaks.

 

[RoMee]

I'm currently using both the 5.5 ipod and the ipod touch 4g. The 5.5 ipod sounds pretty good without any eq but I think the ipod touch 4g sounds pretty damn good as well if you use the EQu app. The stock eq sucks, I don't know why people use it.

 

[aluren]

The CLAS takes any Apple device up to a whole new level. But of course, it takes away from the portability. 

 

[Sefelt103]

I own an iPod Touch 4G and a Video (5G) and I much prefer the sound of the Video. It's hard to describe what I dislike about the sound of the Touch. Artificial with colouration it does not play well with my Shure SE425s IEMs and is a bit disappointing with Sennheiser HD555 headphones. I just think the Touch does so many things that sound quality is not much of a consideration. It's too thin and dare I say it has approx. 20hrs battery versus 14 relative to the battery sizes.