[alex110394]

Hi everyone
 
I will buy a new music player, but I still hesitate between the iPod classic and the iPhone 5
 
Is there any difference of sound quality between the two ? 
 
Does someone have the two who could tell me which of them sound the best ?
 
Thanks for advance  

 

[ender323]

Quote:

Hi everyone
 
I will buy a new music player, but I still hesitate between the iPod classic and the iPhone 5
 
Is there any difference of sound quality between the two ? 
 
Does someone have the two who could tell me which of them sound the best ?
 
Thanks for advance  

Go with the Classic. I believe it has a better DAC/amp section, but the most important things are elsewhere-the storage space and the dock connector. If you have a lot of music, you can keep it in higher bitrates (Preferably 320 AAC/MP3 or ALAC (lossless) Also, if you use an amp with it, the older, 30-pin connector on the Classic allows for an LOD to bypass the internal amp, which is impossible on the Lightning connector.

 

[szwety]

Quote:

Also, if you use an amp with it, the older, 30-pin connector on the Classic allows for an LOD to bypass the internal amp, which is impossible on the Lightning connector.

Actually you can get a lighting to 30-pin adapter to connect to an LOD (pain in the butt) but definitely possible.  (See thread: http://www.head-fi.org/t/635416/iphone-5-lod-solution)
 
I am actually in agreement with you though.  I have both an iphone 4s and an Ipod 5th gen (both used with fiio LOD and e07k) with rockbox and I definitely prefer my Ipod over iphone for portable listening.  I just recently purchased an Iphone 6th gen after reading that it has the ability to use rockbox as well.   (Thread here: http://www.head-fi.org/t/532426/ipod-classic-rockbox-its-happening)  If you aren't familiar with rockbox check that thread out or head to their website @ http://www.rockbox.org/.  Basically it allows ridiculous amounts of customization to sound and playback as well as taking away the need for itunes.  But more importantly it also allows use of lossless codecs such as WAV and FLAC which the iphone doesn't support unless jailbroken IIRC.

 

[ExpatinJapan]

Iphone 5 supports WAV. Its even in their tech specs on the iphone5 page on the apple website.

FLAC - no need to jailbreak there are many apps that enable you to play FLAC on your iphone, some even with great eq functions. Flacplayer, accudio app, equalizerPro to name just a couple.

 

[moodyrn]

Functionality wise, there's nothing an ipod classic can do that an iphone 5 can't. The only advantage is storage. Iphone 5 do support line out with the appropriate adapter, supports wav out of the box and flac with many, many apps.
 
Now when it comes to sound, then it becomes much more subjective. I preferred the 7g classic to every iphone I've had except the 5. I think the 5 is the first iphone to surpass the 7g classic. But on the other hand, I preferred every iphone to the 6g classic which is the worst sounding ipod I've listened to. And I bought a couple of those just in case something was wrong with the first.
 
I know others will disagree when it comes to sound, but only your ears can be the judge of that. But when it comes to functionality, the iphone 5 does everything plus a whole lot more than the ipod classic. So it's really apples to oranges in that respect.

 

[szwety]

I know there's been all sorts of threads on 6th gen iPod classics vs. 5th gen and iPhones and what not. Was the sound truly that bad? I've read mixed views on it. I didn't think that those apps were in the store! My bad. I hate the idea of filling my phone up with flac/alac though. Sucks to have to make so many decisions lol!

 

[Brooko]

Quote:

I know there's been all sorts of threads on 6th gen iPod classics vs. 5th gen and iPhones and what not. Was the sound truly that bad? I've read mixed views on it. I didn't think that those apps were in the store! My bad. I hate the idea of filling my phone up with flac/alac though. Sucks to have to make so many decisions lol!

 
Why would you want to fill to portable device up with lossless?  If you haven't tried it yet, and you have a computer and time on your hands - then have a read of this:
http://www.head-fi.org/t/655879/setting-up-an-abx-test-simple-guide-to-ripping-tagging-transcoding
 
With your own music do your own abx between lossless and something like aac256.  My bet is that the result will really surprise you (when you eliminate the possibility of placebo).
 
I have a 16Gb iPhone 4 (for work).  It is only about 2/3 full (leaving space for work apps, emails, photos etc) but I still have 116 full albums on it.  My 32 Gb iPod Touch G4 is used solely for music - and has 300 albums on it - pretty much my entire collection (all my music is purchased - mostly ripped and transcoded CDs).
 
The thing about a portable is that it is for portable listening.  So a lot of the time you will have ambient noise as a factor as well.  If you can't abx the diff between high bitrate lossy and lossless in a quiet environment - then you'll have no show from your portable.
 
Then (back to the original question) - it solely depends on the size of your collection vs the versatility of the device.  If you have a massive collection and still ''must have" (for whatever reason) lossless - then choice is made - the Classic.  If you are flexible as to file container (especially after the abx), and place value on the apps, bluetooth (I use mine with my car stereo as well), wifi and other advantages of the Touch/iPhone - then weigh the pros and cons and make your choice.  If you need a parametric equaliser for your Touch/iPhone - look into the Equalizer app - it's brilliant.

 

[szwety]

I realize the difference between high quality lossy vs. lossless is negligible on a portable device. I suppose I just like the ability to carry my lossless library with me in case I want to listen on a friends setup or whatnot. Also laziness comes into play. I'll def give that article a read. I've been trying to figure out the best setup for audio on my phone (16gb iPhone 4S). Sadly right now for me my options for non portable use are limited. So I guess I'll have to do some tests to see what differences I can hear between my phone and iPod quality wise.

 

[ExpatinJapan]

Iphone 4s is a good source.

 

[szwety]

Iphone 4s is a good source.

Yes.

 

[szwety]

Quote:

 
Now when it comes to sound, then it becomes much more subjective. I preferred the 7g classic to every iphone I've had except the 5. I think the 5 is the first iphone to surpass the 7g classic. But on the other hand, I preferred every iphone to the 6g classic which is the worst sounding ipod I've listened to. And I bought a couple of those just in case something was wrong with the first.
 
I know others will disagree when it comes to sound, but only your ears can be the judge of that. But when it comes to functionality, the iphone 5 does everything plus a whole lot more than the ipod classic. So it's really apples to oranges in that respect.

 
After doing a bit of research I've found that it also depends on whether or not you'd like to do any modding on your IPOD (if that's the route you'd like to go).  From a different standpoint (sonically at least) according to Vinne (from redwine audio (home of the iMOD)) his impressions are this:
 
Quote:

 
http://www.head-fi.org/t/256793/ipod-classic-dac-and-output-stage-info-from-vinnie-of-rwa/30#post_3245044
 
Originally Posted by Vinnie R. /img/forum/go_quote.gif  

 
Quote:

Originally Posted by swt61 /img/forum/go_quote.gif What I come away with is that if you plan on using an iPod stock you'll be happier with the new 6G. If you want the best possible sound it won't quite compete with an iModded 5.5G, and it probably wouldn't yield the same benifits from Vinnie's mods, so stick with the 5.5G and wait for harddrive prices to drop.

swt61 is correct! If all you care about having is a stock iPod, the 6G (iPod Classic) is the way to go.

If you already have a 5G/5.5G iMod, I believe you will find that the 6G line-out doesn't sound quite as good. I listened some more. This time, I even tested it using a dock cable with the Black Gate caps with 5.5G iMod and still preferred that over the 6G line-out, but even more so with the Vcap Dock + 5.5G iMod combo. I don't have a 4G iMod here to compare it to, but I know others do and I hope they will post their findings.

Quote:

Originally Posted by xnothingpoetic So basically 5g imod> stock 6g> stock 5g

This is correct. Let me add to that:

5G/5.5G iMod with ALO Vcap Dock > 5G/5.5G iMod with ALO dock cable (black gates) > stock 6G line out > stock 5G/5.5G line out

Somewhere in there, the 4G iMod fits and I'm pretty confident that you'll find it between the 5G/5.5G iMod with ALO dock cable and the stock 6G line out.

Quote:

Originally Posted by manaox2 Anyone want to come to the NC meet on September 23rd to pit my 5.5g iMod and vCap portable dock against their iPod classic using the same ALO line out dock and the Corda Move?

Cool... I am hoping more people will be doing comparisons like this and posting their findings. Thanks!

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pangaea This is all good news. I am glad to see apple is paying some attention to SQ. I just hope they have similar workings in the Touch Model.

I agree and I think the 6G line-out and headphone-out shows that Apple has been paying attention (maybe even to headfi and all the iMod posts and about cleaning up these outputs

) to SQ.

Quote:

Originally Posted by sugarinthegourd Props to Vinnie for saying the mod is not needed on these units. He could have taken a lot of orders and made a bunch of do-re-mi and I bet none would be the wiser...

Thanks. Yes, believe me everyone, I have received tons of emails and phone calls regarding the 6G and coming up with an iMod. Many people were even asking if they could buy from Apple and ship directly to me for the mod. I would have really loved this kind of business, but it wasn't meant to be

Quote:

Originally Posted by mirumu That depends. From what Vinnie is describing, the actual output stage is embedded inside the DAC chip with very few components on the outside. You can't feasibly mod a piece of silicon inside a surface mount chip. This doesn't leave a lot of room for modding and any mods done will most likely be adding components into the signal path which is in itself detrimental and would tend to lead to trade offs. To really mod the classic it would seem you'd want to replace the DAC with a better one and hang a quality output stage off it but that wouldn't be a simple mod and would be prohibitively expensive.

mirumu is correct!

 
Not sure if that helps you at all, either way I've found both 5.5/5th (30/80gb) and 6th gen ipods (80gb) to be around $80ish on ebay.
 
But beyond all that, I think that it's important to weight the different uses for the devices, if I could only have one between my iphone 4s and my iPOD, I'd take my iPhone hands down every time.  Not having anything to do with sound or anything else, but just because it's my phone and I use it for WAYYYY more than just portable music listening.  On the same respect, as just a DAP as the ONLY fuction, I'd go iPOD, because it's simple and does exactly what it's meant to... play music.  GL.

 

[moodyrn]

Keep in mind you can't mod the ipod classic. Only the ipod video. There's a big different between both. Anything above the 5.5g can't be modded. I owned and built a few diymod/imods, and they do sound very good for being a portable. But that's still apples and oranges when it comes between those and an iphone 5. It really depends on what features he wants. They are two completely different devices. 

 

[szwety]

Agreed.  How hard was the diymod/imod for 5.5?  I'll have that lying around once I my 6th gen is mailed to me.  Might be a fun project!

 

[moodyrn]

If you have decent soldering skills, not hard at all. There are a few different places you can solder the wires to. Also, you don't even have to remove the capacitors. One you solder the wires beneath them, they are bypassed. I tried it both ways and it sounded the same. So it's less messy, and completely reversible leaving the capacitors in place. The pads are very small, so I recommend using very thin solder with a pencil point gun.

 

[tsvo614]

Iphone 5! Since can be used as phone! And Internet durhh ...hahaha unless your going lossless wav files and taking up a lot of space... Maybe you should get a laptop! With 1tb ... Than become a Better DJ!