a line out does not always mean anything. look at the x5: had more bass roll off than most daps.
finally: ipod has stigma around it: made by a consumer oriented company. the problem with thinking of apple as rubbish because they are consumer oriented is that all companies are. apple just don't push the marketing for audiophiles. if they did, trust me, the concensus on these forums would be completely different: even if they sounded exactly the same.
modern ipod except the shuffle are across the line probably the best performers: they do everything well, nothing perfect - but best in class channel separation for space, almost perfect bass roll off with iems across the line, very good hiss performance (shuffle excluded), gapless, support for 3 lossless formats.
then they are all metal: not plastic. for the environmentalist in me, as well as the person who does not like the feel of throwaway: that is a huge bonus. i love my sony but its lack of gapless, and slightly higher levels of hiss as well as not the best performance when coupled with big phones drives me back to ipod all the time.