[y2jdmbfan]

Guys,

I have a dilemma. I have picked up both a 1st gen nano 4GB from apple.com and also a 8GB 2nd Gen nano from best buy. I am using them with a pair of e500's and am trying to decide which to keep. I honestly can't tell the difference between the 2 all that much. Which do you suggest is better? Also, what is a good small portable amp to go with either of the nano's and the e500?

Thanks,

Y2J

 

[4metta]

I'd go 2nd gen Nano and either Tomahawk or the smallest XIN amp for the Nano with an ALO dock.

Do a search on Nanos and you'll see that's what most people are doing as far as amps. I'd say most e500 owners went Tomahawk but being it's a new amp the new amp hype may be one of the reasons. I'm sure the XIN amps sound nice too.

 

[bluey_02]

2G for sure. Although.. people have said the 1G has a superior dock to the 2G and I have read in reviews that there is little to no difference betweeen them concerning the headphone out.

Hmm, my suggestion is to buy an amp and a decent interconnect, try it out with both iPods and then decide which one to sell.

A good small amp would be either the Tomahawk and the Xin Feng SuperMicro IV. Many have said the TH is exceptional in build quality, battery and of course sound. The SM however has been said to have a better sound and is $100 less than the TH, but it takes up to a few months to get ready and ship! This is a turn off for many people who will go with the bigger, more expensive and great-sounding TH which is shipped within a week or less (so I've heard).

Hope that helps.

 

[abitdeef]

2g gets my vote, I have a 4 gig 1st gen and an 8 gig nano and I can't really tell any difference through the headphone out and I think the line out on the 2g sounds a little better my self. Plus you get more space and better battery life.

 

[LaBreaHead]

Yeah, [edit: much] better battery "mileage" with the 2nd generation. Plus the 2G is not a fingerprint magnet and you can get away without using a case (you just need a PDA screen protector if you don't want a case of some kind).

I do think the 1st generation Nano is a great-looking player, though ...

 

[chowk]

IMHO, 2nd Gen all the way. With the equipment in my sig, there's no significant difference SQ wise from headphone out or lineout.

2nd Gen has much better batt life, better case, better screen, larger capacity. 1st Gen has rockbox support.

Obviously, none of that is important cos the 2nd Gen looks so much sexier than the 1st Gen ^_^

 

[lan]

I think the 2g sounds better out of it's headphone jack. I think the difference is fairly obvious. If you can't tell the difference, I wonder if an amp would make any appreciable improvement.

I think the 1st gen looks better but I like the better battery life , brighter screen, and faster UI of 2g. The 2g also has more capacity.

 

[roastpuff]

Tomahawk. Not only does it get delivered faster and look better than the SuperMicro, it has 450+ hours of battery life on a single set of AAA batteries.

I've not had the chance to listen to any Xin products yet, but the Tomahawk's SQ is enough to blow my mind.

 

[bluey_02]

I can now confirm that the SuperMicro will ship within the stated 2-3 weeks as stated on Xin Feng's website. Whilst still longer than it takes for TH to ship, this is something to consider, everything else considered.

 

[aluren]

Quote:

Originally Posted by bluey_02 /img/forum/go_quote.gif I can now confirm that the SuperMicro will ship within the stated 2-3 weeks as stated on Xin Feng's website.

No way!! Half the people that ordered way before 2-3 weeks haven't even gotten their amps yet (me included)....

 

[bluey_02]

Well then Xin must be pulling my leg. I asked him explicitly what the deal was with wait time (after I had ordered one) and he responded: "I was holding shipment for some design changes. Order process is going well right now. Thanks, Xin". Then I emailed again and asked, "do you mean that the 2 month wait time was a result of the product changes and that now the order will only take 2-3 weeks to process?" and the response was simply, "yes".

So there you have it, that would explain why people have been waiting so long. I must've ordered at the right time.