Ipod Nano sound quality???

[chrisfromalbany]

Quote:

Originally Posted by random person Well I finally got my Nano today (after it was lost in Fedex Deep Space Nine for a week -- with next day shipping, no less!) and all I can say is -- Oh Baby! She (mine's a girl) is beautiful! Smaller than I imagined, lighter, yet substantial in the hand. Screen quality is excellent, although at the limit of the size/readability equation in my opinion. Any smaller and you'd need a magnifying glass -- definitely out for photo viewing, I think (apart from the coolness of the album covers!) Now, as for the question posed originally in this thread: its sound quality. I've owned the 2nd Gen, still have my 3G and 4G, just bought a 60 Gig color, already owned a 1st and 2nd Gen mini (4 g and 6 g) and of course I also have the 1 gig Shuffle. So I've had them all, and use them all. My verdict as to sound is that the Nano is better than the Mini (both gens, although the 2nd gen mini was an improvement to the 1st gen imho) and equal to the 60 Gig Color (which I think was an improvement over the prior versions). If there is a difference between them, damned if I can hear it (yet). One notable difference is that the absense of a hard drive means there are zero hard drive access sounds through the Nano headphones. This is a distinct improvement over the 60 Gig photo. Haven't yet compared it to the Shuffle. Worth buying? Oh god yes!!!! Will I miss my Mini? Hell no! I loved it, but this one is too gorgeous for words. Worth having both a big pod and this little one? Absolutely! While 4 gig is plenty for working out etc invariably I find myself looking for the album that isn't there -- so you always want to have access to your broader collection too, depending on the circumstances.

I want to hear the comparison with the shuffle.. lol..

 

[coprock]

Have had my nano 4g for 4 days now and love it.

I have however noticed skipping issues with mp3s downloaded from emusic.com, which I believe are high bitrate vbr ripped with lame. Funny though, mp3s that I have ripped using high bitrate with lame and exact audio copy do not seem to skip.

Anyone else have these issues?

 

[abitdeef]

I have high bitrate vbr's ripped with eac, free rip, and cdex and I have not experienced any skipping.

 

[doomlordis]

Ok had mine for a few days now, i also have a HD5, shuffle and a RH710 Minidisc player to use for comparison.
In my opinion the Nano sounds very good, not great but very good. It sounds better than my RH710 (not surprising as the MP3 playback is crippled). It doesnt sound as good as a shuffle or an HD5.
The main issue i have with the sound is the bass, it is there but it isnt very smooth, its jaggy and harsh at med-high volumes. The detail and seperation are accurate in the mids and the highs are well defined.
All in all a good sounding player but there are better.

 

[gshan]

Quote:

Originally Posted by doomlordis Ok had mine for a few days now, i also have a HD5, shuffle and a RH710 Minidisc player to use for comparison. In my opinion the Nano sounds very good, not great but very good. It sounds better than my RH710 (not surprising as the MP3 playback is crippled). It doesnt sound as good as a shuffle or an HD5. The main issue i have with the sound is the bass, it is there but it isnt very smooth, its jaggy and harsh at med-high volumes. The detail and seperation are accurate in the mids and the highs are well defined. All in all a good sounding player but there are better.

What earphones were you using with the Nano?

 

[Febs]

Quote:

Originally Posted by coprock I have however noticed skipping issues with mp3s downloaded from emusic.com, which I believe are high bitrate vbr ripped with lame. Funny though, mp3s that I have ripped using high bitrate with lame and exact audio copy do not seem to skip.

emusic.com uses LAME --alt-preset standard. I can't remember offhand whether they use LAME 3.92 or 3.96.1, and my company's web filter won't let me get to the emusic site to check.

 

[doomlordis]

Quote:

Originally Posted by gshan What earphones were you using with the Nano?

Tested using my new philips she9500 (very good canal phones- pee on ex71s) and px100s

 

[sbelyo]

Has anyone tested the line out on the nano?

 

[Echopac]

Quote:

Originally Posted by sbelyo Has anyone tested the line out on the nano?

Yes, using a mini dock to Bose Media Mate speakers, sounds fantastic.
Out of the dock into a Shellbrook Maxi Moy, then out to HD555, E3C's, and ER4-P, sounds fantastic.
Waiting for my LaRocco Pocket Reference II, will let you know how that match up plays

 

[tennisets]

Quote:

Originally Posted by sbelyo Has anyone tested the line out on the nano?

I'm using it right now, and you know what? It actually sounds quite good. It doesn't match up to a good CD player, but frankly, I am amazed at the kind of sound this tiny little device can put out. Sure, I really miss my turntable right now, because it sounds worlds ahead of the Nano, and a good CD player would be nice too, but I don't feel like I'll die if I don't have them.

It sounds good. It doesn't sound great, or even really good, but it's good. It doesn't really satisfy me, but I have very high standards. For many people it would probably make a perfectly acceptable primary source.

 

[funkyj]

Quote:

Originally Posted by tennisets So, I think the nano MIGHT still have a bass rollof issue, but I can't really say until I use it with my E2s.

I bought a nano a few days ago because my 40G 3rd gen iPod got jacked so I can't do a side by side comparison but one of the things I noticed when some Edgar Meyer (http://www.edgarmeyer.com/) classical double bass pieces played was that the bass seems much fuller.

I'm listening with shure e5s headphones. When I first got my iPod I tried E2s and e3s but these, combined with the iPod bass roll off, couldn't make a satisfactory bass growl when listening to acoustic bass. The e5s have excellent bass response.

BTW, when I tried e2s, e3s and finally my e5s the e4s were not available. How do the e4s compare with e5s for bass? How about over all?

fj.

 

[abitdeef]

Here's another view of the nanos sound quality

"Ok.... I went to Circuit City last night to purcase my Ipod nano. I got home, opened the box, and it was AMAZING!!!! THe thing is SOOO small! So i plug it into my computer to star downloadingmusic, and it took SOOO long for it to download. After it was finished, i put on the headphones (which dont stay in your ears) and turned it on. The sound was horrible. it was that harsh crisp sound that no one likes. so, i go to turn down the music, and practically the whole thing breaks in half! i took it bake and got a Rio Cali. Please, take my advice and dont buy this."

God I love the web!

P.S. I saw this on the CC web site and it made me laugh really hard, had to share it.

 

[appar111]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ihatepopupads Here's another view of the nanos sound quality "Ok.... I went to Circuit City last night to purcase my Ipod nano. I got home, opened the box, and it was AMAZING!!!! THe thing is SOOO small! So i plug it into my computer to star downloadingmusic, and it took SOOO long for it to download. After it was finished, i put on the headphones (which dont stay in your ears) and turned it on. The sound was horrible. it was that harsh crisp sound that no one likes. so, i go to turn down the music, and practically the whole thing breaks in half! i took it bake and got a Rio Cali. Please, take my advice and dont buy this." God I love the web!

Good lord, the world is full of frickin' idiots.... I tried one of these out at Best Buy this weekend (that black sure is sharp, but scratches waaaaay too easily), and unless the person using it was either a) a gorilla, or b) superman, I see no way that the nano would break in half-- you've gotta be f'ing kidding me! Who knows what bitrate they encoded stuff at, or if they had the headphones plugged in all the way... who's to say. But there's NO way you could break the unit in half by turning the volume down...

 

[ken36]

It is cool though?

 

[daphox]

OK!

So does it sound as good or worse than the Shuffle!?