[lostid]

The ipods have two major shortcomings, each of which would cause me to avoid them. They are priced much too high, and they lack a card slot.

How about an iPod 5g upgraded to 240gb for about $200?

 

[shigzeo]

I have the Nano 7G and the Clip+ from a couple years ago. I cannot stand gaps in my music, so for the clip, I have to use Rockbox. I also use ALAC and AAC, so rockbox is necessary. But if you have sensitive earphones, the Clip+ and rockbox makes annoying reading sounds when caching from the external SD card. That and a little more hiss and gapless only working right about 50% of the time have made me go quickly and happily back to the iPod nano 7G.
 
I just want to listen to music as it is recorded on my CD's, not run through hoops.
 
Both are great players, but I prefer the sound (a bit hissy, but 'warmish') of the Nano 1G which is my favourite along with the 3G. The Nanos have pretty underpowered amps though, so headphones/earphones that need more voltage won't get enough volume. Oh well, I'm pretty happy.

 

[tds101]

Quote:

 
The ipods have two major shortcomings, each of which would cause me to avoid them. They are priced much too high, and they lack a card slot.

Well, those are YOUR reasons to not want one. But, who needs a micro SDHC card slot when there's a 160GB model available, you could always get an older 5.5G model and (as mentioned) upgrade the HDD, and a classic and 5.5G can be had used for a dirt cheap price if you actually LOOK for them. Plus, this is you,...the OP seems to be asking questions about something else. SQ,...and SQ is just wonderful!!!

 

[JK1]

Quote:

How about an iPod 5g upgraded to 240gb for about $200?

If it could be upgraded with 240GB of flash memory for under $200 that would be great. You are talking about a hard drive though. I don't want a hard drive in my mp3 player.

 

[JK1]

Quote:

Well, those are YOUR reasons to not want one. But, who needs a micro SDHC card slot when there's a 160GB model available, you could always get an older 5.5G model and (as mentioned) upgrade the HDD, and a classic and 5.5G can be had used for a dirt cheap price if you actually LOOK for them. Plus, this is you,...the OP seems to be asking questions about something else. SQ,...and SQ is just wonderful!!!

There are no 160GB flash memory based mp3 players.
You might like the idea of a hard drive in an mp3 player but I don't. I refuse to buy an mp3 player with a hard drive.

 

[lostid]

Quote:

There are no 160GB flash memory based mp3 players.
You might like the idea of a hard drive in an mp3 player but I don't. I refuse to buy an mp3 player with a hard drive.

Why refuse to buy an mp3 player with a hard drive? Is it because it doesn't sound as good as the one with flash?
 
You can't beat the price of an used ipod 5G with a 240GB HDD even if you need to replace the HDD every other 3 yrs. BTW my stock 30GB HDD for the ipod 5G still runs flawlessly after 7 yrs of extensive usage.
 
Edit: If you are worried about the premature failure of the HDD, get two ipods like what I have done. You will not run out of music even when one fails or runs out of battery.

 

[proton007]

Quote:

Why refuse to buy an mp3 player with a hard drive? Is it because it doesn't sound as good as the one with flash?
 
You can't beat the price of an used ipod 5G with a 240GB HDD even if you need to replace the HDD every other 3 yrs. BTW my stock 30GB HDD for the ipod 5G still runs flawlessly after 7 yrs of extensive usage.
 
Edit: If you are worried about the premature failure of the HDD, get two ipods like what I have done. You will not run out of music even when one fails or runs out of battery.

A lot of reasons I can think of. Cannot use during activities, laggy compared to flash based, more power consumption, heavier.
The storage is of course cheaper with HDDs. So unless you're looking for capacity, no reason to go for HDD based players.

 

[soullinker20]

Quote:

 
Wait a second. The iPod Nano 2g has a wolfson dac? Is this confirmed? I have one lying around here somewhere, and i remember it sounded pretty bad with my Sennheiser hd 280 pro. Maybe because of the terrible amp?

 
the nano does not have enough power to do so maybe..

 

[tds101]

the nano does not have enough power to do so maybe..

Oh yeah, the HD280 Pro sounds bad with almost ANY player without extra amping. That's why I've always disliked them so much,...no flexibility. But, with a different set of cans, the nano will sound fine.

 

[soullinker20]

and also the nanos have smaller soundstage that may sound congested compared to the iPod video 5.5G and iPod classic 7G and thus have superior battery power over any nano at a bigger size ipod but still very portable

 

[beaver316]

Quote:

Oh yeah, the HD280 Pro sounds bad with almost ANY player without extra amping. That's why I've always disliked them so much,...no flexibility. But, with a different set of cans, the nano will sound fine.

 
I tried my Sennheiser IE80 iems and they sound pretty good with the nano. Only problem is hissing.
 
 

and also the nanos have smaller soundstage that may sound congested compared to the iPod video 5.5G and iPod classic 7G and thus have superior battery power over any nano at a bigger size ipod but still very portable

 
Isn't that a result of the poor amp? If i plugged in an external amp using an LOD, would that not remedy the small soundstage? Or perhaps the dac is responsible for that?

 

[soullinker20]

Quote:

 
Isn't that a result of the poor amp? If i plugged in an external amp using an LOD, would that not remedy the small soundstage? Or perhaps the dac is responsible for that?

 
 
could be poor amp, i've had nanos before and the batt keeps on jumping and is very unpredictable especially i'm running ALACs.
DAC is responsible mostly.. amp could also help with the soundstage in my experience, but I only had that experience with the headstage arrow adding a bit more more soundstage.. the ipod video and classic has reasonable soundstage height and width but if you really want to maximize your iem's capabilities, then you should find a very good DAC which I don't know which one to recommend..
 
this quite evident when I compare the ipod classic's DAC vs my MacBook.. it is way superior in any aspect and the presentation becomes very wide and really felt the iem's drivers alive

 

[lostid]

Quote:

A lot of reasons I can think of. Cannot use during activities, laggy compared to flash based, more power consumption, heavier.
The storage is of course cheaper with HDDs. So unless you're looking for capacity, no reason to go for HDD based players.

Activities? I don't think I really want to listen to music with phones on for any sports activities (walking doesn't count as sports, if it does then go ahead bring with you the HDD based player).
Lagging? Not an issue at all for me with my rockboxed 120GB'd ipod 5G playing FLAC's only.
More power consumption? As much as I want one charge can hold 40hrs, my two ipods give me combined 25 hrs (playing lossless only) which is 1 hr longer than my daily non-sleep and non-stop listening. Wait, did I say I can easily put in a $5 new battery myself?
Heavier? hmm, I have never thought this is even an issue. In fact when I first obtained the Cowon J3 I was even bothered by its smaller size.
 
Now the storage. If you play FLAC's only like me you can't have enough GB's. 

 

[proton007]

Quote:

Activities? I don't think I really want to listen to music with phones on for any sports activities (walking doesn't count as sports, if it does then go ahead bring with you the HDD based player).
Lagging? Not an issue at all for me with my rockboxed 120GB'd ipod 5G playing FLAC's only.
More power consumption? As much as I want one charge can hold 40hrs, my two ipods give me combined 25 hrs (playing lossless only) which is 1 hr longer than my daily non-sleep and non-stop listening. Wait, did I say I can easily put in a $5 new battery myself?
Heavier? hmm, I have never thought this is even an issue. In fact when I first obtained the Cowon J3 I was even bothered by its smaller size.
 
Now the storage. If you play FLAC's only like me you can't have enough GB's. 

 
As much as it suits *you*, it might not suit others. Everyone has their own needs. I'm not in favor of one or another, just presenting both sides. There's a reason flash based players are popular, so can be the case with modded ipods.

 

[shigzeo]

Agreed. Back in the early days of Flash players, the static or hiss was too much, but recently, flash players are the only type I'd choose. There are people who support both sides. I don't mind taking just a few GB of music with me as I came from carrying 5-6 MD or just one CD with me wherever I went. I'm not caught up so much in the luxury of taking a full library with me that I think even remotely that I need all my music with me. In a typical day, I will listen to the same album 2x on the train going to work or back simply because it is too hard to change albums when crammed so hard that you could break an erection.
 
That, and a battery will run out far faster than your library will, so you still have to sync/charge. This goes to show that I STILL don't get the need to take 30+ gigabytes of music with you.
Quote:

 
As much as it suits *you*, it might not suit others. Everyone has their own needs. I'm not in favor of one or another, just presenting both sides. There's a reason flash based players are popular, so can be the case with modded ipods.