[Danthuyer]

Existing Hardware :
iPod 3rd generation 20gb
Diamond Rio pmp300
iPhone 5
Alessandro MS-1 by Grado (both old and new versions)

iPod gen 5.5 (pending)

Questions :
I like to listen to my music on the train or in the office and at home ( anywhere let's be honest ) and I recently found my old iPod gen 3 which works still I read up and found it uses the non cirrus DAC and I would like to maximize my current hardware with a portable amp. I like the look and price of the FiiO 11 however I'm sure there are many other options.

I don't have much flac and most of my collection is 128kb mp3 so I assume recoding into AAC is the best quality I can hope for.

My price range is not capped however using the Alessandro's I'm not expecting to look for anything over $300 as it may be wasted ??

Listening Type:
I like to listen to rock and pop (sometimes) but mainly Dance/Tekno/Trance/Hard NRG.......

Thank you and I look forward to hearing from you

 

[Danthuyer]

bit the bullet and ordered an FiiO e12 unit yesterday.....
 
fingers crossed this is a step in the right direction

 

[Danthuyer]

Okay so my FiiO E12 has arrived and its working great with my bog standard Gen 3 iPod running RockBox 3.13
 
The sound now if fuller and cleaner and I'm really enjoying my listening.
 
The next question I suppose is would I get any further benefit by :
 
 - Upgrading to a Gen 5 (or 5.5) iPod
 - iMod my Gen 3 iPod
 - Upgrading to a iMod'd Gen 5 (or 5.5) iPod
 
Cheers
Dan

 

[PurpleAngel]

The next question I suppose is would I get any further benefit by :  
 - Upgrading to a Gen 5 (or 5.5) iPod
 - iMod my Gen 3 iPod
 - Upgrading to a iMod'd Gen 5 (or 5.5) iPod

Maybe the Fiio X3?

 

[pwwaring]

...
I don't have much flac and most of my collection is 128kb mp3

so I assume recoding into AAC is the best quality I can hope for.
...

 
One word of caution.  Unless you're talking about re-ripping to AAC directly from the original CDs or other lossless source, transcoding the mp3s to AAC is not a good idea.  Transcoding from lossy to lossy will just make the sound even worse than the 128kb files you have.  Just keep the mp3s as they are and focus on getting new, higher quality source material going forward.

 

[linglingjr]

 - Upgrading to a Gen 5 (or 5.5) iPod
 - iMod my Gen 3 iPod
 - Upgrading to a iMod'd Gen 5 (or 5.5) iPod
 
Cheers
Dan

I think you should also upgrade your source files. Going to flac for desktop and 320/256kbps for mobile will give you a huge difference that I bet you can notice.  Not sure how you feel about piracy but a lot of lossless albums and discographies can be downloaded for free.

 

[Danthuyer]

@ PurpleAngel - I would prefer not to
@ pwwaring - Yes I am recoding from original sources where I can or using FLAC files
@ linglingjr - thanks I see a common trend here..... start with good source coding
 
Thanks for the feedback guys .... and I can see a trend arising around starting with a good source... however some feedback on my particular questions would be great also
 
Cheers
Dan

 

[cel4145]

I don't have much flac and most of my collection is 128kb mp3 so I assume recoding into AAC is the best quality I can hope for.

Do you mean recoding your mp3s into AAC files? That won't improve the sound quality at all. Might make it slightly worse.

 

[Danthuyer]

This is good to know - so if they are 128kb/sec 44 khz .mp3 leave them alone ???

 

[pwwaring]

Yup. Replace them as you are able, but don't transcode to aac.

 

[cel4145]

This is good to know - so if they are 128kb/sec 44 khz .mp3 leave them alone ???

Yep. MP3 is a lossly format. AAC Is a lossy format. If you convert the MP3 to AAC, you'll loose a little more of the sound quality--might or might not notice it, but definitely cannot improve it.

 

[Danthuyer]

Okay so I will start going through and re ripping my albums and see how they go. Also if I rip @ 256k AAC or higher will the iPod have an issue processing it ?

Now on the hardware side of things is it worth grabbing a iPod 5 gen ? I can get one that has apparently been modded for $130

 

[pwwaring]

Nope, no problem at all for the iPod to handle the higher bitrate files.
 
Hopefully someone can help you more with the other iPod question, don't know enough of the real details myself.  They do use slightly different audio chips, but both are Cirrus, and I don't know if there is any meaningful difference between them or not.
 
Does the 5g iPod you're considering have more memory than your 3g?  That could obviously make a big difference as you improve the quality and therefore size of your source material, depending how much you want to load up at a time.
 
Also, do you care about better camera, display, processor, and additional features available in iOS beyond iOS 5.1.1?  If you're using it just for music, those features may or may not mean much to you.  If you're using it more multi-purpose, the better processor, other hardware upgrades, additional iOS feature, etc. may become more important.

 

[Danthuyer]

Nope, no problem at all for the iPod to handle the higher bitrate files.

Hopefully someone can help you more with the other iPod question, don't know enough of the real details myself.  They do use slightly different audio chips, but both are Cirrus, and I don't know if there is any meaningful difference between them or not.

Does the 5g iPod you're considering have more memory than your 3g?  That could obviously make a big difference as you improve the quality and therefore size of your source material, depending how much you want to load up at a time.

Also, do you care about better camera, display, processor, and additional features available in iOS beyond iOS 5.1.1?  If you're using it just for music, those features may or may not mean much to you.  If you're using it more multi-purpose, the better processor, other hardware upgrades, additional iOS feature, etc. may become more important.

I must apologise as maybe I am using the wrong terminology to explain my type of iPod ? I have the 3rd generation iPod from 2003 which has a 20gb hard disk capacity and a monochrome LCD. This unit has a Wolfsen DAC from my understanding and not the cirrus.

So it is not a device with camera etc etc which it what you mentioned.

Sorry for the confusion

Also no I don't care about features this is purely am audio device and nothing more.

 

[pwwaring]

I must apologise as maybe I am using the wrong terminology to explain my type of iPod ? I have the 3rd generation iPod from 2003 which has a 20gb hard disk capacity and a monochrome LCD. This unit has a Wolfsen DAC from my understanding and not the cirrus.
 

 
Sorry, incorrectly assumed you meant the 3rd gen iPod Touch.  The 20gb part should have been a dead giveaway...