[RnB180]

Quote:

Originally Posted by boodi where do you plug the hornet to , hp out ?

yes, the shuffle hp out in very good. sound quality DID improve, but I was using full sized cans.
it wasnt a small improvement either. there are a substantial increase is bass authority and the sound stage had depth. unamped, the sound stage flattened out, but the quality of sound was still good. bass was noticeably thinner and had less presence.

probably wouldnt improve much using IEMs however.

 

[Visigodo]

Somebody posted a very detail study about this matter a few days ago. I wish that could be reposted here. It was amazing. It compared the sound quality and curves produced by the different iPods out there. They all had have ****** DACs, unable to maintain bass curves, and distorting heavily with equalization settings...

except the iPod Shuffle. Apparently the shuffle had an amazing sound quality, able to maintain and replicate bass curves perfectly.

So, yes, I agree: what the f#ck is wrong with Apple???
You spend $300 or $400 on a player and it sounds like crap.
Yet, they put the best DAC in the $99 model that doesn't even have a screen.

Go figure!

 

[RnB180]

so my ears werent deceiving me,

Event he hp out on the shuffle sounds VERY nice with an amp combo.

btw that is exactly what went through my head when I popped in the Shuffle.

I was befuddled as to how apples lowest end minimalist DAP killed my iPod mini $300 player in terms of sound quality.

 

[boodi]

fast read about the shuffle audio quality
http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,1759,1778968,00.asp
but many others really ..
Quote:

Originally Posted by Visigodo Somebody posted a very detail study about this matter

maybe you were referring to this , from the same author Bill Machrone of PcMag
http://home.comcast.net./~machrone/p...playertest.htm
( not so recent though )

 

[RnB180]

boodi,

what are your thoughts on the shuffle?

 

[boodi]

I've had it from christmas , used not much , nice clean sound quality with iem and grados ..
I've not even thought to run it amped to tell the truth , in my mind an amp amping another amp ( /not a preamp ) is bad thing for the signal

 

[boodi]

btw it's not my portable player of choice at the moment, which is a Rio Karma

 

[applebook]

I was quite astounded at the Shuffle's powerful SQ when I first heard it. People here and elesewhere brag about iRiver's SQ, but I have to admit that my H10 doesn't sound as "full" and seems far more rolled off at both ends. The Shuffle's SQ is so good for a portable that no EQ is really necessary for most decent cans.

 

[LFF]

I personally prefer the 5G to the shuffle.

 

[boodi]

Quote:

Originally Posted by discord I wonder how the upcoming shuffle will sound.

do you know when it is supposed to release ?

 

[Teerawit]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Visigodo Somebody posted a very detail study about this matter a few days ago. I wish that could be reposted here. It was amazing. It compared the sound quality and curves produced by the different iPods out there. They all had have ****** DACs, unable to maintain bass curves, and distorting heavily with equalization settings... except the iPod Shuffle. Apparently the shuffle had an amazing sound quality, able to maintain and replicate bass curves perfectly. So, yes, I agree: what the f#ck is wrong with Apple??? You spend $300 or $400 on a player and it sounds like crap. Yet, they put the best DAC in the $99 model that doesn't even have a screen. Go figure!

I read in a magazine (The Absolute Sound, I think) that the big ipods have output coupling caps, which increase the source impedance when low-impedance headphones are plugged in, resulting in bass roll-off. However, the shuffle doesn't have output coupling caps, which is one reason why the bass curves look better and sound better. I don't know if they changed this with the nanos and 5G ipods.

Also the DACs are different....go shuffle!

 

[lan]

Quote:

Originally Posted by applebook I was quite astounded at the Shuffle's powerful SQ when I first heard it. People here and elesewhere brag about iRiver's SQ, but I have to admit that my H10 doesn't sound as "full" and seems far more rolled off at both ends. The Shuffle's SQ is so good for a portable that no EQ is really necessary for most decent cans.

Well I do prefer my iriver imp550 to the shuffle as a bigger rig with amp. Different models may sound different. *shrug* The shuffle is dynamic but doesn't have as much low level detail.

 

[mitchjordan]

Quote:

Originally Posted by boodi do you know when it is supposed to release ?

We'll probly hear bout it at macworld.

Apple used a different chip for the shuffle, one from SigmaTel. While pritty much everyother ipod uses Wolfson chips. I recon they'll proberbly mvoe away from the good sounding shuffle.

It'll be interesting to see though.

 

[boodi]

the shuffle cpu board , stmp3550 sigmatel chip on; which seems to be replaced by stmp3660 in the sigmatel line lately

 

[Sparky191]

While I think the Shuffle sounds great with earphones. I don't think it sounds good amped. Well run though my Midi unit anyway. My Zen Micro sounds much better amped through my Midi. Via earphones the Shuffle is again more detailed, though Zen Micro has more energy to my ears.

Someone said they prefered the 5G because it sounded flatter than the Shuffle. Thats exactly why I preferred the Shuffle. But I do think the difference between Shuffle, 5G, Zen Micro is slight enough to be eliminated by the difference in synergy between the earphones/buds you are using, or the source material (and its quality) that you are using. Something along the lines of, Classical better on Shuffle, Dance better on Zen etc. Not that I've heard such an obvious bias myself.