[bigshot]

I like how people's subjective reactions contradict with each other. From my quick comparisons between my 3G, 4G, 5.5G and 6G, I don't see any obvious differences at all. If anything, I think most of the comments are reacting to the sound of the headphone out circuitry, not the player itself. No one seems to be doing balanced line level tests out of the dock. That's the only way to tell whether it's the player or the synergy with your particular cans.

See ya
Steve

 

[Night Surfer]

For most people the headphone out IS the player.

 

[leng jai]

Exactly. Using the lineout defeats the purpose of a portable for a lot of people.

 

[mirumu]

Quote:

Originally Posted by bigshot /img/forum/go_quote.gif I like how people's subjective reactions contradict with each other. From my quick comparisons between my 3G, 4G, 5.5G and 6G, I don't see any obvious differences at all. If anything, I think most of the comments are reacting to the sound of the headphone out circuitry, not the player itself. No one seems to be doing balanced line level tests out of the dock. That's the only way to tell whether it's the player or the synergy with your particular cans.

I think it's worth pointing out that for the 6G the graphs generated from the headphone output and those generated from the line out are very similar. This would indicate that the 6G's headphone output stage is very clean as it should be from what appears to be a push pull design. This output stage would appear superior to the 5.5G as Vinnie originally suggested. The issues shown in the graphs would seem to lie either directly in the DAC itself or in some filter on the end of the DAC prior to the headphone stage or the line out. This doesn't tell us if the problem are audible or not, but if they are then it would appear you'd hear them just as easily on the line out as you would from the headphone socket.

That said, there is little comparison between the headphone out of my 4G Photo and 6G Classic, the Classic is far and away superior almost entirely across the board. If the 5G and 5.5G are as good as many suggest then they must have been a significant improvement when they were released. I'm quite tempted to pick one up cheap myself to find out, at the very least I could mod to improve the output stage much like the iMod does.

 

[Arainach]

I put in some extended time with my 160GB Classic Today (~5 hours of video, 3-4 of Music) and I personally think that people's SQ issues are headphones, not the player. With my er6i, the treble is a bit stronger than I'd like, but the er6i are exceptionally bright phones and have always been known to be such - and even the "harsh" treble doesn't detract from the enjoyment of listening at all and I had no problems leaving them in for hours. With the KSC-75, I'm in heaven. The Player's SQ is not an issue.

 

[mirumu]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Arainach /img/forum/go_quote.gif I put in some extended time with my 160GB Classic Today (~5 hours of video, 3-4 of Music) and I personally think that people's SQ issues are headphones, not the player. With my er6i, the treble is a bit stronger than I'd like, but the er6i are exceptionally bright phones and have always been known to be such - and even the "harsh" treble doesn't detract from the enjoyment of listening at all and I had no problems leaving them in for hours. With the KSC-75, I'm in heaven. The Player's SQ is not an issue.

I think there may be some truth to that. Marc has updated his page with some graphs for the iPod Classic under load from various headphones including the ER4P & S. He says the ER4P treble "shows a tremendous uplift". Before drawing any conclusions from these graphs though I would recommend people read his "Technical Intermezzo" section explaining what they show.

http://homepage.mac.com/marc.heijlig...surements.html

 

[markopolo]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Arainach /img/forum/go_quote.gif even the "harsh" treble doesn't detract from the enjoyment of listening at all

Boy, I have to disagree with you there. Coming out of my PX100s (not known to be a bright phone at all) it was very grating on my ears. The HD650s (which many describe as having a "dark veil") were a little more tolerable, but I could still clearly hear the treble issues. I couldn't even imagine listening through my SR60s -- I'm glad I didn't try it! I'm thinking maybe some people's ears are just more treble-sensitive than others'?

 

[Buckster]

one guy at work (not a hifi buff but an engineer) looked a the impulse graph and the frequency response graph. he asked if it was possible that the sharp peak outside of our hearing range(most peoples) could also form some sort of ripple backwards - into our hearing range - not to the level of the peak but to a level thats audible.

I suppose whats audible or not depends on how degraded ones uppper hearing has become

 

[mrarroyo]

Anyone upgraded to iTunes 7.4.2? It just came out!

 

[japc]

Better know as "License Enforcement Release". Please, go ahead...

 

[bigshot]

Quote:

Originally Posted by leng jai /img/forum/go_quote.gif Exactly. Using the lineout defeats the purpose of a portable for a lot of people.

Testing using the lineout isolates the player to see if the problem is the player itself or the synergy with the cans you're using.

See ya
Steve

 

[Milk and Coffee]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Arainach /img/forum/go_quote.gif I put in some extended time with my 160GB Classic Today (~5 hours of video, 3-4 of Music) and I personally think that people's SQ issues are headphones, not the player. With my er6i, the treble is a bit stronger than I'd like, but the er6i are exceptionally bright phones and have always been known to be such - and even the "harsh" treble doesn't detract from the enjoyment of listening at all and I had no problems leaving them in for hours. With the KSC-75, I'm in heaven. The Player's SQ is not an issue.

Word! The same to me. With my HD25 there are no audible flaws in SQ. Far far away from from any harsness or distortion in the highs. But if the headphone tends to bright treble... maybe..

 

[trickywombat]

Here's my experience with the iPod Classic.

Have been very happy with my 160 GB classic so far. Because there's no Rockbox, I'm converting my FLACs to ALAC which seems to be faster than re-ripping especially since my album art and tags will transfer.

SQ wise, I'm happy. Out of the headphone jack, there's better synergy with my Yuin PK1 as it tends to warm up the sound some. Sound's even better amped. Sounds great with my Livewires as well both amped and unamped.

I think we can generate curves until the end of time, and debate different DACs/filters/etc, but the bottom line is how does it sound to YOU.

There aren't any portable/transportable players out there with this kind of battery life and capacity with a warranty. The SQ is not much worse/better than previous iPods (except the iMod).

 

[mirumu]

Quote:

Anyone upgraded to iTunes 7.4.2? It just came out!

iTunes 7.4.2 has no effect on the sound that I can see.

 

[mamboman]

Quote:

Originally Posted by mirumu /img/forum/go_quote.gif iTunes 7.4.2 has no effect on the sound that I can see.

Do you know where I can get detailed changelogs of all the iTunes versions? I cannot seem to find detailed differences between 7.4, 7.4.1 and 7.4.2. Thanks.