[daba]

I had never owned an iPod before, but had listened to a few others, ranging from acceptable to just terrible sound quality. But when the 8GB sleek black Nano came out I decided to bite the bullet and try it. I had originally bought a COWON iAudio 5 due to recommendations for SQ. Needless to say I should have never strayed away; the sound quality on the Nano headphone out is just *yech*! No instrument separation, loss of detail, almost "staticky" sounding (out of the ER-4P). The only thing it had going for it was that I could play music louder than I could with the iAudio 5.

I've read that the line out on it was an improvement, comparable to other iPods' line outs, but to me that would defeat the whole purpose of owning a Nano.

Anyways, I ended up selling the Nano and sticking with my iAudio 5. For sound purposes I'll most likely get an amp for it and be jolly.

DZ

 

[FA22RaptorF22]

Yes. Ive told people so many times that the 2g nano is just not the same. I could hear the difference instantly. They downgraded in parts to save the .001" lol. They should have just made the case tougher...and im in. The line outs on all the pods are pretty decent though.

 

[Jahn]

you wanna talk piss poor SQ? first gen ipod Mini. and yet my wife still listens to it. ignorance is bliss!

 

[TheMarchingMule]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jahn you wanna talk piss poor SQ? first gen ipod Mini. and yet my wife still listens to it. ignorance is bliss!

Heck yeah, after I listened strictly through my K701 for a week of nights (staying up late w/ hmwrk sucks), then tried my friend's Mini...jebus, it sounds awful. Even my KSC75 couldn't save them.

Ironically, my friend's Mini drive died, and he gave it to me. I wondered if I could smack it hard enough to revive it, but after I smacked it a few times, the sharp bottom cut my pinky open

 

[4metta]

That's funny. I happen to love the sound of my Nano ampless with my e500s. I guess you just can't have a lack of instrument separation issue with the e500s.

 

[kugino]

i don't think they're that bad...but the er6i and k81dj aren't the most resolving headphones, either. i find that the volume level is piss-poor, though...i wish it had another couple dials of volume...the cowon vol. must be awful if it's worse than the nano...

 

[skip]

Quote:

Originally Posted by 4metta That's funny. I happen to love the sound of my Nano ampless with my e500s. I guess you just can't have a lack of instrument separation issue with the e500s.

I agree, I think the Nano 2G + E500 combo is pretty good unamped - nothing in this world is perfect but I'm pretty happy with this ultra-portable system.

 

[Mr Do]

Through the line out and EQ set to flat I'm a happy listener with my UM2's IEM.

Do!

 

[Trogdor]

My understanding is they went from a decent Wolfson chip to a HIGH-END Phillips DAC for the 2nd Nano. I can't bring myself to buy an iPOD unless I join the Rockbox group and help port it.

 

[dura]

I've tried to love ipods. Bought a mini; horrible sound, tried it for twee weeks and not a minute of musical pleasure; listened to the 2G, 3G, 5G, and 1G Nano, all the same flat sharp sound. Unamped, through headphones.
tried some other players, iriver, creative, technics, philips and ended up with sony, for SQ reasons, despite Atrac and SS. Though they are compact, wellmade and have long batterylife too.

Up to this day I still do not understand why ipods are so wildly popular (again unamed, through the hreadphone out like 99% of the people use it). And especially the older ones had very poor batterylife, scratched easily and you are as stuck with AAC as I am with Atrac.

And yet, they are the DAP to have. Why?

 

[LFC_SL]

dura; without speaking for myself, look at the whole package. Yes, SQ matters, but so does UI, iTunes and iPod interface and connectivity (ease of use), iTunes music store (downloads) and the cool factor

As for Sony, after sampling enough alternatives, I can't put up again with their bias towards (artificial) bass (boost), imo of course - on top of SS and the atrociously draconian paranoia that their own customers are thieves. Sony, we can own more than one PC!

 

[zip22]

Quote:

Originally Posted by dura you are as stuck with AAC as I am with Atrac.

no, you're not.

 

[monkeymadness]

Look at this very thorough review on arstechnica.

http://arstechnica.com/reviews/hardware/ipod-2g.ars

They pull it apart and compare to the 1g nano.

 

[pds6]

Here we go again.

All you scary "non conformist" just giving it to the Man.

So Young!

So Brave!

EDIT: Like all other stereo equipment, Apple products have a sound signature. Unlike most audio equipment, Apple has many woman and older adults as customers. It should not be the least bit unexpected to find that woman and older man like the sound signature of the iPod more than those that are male and 20 something.

The new Nano has custom chips and ten times the memory. It would seem that Apple is trying to do something right.

 

[FA22RaptorF22]

Quote:

Originally Posted by monkeymadness Look at this very thorough review on arstechnica. http://arstechnica.com/reviews/hardware/ipod-2g.ars They pull it apart and compare to the 1g nano.

I read that before...they have fun destroying silicon lol.