[joelongwood]

I just received the October issue of Stereophile, and was pleasantly surprised to see a very thorough and very favorable review, complete with technical measurements, by Wes Phillips, of the latest (until recently) generation 30 gig iPod.
The final paragraph:
Quote:

With the iPod, you can have your cake and eat it, too. On the outside, all that the rest of the world will see is that you're one of the iPod-totin' beautiful people; no one will ever know that under those headphones you're listening to monstrously good-sounding hi-rez digital copies of your favorite demo discs. Baby, you're a rich man."

 

[Bonkura]

hm isnt that a bit off considering how ipod is considered not to live up to the sound of the creative and iriver players, or is the notion that it sound good but just not as good as the alternatives

 

[joelongwood]

Quote:

Originally posted by Bonkura hm isnt that a bit off considering how ipod is considered not to live up to the sound of the creative and iriver players, or is the notion that it sound good but just not as good as the alternatives

No idea, as I've never heard those, but I just noticed the iPod received a Class C ranking in the "SACD, DVD-A, & CD Players" category.........in the same ranking as the Cambridge Audio D500SE.

 

[MacDEF]

Quote:

Originally posted by Bonkura hm isnt that a bit off considering how ipod is considered not to live up to the sound of the creative and iriver players, or is the notion that it sound good but just not as good as the alternatives

It's more due to the fact that some people don't want anything from Apple to be popular so they spend a lot of time spreading the idea that the iPod doesn't sound as good.

The truth is that the iPod and Zens BOTH sound very good, and which you prefer is more a matter of personal taste than a matter of one or the other being empirically, objectively "better."

In other words, don't believe everything you read -- try them out yourself.

 

[lan]

Quote:

Originally posted by Bonkura hm isnt that a bit off considering how ipod is considered not to live up to the sound of the creative and iriver players, or is the notion that it sound good but just not as good as the alternatives

Well it's only a class C. There's still 2 classes above that

 

[bangraman]

I don't know about anti-apple tendencies but there are definitely other MP3 players which provide a better headphone output stage than the iPod. That's in quality, not as in better EQ/FX. It's good enough for most. Is that the meaning of C?

 

[Bonkura]

my experience with the ipod doesnt go beyond trying my friends gen2 ipod for a little while with the stock buds, and the others I havent heard so Im not in a position to make an educated opinion. but I posted my reaction cause that was what I have been led to believe and part of the reason why the ipod isnt on my shortlist for new mp3 player at the moment. Was it all bashing? or was it real facts? the truth is out there...

 

[Fish Tank X]

I imagine B and A would be reserved for vintage CD players and deck's.

 

[blessingx]

I was under the impression that the iPod was one of the best MP3 players and one of the reasons was its strong headphone output (30mW per channel). The Zen may be be better (as some have said - though when the Zen first came out the comments seemed the other way - with its 50mW per channel), but I wouldn't say the iPod is considered subpar or even average in this department. I'd bet both blow away the majority of the MP3 players out there and are certainly more powerful than many portables. It's probably more the iPod being the big kid on the block (30% marketshare) so it's the de facto standard others are positioning themselves against.

 

[joelongwood]

A few more choice quotes from the review:
Quote:

The iPod's measured behavior is better than many CD players...."

Quote:

The iPod should be able to drive all but the low-impedance Grados and the AKG K1000 with impunity. I got great sound with it driving Sony MDR-7506 closed-back headphones.

Quote:

The iPod's frequency response was flat.

Quote:

Excellent, cost-effective audio engineering from an unexpected source.

In comparing the various file storage and playback options available (96kbps MP3 and on up), Mr. Phillips states:
Quote:

Best of all—and, to my ears, completely indistinguishable from the original CD—was AIFF. Dynamics were impressive, imaging was nuanced and detailed, and the frequency extremes sounded extended and natural.

 

[D-EJ915]

The new iPods must be magic now that they fixed the wild and rediculous problems, because the 1st gen iPod I listened to had horrific sound quality, it made bad recordings sound worse, even my friend's Rio 500 sounded better on the same track!, I don't know, maybe it was defective, but the HDD player I'll be getting is the Zen NX, IHP-100, or Karma, no iPod here...no way.

 

[blessingx]

Care to list the wild and ridiculous problems since I don't believe they're general public knowledge?

 

[Fish Tank X]

Did they ever do a review of the nomad jukebox 3? I would imagine this would have equal or better reviews than the iPod.

 

[joelongwood]

I have a first generation 5 Gig and a second generation 10 Gig, that, to my ears, sound exactly the same........both excellent.

 

[D-EJ915]

I can't list 'em all, just go over to The Hardforums and search there, things such as random track skipping, intermittent noise, loud crackling between tracks, etc.