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I am currently listening out of my IPOD nano 3rd generation. Want to upgrade to IPHONE but dont want to go with ATT.
Live music sounds unbelievable out of these...
I've always felt the 3rd gen Nano sounded better than 2nd, 4th and 5th gen Nano, 1st or 2nd gen Touch, or 5th Gen video (Haven't heard a 3rd gen Touch or higher). It's pretty close to the iPhone 3GS and one of my favorite iPods for headphone out use.
Nevertheless, right now my 3G Nano is paired with the Pico Slim and TWag LOD, and that does sound better with the ES5 than when right out of the headphone jack. The 5th Gen Nano line out is better than it's headphone out, and it pairs well with the Pico Slim as well (I don't have the 4th gen Nano or 5th Gen Video anymore, nor a Touch). My iPhone 4 sounds good with ES5 via headphone jack, but again, it's a bit better when paired with the Pico Slim, sounding fuller and weightier with better ambience and space.
More sneak peak from my review - looking at amp synergy with ES5 and one of the two iPhones or Nanos above: As my next choice portable amp for ES5 I am also enjoying the iBasso D10 with topkit more than my iBasso D4 with topkit, although I normally prefer the D4 or Protector over the D10 with my other IEM. The RSA Protector sounds a little smoother single ended with ES5 and stock cable, and a little more aggressive and bright when balanced with TWag, but either way it's enjoyable enough and pretty close to the D4 (which sounds just like a P-51 when I have the topkit installed). With the Protector and ES5, I do prefer the stock single ended cable more than the Balanced TWag cable which sounds brighter. While the TWag balanced cable sounds better with JH13Pro, the more I listen to it with the ES5 I find that I don't like it as much as the ES5's stock cable. I have a single ended adapter for the balanced TWag cable, and my feelings are the same whether it's used balanced or single ended. The TWag is more detailed, but it's also brighter sounding.
I'd still be happy with any of those amps above with ES5, but my Practical Devices XM5 with AD8065 opamps and BUF634 is not as good as these other amps when paired with the ES5, and sounds a little brighter and coarser than I'd like, as well as more forward. I don't think I'll be using that one much with these. Among my other portables I still have to try the iBasso T3 and T4, Nuforce Icon, Vivid V1, Micro Amp, Headsix and 3MOVE with the ES5. I usually don't use those amps as much because of either larger size or lesser sound quality than the ones I've tried above.
With the computer as source - in the small DAC/amp category the uDAC-2 is my favorite with ES5, followed very closely by the DACport. These two are usually slightly better than my best battery powered portable amps. One surprise is that my Nuforce HDP with ES5 seems to have the treble tipped up a little, and I don't like it as much with the ES5 as I do with my other IEM (but still better than XM5). Lastly, I like the ES5 on the ALO Amphora with my Macbook a little more than any of the DAC/amp combos above (fed by any of my small computer DAC's like uDAC, DACport, HDP or Pico DAC-only). I still have to try my WA6 and ZDT which both sound great with all my other IEM.