What's wrong with the iPod Touch?

[dallan]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Skampster /img/forum/go_quote.gif No Dallan, you not getting the point I was trying to make. Basically people hating the touch especially if they haven't heard the 3G. Giving the touch bad credibility purely because of the old models.

Ya I know they have a brand new model, but i haven't heard if the change is much over the one I got just one month ago. Anyway like i said, i don't even use it for music, i have a classic 160 that i use the line out with, so whatever. My main gripe about any of it is that they changed the dock and I can't use my LODs so i just don't use it for music. I still haven't heard any comparisons between the hp out and the lod....only from those who haven't gotten a lod and say they are happy with the hp out. Without comparing, how could you know if there isn't improvement. But like i said before, I can't see using it anyway, came free with my mac last month.

 

[mr_walsh]

Quote:

Originally Posted by estreeter /img/forum/go_quote.gif 1st Gen and 2nd Gen Touch have completely different DAC chips : Apple dumped Wolfson for Cirrus Logic.

1) The AppleInsider iPod Touch teardown shows it still has the Wolfson.
AppleInsider | iPod touch tear-down with high-quality internal photos

2) Cirrus Logic, at least to me, has a reputation for el-cheapo chips. They made the cheapest, most plain graphics cards. Wolfson is an audiophile supplier.

3) I suspect and hope the 'Touch' lifelessness that I can hear is from the amp, not the DAC.

 

[Golden Ears]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Redcarmoose /img/forum/go_quote.gif I have loaded all my I-Pods with the same music then played the same song threw nine different sets of headphones. Then I played them threw my Woo 5 LE. They all have a different sound. You would think they would all sound the same. Or maybe get better over the last eight years. When you think about it they are all different with different insides and sound chips. The 30 gig Video has the most warmth. The Touch has the most detail in the highs but less bass. For the most money you would think it would have the best sound? Then you see all these people in Head-fi having them hooked up to $200 amps and $400 headphones? Could I be missing something here? I would have to say the Touch has the worst sound. Strange but true. I guess it was hard for them to put all those features in a little box. I could be wrong but I don't think so. Even the girl-Fi Mini has better sound than the Touch. The Shuffle sounds better than all. The Shuffle sounded a little too warm when amped but perfect with just headphones. The 30 gig Video has a low end warmth where the Shuffle has more mid warmth and the best sound stage.The Mini has the most narrow sound stage but makes up for it with even tonal balance. Somehow the Touch has no mid at all just a bad low end then all this detail in the highs. If you did not have another I-Pod around you may think that's just the sound. I read about people stating that there is hiss on the Shuffle. That is there but not an issue for me. My list in order of sound performance A..........Shuffle B..........30 gig Video C..........Mini D..........Touch This has taken place once in Europe where the art world was tricked into thinking that a fake painting was a new unearthed masterpiece. Because people want to believe it, it becomes the understanding regardless of the facts. People want to believe what they want to believe.

I agree with all of this...

 

[Golden Ears]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jack Mono /img/forum/go_quote.gif My iPod touch (1G) made the music I love (mostly Jazz and fusion, pop and rock) lifeless and boring. Made my ears and head hurt after 20 minutes of listening. May be the next generations are better... but people seems to deny that... The reason I bought a SONY at all is that I couldn't bear the Touch. And I have good phones, not the white ones. years ago, when the first ipod came out I went to a store and checked it out. It was a piece of crap sound, the worst I ever heard, I couldn't understand how people could buy such a thing... now the Touch is better than that first iPods... however it doesn't make you want to listening to music.

Though I don't agree with this posters tone.. I do agree with him about he Ipod touch SQ. I also could not figure out how people were so excited about the originals ipods....until I saw their home speakers... Klipsch, Polk Audio, or Bose typically. (please don't flame me for the speakers they had)

Jack doesn't sound like a true audio aficionado - and since he likely is a regular guy who cares enough to listen... I think it is significant that he does not like the iPod touch SQ.

I'm dumping my 64 gig Ipod touch after only 5-10 hours of use.. (burn in is not happening at all) with my wildcharger and skins for the ipod touch and iphone for $500 (Pm me if you want it). If I didn't have a Nokia N95 with salling clicker...I would have kept it as a remote only tool. But the N95 has far more battery life as a remote.


However in all fairness. I have not heard the touch with a LOD..which I will this weekend... as I will be at the Rocky Mountain Audio Fest helping with the Head-fi room..

 

[Sparky191]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Happyprozak /img/forum/go_quote.gif ... I always hear people here saying that the 5.5G Classic is the best sounding iPod ...

Can't say I've heard that. It might be the best sounding of the classic iPods, but its never been that well regarded compared to the better iPods.

 

[Sparky191]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Golden Ears /img/forum/go_quote.gif ...... I think it is significant that he does not like the iPod touch SQ.....

I think it significant that you keep failing to mention which generation your talking about. Each one is different.

In general lots of people dislike the 1G and some here the 3G. Most like the 2G. So what your posting about the 1G is old news tbh.

 

[warrior05]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sparky191 /img/forum/go_quote.gif I think it significant that you keep failing to mention which generation your talking about. Each one is different...

Though you are referring to Golden Ears' post about his (hers?) 64gb which, due to the storage size, has to be a 3g - I agree with your comment in general. It is getting frustrating reading these comments about someone's iTouch and they do not denote which gen. I would think by now people would get how different iPods can sound generation to generation. Of course I'm also on a recent rant about how many people generalize the SQ of all iPods based on experience of one or two model/gens.

At this level of critiquing the sound of DAPs, specifics are key.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sparky191 /img/forum/go_quote.gif In general lots of people dislike the 1G and some here the 3G. Most like the 2G.

Unfortunately, your observation seems to be accurate. I say "unfortunately" because I was so interested in the additional storage of the 3g 64gb. But I am not willing to step down in SQ from my beloved 2g iTouch.

 

[Sparky191]

Where ever the shoe fits

 

[Golden Ears]

Quote:

Originally Posted by psikey /img/forum/go_quote.gif Nothing wrong with the sound quality out of the Touch 3G at all from the headphone out (bit better than the 2G actually). Sounds as good as my Walkman A829 without the hiss through my SE530's. EQ settings are still poor but who uses those! Even use my A829 with EQ off and thats got a customisable EQ.

Out of the dock connector the opposite is certainly true. I listened at the Rocky Mountain Audio Fest this past weekend the ipod touch 2g 8gig vs Ipod touch 3g 64 gig and the 2g touch slaughtered the 3g.

The 2 g with an ALO 22 gauge cyro dock into the Millet Portable tube amplifier into APS V3 cable into Ultrasone Edition 9's was fantastic. Great bass control- and midrange, and without midrange glare or obnoxious spikes. Frankly- a reasonable alternative to the 5.5 gen iMod Classic with the SAME LOD cable, at a lower weight... still not a substitute- but certainly satisfying on many tracks.

The 3 g was bass deficient- and lacked smoothness in the midrange.

I returned it to the Apple Store in Cherry Creek for a $429 apple gift card..

 

[Golden Ears]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Skampster /img/forum/go_quote.gif All arguments about the touch from now on should be leaving out the 1 and 2G and now only focus on the current 3G model. Hating on the touch if you have not heard a 3G is pointless.

Skampster:
Please take no offense.

The 3g is simply awful as a music player- it is a compact internet tablet + gaming device with the Ipod SQ only as an afterthought.

 

[Golden Ears]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Skampster /img/forum/go_quote.gif Unless you actually know what the original source is supposed to sound like, you will never have any idea if your favorite DAP is producing that source the way it should be heard. So all you really have is if the DAP you like is playing song X the way you like song X to sound. I haven't really enjoyed Most Metal with headphones till I heard the 3G and TripleFi combo. And if I hear something that sounds better to me, Ill change to that.

Oh and in case this helps- My cousin (my cousin married her) is Carmen Lundy, the Jazz singer,... so I am extremely familiar with the real voice. My cousin mastered her most recent albums on pro tools- and did a decent job with it.

However- if the 3g is making you happy that is all that matters-

but in the case of sonic accuracy.. the 2g is much closer to reality than the 3g.

 

[elfary]

I'm really enjoying your knowledge and insight on the Touch. I skipped the 3G Touch and got a new 2009 gen Classic 160. I'm really enjoying it sound. I even think that it's a tad better than 2008 classic. Did you get the chance to listen to any 2009 Classic ? Your informed opinion would be a pleasure to read since i'm just a music lover with so little insight on sound.

 

[Skampster]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Golden Ears /img/forum/go_quote.gif Skampster: Please take no offense. The 3g is simply awful as a music player- it is a compact internet tablet + gaming device with the Ipod SQ only as an afterthought.

Why would I take offense, its a Media player.

Theres more things in life to worry about.

 

[estreeter]

Quote:

Originally Posted by mr_walsh /img/forum/go_quote.gif 1) The AppleInsider iPod Touch teardown shows it still has the Wolfson. AppleInsider | iPod touch tear-down with high-quality internal photos 2) Cirrus Logic, at least to me, has a reputation for el-cheapo chips. They made the cheapest, most plain graphics cards. Wolfson is an audiophile supplier. 3) I suspect and hope the 'Touch' lifelessness that I can hear is from the amp, not the DAC.

Here we go again ... the date on the top of that page is gold : lets hope they can keep better track of the photos than of the time.

Your attitude to the Cirrus Logic vs Wolfson DAC mirrors a lot of the comments I have seen to date, but I would throw a couple of things into the mix:

1. I dont believe the quality of the DAC that Wolfson supply to Apple for the iPods could be anywhere near that supplied to companies like Cambridge Audio for their CDPs. Every 'name' in audio has released brilliant products and others that most prefer to forget - why do we believe Wolfson would be any different, particularly given the price pressures Apple inevitably put them under ?

2. Cirrus might be 'cheap and nasty', but I'd like to see what the real cost of that chip was before they won the Apple contract. Apple are paying for the silicon and a small profit margin on each chip - the difference is that Cirrus knows they can sell millions of the things.

3. I believe that Apple engineers were given the time and budget to do something with this chip, presumably to bolster the audio performance of the iPhone.

Personally, I could care if the internals of the 6G Classic came from Mattel and Disney corporation - I like the sound. YMMV.