[HeadphoneAddict]

I also feel the iPhone 3G and 3GS have the best sounding headphone out of the whole iPod line of products. They do take some hours to burn-in, but even before burn-in I enjoyed the sound. I find the 4G nano and 2G Touch to be a bit bright sounding.

 

[gsawdy]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bojamijams /img/forum/go_quote.gif I haven't found a way to do FLAC on the iphone and franky, I'm not interested in it at all. I could transcode into ALAC and load it on but I've compared FLAC vs 256kbps MP3 and was not able to distinguish a difference on my home computer system.. now, though I haven't done the comparison on the 3GS, I don't think its DAC will be more resolving then the Essence STX dac... Likewise, the space saving of a ~256kbps MP3 over a FLAC/ALAC is monstrous and with having only 32gb of space (1gb of which is taken with my GPS software plus a few hundred megs on pictures, applications etc.), the space is a premium and I Have a rather large library. Regardless, I'm very happy with the way my MP3's sound through this thing. As for what I use to load the files, I got the iPod Manager plugin for Foobar and it can transfer music onto the IPod, artwork and all, as well as podcasts and audiobooks and is much nicer to use then iTunes (IMO)

Yep space is the issue and the reason I haven't ruled out the iRiver 120/140 with their HD upgradability. Also it's rockbox-able: a big issue with me since I have high freq hearing loss and RB's equilizer is top notch.

As for the 256k MP3 vs lossless, I for sure wouldn't find fault with the highs given my hearing but I might pick up on the limited dynamics, if any. I seem to be much more sensitive to that than most--perhaps a coping strategy I've developed??? If you are listening with the JH13s and happy that says a lot for the 256k MP3, IMHO.

I have a friend with an essence and he added a Berkeley Alpha DAC ($5K). The difference was not subtle. FWIW. (or at least he convinced himself it isn't subtle!)

Thanks again, George

 

[DeusEx]

Very very good, for an Apple product, that is.

 

[dcginc]

interesting thread, i have been thinking this since getting my 32gig 3Gs a few months ago. I was listening to it with my Ety headphones direct from the headphone jack. I felt as if the 3Gs sound is much improved over what i had before, 1Gen 4 gig iphone. no comparison in my book. I even think the 3Gs sounds better than my 80 gig ipod which I am no considering selling as a result..

any direct comparisons/impressions on a 3Gs to a 80 gig ipod?

 

[ilovemuffin]

I tried the Sleek Audio SA6 on both my ipod Video 5.5G n the iphone 3GS . I find that the soundstage is not wide enough and the bass is lacking on the iphone compared to the ipod.

Anyone got any recommendations on how to improve the sound?

 

[ilovemuffin]

Also, does the sound of the iphone 3GS needs burning in?

 

[3X0]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ilovemuffin /img/forum/go_quote.gif I find that the soundstage is not wide enough and the bass is lacking on the iphone compared to the ipod. Anyone got any recommendations on how to improve the sound?

Interesting.. From memory my 5.5G 80GB sounded much worse than my 3GS overall. The 3GS has less bass, but it's much tighter, more defined, and accurate. The 5.5G was much darker, where the 3GS has more treble energy, detail and presence. I also find the soundstage on the 3GS considerably wider than I found the soundstage on the 5.5G. I was pretty impressed with the 3GS on first listen, but I didn't give it more listening until after I used them to burn in my Sennheiser IE 8 for about 400 hours (!). Not sure if the sound changes much, if at all.

 

[knugge]

I used to have an iPod back when they sold 120/160 GB Classic but was never impressed by the sound. It didn't sound bad but it was Nothing that caught my attention. The 3GS however certanly has caught my attention and in lack of better Word I'd describe the sound as fluent or liquide smooth but not soft. It's refined with trustworthy depth and width of the soundstage as far as I can Tell and instruments feel natural sounding as does vocals. Since the phones I'm using are K412 I'm guessing I'd get more detail with more analytical phones but I really enjoy listening to music through the 3gs. So much I'm now looking for an upgrade in phones. My experience with sound is that the kind of sonic performance you get out of the iPhone 3gs shows similarities to what I would refer to as highend. When I say highend I'm in this case refering to the naturalness of instrument sound and soundfield.

Edit: missplaced or dropped letters or faulty capitalization is due to iPhone. So are all misspellings and faulty grammar

 

[knugge]

Wow the sound is even more open now as it has improved with hours of listening. Now I'm considering IEMs with inline remote and mic. Ne7 or which would you recommend at that pricepoint?

 

[MadMan007]

Interesting. So Apple has notably improved the SQ with the 3GS which was possibly the main downfall of previous iPhones and Touches for music listening? Seems to be the universal opinion and it even compares with portable amp setups

 

[Rob N]

I think the 3GS is better than the 2G Touch.The Touch doesn't sound bright IMO but rather lacking in treble detail

 

[Bina]

And is there differenc between 3GS and 3G?

 

[prone2phone]

3gs has samsung audio chip so it should sound on par with stellar samsung p3 pmp

 

[HeadphoneAddict]

Well. I don't know for sure the difference between the 3G and 3GS but both are very good, and the best iPods I have heard. Both are above the 2G Touch, which surprised me because I would have thought the 2G touch would be just like a 3G, but it sounds a little harsher and brighter and not quite as warm. I of course don't know what chips are inside of any of them.

 

[knugge]

Quote:

Originally Posted by HeadphoneAddict /img/forum/go_quote.gif Well. I don't know for sure the difference between the 3G and 3GS but both are very good, and the best iPods I have heard. Both are above the 2G Touch, which surprised me because I would have thought the 2G touch would be just like a 3G, but it sounds a little harsher and brighter and not quite as warm. I of course don't know what chips are inside of any of them.

Headphone addict I see in your sig. that you have an imod with nice cables and a respected amplifier and also the macbook connected to a D10. Could you elaborate on how these setups compare to the iPhones internal amp. If one is better than the other wich is better and how?