iPod Best sounding ipod?

boateng · Nov 4, 2013

kunai said:
If you're using Shures, don't listen to Policar. Chances are you're going to be able to hear the differences. Always rip your music from CDs.

I don't sadly....
I buy them from iTunes as most of the time I don't want an entire album from an artist, just a couple of songs from that album or even one.....

So itunes music quality isn't that good? Do you recommend buying music from anywhere else as like I said it makes no sense for me to buy an album for £10, when I really only like 1 or 2 of those songs.

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nitromac said:
I would take 320kbps mp3 over iTunes store quality any day.

iTunes store quality isn't good?

So where do you buy music that is 320kbps apart from buying actual CD's?

kunai · Nov 4, 2013

boateng said:
I don't sadly....
I buy them from iTunes as most of the time I don't want an entire album from an artist, just a couple of songs from that album or even one.....

So itunes music quality isn't that good? Do you recommend buying music from anywhere else as like I said it makes no sense for me to buy an album for £10, when I really only like 1 or 2 of those songs.

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iTunes store quality isn't good?

So where do you buy music that is 320kbps apart from buying actual CD's?

Well, if you buy off of Amazon, they have CDs going for 6, maybe 7 bucks in many cases. Try Amazon.

What kind of music do you listen to? That'll help me in knowing what benefit CDs would gie you in terms of audio quality.

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Policar said:
Are you implying that .mp3 rips are better than iTunes store music? Or that lossless rips are better? Because the latter is technically sort of true (though effectively irrelevant); the former is insane.

And if you believe the latter to be true, do a double blind test between V0 and uncompressed 44.1khz/16 bit and get back to me.

The triple fis are much higher end IEMs than the Shures, and my reference system is a very high end DAC connected to a Stax 3030 system. I can easily tell the difference between a good DAC and a bad one and can tell the difference between 44.1khz/16bit and 192khz/24bit audio. I can tell the difference between V0 and 128kbps .mp3s.

V0 and uncompressed .wav I can't reliable differentiate between. I have yet to have anyone prove to me they can. iTunes store music sounds about as good as V0 to me and the rips are generally excellent, often derived from higher quality masters than CDs, and optimized for iPods.

Also, who sacrifices the size of their library (unless it's very small) for an imperceptible difference in sound?

I would say a current-gen iPod touch, iTunes store downloads, and the Shures will sound great. It takes much higher end gear than that for the difference between .mp3 and lossless compression to become relevant.

I can easily tell the difference between a 256kbps MP3 and FLAC. V0 is a little harder, but on songs with more instrumentation and detail, it's really quite easy to pick up the differences. A drum hit doesn't sound so crisp, and cymbals aren't quite so clear, etc...

I take my headphones everywhere. Studio monitors are great because you can hear the imperfections in a sound source; so you have to use good-quality sources. Crap in, crap out.

gnasher729 · Nov 4, 2013

nitromac said:
I would take 320kbps mp3 over iTunes store quality any day.

I wouldn't. And there are "Made for iTunes" albums that are created directly from higher definition masters, which you can't reproduce when you come from CD.

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boateng said:
iTunes store quality isn't good?

So where do you buy music that is 320kbps apart from buying actual CD's?

256KBit AAC is better than 320 KBit MP3. Not as good as lossless music ripped from CDs. In every case, you have to assume competent encoding, so any bitrate downloaded from some torrent is most likely rubbish compared to any music you buy from Apple or Amazon, for example.

Then of course there is music that is rubbish quality when you buy it on CD, so nothing can improve that. And then there is music that is just antique; if you want to listen to Dinu Lipati or Art Tatum, you won't get sound quality. (I have some music that was literally recorded by holding a microphone to a radio, so what can you expect. But then the artist just blows you away).

boateng · Nov 4, 2013

kunai said:
Well, if you buy off of Amazon, they have CDs going for 6, maybe 7 bucks in many cases. Try Amazon.

What kind of music do you listen to? That'll help me in knowing what benefit CDs would gie you in terms of audio quality.

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I can easily tell the difference between a 256kbps MP3 and FLAC. V0 is a little harder, but on songs with more instrumentation and detail, it's really quite easy to pick up the differences. A drum hit doesn't sound so crisp, and cymbals aren't quite so clear, etc...

I take my headphones everywhere. Studio monitors are great because you can hear the imperfections in a sound source; so you have to use good-quality sources. Crap in, crap out.

i listen to mainly r&b and hip-hop

boateng · Nov 4, 2013

so whats the best sounding iPod?

boateng · Nov 4, 2013

gnasher729 said:
I wouldn't. And there are "Made for iTunes" albums that are created directly from higher definition masters, which you can't reproduce when you come from CD.

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256KBit AAC is better than 320 KBit MP3. Not as good as lossless music ripped from CDs. In every case, you have to assume competent encoding, so any bitrate downloaded from some torrent is most likely rubbish compared to any music you buy from Apple or Amazon, for example.

Then of course there is music that is rubbish quality when you buy it on CD, so nothing can improve that. And then there is music that is just antique; if you want to listen to Dinu Lipati or Art Tatum, you won't get sound quality. (I have some music that was literally recorded by holding a microphone to a radio, so what can you expect. But then the artist just blows you away).

whats the best sounding iPod?

nitromac · Nov 4, 2013

boateng said:
I don't sadly....
I buy them from iTunes as most of the time I don't want an entire album from an artist, just a couple of songs from that album or even one.....

So itunes music quality isn't that good? Do you recommend buying music from anywhere else as like I said it makes no sense for me to buy an album for £10, when I really only like 1 or 2 of those songs.

----------

iTunes store quality isn't good?

So where do you buy music that is 320kbps apart from buying actual CD's?

Google Play offers 320kbps mp3's. I only download from there when they have good deals on albums (2.99 for a full album or something).

Other than that I buy the actual CDs and rip them to wav, convert them to mp3 with dbpoweramp.

boateng · Nov 4, 2013

nitromac said:
Google Play offers 320kbps mp3's. I only download from there when they have good deals on albums (2.99 for a full album or something).

Other than that I buy the actual CDs and rip them to wav, convert them to mp3 with dbpoweramp.

what iPod you recommend,

nitromac · Nov 4, 2013

boateng said:
what iPod you recommend,

Whichever one suits your needs best. By your posts you don't sound like an OCD audiophile so there is a 99% chance you will not notice the (minuscule) difference between the DAC's in different iPods.

If you need storage, go for the classic. If you don't mind touch controls and want apps/internet/etc get a Touch.

weckart · Nov 4, 2013

gnasher729 said:
256KBit AAC is better than 320 KBit MP3. Not as good as lossless music ripped from CDs. In every case, you have to assume competent encoding, so any bitrate downloaded from some torrent is most likely rubbish compared to any music you buy from Apple or Amazon, for example.

AAC is only arguably better than MP3 at lower bitrates. At the top end it is a wash and, depending upon your ears, saying that 256kbps is better than 320kbps is not something I would repeat outside of a Mac forum. Regardless of the source material, you are introducing clipping to get it to 256kbps.

Having bought an iTunes album yesterday and ripping enough of my own to judge for recent releases from the iTunes store I am less inclined to support your assertion.

For the OP, best sounding iPod imho was the first generation Shuffle. I have a fifth gen iPod Video and Classic. Compared with a cheapo Sansa Clip+ both are distinctly mediocre, DACs be blowed.

There are genuine reasons for getting an iPod. Sound reproduction isn't one of those, sadly.

Brian Y · Nov 5, 2013

Try to find an original, first gen iPod touch. As of the second gen iPod Touch/iPhone 3G Apple used cheaper DACs.

boateng · Nov 5, 2013

nitromac said:
Whichever one suits your needs best. By your posts you don't sound like an OCD audiophile so there is a 99% chance you will not notice the (minuscule) difference between the DAC's in different iPods.

If you need storage, go for the classic. If you don't mind touch controls and want apps/internet/etc get a Touch.

What about the Nano?

nitromac · Nov 5, 2013

boateng said:
What about the Nano?

From what I've read, the nano has noticeably worse sound compared to a classic/touch.

However if you are considering the nano and don't need massive storage space or video, consider a SanDisk Sansa Clip instead. It's tiny, pretty cheap, can use microSD cards for extra storage, and has the best sound quality of any mp3 player out there.

boateng · Nov 5, 2013

nitromac said:
From what I've read, the nano has noticeably worse sound compared to a classic/touch.

However if you are considering the nano and don't need massive storage space or video, consider a SanDisk Sansa Clip instead. It's tiny, pretty cheap, can use microSD cards for extra storage, and has the best sound quality of any mp3 player out there.

Oh wow didnt know that....I guess I will go for the classic....
Don't need a touch really because I am going to get the LG g2 for apps, internet etc....

boateng · Nov 6, 2013

iPod classic or nano?

iPodJedi · Dec 4, 2013

iPod nano and touch...

I have found that the new nano and touch have the best quality music as long as you don't use the new earpods because they don't have much bass and really just sound BAD. I personally have both the new touch and nano but prefer using the nano for music just to save space on my touch which is for games(and i have a lot of games and music so it separates them without overloading my touch).

Hope this helps a bit

macintoshhowto · Aug 16, 2014

For best sound quality go for an early nano v1, early classic v 4 or 5, or even first gen shuffle or touch.

Note that the old classics are getting pretty old now and hard drives can fail, and because of that the old gen1 nanos are creeping up in price - they currently around $100.

Wayne

http://macintoshhowto.com/ipod/which-ipod-has-the-best-audio-quality.html

cdcastillo · Aug 17, 2014

Try the FiiO E6

Choose any iPod you want/fancy (for reasons other than sound).
Get also a FiiO E6 headphone amplifier and use the "bypass iPod DAC" audio cable
Invest in a good pair of headphones: DO NOT USE THE INCLUDED ONES (EarPods or not)

There you go. You need not to worry about the best DAC inside the iPod because you're bypassing it with a device lightly smaller than a matchbox (or about the same size, depending of the kind of matches you use). And the next-most important thing for great sound are the headphones, so forget them not.

Oops, just noticed the thread went dead 10 months ago and got resurrected today. Guess it's too late to give advice

HereBeMonsters · Aug 18, 2014

Having owned LOADS of iPods, my favourite sound is from the 3rd Gen. It's a lot about personal preference though.

hkenneth · Oct 29, 2014

iPod 5th gen/4th gen

I'm still using my 20Gb iPod classic 4th gen. It sounds distinguishably better than my iPhone.

srshaw · Oct 30, 2014

I really wish you could download lossless from itunes. It's for that reason the only album I have ever downloaded is the free u2 one. I much prefer to just by cds from Amazon, usually cheaper than itunes.

I rip 320kbps for my itunes library, and then put a lossless flac copy on my nas for use with my proper hifi.

Fozamo · Nov 1, 2014

From my experience

Best:
iPhone 5C
iPhone 5

Good:
iPhone 4
iPod Nano 1G
iPod Classic 7G
iPod Shuffle 2G
iPod Shuffle 4G

Not so good:
iPod Touch 1G
iPod Touch 2G
iPhone 3G
iPod Nano 6G

Solomani · Nov 1, 2014

boateng said:
i need to buy an iPod

I heard the classic doesn't sound as good as the touch and nano? Is this true?

Don't the iPods more or less have all the same sound processors anyways? And how would we ever know if Apple ever released an iPod that had "improved" audio processing hardware? It's not like Apple ever releases specs on that. If they do, then someone please send me a link.

Yes, I know the tinny speakers can differ from iPod to iPod or even the iPhones (which have better and louder speakers). But I'm not talking about sound coming out from those tinny speakers. Rather, I'm more concerned about the sound quality coming from the iPod itself. especially when you connect a good-quality earphone or headset.

jruschme · Nov 2, 2014

Solomani said:
Don't the iPods more or less have all the same sound processors anyways?

The issue is the Digital-to-Analog Converter (DAC). Older classics, though the 5.5, used DACs from a company named Wolfson. These are considered to produce a "warm" sound and, generally, these models are considered to have the best sound. The 6th and 7th gen Classic as well as most of the iPhone and iPod Touch families use DACs from Cirrus Logic which many feel produce a more "analytical" sound.

This is a situation, though, where YMMV depending on headphones/earbuds, your own hearing, etc.

Brian Y · Nov 2, 2014

The first gen iPhone and first gen iPod Touch both have a Wolfson WM8758 as far as I know, and thus should sound pretty good.

This was changed as of the second gens though

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