iPod audio better than iPhone?

[quasinormal]

Out of the iPods I've owned (4th, 5th, 5.5, Classic, mini, 2nd gen Nano, 4th and 5th gen Nano, and a 2nd gen touch, I felt the touch had the best sound with my preferred brand of earphones, Etymotic.

The touch had the Cirrus DAC, as does the Classic, which I feel suffers from a weak headphone output. The touch seemed to have the strongest headphone output.

[Mendozart]

Originally Posted by TheRainKing

I heard a similar story about the iPod 5th Generation (aka iPod video). Apparently they have better audio quality than the modern iPods and iPhones. Seems strange that Apple settle for worse quality in more up to date products.

I own an original mini, a 5th gen video, and a 2nd gen touch, and I think the video sounds best to my ears. It's a 60gb model, but the hard drive acts up at times. So, I just ordered a 100gb replacement hard drive.

[APlotdevice]

Originally Posted by mayuka

Maybe it's because they get the technology in a smaller form factor. Size is a very important issue in recent Apple products.

What exactly is the difference between the 5th and 5.5th generation iPod? Sometimes your read that the 5.5th sounds considerably better than the 5th generation.

It would be interesting to know what audio components are in the 4th generation and the iPod photo (1st (20/40GB) and 2nd gen (30/60GB)) too.

I don't think size is the factor. Apple probably just realized that most consumers would never notice the difference.

[mayuka]

Edit: Where are all the last posts? Seems they have vanished...

[Consultant]

Originally Posted by mayuka

Edit: Where are all the last posts? Seems they have vanished...

A post by spambot and some comments about the post were deleted. Anyway, an excerpt from a post here:
http://www.head-fi.org/t/627111/what...5#post_8705055

"On newer iDevices, the headphone output is pretty much a transparent unity-gain buffer at maximum volume. It's cleaner than the line outs of many CD and DVD players. In some cases, the low output impedance makes the headphone output work better than the line out on the 30-pin connector. For example, a passive volume control can become a relatively low-impedance load for the line out, and the effects of loading might be audible. But the same passive volume control is practically an open circuit for the headphone out. Do a blind, level-matched comparison between the line out and the headphone out going to the same amp. It's very, very close. The new iPhone 5 isn't really missing a thing by not having an analog line out."

[mayuka]

Okay....

I'm posting my link again. The test only covers some older iPods, but is an interesting read nonetheless.

http://home.comcast.net/~machrone/pl...playertest.htm