New Apple Ipods

[sammy888]

Ha ha, does anyone here even bother to find out whether these new iPods have improved their sound quality or not?:bsmilie:

I would have expected by now they have exported the square wave output capacitors of the iPod shuffle to the bigger iPod models by now...but so far,no....this is I guess another generation they will not be doing so. The shuffle till today still has the best bass registers.

 

[kelccm]

I would have expected by now they have exported the square wave output capacitors of the iPod shuffle to the bigger iPod models by now...but so far,no....this is I guess another generation they will not be doing so. The shuffle till today still has the best bass registers.

Well, I know I will not buy an iPod till they have improve their sound to a reasonable level comparable to their price. Even the cheapo Creative Zen Stone that I got FOC sounds better. Sorry to all the Apple fanatics, but SQ is still more important than looks or branding for me. I like the iPod design and interface, but their sound is still leave rooms for improvement.

 

[major_tom]

no real breakthru. the same stuff in different/rehashed shells.
Will give it a pass and save my $$$ for a D300 or a E3

 

[wrkshy]

Just called Apple shop to check. ipod touch (big one) will be available at the end of the month for about $659.

Here are the S$ prices posted on the local online Apple store

shuffle - 1GB (S$138)

nano - 4GB (S$248); 8GB (S$348)

classic - 80GB (S$428); 160GB (S$598)

touch - 8GB (S$498); 16GB (S$698)

 

[Harry Potter]

Here are the S$ prices posted on the local online Apple store

shuffle - 1GB (S$138)

nano - 4GB (S$248); 8GB (S$348)

classic - 80GB (S$428); 160GB (S$598)

touch - 8GB (S$498); 16GB (S$698)

If buy all of them of different colors, it will cost me S$7,200.

 

[sammy888]

If buy all of them of different colors, it will cost me S$7,200.

wah you the "ultimate commercialised consumer incarnate" man if you do that heh.

 

[LENS]

Well, I know I will not buy an iPod till they have improve their sound to a reasonable level comparable to their price. Even the cheapo Creative Zen Stone that I got FOC sounds better. Sorry to all the Apple fanatics, but SQ is still more important than looks or branding for me. I like the iPod design and interface, but their sound is still leave rooms for improvement.

Never know the sound quality of ipod is not as good as other mp3 player..may share more comparison? how to tell a sound quality?

 

[Heliopanuser]

If buy all of them of different colors, it will cost me S$7,200.

Wow! You think you are collecting "swatch watches"?

 

[kelccm]

If buy all of them of different colors, it will cost me S$7,200.

Wah, like that your iPods will like your clothings, different colour iPods to suit different fashion. Apple will like you a lot:bsmilie:

 

[Harry Potter]

Wah, like that your iPods will like your clothings, different colour iPods to suit different fashion. Apple will like you a lot:bsmilie:

Actually, I plan to have different songs for different iPods. Some for sentimentals, some for heavy metals, some for sound tracks, some for classical music. :bsmilie:

 

[kelccm]

Never know the sound quality of ipod is not as good as other mp3 player..may share more comparison? how to tell a sound quality?

The best way to compare is to listen to the various mp3 player playing the same songs and on the same earphones. Only you can tell which player is better as everybody's tastes are different. iPods by itself sounds quite ok, but you can find better sounding players and for lesser money. The saving grace for iPods are their lineout, in which you can plug it to an amp to improve the sound. There are also some mods for iPods to improve their sound quality.

So if you are particular about your music and how they sound, don't just follow the crowd blindly. Go and try out other brands. But if you are a fashion conscious guy, then by all means get an iPod and look cool with it.

 

[WuffRuff]

The best way to compare is to listen to the various mp3 player playing the same songs and on the same earphones. Only you can tell which player is better as everybody's tastes are different.

You are right... But how can you do that? Unless u have different mp3 players. U can test different players with the same earphones at the shop but they would have different songs on different players.

I have listened to the same songs, same compression, using the same earphones on Creative Zen Micro and ipod video 30 Gb. I will say that the Creative Zen Micro has better sound quality over the ipod with my good Sony earphones. However, if you do not want to spend additional $ to purchase a good pair of earphones, the ipod with the Belkin earphones sound much better than the Creative with its super-lousy earphones. I don't understand why they make a player with such good SQ but supply a pair of lousy earphones so that the sound sucks! Ridiculous!!!

To be honest, i was surprised the Apple's SQ was below the Creative's. I thought they would at least be on par but the difference is actually quite apparent. I was quite disappointed as I was used to the better SQ on my creative. But also to let you know the history of my players. I first had the Creative Zen Micro player and used it extensively for abt 1.5 years, then it died. That is a very short life in my opinion and I was disappointed, so I question the durability of Creative's player (though it might have been a case of I was suay, but when u kenna bitten, u get twice shy). I then got the Apple and it seems to be very hardy and durable and has outlasted the lifespan of the Creative now and still going strong.

There are also some mods for iPods to improve their sound quality.

What mods are these? Pls tell me where and how I can get my ipod modified cos I do think I am not really satisfied with my ipod's sound quality. Thanks.

On the ipod touch:
The big screen is cool for videos but only 8 and 16 Gb??

On the ipod nano:
I figure the new shape is to accomodate the bigger sceen in the videos' usual aspect ratio but I think it looks kinda weird and definitely not as pretty and classy as the older nano.

 

[bousozoku]

Never know the sound quality of ipod is not as good as other mp3 player..may share more comparison? how to tell a sound quality?

I have seen a few comparisons and a lot of the sound depends on the headphone output and the headphones, as well as the original encoding of the music. It's interesting to me that there are audiophiles using the iPod using Apple Lossless encoding. Of course, they're using headphones that are often more expensive than the iPod itself.

I've just been told that the new iPod classic uses a new sound chip. This quote is from the person who wrote the iMod:

I 'scoped the line out and headphone outputs and followed their paths from the Apple 338S0394, which is the new CODEC (dac) chip used, to the line-out and headphone output jacks. Both the line-out stage and the headphone output stage are the cleanest I've seen from Apple. There are no opamps after the Apple 338S0394. There are also no caps, as this chip is fed a split power supply (+/- voltages), so I'm sure there is a push-pull output stage built into the chip. No measured bass roll-off issues under load. There are only a few tiny surface mount resistors/inductors in the signal path.

I'm also wondering if they've changed from PortalPlayer music chips to Samsung in the classic since it was the only one in the line still to use the more popular chip, having gone to Samsung initially with the nano.

 

[kelccm]

You are right... But how can you do that? Unless u have different mp3 players. U can test different players with the same earphones at the shop but they would have different songs on different players.

If you have friends with different mp3 players, you can exchange to try it out. If not, use the same headphone to compare at the shops. Use similar genre songs to compare.

I have listened to the same songs, same compression, using the same earphones on Creative Zen Micro and ipod video 30 Gb. I will say that the Creative Zen Micro has better sound quality over the ipod with my good Sony earphones. However, if you do not want to spend additional $ to purchase a good pair of earphones, the ipod with the Belkin earphones sound much better than the Creative with its super-lousy earphones. I don't understand why they make a player with such good SQ but supply a pair of lousy earphones so that the sound sucks! Ridiculous!!!

In fact most mp3 players come with lousy earphones. Even the Apple earphone is hopeless. The best bundled earphone I've heard so far is from Sony. The best is to budget extra money to get a decent pair of earphone to maximise the sound potential of your mp3 player.

To be honest, i was surprised the Apple's SQ was below the Creative's. I thought they would at least be on par but the difference is actually quite apparent. I was quite disappointed as I was used to the better SQ on my creative. But also to let you know the history of my players. I first had the Creative Zen Micro player and used it extensively for abt 1.5 years, then it died. That is a very short life in my opinion and I was disappointed, so I question the durability of Creative's player (though it might have been a case of I was suay, but when u kenna bitten, u get twice shy). I then got the Apple and it seems to be very hardy and durable and has outlasted the lifespan of the Creative now and still going strong.

The one bad thing about Creative is their reliability, especially their smaller players. But Creative generally has decent to excellent sound quality. Just that their design and marketing lacks behind Apple.

What mods are these? Pls tell me where and how I can get my ipod modified cos I do think I am not really satisfied with my ipod's sound quality. Thanks.

One mod I know is iMod. Where and how, I'm not sure. Maybe you can check it out at these forums, headphonehaven or sgheadphone

 

[ExplorerZ]

Well, I know I will not buy an iPod till they have improve their sound to a reasonable level comparable to their price. Even the cheapo Creative Zen Stone that I got FOC sounds better. Sorry to all the Apple fanatics, but SQ is still more important than looks or branding for me. I like the iPod design and interface, but their sound is still leave rooms for improvement.

2nd this... been using 3 creative mp3 in a row as I always heard comparison of apple sound quality... (another thing is creative always have a better deal, not design tho. but heck those mp3 are in my pocket/bag 95% of the time, so who see it? :dunno

 

[afbug]

What mods are these? Pls tell me where and how I can get my ipod modified cos I do think I am not really satisfied with my ipod's sound quality. Thanks.

U sure u wanna mod it? Its gonna be costly.....the cost of another ipod. USD yeah!

http://www.redwineaudio.com/iMod.html

Pricing for Customer-Supplied iPod (our ship-to address is listed HERE):
$249.00 + $35.00 shipping/handling (USPS Express Mail shipping anywhere outside of the USA)

 

[kelccm]

U sure u wanna mod it? Its gonna be costly.....the cost of another ipod. USD yeah!

http://www.redwineaudio.com/iMod.html

Pricing for Customer-Supplied iPod (our ship-to address is listed HERE):
$249.00 + $35.00 shipping/handling (USPS Express Mail shipping anywhere outside of the USA)

Agree. It may not be worth it to mod the iPod, unless you want the best possible sound from your iPod. I think adding an amp using the iPod line out would be much easier and cheaper.

 

[mysterio506]

when someone talk abt mp3, it will definitely mention Ipod :thumbsup:
this apple advertisment music made the breakthrough for Apple.... jet - r u gonna be my girl

 

[afbug]

Agree. It may not be worth it to mod the iPod, unless you want the best possible sound from your iPod. I think adding an amp using the iPod line out would be much easier and cheaper.

WuffRuff, if u consider this iMod, read the above suggestion first as the iMod is also designed/intended for use with an amplifier.

The iMod is about the cost of a full size iPod and after getting the iMod done, u can't be using it with an entry level amp. U will be looking at a RSA or Xin amp and that will cost as much as a full size iPod. And then, u can't be using some cheap earphones. U will be looking at something along the line like shures, Westones, Etymotic Research and Ultimate Ears etc. That will be another cost of a full size iPod.

Total, u will be looking at spending 3 times the cost of a full size iPod inaddition to the iPod u have. If iPod cost about $500, u will be spending at total of about $2K to get these done.

So is it worth the $$$? If u're an audiophile and want the best sound possible, then its worth it.

 

[WuffRuff]

Afbug and kelccm,
Thanks a lot for your info. and helpful suggestions.
Gee... I didn't know it would cost so much to get my ipod modified. After knowing the price, I'm definitely not going for the iMod man! Besides, i usually just plug the earphones into my ears and go to sleep on the bus or train! Haha... so not worth it!
But I do want to try out the other amp option. Can you tell me what I need to get and where to get it? Can PM me or else others might get bored of our OT topic. Thanks guys!