iPod sound quality
The topic about the ipod quality review reminded me of something I wanted to ask for quite a while:
How does the ipod sound quality compare to other portable players out there
Basically, a lot of claims have been made.. Zen has better SNR, Ipod has fuller sound, etc etc..
But could some audiophile who accidentally has say a Zen, an iPod, an Iriver IHC-100 etc etc hook them up to his reference stereo with the same input files and tell us what device has the best output hardware? (DAC and headphone amplifier but maybe also decoder quality)
(or alternatively point me to a website/forum/topic of someone who did)
Thank you :)
[674 byte] By [
puntloos] at [2007-11-9 13:00:44]
# 1 Re: iPod sound quality
I've compared the iPod to the audio output of a Dell Latitude 400 docking station. The iPod shines!
A more thoroughly comparison shows that the Dell Latitude itself is a bit better than the iPod.
Marc
# 2 Re: iPod sound quality
I found the iPod sound a little disapointing at first as I've been using a Zen for several months.
I'm getting used to it now as I don't listen to the Zen (with headphones) very often so can't compare from memory.
It depends alot on how detailed your headphones are. Because I kept hearing more detail on the Zen I kept upgrading my headphones and now have a rather expensive collection of which my Shure E1's are my normal daily pair.
What the sound reminded me of when I first compared them was the differance between on-board sound from a PC motherboard and that from a desent PCI card like an Audigy or M-Audio Revolution (with Amp & speakers costing more then $50 :) ).
Of course if you can't tell the differance between the above you might not notice it with the iPod either.
I'm not sure if the problem is in the DAC, the decoder or the Amp but it does feel like they spent more on the looks then the sound. :(
ailean at 2007-11-15 14:16:49 >
