I've been going on a tirade about the iPod "sound" since I got one and returned it. I hated the EQ settings and thought the flat sound of iPod horrible.

However, as some of you might have already known, the problem was that my mp3 files were not normalized correctly. Check out this thread if your EQ is distorting: sound quality (http://www.ipodlounge.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=5081)

Bottom line: You need to use mp3gain (or the equivalent feature in iTunes) to bring down the volume of your mp3 files to 89dB or thereabouts.

I've found that most of my ripped mp3s average 95 or higher. The EQ settings on the iPod apparently can't handle the high signal and the EQ sounds horrible because of it. mp3gain is very easy to use. It takes some time, but you only need to do the normalization process once.