iPod Classic Sound Quality Differences 

The 5 sound cold. It give me headhacke

@@FancescaTanuki that might just be your preference, but almost everyone agrees that the wolfson dac is warmer than any subsequent dac's. Mileage may vary ofc, but generally speaking it is not cold. I have the 5th, 7th, original shuffle, a couple nano's and the 5th is the best sounding to my ears.

Cirrus logic bought out Wolfson, it's a different chip, but it's made by the same people at the end of the day, it's just the next generation. I definitely prefer the warmer sound of the earlier chip in the the 5/5.5 though.

@@6scorpio I've got modded 5th and 5.5 gens coming my way soon, better sound refitted with the large memory size I'm used to from later iPods, I look forward to getting them.

Like you, I dislike touch controls when it comes to audio players. My experience with touch controls is that they don't work as well as tactile controls because they don't provide the physical feedback that pressing an actual button does. Plus, the player's interface often isn't as well designed as it should be for touch controls (such as some items on the screen being too small to be easily pressed with a finger). In addition the physical controls, one of the things I like about the iPod Classic (the only other player I've come across with this feature is the Sansa Fuze+) is the ability to hide the features that you don't use. Many players have a number of features that I won't make use of but they remain on the screen unused. But with the current iPod, you can select the items you want to appear on the Main Menu and Music Menu. It's allows you to customize the iPod to suit you, including hiding all of the non-music functions if you choose to.

I'll deal with touchscreens if it means I don't have to carry as much crap. Device convergence is nice.

Corinn Heathers I agree, unfortunately I listen to a lot of music. If my iPhone held music like my classic(s) do I would me so much happier.

Will Wade Agreed, the limited and non-expandable space on a lot of smartphones doesn't really let you have gobs and gobs of music.

This may be the first intellectual internet conversation for me in awhile. Thanks for that.

so, wouldnt it matter too the quality of the mp3 also? Straight import off the cd is fine, but if you have a low quality mp3 would still sound like real 3d sound?

***** lol.. there's a reason why people prefer the 5.5 Gen ipod over the newer versions. .. it's because they sound much more superior. It has much better base and a much stronger punch!! ... I know when an ipod sounds good.. and no ipod even comes close to the ipod 5.5 80gb. I love them so much that now I collect them as often as I could.. especially if the price is right. Cheers!!

***** im ordering my 1 tb samsung msata ssd for my classic 5.5 right now. :D

***** .. Awesome info.. thanks. I haven't had the need to upgrade my battery just yet but I probably will do it anyway. I use one of my 8 ipod 5.5s everyday .. lol.. their almost like my children. I love them!! Whenever I can get them for an excellent price I can't help but buy them. Now I've got a lot of family members and friends buying them. It won't be too long before these old ipod become difficult to find in decent shape. That dac Wolfson chip makes all the difference. Thanks again for all that excellent information. I'm definitely going to use it!! CHEERS!

***** Thank you for the battery info! That completely slipped my mind. Is there a certain brand you recommend?

***** Thank you so much! I just have one more question. Will i need a thicker back for my ipod or can i still use the thin one i already have?

I don't think there is the 5.5 gen 60g. It should be 80g. Or 60g 5 gen.

@The Genius Nah

@The Genius also wikipedia speack about the really worth quality of the 5.5 generation...

The Genius I’ll give my input. The 5.5 does sound better, but only when measured with expensive equipment. Your years will hardly hear a difference and you would need a really expensive pair of headphones.

@The Genius i prefer the 5 / 5.5. I have the 7th as well. Without tweaking, on my sony headphones, the 5 / 5.5 sounds richer and warmer, while the 7th sounds cleaner and brighter. I prefer the 5 / 5.5 especially on larger speakers. Casual listeners here in the house can also tell the difference

I will say that the 6.5th gen sounds better than the pre-5th gen, about the same as an iPod mini 2nd gen, but I won't say that it's the same or better than the 5th gen! The author is mistaken. With a headphone amp connected via line-out, the 6th gen (or 6.5 gen - no such thing as a 7th) will sound better than the 5th gen though.

I agree 5.5 is the best ever

you can play songs downloaded from piratebay.

Hello , please send a link for ipod line out adapter , Thanks.

Hello, please have the download link for the XLD program, I would appreciate it. Greetings.

+Ahmed El-Said Hey AhmedYou can actually purchase Ipod 5.5 Gen in a variety of sizes there is one on ebay that is 1TB!! I bought a 1TB and its the best thing i ever bought! It has a huge battery in it (2000Mah) and it sounds so good. Its pricey but it worth it and it wont die on you like other ipods do because it uses flash memory like the new apple products.

no. the 7 has cleaner sound and sounds better on modern headphones than the 5.5. The 5.5 also has hiss if you use IEMs where the 7 is perfectly silent. 7s cost more for a reason

If you use a line out doc to connect to an amp, you are using the built in DAC of the iPod. You would need an external combo DAC/Amp in order to bypass the iPod DAC.

Oh so something like the eo7k?

It doesn't matter that much as long as you are playing lossless files. For best sound quality, use an external DAC and headphone amp. Although I've been fairly pleased with the sound out of my iPhone 6 and just my V-Moda M100s direct.

in my opinion yes

Yep

yeaaah

Nope. You would have to to connect it to another DAC either portable or in a dock, etc.

Yes, if it's connected to an external headphone amp (like the author's Fiio)

Petar Stankovic Why buy a phone when you can just go up to something and talk to them? it's the same thing, not like you need a phone to talk to them, right?

MadJack122 No. It's not the same thing. You can talk to someone on distance with phone, for example.

Petar Stankovic Building you're own music player isn't a bad idea, like you said it's just a simple computer with a DAC and amplifier. People buy these iPods because of the 160gig harddrive, you can't get a portable media player with more space than that. (if you can please let me know)

MadJack122 I'm letting you know right now. Sony ZX2 (128 GB + 200 GB Micro SD = 328 GB), Astell & Kern AK100 mk1/2 (2 x 200 GB = 400 GB), AK120 mk1 (again 400 GB), AK120 II 328 GB), AK240 (456 Gb) and at least 10 other players (FiiO X5 with 2 SD slots, QLS QA360, Lotoo PAW Gold, ASC also and many more, probably even more than I know). Mostly with SD cards which is not a con but a pro since it is a faster memory than one found on the iPod; also AK240 has stock memory 256 GB flash, also more and faster than the iPod). Even in smartphones you can put 200 GB Micro SD card and have more than iPod and have better UI and one less device to carry around. My first question was: What's the point of having an iPod if you bypass both DAC and amp since anything can decode audio and there are much better UI solutions that this, also many cheaper. If you don't have anything smart to say or any argument than why spam here? Are you trying to be smart with questions like: "Why use a phone when you can talk"? I was searching for some reason why if at all is having certain player (in this case iPod) if you will bypass both DAC and amp.

Petar Stankovic I understand where you're getting at. People who're planning to use external dac/amp uses iPod cause they're used to their UI. It's friendly and easy to use (it's a matter of preference). But you're right. Any device that could carry the file would suffice.

+Alan Santiago In this video he claims that the better dac can be found in the 7th gen ipod. You have the 5th gen ipod video 2005 which has the second best dac. The first goes to the 5.5 Gen ipod Video enhanced 2006

Just use it as is! You still might have to spend $200 to do better. If you’re at home you can get a cheap amp like Magni 3+ or Heresy, or Liquid Spark, or JDS Atom, or portables by Fiio is iFi. At this level you could use the headphone out to amp to power bigger headphones.

Fiio

@The Genius Why would you reply to a 4 year old comment? dummy

No fiio sounds like a wolfson dac

@@necrodh the DACs they use are probably made by Wolfson that's why

x2

It's a 6½ gen.

Dac

+Rock'ca Holic This one is actually just a headphone amplifier, no DAC.

@@phototristan The DAC is built-into all external amps actually

you must be a dumb fk to ask this question. you don't deserve an ipod

@@drjealous4301 no ı am not dumb. for best sound quality you must buy 5.5th and if you want open it inside and change something you must select 5th/5.5th or older and dont say dumb to people just say you dont know anything about it just say it, can a math teacher give a lesson about history maybe if she/he know history.have a great day and sorry if ı made any mistake about english

@@justchill4886 your mistake is that you're dumb. Nothing you just said means anything.

Stock. That doesn't matter though since either way it loads the song in to RAM first.

phototristan saves battery and is lighter though. Was playing around with maybe getting one but will probably go with another brand or maybe an LG 30 or something.

5 years later and the answer is still no

I was told by someone on Head Fi that and iPod/iPhone SHOULD be able to drive the HD8 DJ's.

See my video: Reviewed- Centrance HiFi-M8 - My Current Audiophile Portable iPod Rig There's also the V-Moda Vamp Versa. Probably a few others as well.

XR6 Turbo The 5.5 indicates a revision Apple made to the 5th generation. The 5.5 will have a search function under music wile the regular 5th gens won’t.

+Eduardo Macedo Check it here: support.apple.com/en-us/HT204217

Dat geloof ik gelijk.... Weinig cable Hihi

and that never happend