iPod touch Sound Quality

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ring_wraith

ring_wraith

=--=l33t=--=
Ok, I am really confused.

I've been wanting to buy an iTouch for a long time, the only thing that has been holding me back is the online reviews. I've read in way too many reviews for it to be a mistake that the iTouch has mediocre sound quality.

But in this month's Digit, Digit called the iTouch the "best sounding PMP" and rated it even higher than what is widely accepted as the best sounding MP3 player ever, the Cowon iAudio 7.

What is happening? Who do I trust?
 
Pathik

Pathik

Google Bot
-1 for iPod Touch if Music is the only concern. Though the Touch may become a great option once the SDk and JVm is released.
If you have contacts in the US, get a iPhone instead.
 
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ring_wraith

ring_wraith

=--=l33t=--=
^^ exactly what i thought! But Digit has written just the opposite!

In fact, I own a Zen and even that has gotten a lower score than the pods. I've read a lot of reviews and everyone [including cNet] says that the Zen sounds fantastic while calling the Pods "middle of the road"

Why is Digit giving us wrong reviews?????
 
krazzy

krazzy

Techtree Reviewer
Don't trust the reviews. If you're very particular about what you feed your ears with, then try and hear it for yourself. Maybe a friend or relative has it. Or you can go to an Apple Store if there's one near you. I think they allow you to listen to it before you buy. Carry a good set of earphones with you.
 
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ring_wraith

ring_wraith

=--=l33t=--=
^^ That's exactly what I was afraid of.

And @krazyfrog, no point. I did go the Reliance iStore where they had a touch. I used my EP-630s and gave it a spin, and it sounded pathetic. The sound was completely muddy. But that still does not give a solid answer as the source file may have had that problem. I really need to get my own test songs (layla, slam etc.) to figure out how good it is, and they don't let you do that.

So no iTouch for me. SQ > screen > everything else in terms of importance. I'll just stick to my Zen.
 
krazzy

krazzy

Techtree Reviewer
But you already have a great sounding Zen. Why do you need another great sounding player? All iPod's sound good IMO (good, not great). If you buy it, then just use it as a fancy video player and the Zen for audio.

BTW, I think all these mp3 players are bakwaas. PSP pawns them all. Its the ultimate portable entertainment device. Games, videos, music, web, it ticks all the boxes. Plus its downright sexy to boot.
 
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ring_wraith

ring_wraith

=--=l33t=--=
Ok, here's what.

I have a Zen and a PSP. The thing is, I don't really use the PSP for games and homebrew and stuf much anymore. Mainly for vids. And I use my zen only for Audio. I can't carry around both, as the PSP is not too portable.

Now getting an iPod touch would have been the ideal soln. Great vids, some really cool basic games [most importantly, NES games] and reallllly protable. But the SQ completely put me off. I wish the iPod Touch had better SQ than my Zen, bcoz I am simply not willing to settle for anything lesser.

But I guess I'll just stick to my PSP+Zen for now. Both are amazing devices. At least GOW has released for PSP, so i guess I can play that.

Another benefit is the soon to be launched PSP FW 4.0 Like always, sony will add a big feature to the x.0 firmware. Can't wait to see what it will be. With 3.0 it was PS1 emu.
 
ajayritik

ajayritik

Technomancer
Too be really honest even I was planning to get either iTouch or iPhone from US with a friend. It seems he had purchased iPod touch and said that its good! Well then I have to wait and see! Though from many reviews that I read Zen is a good MP3 player no doubt about it!
 
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ring_wraith

ring_wraith

=--=l33t=--=
What pisses me off the most is that Digit rated the zen as "Decent sound quality"

it's called the Touch as Best SQ.....

Why???
 
ajayritik

ajayritik

Technomancer
From couple of reviews I read about DVD writer from digit last year I went ahead and bought Liteon DVD writer but wasnt so impressed with it. So I can understand if it rates iTouch more.
 
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ring_wraith

ring_wraith

=--=l33t=--=
OMG. This is really a revelation to me. I have never really bought my Hardware on the sole advice of Digit. But can Digit be wrong?
 
krazzy

krazzy

Techtree Reviewer
In the March '08 issue of What Hi-Fi, they have reviewed iPod Touch, Archos 605, Creative Zen and Sony PSP. In the Touch review they said it has brilliant sound while in the Zen review they said it has good audio quality. Also even in past when they've reviewed iPods, they've always said the sound quality to be excellent. However in many other reviews from CNET, etc. the sound quality of iPod is said to be not-so-great. So it really depends on our own ears and what we perceive as good quality.
 
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ring_wraith

ring_wraith

=--=l33t=--=
krazyfrog. said:
In the March '08 issue of What Hi-Fi, they have reviewed iPod Touch, Archos 605, Creative Zen and Sony PSP. In the Touch review they said it has brilliant sound while in the Zen review they said it has good audio quality. Also even in past when they've reviewed iPods, they've always said the sound quality to be excellent. However in many other reviews from CNET, etc. the sound quality of iPod is said to be not-so-great. So it really depends on our own ears and what we perceive as good quality.
Click to expand...

That is a big problem with Digit reviews then. The whole job of a reviewer is to be completely neutral and not let his personal preference interfere with the review process. What they should have been checking for is tonal normality and distortion levels, and the process should have been the aggregate of a few people, instead of just one person.
 
krazzy

krazzy

Techtree Reviewer
I wasn't talking about Digit. It another magazine, What Hi-Fi. But Digit too seems to be hooked on iPod's sound quality. In all their mp3 player reviews they've given iPod kudos for sound quality. And they tested it with 320 kbps files with Bose in-ear earphones. You can try and read the review at www.ilounge.com. I like their reviews very much as they are quite detailed and despite being a site dedicated to iPod's they seem very unbiased and honestly mention their faults.
 
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