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iPod Nano Sound Quality - Your Feedback Please?

My initial impression of the Nano sound quality is different than I expected. I would like to hear from others.

HOWEVER, if you don't mind, I'd like to run this as a blind collection of feedback. Instead of posting our collective impressions, discussing them, and in the process INFLUENCING EACH OTHER, please - at least at first - just drop me a short email with your impressions of the sound quality of the Nano. I'll post a summary of responses after a relatively short time, probably a week.

I will summarize the responses anonymously but after I do that feel free to own up to your opinion in this or other discussion boards.

Email to:
artmaltman@yahoo.com

In this discussion thread, for the moment, feel free to post your opinion of my IDEA of doing this. Do you think it's a good idea to initially collect feedback that is not influenced by discussion with other members, or is this too... what?

Thanks!
Art

ps: I'm not necessarily suggesting that you hook up the nano to your main audiophile system rig, although that might be interesting. My own testing has been done under circumstances that I normally plan to use the nano in; that is, with stock earbuds, a $25 pair of Sony "sports" headphones, and a $200 pair of Shure e3c. But you do your own thing, and summarize the results.
artmaltman
artmaltman OP
769 posts
 
I would speculate that something is dramatically different physically in the nano from the mini that makes a clear sonic difference. It could be D to A conversion, amplification, or characterist of power supply, or all three.

Also I should not rule out manufacturing variation as a source of the differences that I am hearing. These are mass produced, and they probably have pre-determined error tolerances that may or may not permit audible variations within the "acceptable" tolerance range.

Art
artmaltman OP
769 posts
 
ps: I wonder if the 2nd generation mini sounds different than my 1st gen. Hmmmm. Anyway, I will be continuing my focus in testing on migration from first gen mini to nano, 128 and 192 compression.
robm321
932 posts
 
Art,

Or maybe, it's just smaller. Clearly part of the marketing plan all along. Get people to stock up on the original Ipod, then the mini, then when sales start to drop come out with a smaller version. Continuous income.

I hope you are right Art. I would more compelled to buy one if there is an improvement in the sound quality. I will look forward to other's impressions.
mr_bill
347 posts
 
Art,
What options are there to hook a nano up to an audiophile system? Is there a line out on the Nano or the dock to hook to a preamp?
Thanks,
Bill
artmaltman OP
769 posts
 
Well the mini, and I think the other docks too, had a line out that bypassed the output stage of the iPod. So people generally try to use the dock with previous generation iPods in order to access that direct line out.

I read some place that the nano dock has a line out whose volume is mitigated by the volume control on the nano. This probably means that the line out on the nano dock does not bypass the output stage of the nano, but I cannot be sure.

My personal goal is to test the sound of the units including the output stage, so I'll hook them up to my stereo out of the headphone output. But if I were hooking the unit up to a stereo for longer term listening, I sure would like to bypass the iPod output stage.

Art
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