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Level 1

0 points

Sound quality of the new classic?

Has anyone noticed a big change in the sound quality over the 5G video. My old 30G has a nice open soundstage, the 80G classic I bought sounds confined for lack of a better word and not as warm as the older iPod. I also had to turn the volume up higher on the classic than I would have on the 5G to get the same sound volume. That along with the slow response times made me dash back to the Apple store and return it. The store's help seemed clueless about any issues.

Posted on Sep 11, 2007 9:52 AM

48 replies

Nov 14, 2007 12:22 PM in response to hotrodhifi

Well as a new user I don't seem to be able to start a new thread which is sort of stupid, but anyway - I've noticed that some songs will "crackle" at anything from half volume and up on my UK 80gb classic. Its vaguely silly to not be able to play a cat power album on acoustic because you start to hear odd little noises all the way through. The only solution so far is to stick it on "reduce bass" for everything - if theres an option to just alter the bass on its own, I don't see it.

Is this a common complaint regarding the classic? I tried a bunch of headphones and it happens with these various songs with all of them.

Whopper

Level 1

10 points

Nov 14, 2007 4:13 PM in response to PathfinderDH

I wrote a problem report and sent to Apple. They denied anything was wrong with the classics sound quality and suggested I use the equalizer. The problem is there is NO equalizer setting that adjusts the classics elevated treble and poor bass response properly. I think the real problem is hardware and probably can't be corrected in firmware.

hareand

Level 1

10 points

Nov 18, 2007 1:10 AM in response to Whopper

I got the same response when I logged with support...no confirmed issues with sound quality! Even though I told them it's inferior to the old iPod mini and my old iRiver 320. I saw on another thread someone saying it's OK as you'd normally be listening with earphones in a noisy environment...fact is that with decent in-ear phones the difference is obvious no matter what environment. They asked me to take it to an approved service centre.

Do I feel strongly enough about this to send the iPod back? No, the design and convenience of 160 GB are great. Am I disappointed by what Apple have done to the sound quality? 100% yes.

I'll let you know what the service centre says but I won't hold my breath...

Sound quality of the new classic?