Ipod Classic

Discussion in 'Audio Hardware' started by hbbfam, Mar 2, 2020.

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  1. hbbfam

    hbbfam Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    Chandler,AZ
  2. rfs

    rfs Forum Resident

    Location:
    Lansing, MI USA
    They might be OK if they didn't require iTunes. I still have bad memories of that, and I haven't used one in 10 years. My Fiio X5 gen 3 is much better in every way.
     
  3. cmcintyre

    cmcintyre Forum Resident

    For any listening that's not "full-attention, let's sit & listen", the iPod is a great way to have music (background or otherwise) with a decent speaker dock.

    Consider the low power demands of a speaker dock to the high power demands of a full-blown stereo, the ease of making playlists to suit any occasion or mood and the flexibility of playback (random or not?) and I realised it makes it an ideal choice.

    Using iTunes is not difficult, though like anything (such as filing your records or CD with care for longevity and in some preferred order for ease of access), it requires a bit of thought and care when adding each new piece of music. Do that, and the playback becomes a breeze.

    I've an iPod photo 60GB which is half full - all "A" sides from 1947 onwards, a full final generation 160gb with studio albums and a few 4 and 8gb minis and nanos which I use for special occasions - party with a theme.

    Last Friday one of my new neighbours came over for a drink. He was organising a 60's theme party for the following night. A few clicks, some judicious choices of some psychedelic mid-60's, some great "A" sides from 65-69 and a few deep cuts - 45 mins later 12 hours of music was ready to be played in shuffle mode.

    I have memories of using twin turntables and tapes to do the same - it took hours and hours - and yes a well-curated, sequenced and volume adjusted "tape' or "file" may be create ultimately a 'better' experience, though my observations have been that most people never notice the difference. They're too busy partying.
     
  4. Tim 2

    Tim 2 MORE MUSIC PLEASE

    Location:
    Alberta Canada
    Been using the Classic for years, great little machine, no complaints what so ever.
    With a good DAC the sound is far better than one would think possible. Best audio dollars spent period.
    Shown on the bottom of the shot, separate shelf.
    [​IMG]
     
  5. Pythonman

    Pythonman Forum Resident

    Location:
    Florida
    I have a 160gb Classic that still works. I wish Apple hadn’t discontinued making them.
     
  6. Eric_Generic

    Eric_Generic Enigma

    Location:
    Berkshire
    My iPod Classics sound remarkably good through the Denon 720. It took me by surprise. Having full control via the remote, and being able to actually press Stop means I listen to my iPod more now than I have done for a while.

    EG.
     
  7. timind

    timind phorum rezident

    Cool story.

    As for serious "sit and listen" though, I disagree. I have an ipod classic with 768gb of memory which mirrors the external hard drive on my Mac Mini. All AIFFs which were ripped with XLD so bit perfect. The ipod feeds my dac which provides audio indistinguishable from my cds. All my cds are at my fingertips, love it.

    Removing the old hard drive and installing memory is a fairly simple process if you don't mind opening the ipod up. Here's an old pic:
    [​IMG]
     
  8. Bingo Bongo

    Bingo Bongo Music gives me Eargasms

    Location:
    Ottawa, Canada
    Love my Classic. Sounds great still after all these years.

    Not sure why people knock iTunes. It's been a blessing having music back in my life since it's introduction!
     
  9. jcr64

    jcr64 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Indiana
    I love my 60GB iPod 5G and 160GB iPod Classic, even though they are largely superfluous in the age of streaming
     
    head_unit, Saint Johnny and timind like this.
  10. Chris C

    Chris C Music was my first love and it will be my last!

    Location:
    Ohio
    Thank you for writing this, as it explains my nearly daily routine adding songs to my iTunes library, since iTunes was introduced. You mention iPods or iTunes to most people and they just give you the "deer in the headlights" stare. They will NEVER understand the time and effort that guys like us have taken with our libraries. I give that same stare right back at them when they say that they stream music via something like "Spotify". Every time that I go over to my friends house, who brags endlessly about his streaming capabilities (Bluenode or whatever new gizmo that he spends thousands on?) and I'll say "play me so and so artist" and something always goes wrong. Internet dropout, album isn't there or lousy sound in general. It's always something like "well they have this album or this song by that artist". Meanwhile, I would have found the artist, song, album or whatever in twenty seconds or less on an iPod and even less on my computer. If APPLE wants to salvage anything, save the iTunes format and an iPod like device to play the music, as it's truly one of the best things that they ever created, in my opinion.
     
    pcox80, vegafleet, head_unit and 12 others like this.
  11. cmcintyre

    cmcintyre Forum Resident

    Using an external DAC is something I've never done - something outside my knowledge base.

    I'd want to look at price / performance before taking the plunge, though replacing a hard drive with a much larger SSD is something on the cards with one of the iPods. Again, knowledge to be gained first.
     
    timind, Jeff Kent and Tim 2 like this.
  12. curbach

    curbach Some guy on the internet

    Location:
    The ATX
    I’ve still got my 160gb Classic. It still works, but it needs a new battery and I’d like to install an SSD card.

    However, it turns out the stereo in my new car no longer supports the Classic. Not sure if that is a “feature” of Apple CarPlay or something specific to my particular vehicle. As that was its main purpose for me, I’m not inclined to spend the money to upgrade it.
     
    EddieMann likes this.
  13. jcr64

    jcr64 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Indiana
    Sadly, changes in technology mean that the iPod Classic is headed toward obsolescence, even if it is not completely obsolete. The absence of Lightning and Bluetooth mean that fewer and fewer cars are able to control iPod Classics as they used to; the refusal of recent versions of iTunes (and the new Apple Music app in Catalina) to recognize30-pin iPods makes it more difficult to manage the Classic's content (I have an older Mac that I've kept for the sole purpose of running some older software, including iTunes 11, but many won't be so fortunate).
     
    jesterthejedi likes this.
  14. rodentdog

    rodentdog Senior Member

    On the bay there are many 30 pin to lightning adapters available.
     
    head_unit and timind like this.
  15. Big Blue

    Big Blue Forum Resident

    Location:
    Wisconsin
    What the iPod Classic gave me that no subsequent iPod Touch or iPhone has is the capacity to hold my entire digital music library in my pocket or car (sure, more recent models do have the capacity, but they also need space for a lot of apps, which I do use). I still have it, and it still works (though the battery does drain pretty quickly these days), but its usefulness has been largely diminished by the availability of most music through streaming, and its appeal has been basically eliminated at home because I’ve gone back to preferring physical media. Mostly I use it on rare occasion to listen to stuff I bought from iTunes and don’t have on any physical media.

    When I was using it, though, it was very useful. All the music in one place, ready to go with me anywhere. I had a more on-the-go lifestyle a decade ago, and having all of my music with me in the car, in my pocket, or at home all using the same device was extremely beneficial. It was the right device for me at the right time.
     
    CDV, LivingForever, timind and 2 others like this.
  16. curbach

    curbach Some guy on the internet

    Location:
    The ATX
    I hadn’t considered that my car stereo problem could be related to the 30 pin connection. I may have to try one of those doohickeys.
     
    timind likes this.
  17. Chazro

    Chazro Forum Resident

    Location:
    West Palm Bch, Fl.
    My 2 pod's have got close to 10000 songs on them, with literally 1000's having been bought from iTunes! I've never used a music 'service'. As we speak I'm listening to Brazilian Seu Jorge & Roge that I just got a few days ago, what a beautiful recording! The pods are filling up, there's NO doubt that I'll be getting another!;)
     
    timind, Chris C, D-rock and 1 other person like this.
  18. cmcintyre

    cmcintyre Forum Resident

    What DAC do you use, and, when you bought it, what price point? Are you able to use a CD player with it, and if so, do you and/or can you plug both the iPod and CD player in at the same time?

    Thanks.
     
  19. PinkIsTheSky

    PinkIsTheSky Old Blues Man

    Location:
    Michigan
    For me, the iPod classic, modded with an SSD and an operating system called RockBox was a game changer.

    RockBox eliminates the need to use iTunes and allows FLAC to be played. On top of that, it gives you a full parametric equalizer and many more audio tweaks for those who are interested in them.

    When this is considered, I hands down consider the classic to be one of my best purchases and best audio devices I have on hand.
     
  20. Tim 2

    Tim 2 MORE MUSIC PLEASE

    Location:
    Alberta Canada
    I'm using an A.R. DAC8 that I hadn't been using for a few years, purchased it quite a few years ago, don't recall the price. With new DAC technology I'm sure it could be equaled for much less. There are I believe 6 inputs including balanced. I don't use a CD player in my second/garage system but I do have a Bluesound server connected to it. Not much knowledge required, just hook everything up, nothing to program.
     
    cmcintyre likes this.
  21. Tim 2

    Tim 2 MORE MUSIC PLEASE

    Location:
    Alberta Canada
    Never thought about purchasing songs from I-tunes.
    I had burnt about 1000 full CD's onto my I-mac so it was just a mater of connecting the I-pod to it and shazam.
     
    timind likes this.
  22. NettleBed

    NettleBed Forum Transient

    Location:
    new york city
    As long as it has an auxiliary port, then you'll always be able to play it that way.
     
    rodentdog likes this.
  23. timind

    timind phorum rezident

    For the longest time I used the dac input on my Resolution Audio Opus 21 with excellent results. A few months ago I bought a Topping D70 on the recommendation of a friend. After using the D70 for a month I decided to sell the Opus 21. Although I have about 1500 cds, I no longer have a dedicated cd player.
    At this point I use two sources, a Bluesound Node 2i, and the ipod classic. Any new cds are immediately ripped to the Mac Mini and transferred to the ipod.
    For on-the-go or headphone listening at night, I have a 5th gen ipod with two 256gb sd cards which feeds a Nuforce HDP.
    I suggest anyone interested in either upgrading their ipod memory, or simply installing a battery check youtube videos. This site is a goldmine of info: iFlash.xyz – Welcome to the home of the iFlash Adapter I've made a few purchases from them with reliable service.
     
    cmcintyre and Tim 2 like this.
  24. Chazro

    Chazro Forum Resident

    Location:
    West Palm Bch, Fl.
    There is SO MUCH written, professionally and in forums, about itunes sound quality. With this overabundance of info there's only ONE way to determine if the sound quality meets yr standards, buy something you already own on CD and compare. Trust your ears!;)
     
  25. curbach

    curbach Some guy on the internet

    Location:
    The ATX
    True, but then I lose touchscreen and steering wheel controls and artwork display. What fun is that? While my car does have an aux input, that seems to be going away too. My brother just bought a new car that doesn’t have one—USB connection only.
     
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