←back to thread

Touching the back wall of the Apple store

(blog.lauramichet.com)
252 points nivethan | 10 comments | 27 Jun 25 02:45 UTC | HN request time: 0.451s | source | bottom
Show context
sandspar ◴[30 Jun 25 04:17 UTC] No.44419309[source]▶
+1 for the mention of Zune. I started with a Zune, a bright green and brown one, then went to iPods. Like the author and their first Walmart MP3 player, my first MP3 player, my Zune, left a much bigger impression on me than all of my later iPods. I think there's an alternate history where Zune, with all of its weird personalization and oddness, won out over iPod's sleek luxury. In some ways I think that that alternate reality might have been a bit more fun.
replies(1): >>44419360 #
1. leakycap ◴[30 Jun 25 04:25 UTC] No.44419360[source]▶
iPods got out of the way and could be used in your pocket

I got a Zune and immediately realized MS had no idea why people liked the iPod

Different folks like different things, but I don't think a big menu of lowercase text is more fun than the iPod in any of its variations

replies(1): >>44419412 #
2. sandspar ◴[30 Jun 25 04:34 UTC] No.44419412[source]▶
That's reasonable. iPod was probably a better product overall, but I think Zune had more character. In Starcraft terms, I'd say that iPod was the pure Protoss and Zune was the primal Zerg. I guess I'd rather live on a Protoss world, but you can't deny that it'd be interesting to visit a Zerg one.
replies(1): >>44419439 #
3. leakycap ◴[30 Jun 25 04:37 UTC] No.44419439[source]▶
Great analogy! I still use my iPod, because for whatever reason the OG battery hasn't died even though it is a FireWire model. It also, shockingly, sounds WAY better with any pair of decent headphones than any of my AirPods including the Max.

Not a fair comparison since a wire will always have more bandwidth for fidelity, but the difference in listening experience on an old iPod vs a modern iPhone is so shocking I find that modern iPhone listening is like diet soda and is somewhat unfulfilling (I have Apple Lossless turned on, but the sound chip + low power of modern headphones + no wired connection... loses something)

I don't mean in a "vinyl is better" sense... I mean, everyone I've demo'd this to has looked at me with big eyes when they put the iPod on and listen to the same song vs. the same headphones plugged into a modern phone. It's weird, especially since the iPods of this era can't do anything close to Lossless... they're 160-192k AACs so the limited RAM cache can play a full song without pausing on an old iPod.

replies(1): >>44419567 #
4. jonah ◴[30 Jun 25 04:58 UTC] No.44419567{3}[source]▶
The early iPods had _really good_ DACs. Do some reading up on on them.
replies(2): >>44419671 #>>44425905 #
5. astrange ◴[30 Jun 25 05:17 UTC] No.44419671{4}[source]▶
Still do. The $10 USB-C dongle is better than many audiophile DACs. After all, it has a bigger R&D budget than the entire industry.

https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/r...

The trick here is that people just think whichever one is loudest sounds best. The iPod might be able to drive high-impedance headphones better than a phone too, since the phone is pretty limited there. You can always get an amp.

replies(1): >>44420178 #
6. leakycap ◴[30 Jun 25 06:40 UTC] No.44420178{5}[source]▶
But I have this dongle, the exact R&D budget one you discuss, and the iPod side by side with the same song loaded (except the iPhone has way higher resolution, as menitoned the iPod is under 256kbps).

The iPod isn't louder, but it has sounds in the music and a breathiness and real, moving sensation that my recent iPhones with lightning or USB to 3.5 adapters haven't had. It's hard to explain unless you listen side by side, and now I sound like an audiophile but I am far from it - the ears just don't lie and the old iPod really had amazing sound.

replies(1): >>44421380 #
7. astrange ◴[30 Jun 25 09:58 UTC] No.44421380{6}[source]▶
That does "sound" like impedance mismatch, which is kind of like an electrical incompatibility with the headphones. The usual effect is low volume but it's not that necessarily. A headphone amp would help.

Try planar magnetic headphones, they're very easy to drive with anything and you'll definitely hear more than you have before. They have a very strange and noticeable "plucked" sound though, like things that are supposed to reverb don't.

The very best and easiest to drive headphones are electrostatic earspeakers which, uh, you can't afford and neither can I. But I have some Stax ones from the 60s with absolutely terrible construction that sound great anyway.

replies(1): >>44451116 #
8. jonah ◴[30 Jun 25 17:35 UTC] No.44425905{4}[source]▶
I got a chance to look up some links[1]. The older iPods - through version 5.5 - have Wolfson DACs which have a "warm sound signature" that a lot of people like.

[1] e.g. https://www.macintoshhowto.com/ipod/which-ipod-has-the-best-...

replies(1): >>44451122 #
9. leakycap ◴[03 Jul 25 02:39 UTC] No.44451116{7}[source]▶
Thanks for the tip and for helping me understand what might be causing this! I wondered if the original iPods had more power output or something.

The headphones in question were cheap Koss Porta Pro Classics, and they appear to have a 60 Ohm impedance. That seems somewhat normal, but would that stand out to you?

If you've never tried the Porta Pros, they're the best bang/buck I've ever found for headphones.

10. leakycap ◴[03 Jul 25 02:41 UTC] No.44451122{5}[source]▶
Thank you, I definitely can tell a difference. I found the 2nd Gen (moving physical wheel) iPod to be decent, the 3rd gen (glowing buttons) to be incredible quality, the 4th Gen (non-moving click wheel) to be somewhere inbetween.