in terms of sound quality directly from the ipod, the consensus is that the 4th, 5th and 5.5 generations work off the best dac chips. some people have then moved forward and had their pods modded by vinnie rossi at red wine audio.
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l.a.
Best iPods for AUDIOphiles
My circa 2005/2006 with video iPod appears to be dying today, so I am wondering what version would be the best replacement.
My top three priorities would be 1) sound quality 2) sound quality and 3) sound quality so if any devices perform better with WAV files, that would be great to know.
After that, my main concern would be battery life. I suppose this relates to the point above if WAV files drained the battery on any particular versions?
I think I want a full size iPod but storage space is otherwise of minimal concern to me, and video and photos are of no concern - will never use those features.
Thanks for any ideas, particularly if good versions are available used or NOS ("new old stock") very inexpensively.