For what they are they are pretty good not as good as a cd but it depends on your encoding. I use it all the time for music in the house and have have had various models. The 2nd and 3rd gen models sound the best I think, a little light on the bass but if you turn on the bass boost it is better at least with my etys headphones. If you use a headphone amp or go into a preamp no need to do this. I just got a nano and the sound stage is not as big and seems to cut the highs and lows a bit, but the bass issue is solved it is a more neutral sounding. Hope this helps a bit.
