iPod shuffle sound (quality, volume, etc)?
Ok. This is weird.
I've wanted a fairly priced color iPod with 60GB ever since the day the first iPod was released. It's getting so close I can taste it ($449 is still a bit rich for me). My years of patience are about to pay off. My zero hour approacheth...
And then it stuck me last night. I want an iPod shuffle. It was urgent and real. I want one. I almost bought one today. What am I thinking?
Anyway, before I do break down and get one (and throw my years of patient suffering and drooling out the window), I just want to know one thing. How's the sound? How is the quality? How is the volume?
I have to assume they are the same as the shuffle's big and mini-big brothers, because it would be just plain stupid not to. But the old-fashioned naysayer in me is telling me, "It's tiny. It's featherweight. It can't possibly deliver the same quality sound! How on earth could something lighter than my headphones or even my lighter (!) deliver good strong sounds, nice bass, and decent volume?!?"
Specifically, I want to use it while biking (with wind rushing past my helmet). anyone have any experience with that? Will I be disappointed? Half of me wants a "Yes, you will be disappointed," and the other half wants a "Buy it you dumb schmuck!" So please be honest.
I've wanted a fairly priced color iPod with 60GB ever since the day the first iPod was released. It's getting so close I can taste it ($449 is still a bit rich for me). My years of patience are about to pay off. My zero hour approacheth...
And then it stuck me last night. I want an iPod shuffle. It was urgent and real. I want one. I almost bought one today. What am I thinking?
Anyway, before I do break down and get one (and throw my years of patient suffering and drooling out the window), I just want to know one thing. How's the sound? How is the quality? How is the volume?
I have to assume they are the same as the shuffle's big and mini-big brothers, because it would be just plain stupid not to. But the old-fashioned naysayer in me is telling me, "It's tiny. It's featherweight. It can't possibly deliver the same quality sound! How on earth could something lighter than my headphones or even my lighter (!) deliver good strong sounds, nice bass, and decent volume?!?"
Specifically, I want to use it while biking (with wind rushing past my helmet). anyone have any experience with that? Will I be disappointed? Half of me wants a "Yes, you will be disappointed," and the other half wants a "Buy it you dumb schmuck!" So please be honest.
Comments
There is no option for adjusting equalizer settings, but I didn't feel the need to. If you have a large iPod, and just want this for jetting around ony our bike etc, I would go for it, you won't be disappointed.
1. Purchase a $149 iPod shuffle (1 GB)
2. Purchase a $299 iPod (20 GB, monochrome screen)
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Grand total: $448
and have the best of both worlds! A lightweight iPod, great for biking, jogging, whatever...
and a roomy 20 GB iPod with a backlit screen, equalizers, games, calendars, notes, etc. Besides, the click-wheel is something everyone should experience.
I'd sure prefer that over an iPod photo.
I like the way you can set up the shuffle without having it plugged in.
then plug it in, load tunes, and go.
Originally posted by superkarate monkeydeathcar
my shuffle is louder than my wife's mini.
I like the way you can set up the shuffle without having it plugged in.
then plug it in, load tunes, and go.
Ye, I miss that on my mini, it was pretty handy to just plug in and it would auto-update changed tracks, and also changed track details. Can't do that on my mini as I have a 20Gb library, and a 4Gb mini, so I'm adding albums manually. Thanks for confirming my suspicions about volume. My mini is loud enough anyway, I can't quite turn it up to full volume without defeaning myself through my Sony headphones.
And damn! Turning up the volume all the way actually hurts my ears. My frikin home stereo doesn't even do that!
This thing is amazing. I've just been wearing it constantly on the lanyard, and whenever I want to take a break from grading or whatever, I just whip out the ear phones, plug 'em in, and voilá.
[disturbing image] Last night, the first night after I bought it, my wife went out and left me home alone. I loaded up some Jurassic 5, Spearhead, and some other jammin stuff. Turned it up, and just started dancing around my little home. Any perverts or FBI/CIA/NSA/etc agents watching me through a window probably regretted it--overweight, middle-aged teacher and father of one dancing around alone to (apparently) nothing in his boxers at 11:00 pm.
Thanks for the advice and help. This is, without a doub, the coolest thing I've ever bought on a (relative) whim.
2 questions though: #1) about how long does it take to fully charge the shuffle (and how do you know when it's fully charged)? #2) Are the USB ports (USB 1.1) on an ADC screen and/or an apple USB keyboard powered (or do I have to plug in the thing to the back of my computer...which would be annoying)? If you don't know the answer to #2, is there a way for me to find out for myself?
For those of you who are interested, I bought a 512 shuffle. I actually had the 1GB version in my hand for about half an hour while I browsed the shelves of the Apple store. And I fully intended to get that version. But as I got in line, I just thought "What can I do with 1 GB that I can't with a half?" I mean, that still like-what?-8 hours of music.
Couldn't be happier. (This, from someone who thought the shuffle was a stupid idea when it was first rumored, then released. I thought the lack of a display would be annoying--and it remains to be seen how I feel in a few months--but it reminds me of tapes in a lot of ways: if a tape was new or otherwise unfamiliar, and you were in the middle of side B and didn't really remember how many songs had gone by, you just had to kind of figure it out and sometime you couldn't. You had to get used to the songs and, once you knew the songs well, then you didn't need the tape case to tell you what song you were on. Well, with the shuffle, I'm putting on the songs I know and love, so I always know what I'm hearing. Simple really.)
Thanks again.
It is fantastic to hear your enthusiasm for the shuffle. I'm glad you are enjoying it. It is nice to have fun, with a new toy like this.
About 4 hours for a complete charge, but it will be 80 percent full after 2 hours. I'd imagine you should use 2.0 ports, but I'm not sure.
There is a battery indicator light on the back by the slider, and it is suppose to tell you, when the battery it charged.
Originally posted by superkarate monkeydeathcar
my shuffle is louder than my wife's mini.
I like the way you can set up the shuffle without having it plugged in.
then plug it in, load tunes, and go.
What iPod mini do you have?Because on most of my songs,if I went to highest volume,I would be deaf for about an hour,then end with a 2 hour headache.The shuffle attracted me,but seeing those iPod minis just made me want one,because the colored shell and buttons,the amount of space that's just right,and that blue-white backlight.