iPod Touch first & second generations: Falls short where it counts

Fig. 1 iPod touch 1st generation

The iPod touch has many features the iPhone does. Both the iPhone and iPod sport musical capabilities, a video player, and applications. Both the first and second generation do audio, video, apps, and web access with Wi-Fi.

I could go on about all the terrific features and applications the iPod touch has to offer, but that would distract from the main theme of this blog, which is audio performance of the product.

The first generation ipod is slim, and the form factor is minimal. It lacks external volume controls, you need to touch the screen a certain number of times just to adjust the volume, a difficult task if the device has the hold button on while you're jogging! The bezel around the glass front screen is another problem. It is sharp and awkward to hold. The back of the unit is "scratch me silly" chrome, which looks like it will get marks if you breathe on it.

Fig 2. iPod touch 2nd generation

Many of the basic design problems I mentioned with the 1st gen iPod Touch have been fixed for the second generation. This model features external volume controls, a basic necessity. I don't care how much touch technology evolves, some buttons are absolutely essential for smooth operation. The second gen also has a smooth rounded bezel which is easy to hold, with a smooth curved back. The iPod is very easy to hold, like a smooth pebble which fits in the palm of your hand.

Another new physical feature is the addition of a speaker, similar to the iPhone. The sound quality is not great, but it is sufficient for games, sampling music, and watching short videos. Unfortunately, the delicate chrome backing is still present.

The touch interface is pretty much the same as the iPhone for both the 1st and 2nd generation touch iPods, sans the phone features obviously. Navigating the music library is simple, intuitive, and the touch interface is brilliantly responsive.

Finally, the AUDIO review.

AUDIO (tested using Grado SR-60s, and Sennheiser PX100s)
The Grado SR-60s may be considered near reference headphones in the $100 under category, and the PX100s are an extremely brilliant pair as well. Both reproduce audio beautifully, they're driven easily by portable, so the variable of audio quality is largely on the iPod.

1st generation & 2nd generation: With Apple's equalizer "presets" off, the output sounded fairly flat. The soundstage was shallow, I could hear the music but it lacked detail around the separate instruments and the vocals. I used various genres of music encoded at 320 kbps, and some lossless files, so the source files were not an issue.

The mids were mediocre, the highs were mostly crip with some harsh distortion on a few tracks, and with the eq off the bass was hardly there. Vocals, especially at the midrange did not convey enough of the detail in the singer's voice. Some of these characteristics may be more nuanced, like some of the minor intentional distortion heard in a singer's voice. My Sony NWZ-A729 digital Walkman can reproduce some of that natural distortion, but this doesn't sound natural on the iPod.

Even without the eq (equalizer), I expected to hear bass guitars, drums, and other instruments in the low end as distinct elements of the entire musical composition. Instead the bass was largely ignored by the devices. Whatever I managed to hear was merely a muddy blob of "thumpy" low end sound. To be fair, I turned on the bass booster in the eq to see if that would help provide some "umph" to the music.

BIG MISTAKE! The eq's bass boost just ruined the low end by mushing up all the lows, until too much of it was distorted. There was very little detail in the bass, and the low end distortion was distracting. Apple does not allow a user to customize the equalizer, so presets are all you have to use. These presets are all you have to work with.

I had expected that the second generation touch to sound better due to a redesign, but the audio quality was on par with the first generation. Perhaps the 2nd gen seemed it played a bit louder, but the signal was still muddy. The audio review applies to both generations, unfortunately both sounded similar.

The lack of defined bass, inability to discern "low" details, and the overall shallow soundstage left me wanting more. Many users will buy this simply because it is an iPod, but it lacks the "umph" or kick which gives music the right flavor. Just like a good recipe for food, missing ingredients can bring down the whole meal.

At this price point, Apple should have spent time developing better sonic performance.*

MY RECOMMENDATION: If you value audio quality, look elsewhere for an mp3/audio player. The iPod touch does a lot, but cannot hold a tune well. I suggest the Sony NWZ-A729, review coming shortly.


*FYI: I don't have anything against Apple. I was satisfied with the 5th generation iPod video.