I decided to buy an 8GB iPod nano [nano2bass, nano2greviews] to replace my aging (but perfectly scratch-free) 2nd-gen 10GB iPod. The original iPod had pretty good sound quality except with deeper bass, where the frequencies would quickly melt away the deeper the bass went. At least it was much better than the music player in the Treo [treotoiphone, treoinhawaii, treoweekone, treofirstimpressions], which seems to have no bass at all! This is not the case with the nano.
I listened to three songs that have the bass as an essential part of the melody:
Using my best earbuds and headphones, you can't hear the bass lines at all on the Treo. On the original iPod, you need to use the Bass Boost EQ function to hear the lines at a reasonable mix. On the nano, they are crystal clear, and get better with better headphones.
The included earbuds sound slightly dark, and are a tad weak with the bass, but have a more full sound than the buds included with the original iPod. And in my case, they seem to fit my ears better (i.e., they don't fall out). They immediately reveal the better sound on the nano.
Using my Etyomotic ER6i ![[B0002ZW5W4]](http://www.mikeyp.com/css/external.gif)
in-ear earphones, the bass in the nano sprung to life, along with more definition in the high end. It is amazing how much better the Etys sound compared to Apple's earbuds. High-end earbuds should be the first thing an iPod owner should buy. The sound quality with the Etymotic / nano combination sounded perfectly balanced, with the bass lines in the three songs carrying the tunes as intended.
But with the Sennheiser PX 100 open-air headphones, the nano simply bursts with bass, almost, but not quite, to the point of overweighting it. The only thing missing with this combo is the chest-thump you get from a proper full-range speaker system. I guess I should test that next!
Overall, the new 8GB iPod nano is superb. The PX 100 headphones will be my speakers for home listening, and the Etys will be used everywhere else. The Apple earbuds will be forgotten in a drawer somewhere.
