[PSP]

My beloved 1st generation 30Gb iPod Video has apparently died ("the device cannot be written to or read from" when I attempt to synch from iTunes... I have tried numerous resets from iTunes and from the iPod itself with no luck).

I have been extremely happy with this iPod + Shure EC2 buds for several years http://www.audiocircle.com/index.php?topic=37184.msg345182#msg345182. My Orions & Aspen amps are better, of course, but they don't travel very well.

I can get a new hard drive put in my old machine (~ $100 or thereabouts) or I can buy an iPod Touch.  My first and second priorities are that the music be involving and "real".  Do you think that the Touch can deliver as well or better than my old iPod?

Thanks for your help,
Peter

[mshan]

You have probably got a lot of discharge cycles on the battery too, so unless that is replaced too with hard drive, it might be better to get a new one or a previous generation refurbished one from the Apple Store (product is typically like new and comes with warranty):  http://store.apple.com/us/browse/home/specialdeals/ipod?mco=OTY2ODY2NQ

As for best sound quality, I would search around the Head-Fi forums:  http://www.head-fi.org/forums/f15/

[ctviggen]

A good headphone amp will do wonders for the sound.  I'm using one of these:

http://www.head-fi.org/forums/f5/cavalli-compact-tube-hybrid-amp-review-416776/

And it made a startling difference.  I also was using FLAC files played through a computer, which sounded even better, but I dropped my external hard drive and broke it.

I was in the same predicament a while back, and I chose to buy another iPod, because the storage capacity is bigger on the iPod than on the Touch.

[Mike Nomad]

~