In the soul the devil buys iPods ...

It has been written a lot about the iPod, so I think me in many ways does not have to repeat. Unfortunately, other vendors had stoped the production of portable hard disk player, which recently came from China, could then no longer be imported due to lack of RoHS certification. Flash memory are the plates at an advantage, because they can be mechanically stressed more, allowing smaller form factors and clearly need less power, but provide less memory. Hard drives can be found therefore almost exclusively in pure video players with large displays. But if you want have a lot of storage on the go, you can not get to a hard drive, SSDs are simply not affordable. Therefore, I had no choice but to select as the iPod, because I was important to be able to carry all my music with me as possible.

I refused for years to buy an iPod. Reason is the lack of ability to copy the music library by folder, on-the-fly to the device (that is, it can be so. But they can not be played because it is not indexed). With SharePod there is one of many possibilities, einzupflegen his music in the database, you should only disable the synchronization with iTunes for music. This is nonsense anyway, if the existing archives requires more space than the iPod can provide. Then he runs fully with anything else then just missing. Something that is problematic, however, in a more than 10-year archive of waiving tags and folder structure. Provisionally I entered title and artist with mp3tag and entered the respective folder name as a genre, so I have at least a searchable library. For complete albums, it is easier, since there are uniquely associated with the tags. If you have done this preliminary work is to the iPod Classic quite good deal. The Archos Jukebox old with the Rockbox firmware was the but still superior because both were combined, but these devices were unfortunately on the hardware side something of care, albeit self-repairable. A solution presented itself for me is to take the folder name in the form of index, so that I can at least split the music during playback.

But back to the iPod, beginning with the hardware:
Material processing, solid finish and reliable handling (though, it sometimes crashes) are well resolved, the easy scratching back neglected times. Why Apple does not continue using a complete aluminum housing, as in the 2G 3G models, is a mystery to me and also the disadvantage of the newer versions. Also, the distortion in the bass range at the Sound Settings Loudness (and even with a good set of headphones, such as the Koss Porta Pro) I had not quite expected, but you get used to; could it switch to neutral, too. Why he does so, is beyond me, sometimes this feature annoying also. I am not a fan of soldered batteries that you can not change or "may". Especially not when the normal use makes it virtually impossible to maintain the battery. Each dock can charge it. The battery has a very long duration that you probably get it rarely empty. If you put him then but the dock, the half-empty battery is equal reloaded; unpleasant for the customer, the manufacturer would be reduced this but the service interval times. ;-)

Service:
The operation with the click wheel, which was indeed copied optically often is really unmatched in iPod. Although sometimes the wheel reacts very clean, you should keep clean already. The software and ergonomics are well matched, as iPod newcomer it was not even short acclimatization would rather say: Simply use and goes. Everything is easy to find, almost clean translated, well thought out above all. What was not so easy at the Archos devices of the past, and now thanks to the indexing is an advantage is the direct searching and filtering by artist, title or other parameters. This is beneficial for those who want to browse through the collection and do not know where to find what. So I have allowed myself to teach a lesson on this point that maintained ID3 tags but not the worst. ;-)

Software and filling:
Although my one hand indeed suits the Apple ergonomics, displeases me the other hand, the more the manufacturer's tutelage. I have also had an iPhone 4 and a Mac in use, because my hand-in-hand philosophy of Apple was interested, but I am completely it again. I'd rather combine technologies from different manufacturers than having to leave me only a half-silk solution in which I will be given which needs I may have and what I have to do without. All the better that iTunes that I for updates and to sync podcasts does not force minimally to create me an account. An experiment which challenged me equal specify my payment data, regardless of whether I want to buy something, or not. I'm actually used to showcase my ability to pay at the cash register and not at the entrance of a store, but Apple is well known for eccentricity. So even a radio is not installed, a remote control with radio are available from Apple optional. However, it brings in the sound processor with a little whistle, allows however (because it is connected via the Dock Connector) that two sets of headphones can be used simultaneously.

Sound:
The iPod sounds good, but nothing more. From the perspective of a high-Enders lacks much precision, airiness, dynamics. When in MP3 compressed music and even in lossless 44.1kHz and 16 bit sound is indeed fully inordnung, but he spoils audiophile music something quality. Much like as if you drink an expensive wine out of a paper cup. The accompanying earphones are absolutely not appropriate and sufficient for a maximum of a sonic function test, the Koss Porta Pro would be here a very appropriate players. The Bowers & Wilkins P5, which is designed for the iPod, has so many reserves in sound and performance that he overwhelmed the iPod simply.

iTunes Alternative:
I do not befülle my iPod with iTunes, but with an open source software called SharePod. This affected in some functions Although iTunes, however, consists of only one EXE file and a configuration file that can be stored directly on the iPod in the main directory. Since the iPod shows up as a removable disk (only when activated under Windows and if you explicitly anhakt this in iTunes), you can speak Sharepod start on any computer. This makes it not only possible to pack on any computer media (FAT32) on the device, but you can also this iTunes free wank again from the iPod. Were it not for this program, I would still not bought the device. Who needs any podcasts, contacts and calendars on your iPod, so you can also do without iTunes, it is not necessary to activate the Classic. Even Winamp can probably filled with a plug-in your iPod, however, I have not yet hinbekommen.

Conclusion:
Looking at the price compared to the capacity, the Touch and Nano models are too expensive (we neglect that the iPod Touch more like a mini-tablet, as an MP3 player). When you get a lot Classic for the money, though less innovation, but more what you would have expected from an iPod: A solid MP3 player that can also play back videos and photos and in addition looks good. If Apple was not so eccentric and might act a little bit more open (eg. As copying via drag and drop, no forcing of iTunes), would certainly be the sales of the devices still higher. Too bad it only the iPod Classic are here, but so beautiful that there is now an opportunity to freely manage it from iTunes. Apple seems also not to develop it further, let's hope that there will be him anyway for a long time.

Why only three stars?
- No filling possible without special software.
- Clink in the bass range, though not always.
- Battery hardwired, difficult to maintain.
- Case back scratch prone.

I would buy this (only these) at any time.

By the way: Audiophile music connoisseurs should equal abschminken iPod and prefer to grab Colorfly C4 Pro or the players of Hifi-Man. Although the cost significantly more, but offer much more unequal quality. Some resourceful articles in journals compare iPods happy with these players, but is absolutely not practical, since these players play in a completely different league. It would, after all, compare no golf with an Audi A8.