Is this possible? iPod touch sounds better

Factual Questions
1

I have an iPod integrated car stereo. I recently upgraded from a 3rd gen iPod Nano (8 GB) to a 2nd gen 16 GB iPod touch.

Today was the first time I used the touch with the car stereo, and I will SWEAR that the exact same music that was on the Nano sounds better on the touch – at least when it’s run through the car stereo.

The right and left channels seems much more distinct, and I was hearing subtleties of instrumentation I hadn’t heard before.

Am I going nuts or could this really be the case?

2

Are the equalizer settings the same on your two iPods? Different settings could make one sound better than the other.

3

Before they were both stolen, my Mini sounded better than a Nano on my car’s radio. I attributed it to the larger Mini putting out a stronger signal to the FM transmitter, but I have nothing to back that up. So, if you are going nuts, you have company.

4

Different firmwire. Different chipsets. Very possible.

5

The nano is a tiny thing with a tiny battery. You’d expect it to use tiny, inferior components, no? If you think all Apple products are the best possible thing they could be, you’d be wrong. There’s audio comparisons out there for various models. Some non-Apple mp3 players have even better components/sound than the iPods.

6

Thanks, Dopers! I’m glad to know I’m either not nuts or in good company.

Turek, I don’t know about the equalizer settings. I’m sorry to say I’m woefully ignorant about things audio, even though I’m pretty geeky otherwise. I consider it to be a glaring omission in my BFA/MA technical theater courses. But then, when I got my degree, audio assistance for actors was a director’s note to project more, and sound effects were accomplished by needle drop.

7

I had a 2nd gen Touch and agree it had great sound. I’m not sure which model uses which chipset but some of the audio chip suppliers for the ipods have been Wolfson, SigmaTel, Samsung, and probably others. I traded my Touch for an iPhone and don’t find the phone sounds as good. I blamed the headphones first but that wasn’t it, must be a different chip in this phone.