Super.fi 5 Pro with an iPod nano 3G with European Volume Cap

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Dear friends,

I have just bought a new iPod nano 3G in Spain. When I started to use it I noticed that quite often the max. volume was not enough to play the music. Then I learnt about the European volume cap on the iPods so I believe that the only chance to play music properly with my european nano is to use a low impedance high sensitive earphone. I have tested the nano with the Sennheiser CX300 with 16 Ohms and they play nicely at higher volume levels than the original apple earphones (and much better quality).

Nevertheless, it is my intention to buy a pair of Super.fi 5 Pro for a higher performance level. I am worry about the fact that the nano might not be able to play music loud enough with the Super.fi 5 Pro as I believe these have an impedance of 21 Ohms (slightly higher that the CX300 16 Ohms impedance).

Do you have any experience with the Super.fi 5 Pro and an European iPod with the dreaded Volume Cap?.

Should I go with the Super.fi 3 studio (13 Ohms)?.

Is there a Shure earphone sensitive enough to be played with an European iPod with Volume Cap?. What about the Shure SE 320 with 28 Ohms?. The Shure SE 420 with 22 Ohms seems to be another option but a pricey.

I would very much appreciate your comments on this.

Thank you.

[JIMBO3031]

I have the UE super.fi 5 pro, but have no idea of the usage with an European ipod. I can tell you this, the super.fi 5 pro are really nice and sound louder than the apple stock earphones.

Hope this helps.

[Sypher]

Not too sure about the technicalities of the volume cap, but I just up the volume adjustment of all my tracks (right click > options) to make them louder. And 5 pros work fine regardless, I rarely need to turn up the volume past the halfway level...

[Juha]

I'm here with the same problem. My trusty old Shure E1s are not loud enough with the new iPod nano (3G). With the 1G Shuffle (US model?) they work just fine, but now I need to push to the max volume and still not happy.

Shure E1 impedance is 29 ohms and sensitivity 114db. UE super.fi 5 Pro is 21 ohms/119db and super.fi 3 Studio 13 ohms/115db. Both impedance and sensitivity counts, but how much?

Shure E3c and SE310 are more or less just like the E1, so I think they really don't work for us.

[Andysmind]

Same problem here, the volume on my Nano is abysmal. I got it to be more portable when i'm out walking but i'm still using my main iPod because of the naff volume. I'm looking at super.fi 5 Pro's and super.fi 5 EB's - trying to decide if the extra bass would be overkill, no idea as there's nowhere i can try them out.

Everything about my Nano is great except the most important part - sound! If there isn't a hack to get rid of the cap in the near future then i certainly won't be buying another iPod.