How much would an new iPod help the quality of earbuds?

[SLCentral]

I own Ultimate Ears UE-5c custom earphones, and right now I'm using them un-amped from an iPod Mini (G2). I've been hearing that the new iPods drive these much better, and I wonder if anyone has compared sound quality between iPods using IEM's. Anyone know?

 

[Mr Incognito]

It's hard to tell the difference really, just encode em at a higher bit rate if they sound crappy.

 

[SLCentral]

Originally posted by: Mr Incognito
It's hard to tell the difference really, just encode em at a higher bit rate if they sound crappy.

They don't sound crappy, but the audio chips throughout the years in the iPod has been known to improve greatly. Right now I have everything at 320kbps and 256kbps, and I'm happy with performance, but if the 5G iPod can do a similar job as an amp like the Tomahawk can do (at least for IEM's) that may be a better alternative for me.