Is iPod Firmware Damaging Headphones?
Apple’s firmware is famed for tweaking its players with ever more appealing features, but you may want to steer clear of 1.1 if you have an iPod Classic… According to TheStreet.com, a number of users are reporting the update causes a serious electrical problem with the capacious devices. The accusation is that installing the firmware creates an imbalance which sends residual electrical pulses through both the headphone jack and the docking connection. Even more surprising, these pulses have been measured to be as high 500mv which it is claimed is high enough to upset attached equipment and potentially damage headphones. If this wasn’t bad enough, TheStreet also cites Stereophile.com and Apple user forums which report that audio quality has also suffered from the update adding noticeable hiss, static and buzzing. Whether this can be detected using the horrible cracker-quality buds bundled in the box is debatable, but if you’ve just splashed out on a high end pair of Shures then this i
