While Alien Gold’s audible improvements are moot, the ways in which its machine quality has, vis-à-vis the original, improved, are obvious. 

For years I've had a hankering for a screen-less audio player that was small, friendly, and sounded great. Something that could replace, or complement, my original iPod shuffle. 

Finding one has proven impossible. In 2006, Apple ruined the shuffle series. The 2nd generation shuffle sounded poor, hissed more than the first generation, and frequently got lost in the wash or broke its clip. Worse yet, it required a cable.