Do I need a DAC for iPod?

I'm not sure if there's still any floating around, but you may want to try finding an Apple TV Gen 1. The have an internal hard drive that can store your music on (limited to 160 gb). Since you have iTunes and iPad etc, you can control it wirelessly with the remote app. No need for the computer to be running.

Or you can get an Apple TV 2, and do almost the same thing. Problem is the ATV2 doesn't have the internal hard drive, so you'd have to stream to it, either from your computer or through AirPlay (not sure exactly how that one works).

The second issue I have with the ATV2 is that it outputs everything at 48 instead of the native 44.1. That tells me it's changing the music slightly. Not sure if it's truly audible or not, but it rubs me the wrong way.

With either, you're best off using an internal DAC. The analog outs aren't anything to write home about.

I'm a huge fan of the ATV1. I currently have the majority of my music synched to its hard drive as Apple Lossless, control it with my iPhone 3Gs, and run it's optical output into a Rega DAC. Sounds excellent to my ears. Everything is self contained, no computers need to be running, I don't have to worry about wireless issues, and so on. And as I'm sure you know, Apple stuff is so easy to use.

I wouldn't trade my ATV and iPhone setup for any other server right now. It just flat out works and sounds great.

There are a lot of options, varying widely in cost, and these have been posted already. My question for you -- what format is the music in? 128kbps AAC files purchased from iTunes? Similarly lossy mp3's? Or Apple Lossless that youve ripped yourself? (I assume they arent flac files unless you've installed a third-party OS on your iPod.)

I think that you need to do some serious listening before you spend a bunch of money on an external dac to decode what may be very lossy files. I just don't have enough experience listening to such set-ups to know whether a lossy, compressed mp3 or aac file will sound substantially better via a Wadia doc (that has an external dac and bypasses the iPod's dac) than with a cable from the headphone "out"

Most of my songs were purchased directly from iTunes. I have started loading my old cd's to iTunes, but I was unsure how those were saved. This is really new to me since the last time I had a hifi system the iPod was very new. I appreciate your help.

jeff, go to import settings in itunes. chose a lossless setting i would recommend. it will take more memory but the sound quality is worth it to me at least. then check the box for error correction. this will help with the rip. i chose to use aiff but some people like wav especially if the use computers other than apple. check out some articles in computer audiophile or ilounge about this before you spend hours ripping cds.when buying from itunes there is a way to request 256kbps. it is always easy to compress but no way to add data that isn't there to begin with. good luck john

Rip your CDs at either AIFF (Apple's version of WAV) or Apple Lossless (Apple's version of FLAC). I went with Apple Lossless because I couldn't hear any differences, and Apple Lossless is 60% or so smaller than AIFF.

Use error correction as well. It takes a few minutes longer, but is better to my ears.

Save your library on an external hard drive, and buy another one as a backup.

To check what your CDs were ripped at, right click on a track, select "get info," and the first tab should say what bitrate it's stored as. 44.1k is redbook CD.

iTunes downloads are 256k, which aren't full CD quality.