Marco - no question that there are much better ways to play digital music then an iPod. It's a convenience or form factor thing. Makes no sense with a nice rig in place. But nice by the pool, on a boat, at the mountain cabin, the guest bedroom etc.
David - IME many of the people who come looking for this kind of advice are computer newbies (this is very generational). Old school audiophiles arre looking for the sort of guaranteed performance they are used to with their Denon or Wadia or whatever - you push the button and it works. That is why I recommend a wired solution, the odds tilt a bit more in your favor - truth is even then there is still no guarantee.
Looks like Steve has unleashed another one of his conceptual breakthroughs. Anxious to watch it roll out and to see market acceptance. Remember that you still need a DAC after the Offramp...
Yes - this stuff works really well and inexpensively compared to getting equivalent performance from a traditional rig with its tweaks, power cords, ICs and all the other folderol.
Marco's U24 set up is inexpensive - I ran one into a fully modded TriVista, a nicely modded Squeezebox is in the realm of the reasonable as are an ever growing number of USB DACS.
Watch for wireless USB coming soon, and the new WiFi standard 802.11n
