iPod as a source 80 gig model, lossless

Just in case you don't share Edesilva's view on what's "real," here is a real solution for taking a SPDIF or AES/EBU digital siginal out of an iPod, so you can use an external DAC:

http://www.msbtech.com/products/iLink.php

Edesilva writes:

The reason is that the DAC inside the iPod is, well, a DAC in a piece of consumer equipment that prioritizes size and cost. It is compromised

I'm not sure that's the reason. Wolfson make some pretty good DACs. I'm sure it's priorities were size and cost, but holy mackerel - look at the volume those DACs are moving in. That'll keep your costs down.

According to Vinnie at Red Wine Audio, you can get a pretty nice signal off that DAC.

Regards,

Metralla, make no mistake, I think the iPod is a fantastic bit of engineering. The fact that it makes respectable sound when played through a high end rig is pretty stunning. Just hard to compete with something like, say, the Spectral DAC mentioned before.

Barring something like MSB, that is. Which, in due deference to Kana, I still think is kind of an unreal product--for the price, I think I might go a very different direction in digital audio. (The MSB was, in fact, what I was thinking of, just didn't remember the name.)