Tube amps and iPods

Paulo

It's not necessarily true that the files on the iPod are compressed, that's entirely up to the user.

It will store and play the same AIFF files that are on a CD, uncompressed WAV files or several different types of compressed files.

I agree with you that what the iPod excels at is ease of use and portability and considering it as a primary music source for a high-end system doesn't make a lot of sense but it is perfectly capable of storing uncompressed files.

Just to meke shure that express my self clear.
ON AIFF files yes, you transfer files with the same quality of the CD to the iPod, but I said :
I have an iPod and even with AIFF files you can see de difference, NOW THE PROBLEM IS NOT THE FILE IT SELF IS THE SOUND CARD OF THE IPOD.
The sound card on the iPod is good, how ever far far away form a High-End CD player.
Paulo

I always find it interesting when someone disparages a format that they have not used and do not seem to be familiar with. I came late to the Ipod and only used them for travel at first. Later I tried higher sampling rates and the lossless format with surprisingly good results. I now use a generation 4, 40 gig model as a portable HD on both my Jolida 102b/Sequerra Met7/Atlantic subwoofer (with an Onkyo brand dock) based bedroom system and my office TEAC mini reference system (with an eBay no-name remote dock). It really is a very convenient way to move your music to your different systems and /or locations. The quality of the sound is quite good with both systems better than or equal to most moderately priced CD players. I have not used it in my Audio Research or Luxman Tube based primary systems but only because I have not had need to. Try the Ipod with a recording from good input source you may be suprised.

An ingenious combination of iPod & tubes:

http://kurtisb.awardspace.com/

I own an iPod. iHateit. Actually tubes don't just "warm" sound; the physics of tubes makes them more direct, with more wavelengths (frequencies) with better power. I do not mean wattage by this. This is true "good engineering" - not just a nice packaging job, or a lot of knobs and functions. This is why almost all serious sound engineering is still done the old fashioned way with tubes and analog tape. Unless you're talking about people who are talentless hacks in the first place of course... But I don't much like ProTools either. The name kind of sums it up: Pro (professional) tool (quisling, incompetent, etc.).