USB vs dock for iPod on Peachtree units?

The Ipod dock passes a direct digital signal, which should translate to better sound through the iPod. The USB connection is geared to hook up to a computer. The iPod connection sounds incredible in my iDecco. The iPod dock turns the iPod into a high end music server, albeit with limited remote control capabilities. If you intend to use the iPod as a transport, the iDecco is your best choice...

Thanks, Iramirez. I thought that was how it was supposed to be, but on the other hand, the Nova supposedly also played music from the iPod very well, via the USB input, so the ads look confusing from here (Japan). The iDecco and Decco 2 won't arrive here for another couple of weeks, so I haven't seen those yet. I saw the Nova in USA last month.

I was sort of hoping the Decco 2 (cheaper) would play the iPod equally well, or that the USB connection would be equally good on the Nova or Decco 2, because I like to search for music remotely from my iPod and wouldn't like to have to move over to the iDeco every time I want to change songs, especially not with the Classic iPod software, which I find cumbersome.

I was also hoping to set my iMac on top of the Nove/iDecco/ or Decco 2 unit, as I've seen in some review photos of the Nova, but it looks as though the position of the iPod dock on top of the iDecco would kill that idea. Is that the case?

Have you (or anyone) compared the sound of the iPod played through the USB vs dedicated dock?

I can't say this for certain, but I understand that the Nova & the Decco's share the same DAC. I think that the internals are the same except for the dock and the amplifiers. I have not tried out the iPod through the USB input, but I suspect that it would sound the same as it does in the Nova. I have my iDecco connected to my mac mini through the USB. I think that your iMac would sit atop the iDecco with no problem, but it might place the dock at an inconvenient spot behind the screen...

Oh, it looks like you cannot use the decco's USB with the iPod. I got this from David Solomon's blog, he said: "The USB from iPhone, like the iPod is for input and updates. It does not have audio output from the USB. You can use the Wadia i170 which outputs digital from the iPhone and iPods though." So it looks like you need a propriatary dock to get digital audio out of the iPod & iPhone...