@ Loose Rivets
That was one reason why I suggested not using the iPod as the source...... For my home collection I have all my music encoded in FLAC (Free Lossless Audio Codec) - with a properly set up speaker and amp system (and with the digital end handled by the SqueezeBox line of products, as mentioned), I have astonishing final audio quality for when I want it.
But those FLAC files are big - not a problem for a HDD (my 1TB box only cost 150 bucks US....), but a big problem for iPod or other similar portable players (and FLAC flies, even if playable, will drain the battery too....). So, by a miracle piece of free software called "flac2mp3", I can accurately mirror my whole FLAC collection (preserving the folder-and-file structure, and all tags) to an identical, but compressed, MP3 set. And that's what I use on my portable player (not an iPod as it happens.....).
AGB