this is actually quite an old ipod, 3rd gen touch. i'm able to load the ipod with flacs using the capriccio app. it works from within itunes, but has its own  mechanism, kind of drag and drop, so itunes doesn't process/sync anything. i then hook up the ipod to yamaha cds300 and it plays...

my yamaha cds-300 cd player functions as an external dac (through usb cable) bypassing ipod's DAC. it has a nice and warm burr brown. are you saying that i will be getting real 24/96 and more, not just 24/48? 

will ipod downsample to 16/44.1 with an external DAC as well? or am i able to play 24/48 with external DAC as they are? looks like i can play FLAC with an app, no problem.

or should i just convert my flac to wav (a bit sceptical about alac, or shouldn't i be?) and call it? the cdp should def support ipod classic 120gb, so space shouldn't be an issue...

this is very helpful, thank you. the thing is that i'd also gladly do 16/44.1 if those were flacs. but according to yamaha's manual the only supported ipods are way too old than anything the new flac apps are built for. i WISH the usb would read wav files (it doesn't, no matter what bitrate)...

that means my only option to play flac on ipod with an external DAC is to use one of the only two (are there more?) apps available? any preference?

hello, am a new member.   there's so much conflicting information on whether rockboxed ipod can do 24/96, particularly with an external DAC (which is what i want to do). i have a yamaha cds300 player, with a very nice and warm DAC, and a usb slot for connecting an ipod (only certain models)...