Mac & iPod: Maximum Quality..?

[jbkalla]

I've got several HD albums, of varying lossless quality. I'm using an iMac (2013, i7) with Audirvana Plus and an external DAC. My iPods are the iPod Classic, 4th Gen iPod Touch, 6th Gen iPod nano, iPad Air, and iPhone 5S. I've converted all my higher quality Apple Lossless files to 24/48 and 24/44.1 Apple Lossless (depending upon the original sample rate) using XLD.

 

Questions:

1. Will all the iPods play those bit rates @ 24bit depth?

2. Am I correct in assuming that the highest quality files that will play on iPods is 24/44.1 & 24/48?

 

The 4th Gen Touch will probably be used in my car as the main source for my 2009 Infiniti G37x, which requires an old-school 30-pin adapter. The other iPods have no radios of any kind (bluetooth, wifi) or a camera, so I can use them at work (govt contractor).

 

I will likely eventually get an HD player of some sort to use at work, but I like the convenience of the iPod connected to my car stereo. Can I assume that most of them do NOT have any radios or camera inside them? (fiio X5 and Pono)

 

Eventually, I will attempt to rip my records to 24/96 or higher, if I can figure out the best way to do it. I have a VPI Traveller with a Dynavector 10-X5 cartridge. What is the best sub-$1000 way to get my records to digital, given the setup I already have? Am I better off just buying a lesser-quality USB turntable? I'm having a hard time finding an ADC made for this purpose.

 

Thanks! I hope this isn't too much for one post.

[extracampine]

Have you tried to playback those files on your ipods? What happened?

[mingming]

Your iPod is only going to play up to 16/44, I believe.

[jbkalla]

Sorry! I didn't realize there had been replies.

 

Everything up to 24/48 copied over (and played) just fine on the iPod Touch, 4th gen. I'm assuming the iPad (latest) & iPhone 5S will have the same capabilities. The only iPod I'm not sure about is the nano. The shuffle will not play lossless files of any type.