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Seems valid to me given the times. Yet, I would hate to see this become "mainstream" fare for Stereophile. While many audio buffs do engage portable systems and I should think most would love to hear of the really good ones, I rather doubt that is their main interest. Way okay on occasion and when a portable component really cuts the mustard.

Before being an audiophile we are music lovers. Portables are big part of our lives, especially those who travel a lot like me. But choose selectively only on very popular or ground breaking items. iPod clearly fits the bill.

It's a big YAWN : 0

I'd like music more than Hifi and I want to know every different way to listen to it.

This is not high fidelity.

It is a bad move, IMO, for an "audiophile" publication to review a product that not only is not designed to be "audiophile" but is based on technology that makes it impossible for the product to be "audiophile." (How's that for a run-on sentence?)

My son read the review. I may now that I have read your opening comments about audiophiles "perfecting" the general public choses as the market. The article maded me think about the use of my funds to chase live music rather attending concerts. My son correctly maybe spends his limited funds going to concerts. This year I will attend a chamber music series at a local college. Funny that is how I became interested in classical music during my college days.

iPod represents an important trend in music distribution, and it would be folly for audiophiles to ignore it... unless of course one of us is coming up with a means for carrying 10,000 LP's in our pockets!

You have got to be kidding, are you going to review AM radios next.

Audiophile technology IS *Audiophile* technology. We cannot all spend our lives in our own personal LEDE dedicated listening rooms with only the finest of equipment (most of us can only dream about spending a half-hour in one that belongs to someone else!). The iPod is a prime example of breakthruugh technology that can open the audiophile world up to the "rest" of us in its own humble manner. I say More power to you and keep up the great work... Oh, and I also say "does anyone know where I can get a good trade-up deal on my original 5GB iPod to the new 40GB model?!?!?!"

It doesn't even have a tubed output stage.

This is part of our listening world. Let us not be Luddites. remember why Roman Hruska, the late US Senator. said . " I don't trust computers because you can't see what's going on in those little boxes"

Without trying to sound too much like an advertisement for Stereophile or the other guys, I think it's important to have "experts" opine on the merits of new technologies. Through criticsm comes improvement. How else would we have the current state of CD playback, but for the criticsm of publications such as Stereophile and those other guys. Recall version one of CD playback. I for one, still prefer the sound from my Linn LP12, but listen far more to music through my CD player. When I travel on business...it's nice (not perfect) to have my entire music collection in the palm of my hand and able to play music anywhere in the world...good, bad or ugly.

Not only BIG-BUCK equipment should be given attention!

As I see it, your purview is any hardware or software that deals with recording, storing or reproducing music.

The suck winds are blowing just the same.

What a breath of fresh air! If it's about audio, it should be fair game for Stereophile reviewers. If the analog crowd had their way, the magazine would cover nothing but LPs, turntables, tonearms, and tubes. You could start a secondary publication just for them. Call it Antiquephile. I can't wait to see them wailing in the Letters section. Don't let them discourage you. Let's have more of this. Onward into the future!

Great product, wrong forum.

As much as I'd like to see lossy compression media go away before it takes us over, it's not going to happen. Iverson's October column is probably on the money, even though trying to get more from less will still yield "less than more." The product is an important, legitomate audio product, even if not high end, and should be reviewed.

Bad! I was very surprised to see that review in a "Recommended Components" issue. Why waste valuable space in the magazine with junk like that? MP3s suck! I'd much rather read about a new amp or speakers.

I remember when Stereophie was a high-end audio publication, reviewing high-end components. For the last few years it has slipped into mediocrity. How sad.

Firstly, products such as the iPod could be the future of music delivery, but also they are audio components and as such worthy of review.

It should not be at the expense of actual hi fi product reviews, but I've always been curious about how such products measure. There's almost no way for me to avoid mp3 encoded music, so it's good to be armed with the info.

Let's face it... MP3 players are the most convenient way to listen to music on the go. Am I only allowed to be an audiophile while I'm sitting at home in my sweet spot? Yeah, the sound quality isn't as good, but it's sure better than background music when I'm walking through the mall.

It's the new devices that I want information about, because that's where the really big changes are happening.

Terrible idea! Reviews should be limited to audiophile-quality components, not half-assed computers playing compressed digits. If I had my way, Stereophile would be prohibited from reviewing CD players.

Where else can one get top quality reporting on a product that is now a necessary part of daily life? This is the future.

I'm very happy that an reputable audiophile has decided to take a look at the iPod from the perspective I care about. I've planned on buying one for two years, now I just need to save the money. Maybe a Christmas present for myself? At any rate, you could cut down on the technical mistakes, like this one: "The thin bottom edge contains the jack for the 32-pin dock connector (interestingly, FireWire uses only six pins

It is my adamant opinion that Stereophile should refrain from reviewing, and attendantly promoting, any downloadable music device. To promote such products, is to encourage a veritable leap backwards in sound quality. Its bad enough that the mass market is veering in the downloadable direction without audiophile publications such as Stereophile succumbing to the format's gaining impetus. In short, leave the iPods of the audio world to the "hearers," and let us listeners keep our discs.

Top Review! Have searched net for loads of iPod reviews and Phillips review was definitly seemed the most objective and comprhensive. Good Work!