[jin]

Isn't .wav hardware dependant? :o?

My MD was fine for the while i had it and used it.

Though iPOD is 1000x times the awesome, you cant really compare it to anything.

What type of music are you planning to play on it?

When you listen to Classical, sound quality and definition is of utmost importance, but really, if you're listening to hip-hop who cares if its 96 kbps or 196?

Also, what quality are your WAV files already encoded?