Why it's best to bypass a computer's sound card

Stripped of its glossy exterior, the iPod is just a dumb little computer.

People get a lot of mileage out of it while often neglecting the iPod's sugar daddy, the PC or laptop. That's home to the library of songs that feeds the iPod and, maybe, a tiny pair of computer speakers.

But it can do much more. Anyone with a home theater or a two-channel sound system can turn the computer into a music server that puts an entire CD collection onto a massive hard drive, easily accessible, with album artwork and even lyrics. Done properly, the sound is astounding -- even better that conventional CD playback equipment costing thousands more than your computer.

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