Not that we’re saying the Rin doesn’t sound good-there’s no way we can tell without hearing it-but it seems to us anything that looks this weird can’t be something audiophiles will want show off to their audiophile friends.

The unit’s made from a combination of imported Italian marble and Japanese engineering, which means it’s both high quality and expensive.

In any case, the whole situation makes for a weird speaker system that supposedly sounds great because sound eminates like ripples on a pond. Which makes me want to pee, not rock out.

Granted, the untouched iPod doesn’t sound half bad to the average ear, but for the audiophiles in the house, you all somehow know better. Enter Red Wine Audio, which took its discerning ways and channeled them into a nifty iPod hack that "reduces the analog signal path by taking the signal directly from the internal Wolfson DAC and then hard-wiring it to the dock connector." Additionally, the original case was stripped in favor of a bulkier, roomier aluminum shell that could house the new electronics, and "high-end Black Gate non-polarized NX-Hi-Q coupling capacitors" were used to ensure the highest audio fidelity. Onlookers noted that they "couldn’t tell a difference" between the iMod iPod’s WAV playback and a normal CD player, and while the company looks to be readying these pre-modified units for sale by the end of the month, there’s no telling how many hundies you’ll be throwing down for it. Click on through for a few more snaps.

Red Wine Audio will actually be modding user-provided 5G iPods for a charge of $249 (plus $15 for shipping).

That special edition Halo 3 Zune is real, out, and up for pre-order exclusively through GameStop. Available June 15th (pre-order now), the $249 promotional Zune comes packin’ a 30GB disk loaded with a flood of Halorific music, video and artwork. Although you’ve made your thoughts about Microsoft’s would-be iPod killer abundantly clear, the tie-in with the hotly anticipated September 25th release of Halo 3 by Bungie Studio (owned by Microsoft) could generate some renewed Zune-buzz all but lost since its initial launch. Welcome to the Social Covenant kids.