Yep. That what I was saying. So if I have a 320 kbps song, it will play off the iPod at 320 kbps?
If it's an mp3, and you didn't "force" MC to re-encode it, then yes -- the bitrate will be the same (since it's the exact same file.)
What about flacs and apes? How much do they get compressed if the setting is on extreme?
VBR Extreme has a "target" bitrate of 245kbps, and the average bitrate will be 220 to 260kbps, with spikes going all the way up to 320kbps when "needed." The bitrate will depend on the complexity of the wave form.
I really don't know how this compares to FLAC or APE, but it would depend on the compression settings you use -- note that FLAC and APE offer "lossless" encoding, which mp3 does not -- mp3 is always "lossy." If you want to encode lossless, use FLAC or APE. If you want to encode with compression, however, I'd stick with mp3 since it's by far the most compatible lossy format. If you want to compare files sizes (i.e. amounts of compression) you'll have to do some tests.
If you want to encode lossless for MC but still use an iPod, you'd rip using FLAC in MC, then set the handheld conversion options in MC to convert the files to a format the iPod can handle (like mp3 at VBR Extreme) when syncing the iPod.
Larry