Also for me Banshee always perform mp3 to mp3 conversion when copy and paste mp3 to my iPod nano 4th gen. Also sync playlist for me dont work: it hangs.
So I use Banshee to manage my collection and create playlist, when I want sync with iPod I export my playlist to .m3u and then close Banshee and use gtkpod to sync my iPod:
On gtkpod:
- Click on your iPod
- Right click add playlist to device
- Right click on save
- Right click on eject
- Umount the device if is already connected
I have gtkpod localized so menu label can be different. Also this is my first try to use iPod with Linux so maybe the procedure is not exact but it works for me.