CD Ripping software

Almarg's scenario is as likely as any I suppose for accounting for sonic differences associated with format.

But again, if so, it is not because the flac format looses anyting (when done correctly) but for other reasons associated with the playback.

I really like using network players, especially wireless ones, as the digital source feeding the DAC because a network player like a Squeezebox connected to wireless LAN has no electrical connection to the rest of the computer gear that it sources from. I like that level of isolation from the computer domain as an insurance policy against potential noise introduced by gear that is not designed necessarily for hifi audio.

Of course I have heard some say wireless lan does not sound as good either, however I would disagree from my experience. I have never heard a wireless source in my rig sound anything but spot on regardless of source format.

10-10-11: Mapman
I really like using network players, especially wireless ones, as the digital source feeding the DAC because a network player like a Squeezebox connected to wireless LAN has no electrical connection to the rest of the computer gear that it sources from. I like that level of isolation from the computer domain as an insurance policy against potential noise introduced by gear that is not designed necessarily for hifi audio.

Excellent point, Mapman.

I would imagine that in most cases wired as well as wireless network connections would provide effective isolation from the effects of computer-generated noise, despite the presence of an electrical interconnection in the case of wired ethernet. In both cases the packetizing and buffering of the data that is being communicated over the link mean that jitter at the computer interface becomes irrelevant.

All of which of course suggests another experiment those reporting sonic differences between lossless formats could do, especially if their computer does not have provisions for disabling the power saving features that cause cpu clock rates and voltages to fluctuate, as I described. :-)

Best regards,
-- Al

FrankC,

Thank you! This is exactly my point. FLAC sounds thin, bright and lifeless, IMO, regardless of computer type and operation system. Apple lossless MP4 sounds a lot better, so is WavPack and Monkey's Audio (APE). The latter was my favorite, but WMA lossless is what I like best, most likely due to the fact that, unlike the others mentioned, it is a fixed bitrate lossless compression, not variable.

Daverz,

Sorry, what I meant was that even a $49 CD player is absolutely bit-perfect and there are no losses, you can compare the output data with a high-end CD transport, and you will find out it is exactly the same. But how it sounds? What will really impress you is the fact that, even if you change DAC input format, you will still hear a sound quality difference, and that is with everything else the same.

Mapman,

I have installed a SB based upgrade to many customers inside their NWO Esoteric based players. I went to the extent of building linear power supplies (including removing the switching power supplies under the mini wi-fi card), four new low jitter clocks, sample rate converters, high speed buffers, etc. Sound improved by still nowhere near the VRDS-NEO transport on A-B test with the same disc. This is the reason adopting Marco's HiFace that is also highly upgraded (with its charge pumps removed too) and built into the NWO player and the DAC-S. The sound is much closer to the VRDS-NEO and much better than SB or Transporter with even the wildest upgrades installed.

Again, if someone has a benefit from this information, I am happy, if not, that is fine too!

Best wishes,
Alex Peychev

When looking up reviews of dBpoweramp, I came across one that compared all the lossless formats for encoding speed, file size, etc. As a test, the author encoded the same file through all 4 or 5 formats SEQUENTIALLY and then compared the final digital file and it was identical to his starting file.

However, that does not mean that the process to recover analog information from all file types is identical, just that the starting digital information is.

Its not like I have any idea what you guys are talking about, but I've gotten together with another good audiophile buddy, we copied redbook and downloaded wav vs flac. Only on the very best recordings at the highest bit/sample rates were there minor differences. Redbook to wav was noticeably better than redbook to flac. Can't tell you why, but we now both drop EVERYTHING to wav.