sorry guys for being a noob, however, does this format give HiFi sound, and will i be able to tell the difference when using say the B&W speakers? Is this format std pretty much the same as MP3's are? I ask because i've heard about a format called FLAC but itunes/ipod does't play this.
iPod Apple Lossless - HiFi sound?
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Same quality as red book CD as it's a bit for bit copy (hence the lossless). The Dac, amplification and speaker choice is more important.
All lossless formats are lossless so contain the exact audio information that the original CD had. Therefore they will give hifi sound - as long as the CD was ripped accurately and there were no errors etc, and you are playing them from decent equipment etc
fatboyslimfast
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- Jan 10, 2008
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I'll second that. With a decent outboard soundcard or DAC, the results can rival quite an expensive CD player...
For example, I rip my CD's with EAC, encode to FLAC and then stream to a squeezebox which is plugged into a Beresford DAC plugged into my NAD amp! - Sounds amazing!
Ive started playing Apple Lossless files through a Cyrus DAC, power amps and Dynaudios and it sounds magnificent.
Edit: I'm unable to differentiate between the lossless files into the DAC-X and a £1k CD transport (into same DAC)
Edit: I'm unable to differentiate between the lossless files into the DAC-X and a £1k CD transport (into same DAC)
I've being doing some similar experiments with my DAC X and my brother's computer. I ran the following comparison:- CD6 player as the transport vs. 96kHz optical digital output from computer sound card. An identical track (but different formats) was played using each setup:- conventional CD vs Linn records high bit rate download, FLAC 24bit 88.2kHz. My impression was that vocals in high bit rate track sounded more natural - the soprano's voice seemed life-like and seemed to be more separated from the orchestra. However, overall I preferred the presentation of the CD6 playing the CD - there was more warmth and the mid-range had more definition than the FLAC track. However, it was a very close call and more listening is definitely required to confirm my findings. In retrospect, a more scientific approach would have been to compare the CD format + CD transport combination to a CD track ripped to 44.1kHz + soundcard combination, both into the DAC X as a control. Very interesting experiment though. Has anyone had different experiences?
[quote user="jon_jh"] compare the CD format + CD transport combination to a CD track ripped to 44.1kHz + soundcard combination, both into the DAC X as a control. Very interesting experiment though. Has anyone had different experiences? [/quote]
Exactly what I did. I used a Cyrus CDXT transport, with decent chord digital coax interconnect into the DAC-X (wonderful piece of kit). I ripped this cd into iTunes, Apple Lossless format and played through soundcard optical out, again to DAC-X. I was able to quickly flick through the inputs on the DAC-X and really didnt notice too much difference.
I too preferred the slightly more detailed presentation and ever so slightly crisper timing from the CDXT, but no way is it nigh on 1k's worth.
Exactly what I did. I used a Cyrus CDXT transport, with decent chord digital coax interconnect into the DAC-X (wonderful piece of kit). I ripped this cd into iTunes, Apple Lossless format and played through soundcard optical out, again to DAC-X. I was able to quickly flick through the inputs on the DAC-X and really didnt notice too much difference.
I too preferred the slightly more detailed presentation and ever so slightly crisper timing from the CDXT, but no way is it nigh on 1k's worth.
[quote user="thfcwestlower"]
Exactly what I did. I used a Cyrus CDXT transport, with decent chord digital coax interconnect into the DAC-X (wonderful piece of kit). I ripped this cd into iTunes, Apple Lossless format and played through soundcard optical out, again to DAC-X. I was able to quickly flick through the inputs on the DAC-X and really didnt notice too much difference.
I too preferred the slightly more detailed presentation and ever so slightly crisper timing from the CDXT, but no way is it nigh on 1k's worth.
[/quote]
Try using EAC to rip to see if you get a better result than ripping with iTunes. iTunes ripping will not be that accurate as it does it very quickly and with little correction so the inferior quality of the CD-ROM compared to the CDXT transport could really affect the end result and the DAC X will not be able to compensate (and saving garbage in lossless will not make a difference if the underlying PCM signal is already degraded). EAC does a lot of rereading to ensure it gets as good a copy of the CD as possible and verifies this with a database of info from other users who also ripped their CDs. It takes a while to configure but once done it works like a dream.
Exactly what I did. I used a Cyrus CDXT transport, with decent chord digital coax interconnect into the DAC-X (wonderful piece of kit). I ripped this cd into iTunes, Apple Lossless format and played through soundcard optical out, again to DAC-X. I was able to quickly flick through the inputs on the DAC-X and really didnt notice too much difference.
I too preferred the slightly more detailed presentation and ever so slightly crisper timing from the CDXT, but no way is it nigh on 1k's worth.
[/quote]
Try using EAC to rip to see if you get a better result than ripping with iTunes. iTunes ripping will not be that accurate as it does it very quickly and with little correction so the inferior quality of the CD-ROM compared to the CDXT transport could really affect the end result and the DAC X will not be able to compensate (and saving garbage in lossless will not make a difference if the underlying PCM signal is already degraded). EAC does a lot of rereading to ensure it gets as good a copy of the CD as possible and verifies this with a database of info from other users who also ripped their CDs. It takes a while to configure but once done it works like a dream.
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