Would a good DAC and speakers only serve to reveal...

[byakuya83]

the artifacts and poor quality of a lossy file such as AAC or would it enhance and improve the quality?

What I'm wondering is, if you have a poor quality source file would spending money on a decent DAC and speakers be a waste of money and only be more revealing of the file's lossy nature?

I've ripped my CDs to 256kbps AAC with VBR and am buying more albums now from iTunes. Just wondering if it's worthwhile route to go down or not.

 

[Messiah]

A decent DAC and speakers will highlight poor sources for what they are.That is the nature of the beast.

However, in my experience AAC files from iTunes sound really good. Don't be too put off over the fact that they are 'lossy'. I have a very revealing system and find it difficult to distinguish between lossy AAC files and Lossless ALAC files.

Rip a few of your CDs again in Lossless and do a comparison for yourself.

 

[Anonymous]

If the lossy files are of sufficient quality they will also sound better with a better system.

256 kbps AAC is more than enough.

I even find standard internet radio better since I upgraded to my current setup, and that's mostly at 128 kbps, although the likes of Linn Radio at 320 kbps do sound fantastic.

 

[Anonymous]

I own some extremely revealing speakers, though strangely they sound great with most recordings, i think it's the lack of distortion which would be magnified in many setups that would be considered more flattering.