I would say that you're in the right forest, but barking up the wrong tree. I believe that Audiogon members enjoy EQUIPMENT on a much deeper level.
It's true that there are a lot of equipment junkies on all the forums. I like to get people off that train and into the psychological benefits of music. Once you achieve sound quality that exceeds vinyl, you forget about the equipment. It is possible. I've had several customers sell their vinyl systems, not because they were inconvenient, but because their digital sounded better.
Defiant - If you are after the highest sound quality, the format of your rips should be .wav. Even uncompressed FLAC has SQ issues. Tags are an issue, but I put up with that for the better SQ.
The important thing to remember with all digital is that jitter is the #1 thing that will reduce the SQ. The interface between the computer and the D/A is the critical part, whether its USB, Ethernet or S/PDIF, as well as the master clock in that interface.
Steve N.
Empirical Audio