Possible to convert Apple Lossless to WAV.?

Thanks for the valuable input guys. This is the thread that I referred to:
http://forum.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/fr.pl?icomp&1220427207

From what you say though, maybe I will just stick with Apple Lossless, and I guess there is a lot more I should read up on before exploring with questions like the one I had.

Overall, I'm looking for the best quality sound (virtually no compromise) using PC as a server. I don't have to get there immediately (I can upgrade to a very high quality DAC later on), but I want to make sure that the investmet of time, effort and $ that I make in transferring my CDs to my PC is done in the best way, so that I get the source data 'right'. From there, I'll then work on optimizing the output all the way to my preamp. A key route I'm pursing is Squeezebox duet (Love the remote), and from tehre will upgrade to Transporter, and then maybe Modwright Transporter or a stand-alone dac. I'm amazed at how little consensus there is on the right way to best sound from the PC though.

Anyways, I'll keep reading and then post more if I have questions

I started with Apple Lossless but have recently switched to AIFF. Not convinced that I can hear a difference, but disk space is cheap.

AIFF is uncompressed but allows you to have all the tags and album art in the files themselves. I am into classical - which unfortunately means manually correcting the tags because of lack of standards - and I would hate to lose that.

WAV is tricky and it is easy to lose the tags/art when copying things around.

There are a few people who argue you should go uncompressed, that lossless compression, even though bit perfect, loses something in the uncompressing process, perhaps due to some codec anomaly. I know, it doesn't make any sense, but hey, this is the land of audiophiles. I've started experimenting to see if I can hear a difference.

I'm amazed at how little consensus there is on the right way to best sound from the PC though.

No kidding! That's what's held me off from jumping in with both feet -- I can't get a straight answer.

Outlier, if you're planning on going the Squeezebox route, that's another argument for staying with iTunes. It's not the only way to use the Squeezebox (I personally use the Perl-based server software on my Linux box), but its server software can integrate with iTunes. There are benefits to using one of the most popular pieces of software in the industry.

Michael

why would somebody go the squeezebox route? there are other alternatives that work just like the squeezebox for much less $$$$. the 2 people i know that used squeezebox's sold them and 1 purchased the transporter and the other i set up a whole house audio system using airport express devices. i'm not saying the the airport express sounds any better, because IMO, they both sound bad going directly into a preamp or receiver. i always use jitter devices after the airport express units and then into a good quality external dac (of course depends on how much you want to spend and how you will be listening to the music (just background, or for dedicated listening)).