Ripping CDs to lossless in Itunes.. HiFi approved?

I would rip to a format that's not controlled by one company. Flac for example.

hi wireless,

Thanks for the comment, but I chose apple for a smooth integration with my iPod, iPhone and iTunes. Currently this is all I am using to play back these files.

If it comes down to it, they can be converted back to wav, and then to another format.

Ed,

Gordon Rankin has found that the CPU speed affects the playback of Apple Lossless even though the CPU shows minimal use during play. My iMac 2.8GHz Core 2 Duo sounds the same with AIFF and Apple Lossless. My Mac Book Pro 2.01 GHz Core 2 Duo sounds better with AIFF. You can use the convert feature in iTunes to convert files to AIFF and it will leave your Apple Lossless files. Try it and see how it sounds on your MacMini.

Steve

My experience has been different from Ml8764ag's. I prefer the sound of the Toslink out of the Mac Mini rather than USB (use a good Toslink cable). If you are using one of the leading edge USB DACs (Wavelength, Empirical, UltraFi), none of which I have tried, it may be a different story.

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Steve, thanks for the thoughts and ideas... I'm just a little confused about what you said (confused, not trying to be contrary!) You wrote:

>>Gordon Rankin has found that the CPU speed affects the playback of Apple Lossless even though the CPU shows minimal use during play. My iMac 2.8GHz Core 2 Duo sounds the same with AIFF and Apple Lossless. My Mac Book Pro 2.01 GHz Core 2 Duo sounds better with AIFF.<<

As I read it, (just checking) are you saying that the slower processor sounds better with AIFF? Just for the heck of it, I'll give it a try... converting an Apple lossless rip to AIFF in iTunes on my MacMini... right?

I'll let you know what happens and my thoughts... thanks for your thoughts on this,

:) listening,

Ed

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