AIFF vs Apple Lossless Ripping

The advantage of AIFF over WAV on a mac is that it keeps the meta data safe. Otherwise they both sound the same as long as the sample rate is correct.

This is a good point and cannot be stressed enough. I would strongly encourage choosing AIFF over WAV on a Mac, based on my own experiences. You will save yourself a whole lot of hassles in the long run, especially if you ever need to restore your files, copy files, or want to add artwork to your existing files.

As far as which is superior...let your own ears be the judge. I have heard differences in file types, especially when comparing files ripped in EAC to those ripped in iTunes (the former sounded better and I could pick it out blind repeatedly). Can't explain it. Don't give a rats ass whether it's bit-for-bit identical - the two files sounded different to me, and that's what matters to me. Alas, I don't use a PC thought so I still rip to AIFF in iTunes. To determine whether you can hear any differences yourself, and if those differences mean enough to you to convert your files, I'd suggest you make your own judgments rather than relying on the ears of others. Try it on a few of your favorite files and do some listening. You might save yourself a whole lot of time converting.

Jax2 - Equivalent of EAC for Mac is "MAX". I set mine to "do not allow skipping" and it reads music disk as data disk - bit by bit. It converts any format to any format. It even allows to download album's cover.

I send music from MacMini to Benchmark DAC1 using Airport Express and cannot hear any difference between AIFF and Apple Lossless.

One reason you may not hear a difference is that the Mac sends everything to the Airport as Apple Lossless. It converts the AIFF file to lossless and then the AE converts it back to SPDIF for your Dac. There is also a fair amount of jitter coming from the AE which might mask differences if there actually are any.

Herman - Thanks, I didn't know that. As for the jitter Benchmark is practically jitter immune.

Herman said:
Some people claim they can hear a difference and attribute this to the process of decoding the lossless file as the music is playing. I agree you should convert some and give it a listen to decide whether it is worth the effort.

Thanks, Herman. I suspected there was something I wasn't understanding. I believe some A-B'ing is in order.

I have seen plenty of claims made for FLAC as being superior, but to my knowledge, there are ease of use issues when trying to use FLAC files with iTunes. Is there an easy way to do FLAC files with iTunes, and if so, would it be worth the time to re-rip the collection?