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[compcond]

But now it gets weird.

There appears to be no difference between a CD ripped to .wav and a CD ripped to .wav, converted to .flac, and then back to .wav.  There is a huge difference between PLAYING the .wav file and PLAYING the .flac file.  The weak link appears to be the codec used in the player.  I even tried an HDTracks .flac 24/96 download of David Grisman Quintet and both of us in the room had our jaws drop when I switched between the purchased .flac and the converted .wav file; the files do appear to plump when you cook 'em.  Hardware is a Windows 7-64 bit machine with 8GB RAM and a Core i5-2400 CPU connected USB to a Benchmark DAC1 HDR so there's no shortage of CPU power.

In decreasing order of quality (and I might add in not too subtle steps) were .wav, .flac, Apple Lossless, .ape, and then, of course, AIFF and .mp3.  Results of .wav and .flac comparison were attempted and duplicated on a Logitech Squeezebox Touch using their PC server software.

Given the ease of making the conversions in JRiver I'd love to get other people's input on the same comparison.

[Frobozz]

If you're looking for input on comparisons like that you'll get better input from a forum like Computer Audiophile than here.

If you hear a difference and are confident about it then the good news is that JRiver Media Center is able to convert your files to WAV and manage and tag your library (or part of your library) as WAV files.  Convert to WAV and roll with what works for you.  JRiver makes it possible.  The software is pretty awesome.

[tgundo2003]

"and then, of course, AIFF and .mp3."

Something is wrong- AIFF and WAV are basically the same beast, there should be no reason that AIFF would be at the bottom with MP3.

[kstuart]

Actually, there is now an "uncompressed FLAC" possibility.   This should provide the uncompressed aspect of WAV, and provide full tagging compatibility.

[Matt]

If a particular type of lossless, like WAV, FLAC, or APE, is preferable to you, MC will make it easy to use.

You might try Computer Audiophile or Hydrogen Audio if you want more discussion about these different forms of lossless.

I'm going to close this now.