Hi. I am a go-to (not to be confused with expert) person on Computer Audiophile about things like SACD ripping, DSD, etc. It seems some folks' systems exacerbate the tiny clicks between tracks that the current sacd_extract v37 (or below, frankly) "adds" to any SACD ISO extraction when choosing DSF as a format. It doesn't bother me and my system, but it's clearly there on some (not a FLAC vs WAV thing at all; i.e not debatable). And DSF is the favored format mainly due to ID3V2 tagging support. So...there is the Audiogate solution, which says extract to DFF (no clicks) then convert to DSF using Audiogate (and it's bothersome auto-twitter requirements). Once there, we can use any number of solutions for tagging, such as "fill propertiies from filename", paste tagging if one has a redbook or other version of the album, or even a decent paste tag from the ISO (load ISO into MC and paste tag at least the basic fields).
Enter MC's recent DSD convert function. Why not just stay in JRiver and use it's DSF conversion to go DFF to DSF. It works! But.....it has been speculated (over on the Mac forum) by user 6233638 that the conversion to DSF requires a step into PCM, then back to DSF (hell, maybe Audiogate does this, but I didn't think so). I have to admit I had not yet seriously listened to any of the test albums I've tried this on (cuz I really didn't care; I don't need to do this step in my daily routine) to determine if the result is any different than Audiogate's. Technically, AG added 3kb to the file size (114,142kb vs 114, 145kb), likely header differences; JRiver had a paltry 4kb more than AG (i.e 7kb), with no changes to what is captured to the convoluted track name tag...i.e seems there is same going on here. But.....when I converted the DFF file to DXD (24/352 wav, a hirez resolving PCM sample rate used in DSD editing in such pro environments as Pyramix 8.0 or below) and then to DSF via JRiver the file size remains the same as the JRiver DFF to DSF. So that opens the door to a possible PCM step.....but maybe AG is doing the same? I could not replicate this on AG cuz it won't accept a sample rate of DXD; I tried downsampling to 24/192k then did DSF on AG and got another 28kb in file size, so this test is somewhat moot.
Net/net, is DFF to DSF on JRIver going through DXD first? Seems like it. If so, are the sonics affected? To my ears BOTH DSF conversions lose a percent or two of air compared to the unconverted DFF. I then re-extracted the ISO as DSF and it sounded identical to DFF (and I heard the click on my Mytek-based home office headphones, but it's not there on my Meitner-based big rig). Argh.
Maybe the best solution for those click-sensitive systems is to simply use DFF and paste tag from the ISO (temporarily imported via file-open media file) or just listen from the darn ISO.