I tested a version of Jennifer Warnes' rendition of "Ballad of a Runaway Horse" from the Famous Blue Raincoat recording, comparing a CD burned from an iTunes plus download against the original AIFF CD version of the same release of the same song, and there was not doubt the AIFF had more detail and musical information. This result was noticed on a modest Panasonic Blueray player with digital out to the DAC in a Decca integrated amp and played through Vienna Acoustics Beethoven Baby Grands. Both versions sounded good, the AIFF file on the factory made CD sounded better, with more subtle details of the recording discernible.
How much difference you hear will certainly depend on the DAC you are using - HQ outboard DAC will reveal more of a difference than the DAC on you Computer or iPod. But all components in your system will contribute as resolution increases throughout. I would think that on very high end systems, the difference would be quite striking. The same way a good SACD recording often trumps standard red book versions.
How much difference you hear will certainly depend on the DAC you are using - HQ outboard DAC will reveal more of a difference than the DAC on you Computer or iPod. But all components in your system will contribute as resolution increases throughout. I would think that on very high end systems, the difference would be quite striking. The same way a good SACD recording often trumps standard red book versions.