CD ripping for the lower end.

I don’t know what you mean. Yes, I’m using a CD player. And yes I have streamed Tidal and played music off iTunes both via an RCA patch cablefrom the laptop If that qualifies as”digital” then yes, I’ve gone “digital” and I misrepresented myself. 

But I don’t think that changes the nature of my two questions. 

Why would there be a loss in quality between WAV and FLAC? I know that FLAC is compressed but it is still lossless. Is quality lost in uncompressing the file?

Anyway, yes, I would probably like to have tags and such. Does AIFF support tags/metadata?

Also, thanks for the reference to XLD. I’ll look that up.

Thanks guys. A couple of things:

I know that CDs are digital. I was around when they came out. I guess what I don’t know is what the proper term is for using a computer to store and play digital files. I’m sure there must be a catchy phrase for that or at least a confusing acronym that assures the instant recognition of noobs. ;-)

And even though it might be not be apparent, I also get the difference between lossless and lossy, compressed and non-compressed. Image files are analogous and I’m fairly well versed in that. What confused me is that audioengr said there is a slight loss of SQ with FLAC vs WAV and I’m not sure why that would be the case and have not been able to confirm that this is true doing a little more research. So I’m still curious about that.

Also, in terms of metadata, I don’t need much. Album title, artist, track names and times. That’s about it. Cover art would be nice but not critical.

Appreciate references to various apps but again, the old iMac is not going to support any of them. So for now, iTunes is my only option. Those apps will be options if the old MacBook Pro gets that job later. It is 10 years old but will run most of the software mentioned above, which I have noted and will look into.

And it sounds like I will be best served ripping the CDs on my MacBook using XLD and then transferring them to the old iMac. It also sounds like AIFF is going to be the best bet for me since my metadata needs are pretty minimal.

I will probably have all these files on a portable HD so when I move up to the MacBook I can play them through Audirvana or Amarra.

But finally, why the hate for iTunes for someone with modest requirements? (Not arguing, just asking, and in regard to iTunes my only concern would be sound quality....my library will be small and as mentioned, metadata requirements will be minimal).

Thanks for all the help.

George

So doing some research and considering advice given here my current plan is:

Get XLD (free) for MacBook.
Rip to AIFF onto external HD.
Use iMac/iTunes (free) via Schiit Modi 2 Uber (paid $110) for now.

Purchase Bitperfect ($10) now. Compare SQ with Bitperfect from MacBook vs iMac with iTunes. 

If big difference, stick with Bitperfect for a while with plan to try out Audirvana and Amarra.

At some point consider Schiit Modi Multibit ($250 new). That will probably be my endpoint since CDs are still my primary medium.

Great advice from Audiogon, thanks,

George

Thanks guys, a lot of good info here.

One glitch in my plan: The Schiit Modi 2 Uber will not work with the OS on the old iMac according to Schiit's website. I'll try it but doubt that it will interface properly.

So, I may be using the MacBook anyway.

Glupson, you mention $80 for dB-PowerAmp but I see the single license for $39.

Finally, an admission. When I do A/B tests between a CD verses iTunes/MacBook via an RCA patch cable through the headphone jack I do not hear a huge amount of difference. A little thinner, a little less rich, but even then I'm wondering if I'm really hearing that difference since the test is not blinded. I certainly chalk that up to my newbie audiophile ears but the point being that with decent ripping software, BitPerfect and this low end DAC I will probably be fine.

I hear reviews saying that the Modi 2 Multibit sounds noticeably better than the Modi 2 Uber while I have heard other reviews say not so much. I'm trying not to get on the upgrade treadmill.....

Here is an update:

Got the Schiit Modi 2 Uber today. 
It works just fine with the old iMac.
Ripped a CD (Gaucho by Steely Dan) into iTunes-ALAC
Played it back through the Schiit.
It sounds very good but A/B testing shows it not to be as good as CD. Close but not as rich or full. Generally would not spend quality listening time with this level of SQ. Fine for background listening.

I have downloaded XLD and am ripping Gaucho into my MacBook...although I found that XLD will also work on the old iMac. We'll see how that sounds via iTunes as well.

Then I'll get BitPerfect on the MacBook and see how the XLD ripped CD sounds. If I'm happy, I'll stop there. 

If not, will get JRiver or Amarra or Audirvana and try that.

XLD is a bit clunky and very slow. Might bite for dB-Poweramp if I decide to do a lot of CDs.

I got BitPerfect on the MacBook. It sounds better than iTunes on the iMac.

But there is still a difference between the CD and BitPerfect.

I downloaded the free trial of Audirvana and did not think it significantly better than BitPerfect.

I did blinded A/B testing with Audirvana vs the CD. I could easily and consistently identify the CD. I felt like the CD was brighter and crisper.

I did the same A/B testing with my wife as the listener. She could also easily tell there was a difference. She initially felt like the CD was a little too tinny and like Audirvana better. But after several more tests she said that even though they were different she had a hard time saying if one was better than the other.

So I'm thinking my cheap little system is good enough. Since I can't tell much difference between Audirvana and BitPerfect I'll stick with the cheaper BitPerfect. At this point I've only got about $135 in this venture.

If I absolutely knew were to effect a significant improvement I might go there but right now I'm uncertain. Maybe a better USB cable. But, not sure it is worth going to the Schiit Modi Multibit at this point. 

Agreed. The nice thing about these little Schiit products is that they hold their value fairly well. The one I have is $150 new and I got a great deal on this one for $110, in the box, like new.

This is a bit off topic but people on eBay are buying these for $145 used, without the original box when you can buy one new for $150. I don’t get that. But, that means I could probably sell mine for $110 easy and get all my money back.

Anyway, I’ll keep what I have for now. It really does sound pretty good to me. Further A/B testing confirms a difference but hard to say one is way better than the other (old Sony CD player).