The diferrence in sound between FLAC and WAV/AIFF is real. I hear it too.
People confuse lossless as the only contributor to sound quality for digital files. Losslees only means that the file is bit-perfect i.e. No loss of digital bits in the file. But another important factor is whether the file itself is compressed or uncompressed.
But the difference in sound quality that you hear between FLAC and WAV/AIFF is not because it is lossless or lossy. It's because FLAC is compressed while WAV and AIFF is uncompressed. On playback of FLAC files, the computer needs to uncompress the files and this extra processing can add noise and phase distortions.
With some CD ripping software like dBPower, you can set the compression level of FLAC between 0 to 10 with 5 being the standard compression level. If you rip unto FLAC with 0 compression level, it becomes uncompressed and lossless. And it sounds similar to WAV and AIFF. Try it yourself.
People confuse lossless as the only contributor to sound quality for digital files. Losslees only means that the file is bit-perfect i.e. No loss of digital bits in the file. But another important factor is whether the file itself is compressed or uncompressed.
But the difference in sound quality that you hear between FLAC and WAV/AIFF is not because it is lossless or lossy. It's because FLAC is compressed while WAV and AIFF is uncompressed. On playback of FLAC files, the computer needs to uncompress the files and this extra processing can add noise and phase distortions.
With some CD ripping software like dBPower, you can set the compression level of FLAC between 0 to 10 with 5 being the standard compression level. If you rip unto FLAC with 0 compression level, it becomes uncompressed and lossless. And it sounds similar to WAV and AIFF. Try it yourself.