Rip CD to Mac - basic question

Audioengr: "do a comparison of an iTunes ripped file and the same XLD ripped file."

Right, it should be possible to do a comparison of files. I'd be interested to see the results if someone has done it. Maybe I will do it myself if I can figure out how.

Rlwainwright: "I may have posted incorect info., sorry. I did not know that AIFF was lossless. I *still* would not box myself in with Apple-specific solutions..."

I knew aiff is lossless - I didn't realize it's Apple specific. We live and learn. Thanks.

Audioengr: "I am talking about listening comparisons. That's what matters isn't it?"

Well, I was talking about file comparisons. Of course, at the end of the day the whole point is to listen to the files, not analyze them, but now we are in the same situation as listening to amps or cables: some people claim to hear differences and some don't. It's all anecdotal. See my experience below.

So, I installed XLD at the weekend (thanks to those who suggested it) and experimented with ripping a CD to different formats (aiff, wav, flac, alac). I like the way it gives a log for the rip, that in my case showed no errors. I also like the way you can do a check on an already ripped file, which showed that the files I dragged and dropped also have no errors (though with an offset that I don't quite understand).

I would wager that these are all exactly the same, bit for bit, so it comes down to which format is most convenient and future proof. The lossless compression on a couple of them (flac, alac) is a nice disk space saver, and flac is most platform neutral, though not supported by iTunes.

However, to be frank, I'll be damned if I can hear any difference between the several file formats and the 2 apps I'm using (Amarra and Decibel) in my system, which I think is fairly decent (Mac -> Halide DAC HD -> Theta Casablanca -> Sunfire amp -> Von Schweikert VR-33 speakers).