Ripping to Sony HAP-Z1ES


I’ve been using AIFF 16 bit with iTunes, and the sound has seemed very good. Yesterday, I used FLAC lossless at the default 5 compression with dBpoweramp, and noticed more detailed sound. If I re-rip my discs in FLAC using dBpoweramp, what settings should I use, e.g., 24 or 32 bit with 0 compression? I seem to be using little disc space on the Sony, so I think that’s not an issue for the number of discs I want to rip. Sound quality is most important. The Sony connection to an Ayre K-5xeMP preamp is balanced.

I think I read that I could use the USB port of the Sony to record directly to it without going through my iMac and the HAP transfer app. Would that give even better sound?

db
Ag insider logo xs@2xdbphd
I haven't found any advantage to ripping CDs direct via USB connection to the HAP-Z1es.  It's certainly no faster, and not really more convenient.  If you like AIFF 16 bit rips (as do I), try out some high-rez DSD recordings . . .