I do remember a Naim demonstration/presentation where the representative was asking which application used to rip their CDs - dBpoweramp, EAC Audio, iTunes etc.
He argued that the Ripping software mattered to SQ, and how Naim had analysed this carefully, and written their own software, in the UnitiServe to rip CDs.
I didn’t buy it, at the time.
But that was 6 years or so ago and I no longer believe the ‘bits are bits’ argument.
Why does the Uptone EtherRegen switch sound better than the Cisco SG100D-05 unmanaged 5-port switch it replaced, which sounded better than the Netgear Prosafe GS105 before that. Why does the Sarum Tuned Array Streaming cable sound better than the Chord Anthem Streaming cable.
If it was just ‘bits are bits’ and bitperfect is the absolute, then these changes shouldn’t make any different - but they do, and they can be heard.