My thoughts follow Scott Winders (above) when using Roon, I see no advantage to using uncompress files. I also follow his use of iTunes as a ripper and file tagger, art embedder and etc. Since Roon does not play back from memory and has to convert ‘any’ file it is fed to PCM… I see no reason not to use ALAC around here.
It doesn’t matter. I started, like many others using iTunes and ALAC, but a while ago got fed up with the apple way and moved to other ways to play music. I now RIP flac files or when purchasing digital, also flac. My cocktail Audio digital player supports both, as does ROON which I use as my primary way of playing through to Blue OS and Linn products.
Guys do as you wish sooner or later when you get a better system or hear one you will say wow al was right
Bits are bits except when playing them back.
Wav , aiff are more transparent and allow finer details. It’s very obvious and I can tell without looking
But my hey I’m old and dumb must be my imagination lol.
I love it when people try to tell us that we can’t hear the difference because our systems aren’t good enough. What a joke.
I have listened to both WAV and FLAC on numerous incredibly good systems using Roon and do not agree with you. Of course all of these systems use Roon in the classic Roon Core with a separate networked Roon Endpoint model.
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No, just not true. Just not. The same data stream goes to your endpoint from Roon no matter what lossless format the media was stored in. The ONLY way the storage format (if lossless) would affect sound is THEORETICALLY if your endpoint is also the core (i.e. DAC attached to core), that the additional electrical overhead of processing FLAC/ALAC to PCM on the core creates some sort of electrical interference with the connection to the DAC at the core.
This theoretical concern is entirely eliminated when the same PCM stream, no matter the storage origin, is sent over the network to the endpoint.
If you are sensing a difference, that is the equivalent of being served the same beverage in two differently colored glasses and saying one tastes better than the other.
If your core is connected to the DAC, then you may be experiencing that theoretical difference. But you can make that go away by using a separate endpoint.
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Ok do this and reply
Do you hear any change if you use compression in flac. Wav has no Comp by the way.
The fact that the minions here make claims is part of being ignorant. I’m not special and st 62 I’ll bet there are better ears here. The issue resides in ignorance of acceptance of it being true.
After this enjoy life I can’t help anyone who lays claims to sounds by math alone.
Bro your so far off I can’t help you.
Sorry wish I could really
So you are saying that a Roon core sends DIFFERENT bits to an endpoint depending on whether the media is stored in FLAC/ALAC or WAV/AIFF?
Please specify your exact position on this.
No, with the Roon Core/Roon Endpoint model I hear absolutely no difference between WAV and FLAC files regardless of compression level. I am certainly not ignorant about the processes involved here. You do understand that the PCM data from a WAV file and a FLAC file, regardless of compression, are exactly the same, don’t you?
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Actually, he is spot on!
Ok do this and reply
Do you hear any change of you use compression in flac. Wav has no Comp
Read above argue with them please
Now since this article is very simple do you feel wrong yet ???
It’s obvious what ever high grade audio system you have claimed to hear is not or you can’t hear it or total fantasy overall.
Calm down and read it. This has been known for years how old are you lol.
I’m not saying it’s all inportant to do all I say smd for many it does not matter. Having said this if asked
Lets admit and help.
Here is a paragraph from the web page you mention:
Lossless audio : This is a compression technique that decompresses audio files back to their original data amount. Lossless methods can provide high degrees of digital compression, but there is no loss in size or sound quality. Lossless compression is ideal in professional audio settings where complete files are needed. Lossless compression music formats include FLAC, ALAC and WMA Lossless.
Here is the important text from that paragraph:
“Lossless methods can provide high degrees of digital compression, but there is no loss in size or sound quality.”
Whmmm…no loss in sound quality. Just what some of us have been saying.
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And yes it’s true in a statement it also leaves open to be absolute use a no comparison format.
I don’t have bat ears either
My place read and enjoy
This, and many other such discussions remind me of the times my daughter’s dog (Gus) comes over. He pees on the grass as my dog watches. When Gus is done, my dog goes over and pees where he peed. When my dog is done, Gus comes over and pees there.
Funny, like these arguments. And about as impactful as these arguments.
At least a dog peeing has a premise.
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It’s tough to comprehend more ignorance then your comment.
Damn your good.
Did you even read about my place or just think through the dogs story ?
No one cares about your place or what equipment you have. That has NOTHING to do with WAV vs FLAC…
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Albert, with due respect, you are way out of your depth based on what you’ve said thus far.
Your argument as I understand it is:
—The Roon core sends different bits in its PCM stream to the endpoint depending on what lossless format the media is stored in. So a song stored in FLAC will produce a different media stream from the Roon core to the endpoint than a song stored in .WAV or .AIFF format.
—This must be true because you sent us a link to Tom’s Hardware Guide for audio beginners about the difference between codecs in terms of lossy versus lossless and some other format information. Many of the forum regulars, including myself and Winders, could pretty much recite blind-folded while juggling steak knives;
—You have a really good audio system, and so that somehow makes your point of view more valid.
This has nothing to do with a dog peeing to mark territory because what you are claiming is not a matter of opinion, it is a flat out incorrect statement about how Roon works.
Roon takes music stored in whatever codec and converts it into the same PCM stream to the RAAT endpoint. There is absolutely no difference in the PCM stream based on any lossless codec, as that is the basis of the term lossless…it means that the same original file (the .wav or .aiff version) can be 100% reconstructed from the lossless compressed version.
This of course differs from MP3 which is lossy. The PCM stream will most certainly differ between the original .WAV format and an MP3. But we are not talking about lossy codecs like MP3. We are talking about lossless codecs which BY DEFINITION reconstitute the entire PCM stream through decoding at the Roon core and that PCM stream, whether from FLAC, ALAC, AIFF, .WAV, or any other LOSSLESS format, is the same.
The one claim you might have to hear a difference would be if the core is connected directly to the DAC, however that is not a bits are bits consideration - it is the same bits – the only question is whether the decoding of the FLAC/ALAC in the CPU creates any electronic overhead that travels ELECTRICALLY with the audio signal or interferes with the bits transmitted. However if the RAAT endpoint is separate over a network, this is simply impossible. The PCM bitstream is the same whether originating from FLAC or .WAV. Packet based information transmission like this is very robust.
I want to be respectful, but you should be as well. Your argument literally makes no computer sense unless you have your core and endpoint as the same device. And even then it is a longshot. What you hear and the quality of your gear are not relevant points with something this technical. I’m open to people saying that some analog wiring can make some difference, but with this, it simply isn’t so.
Consider how you’d feel if a caveman walked up and insisted it is because he killed a goat yesterday that the volcano erupted today. It simply isn’t.
Storing something in .WAV or AIFF format for the reason of the quality of reproduction is like storing life jackets fully inflated. If you have the room, fine, but the life jacket will work just as well when you blow it up AFTER storage as it will stored with the air in it.
EDIT: BTW I see we have the same preamp. It’s a sweet one, no?
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Let’s just all adopt MQA, and be done with it!
Only JOKING! 
Oh gawd does each thread have to turn into an MQA debate!!!