Sound Quality

Quality is hard to define but we recognize it when we see it. Likewise if we hear it. It is very subjective so it is up to you to decide what suites you best.
To ask for the best sound quality possible is an impossible question, there are so many conflicting opinions, it is impossible to say what is best and it is totally impossible to say what suites your taste.
Browse some audio forum, read about tubes versus solid state, vinyl versus CD, its like Mac versus Windows, you are in for a sound and often highly amusing flare.

What to do if you read in a forum that a lossless compressed format sounds less than a uncompressed format?

I have done a lot of reading the past few days and have come across numerous bits of info suggesting that - whilst ALAC/FLAC are bit-identical to WAV/AIFF files, it is the decompressing during playback that can affect sound quality.

What I wanted to ask is:
1. can I use the FLAC files ripped/tagged in EAC and concert to AIFF on the Mac? Or would I need to rip straight to AIFF (e.g., using Max or XLD on the Mac)?
2. if it is ok to convert from FLAC to AIFF, does it maintain the tag information?
3. I experimented by using iTunes to convert one of the ALAC albums to AIFF and it seemed to keep the tags. Was this storing tags in the AIFF file or was it since the file information is already saved in the iTunes library/database files?

This is a typical case of audiophile nervosa, some people report to hear a difference so you must move to a uncompressed format as hell. Keep your cool, rip to WAV, FLAC, any format you want and listen if you are hearing any difference at all before you embark on a maybe senseless format conversion.

This section is about how components in PC audio might possibly affect sound quality.
As one reader of this website phrased it “it spared me a lot of forum-waddling, thanks”