Can I get bit perfect uncompressed CD rips via itunes?

[Strictly Stereo]

Hello All,

Apologies but this is a but of a multi question post!

I have a large collection of CD's I would like to be enjoying more and with better sound quality. Right now I have been listening to them though either my budget Cambridge 540 DVD player or my budget Rotel 06SE CD player. The sound is okay but I recall enjoying CD's more when I had the original Rega Planet some years ago.
I also have a node 2i.

I am planning to get a used Rega DAC as an upgrade to the DAC in the node and also to hopefully get better sound from my CD's by relegating either the Cambridge or Rotel machine as a transport for the Rega DAC. I assume that I will also give me better sound when streaming through my node 2i.?

Probably. The Node 2i has a decent built in DAC but you can definitely lift its performance with a high quality outboard DAC.

If I am able to rip bit perfect uncompressed files of my CD's and load them onto a flash drive to plug into the node 2i, am I likely to get better sound that way rather than by just playing the CD's through the transport and then to the Rega DAC?

Possibly. I have never actually compared a Node 2i with either of those transports. Consider two points though. Firstly, the USB storage option on a Node 2i is a secondary function intended for casual use, whereas playing CDs is the primary function of a CD player or transport. Secondly, CD transports are generally on the back foot compared to music streamers. CD players have to read the contents of the disc in near realtime. When an error is detected there is little or no opportunity to correct it. A streamer can look much further ahead at the track it is playing from a NAS or a streaming service, it has the opportunity to detect and correct errors in data read from a USB storage device or across a network and any issues related to reading the contents of a disc can be dealt with ahead of time as part of the ripping process.

Final question! Can I create bit perfect lossless rips via itunes on my macbook pro and if so how exactly would I do that? Are ALAC files ripped that way bit perfect and uncompressed or do I need to get special software and also rip them to something like WAV to get the highest possible sound quality?

Or is the only way I can get bit perfect CD rips by buying something like a BlueSound Vault?

Thanks!!!
Garth

I am sure that you can get at least some bit perfect rips using iTunes, especially if you turn on the error correction option to step up the quality of the rip. The trouble is that iTunes will not tell you whether or not your rip is bit perfect. Some more specialised alternatives will keep you better informed about any errors that occur, as well as working harder to correct them, so you can be confident that your rips really are bit perfect. In all honesty though, a few tiny errors here and there are unlikely to be audible and certainly will not spoil your listening experience.

 

[tuga]

I am sure that you can get at least some bit perfect rips using iTunes, especially if you turn on the error correction option to step up the quality of the rip. The trouble is that iTunes will not tell you whether or not your rip is bit perfect. Some more specialised alternatives will keep you better informed about any errors that occur, as well as working harder to correct them, so you can be confident that your rips really are bit perfect. In all honesty though, a few tiny errors here and there are unlikely to be audible and certainly will not spoil your listening experience.

I've checked hundreds of iTunes rips with XLD and they were all accurate.
I stopped worrying.