Then prove it. Sample and ABX log would be a good start.
For most songs.
LAME is a really good encoder given the limitations of the format.
If you can afford bitrates produced with V0 or even V2, it's extremely unlikely that you will hear the difference if you exclude placebo.
Other lossy codecs just require even less bits to reach transparency.
Nobody's really mentioned anything about WAV yet.
I use uncompressed WAV whenever I can which isn't very often.
Do you save all your images as BMP too?
Actually yes, sometimes
Of course, I also have the excuse of owning music players that actually support WAV files.
while not supporting FLAC?
Nope. I have two Dell DJs, first and second generation.
The first generation supports WAV, MP3, and nothing else. The second generation supports those and WMA.
I know it's a bit weird, but that's just how Dell was back then (these were made in 2004 and 2005). They're actually pretty damn good players.
Rockbox is also unavailable for them?
That sucks.
That's also right. I'm sure it's possible for a third party to make hacked firmware for them, but if they aren't supported now then they probably won't ever be. Weirdly enough, they don't support Zunes either, which are the other players I like.
But the quality's so good that I stick with them anyways. Audio's fantastic (which you'd expect from something that can play WAV files) and the build quality is superhuman.
Seriously, you could drop one of these things from a ten-story building and the only thing cracking would be the sidewalk.
So it is in almost any device nowadays, as long as it has sufficient max output voltage and is properly screened from EM interference.
Even the cheapest DACs are pretty much "overkill" for our ears if used correctly.
That is true, however not all players can support lossless formats, even with rockbox. Plus it has a good equalizer. I don't know if that's impressive or not anymore, but I don't have a single player newer than ten years old.
Maybe I'll give it a shot though, if I can track down a decent player that's supported.