Some time ago - just a couple of years ago, I decided to get back to the roots and to listen some Iron Maiden. After a visit to the Brown Sector I made out with the full discography in FLAC but also I got a copy of Powerslave in AAC ripped from iTunes.
And all I can say what I really, really hear the difference.
Because iTunes version is mastered to sound good in iPods so it has a quite noticeable bass boost all over the album, which is extremely noticeable on my 2.0 acoustic which itself has a good bass boost, so this version sounds quite muffled compared to the FLAC version from the CD (CP32-5043).
But on the go, with my CX300-II / CX3.00 there is no noticeable difference.
This is exactly why vinyl actually does sound better sometimes. Because of the physical limitations of viny, vinyl masters were less affected by the "loudness wars" and they have greater dynamic range.
And all I can say what I really, really hear the difference.
Because iTunes version is mastered to sound good in iPods so it has a quite noticeable bass boost all over the album, which is extremely noticeable on my 2.0 acoustic which itself has a good bass boost, so this version sounds quite muffled compared to the FLAC version from the CD (CP32-5043).
But on the go, with my CX300-II / CX3.00 there is no noticeable difference.