Hi Kruncher,
While lossless audio systems and ever-higher sampling rates and word lengths (24-bit vs. 16-bit) are laudable, there is a good deal of scientific evidence that suggests that it is not those factors, but rather the extra care taken in the recording process--more careful choice of microphones, monitoring of overload, careful mike placement, etc--that is largely responsible for the improved sound quality heard from many DVD-A, SACD, True HD, Master Audio and similar recordings.
And you have to make certain you compare apples with apples. Dolby Digital stereo vs. SACD stereo or DVD-A stereo. Multi-channel music, properly done, always sounds superior to two-channel stereo, whether through a lossy or lossless processor, except for the occasional solo instrument, like a guitar.
One recent test conducted with hundreds of listeners and presented to the Audio Engineering Society used standard Red Book CD standard (44.1 kHz sampling, 16-bit recording) as a "filter" through which passed much higher resolution DVD-A and SACD signals. The listeners could not detect any difference in the high-res DVD-A or SACD signals heard in their original form vs. the same signals passed through a CD "filter". In other words, the CD standard did in no way taint or degrade the sound quality of the original hi-res 96 kHz 24-bit signals. (This isn't a comparison of lossy vs. lossless codecs.)
Regards,
Alan
