Has anyone tried or been able to play the studio master quality FLAC files? I was looking at them on the Linn Records website. You can download 24-bit 96KHz (or 88.2KHz) files of the music. I downloaded a test file and could convert and store it in iTunes as a 24bit 88.2KHz aiff file although it won't load onto my iPod. It appears then my iMac and deal with a 24bit source but not the iPod. If the BL5 can take digital inputs and the iMac has optical digital outputs, is there a way to play these files direct to the speakers then? Maybe this does eliminate the need for a SACD player.
In general, music produced and edited at higher bitrates and resolution, even when converted down to 16-bit, sounds a lot better.