Lossless = useless without the correct gear between the source (iPhone, iPad, Mac) and amplifier (AVR, stereo or multi-channel, old stereo etc) - usually a DAC - digital to analog converter. Changes those ones and zeroes into actual analog audio (the way humans hear).
To get above 24bit/48KHz (which would be lossless. As even CDs in red book 16bit/44.1KHz is a lossy format) into the lossless zone - you’ll need an external DAC ($100 - $10,000+) to enjoy it. OR you can get a headphone pre amp to do the same
If you’ve ever played with a turntable, you’ve likely noticed to get sound you have to use the phono stage or phono input (if there’s one on your gear) built into your receiver or pre-amp, or an external phono pre-amplifier
There’s a lot more to it but essentially phono signals are extremely low < 5mV, needing significant high gain (volume). Line level signals (CD, DVD, or anything with the red & white RCA jacks. Significantly stronger @ ~ 1V, which is significantly more power, requiring no extra boost to your amplifier.
Other factors, you typically need to ‘ground’ or run a wire to earth to eliminate the hum from the boost. However, the dynamic range of analog recordings (reel to reel) is and has been and always will be the debate of the audiophile - whether it being headroom, or dynamic range. No transition from digital to analog - as the entire chain is analog (how we hear) - to just nostalgia (and a lot of other reasons)
Keep in mind though - unless the vinyl was pressed in the 30’s through the mid to late 80’s, chances are you will get a record recorded through an entire analog chain (to tape in studio, pressed to a record directly from the tape). After those years, most bands have used the ease of digital chains for recording then using an ADC (opposite of a DAC, turning analog to digital for distribution) to release on CDs or streaming media. (Which is nearly impossible to extract a lossless version with todays technology - as Bluetooth has a ‘cap’ of how much data can magically be sent through the air, then converted at your headphones to analog.
Remember - lossless files can be a ½ a GB, 300-500MB of data - where an MP3 or AAC is closer to 4-8MB - literally 100 times more data! Hence RedBook for CD standard dropping the word length to 16 bits and frequency reproduction to 44.1KHz. When divided into stereo that is essentially what we can hear as babies 20Hz to 20Khz (lowest lows to highest highs). Not that I’m convinced we ever hear that low or high, debatable. But 192KHz = Not possible. Nor is 96KHz.
That said, a trained ear can pick up things like the sustained sound of piano keys or a cymbal’s continued splash. Guitar overtones and other instruments whose audio extends far beyond 20KHz or lower (think synthesized music) than 20Hz. The type of bass you don’t hear but you feel.
This is an extremely basic explanation but feel free to dive into the rabbit hole. OR feel free to spend the thousands of dollars necessary to (possibly) hear the difference.
Orchestra and classical music IMO are the best examples of uncompressed audibility. With such low (in volume/gain) instruments like flutes or small strings (violin) parts of the song separated by the BOOM of a tympani drum, gongs, all chairs of oboes and cellos, guitars and drums… there’s huge dynamics in most classical recordings.
Unfortunately - producers are producing for the lowest end speakers and headphones on the market because that is what people use. Headphones, Speakers, sources and amps are usually what I call ‘clock radio’ systems. Bluetooth headphones to an iPhone or Android, a stock sound system in a car, sound bars, or AIO 5.1/7.1 systems. They engineer the dynamic range OUT of the released recording by literally recording to within 3dB of 0 point, or clipping. In digital - you don’t want to get close to 0, rather -6dB - -12db is better, allowing for a better separation of instruments voices and audio vs the capped -3dB mix. Which is perfect for your clock radio, Bluetooth speakers, and MOST peoples’ ability to hear the jacked up audio. Back in the analog chain - if you are familiar with VU meters - you may have seen them often cross the zero point, as it’s more of a reference than a clipping point, and the more that needle swings left to right during playback, the more likely it’s an analog recording. Where a current artist’s digital recording will literally hug the zero point or just below so as not to clip the signal.
DON’T Ever plug a line out source to a phono stage and amplify it. You will be crushed by loud, distorted and possibly damaged speakers, amps or both!!!
Lossless = fools errand, unless you have the cash to actually perceive the tone of the source. Hear the dynamic range, or you’re independently wealthy and enjoy classical or orchestral music.
I’ve engineered audio for a long time, starting in the mid 80s. I’m extremely passionate about music and own over 5,000 records - as many CDs - even SACD and DVD-A formats (extinct before the masses to hear), reel to reel recordings, and a heck of a revealing sound system - as it’s my Harley! (I don’t ride anymore, I invest in my hobby, music) But I am typically listening to the lower notch than lossless if streaming, CDs or vinyl using a Tango Pre-amp with a Cary Audio SP98 F1 tube pre to McIntosh amps and B&W speakers. A fortune is in the system - yet an excellent high quality AAC - MP3 (356-320Kb/s) recording or streamed tune is nearly identical in sound to my 50 something ears as a lossless stream of the same tune.
Vinyl has its own sound, and much of it is in the ‘distortion’ or ‘color’ added by the original recording chain. As well as where and when it was produced.
I’ll **** after this fun fact
If you’re into vinyl - try your best to avoid American pressed vinyl from the 70s - as the US pissed off big members of OPEC. Driving petroleum products though the roof (if old enough you remember the gas station lines). Hence the speed limit (55) was imposed as the most efficient (>MPG) speed on most vehicles. And B. The vinyl and the word ‘recycled’ came together and America (a few other countries) began melting the petroleum based vinyl of used or unsold records to punch new records with the now - recycled (non-virgin) albums - creating the pops and clicks we so often attribute to vinyl listening. I have an Argentine copy of Dark Side of the Moon as well as a dozen other copies including MoFi, UHQR and half speed masters that are a joke in quality compared to my possibly 100gram - -off a cereal box Argentine copy. They continued to use virgin vinyl (not recycled) and most any album pressed to non-recycled vinyl will be click/pop free! The difference is amazing and impossible to describe.
Good luck on your journey. And if you wanna save space and get as close as possible to lossless, use FLAC!