iTunes Sounds Best

[CR250]

"The strange thing is that CD's now ripped in Apple Lossless sound better than when the CD's are played through the CD player."

 

Its not because Apple Lossless sounds better than a CD, its because you're using a different source, and it sounds different. Think of the computer as a CD player. If you can hear the difference between CD players, there's no reason to expect any different with a PC as a source.