It wasn't a matter of a 'bionic' ear, but it was more making sure the house was quiet and that we were concentrating on the music and actively listening to each song. Some times it came down to the trumpet in "Get Ready" wasn't quite hitting the same notes or it sounded like the bass clipped for a second in "Shots" either way, there were differences.
FLAC is where its at. I rip all my Cd's into flac 192k or 330k pending on the quality of the CD. being 1970 ect. I'd say look into the program DB Poweramp. It's Great.