Audiophile Software Music Players for Mac OSX - Foo?

[Beechwoods]

I recently purchased a Beresford Caiman TC-7520SEG, with Silmic Mod, and I am very pleased. It has encouraged me to take some time to try some of the 'audiophile' software players for OSX (I have a Mac Mini, Late 2010 model).

The best players for perceived fidelity so far have been Audirvana and Fidelia. Both offer free fully-featured demos which is essential in my opinion. Both sound great, but I am concerned that the apparently improved fidelity is only due to DSP tweaks (phase adjustments to widen the soundstage, EQ / harmonic enhancers to improve presence).

What is everyone else's opinion on this? I don't want to listen to a faked audiostream, I want to listen to the music as it was recorded. Is this what I am getting with these players?

[twelvebears]

+1 for Audirvana

Reasonable price and clean integration with iTunes, so great usability.

Music definately sounds much more dynamic and punchy to my ears than stock iTunes.

[Werner Berghofer]

Nick,


What is everyone else's opinion on this?

guess I tried all of the available “audiophile” software music players for Mac OS X, and honestly, I think all of them are dispensable and unnecessary. None of them supports wireless streaming natively, some require additional software like Airfoil (http://rogueamoeba.com/airfoil/) for this purpose. Most of these players in my opinion are troublesome to operate, come with rather bizarre user interfaces, don’t really support the iTunes library and ignore custom sort options set in iTunes.

And most important: I really don’t detect notable differences in playback quality when compared to iTunes plain vanilla playback. Out of curiosity on my desktop system sometimes I use BitPerfect (http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/bitperfect/id455545700?mt=12), but as I mentioned this only works locally. Since it’s quite cheap (US$ 9.99) and by far the most not intrusive software I suggest to give it a try without much risk and find out for yourself if you notice any improvement.

For me seamless integration to iTunes and support of iPhone and/or iPad as remote control is important, and here’s where all the “audiophile” software players fail. In my opinion much more can be achieved by switching to a better DAC, a better headphone amplifier and better headphones (in case you’re a headphone aficionado).

Werner.

[SteveW]

Werner,
Very well put. I agree with you completely.
I quite like using Cog with Airfoil, but in truth it's a very cumbersome way to play music. Especially as my iMac is upstairs and I listen to music on the ground floor.

I have quite a collection of FLAC files on a NAS, which I intended to use with a linn ds player, but finances keep getting diverted. However my work recently gave me an iPhone. I have downloaded an app called Media Connect. This then can stre flac files via AirPlay to my various apple airport expresses, and apple tv and intoy lyngdorf amp with built in dac.
It sounds pretty good... But to be really honest, I would struggle to differentiate between that and iTunes streaming apple lossless.

[AlfaGTV]

Have tried most of them also, like Werner, but they get dismissed based on user experience.
Two remain, due to the fact that they allow iTunes excellent library and remote control to be used:
BitPerfect, a very discrete, not to say invisible add on that gives you the opportunity to play from memory and upsample/resample your music.
Cost is neglible also.
Amarra, the high cost solution which actually works very well. Has loads of features but costs are more than reasonable IMO. Takes some getting used to as it has some quirks... But setup properly it beats BitPerfect hands down, as it maintains iTunes and Remote's very nice handling and administration paired with a highly appreciated sound quality.
BitPerfect also improves audio IMO, but has a tendency to sound a little "crisp" and "nervous"... I dont know how to describe it better.. :(

Amarra is availabe as a trial for the curious and BitPerfect can be dowloaded from AppStore for something like 4 quid..

Br Mike

[Werner Berghofer]

Steve,


I would struggle to differentiate between that and iTunes streaming apple lossless.

that’s no surprise: The moment an audio file is streamed to an Airport Express, it's being converted on the fly to ALAC 16 bit/44.1 kHz, the native format of an Airport Express. The (possible?) advantages of the FLAC format are not very obvious in this scenario ;-)

Werner.

[maniac]

I have quite a collection of FLAC files on a NAS, which I intended to use with a linn ds player, but finances keep getting diverted.

Steve you may try have a look to PS Audio Perfectwave mkII with bridge. It is UPNP (DLNA) streaming based solution. I'm very satisfied with this setup sound wise. The only thing which is not yet 100% reliable for me is the gapless playback, but I believe it will be sorted out by software updates somewhen this year.

[Rambaud]

I tried various options, and purchased Audirvana Plus which I use mainly to play hi-res FLAC files.

I am not bothered about iTunes integration nor streaming.

I have restricted my iTunes library to MP3 and AAC only to make it easier to sync with my iPod.

More surprisingly (to me anyway) is the general improvement in SQ that my new DAC (asychronous USB) has made to MP3/AAC by upsampling to 192kHz.

[sq225917]

I've tried and owned every one of them and I can't honestly say that I hear any difference with them into my Weiss 202. I use itunes as a matter of convenience and I use Audivarna+ to allow me to play hi-res and flac source material. Different dacs may well respond differently to what the players do or don't do.

My advice would be to get the one that fits your wallet and functional needs.

[Werner Berghofer]

Doug,


I have restricted my iTunes library to MP3 and AAC only to make it easier to sync with my iPod.

there’s an iTunes option enabling you to select 128, 192 or 256 kbit/s AAC as the audio format to use on a mobile playback device. When using this option, audio files from the iTunes library will be resampled “on the fly” before transfering them to the mobile device. The original audio files remain unchanged in the library, while the downsampled versions are used on the mobile device.

Werner.

[ursus262]

I use Songbook for Mac which acts as a UPNP server and control point, and it's absolutely fantastic. The interface is very good and it integrates with i-tunes perfectly. It also has the ability to rip CDs to FLAC.

Take a look here : http://bookshelfapps.com/songbookmac.php

Don't be fooled by the title where the Linn DS is mentioned. It will work as a control point for any UPnP device. I use it with my Naim Uniti which is connected to my router via an RJ45 link, and my MacBook Pro is connected to the router wirelessly. Amazing results!

[Hoffer]

I use PureMusic. It allows me to play downloaded FLAC files in hi rez (24/192) through iTunes. It also works with the Apple Remote App.

For those unaware, 24/96 streaming is available for anyone who has an iPad. You need to have an Apple Camera Connection kit and a proper DAC, but it works like a charm. Here's a link for those who are interested:

http://www.benchmarkmedia.com/discuss/feedback/newsletter/2011/06/1/ipad-streams-high-resolution-audio-dac1

[Griffy]

Decibel if you like it simple.

Amarra if you want full itunes integration!

[kreacherx]

Audirvana brought me back to HiFi again, no matter what it does it sounds good, it pleases me & my ears, nothing is as good as the original band, orchestra, player. after all it is just an electronically generated copy of being there! even if Audirvana is a modern version of the loudness switch to my geriatric ears it sounds good !
tomorrow i take delivery of my new hifi what will that sound like all I have to do is hope & dream
today i listened to live irish musicians:-
nothing will ever replace ":cool:live"

[Beechwoods]

Well...

Amarra have just released a budget offering ($49) which I've tried, and I have at least come to a conclusion about the best - for me - software player with iTunes integration and that is PureMusic from ChannelD.

On a purely musical basis (the interface is naff) PureMusic sounds better than Amarra, though it does cost more - around $120 / £85. I'm holding off any purchases right now as I suspect that ChannelD may be forced to discount seeing as Amarra is their biggest rival. I have Fidelia as well for headphone listening, but it's messing with pre-gaps is a pain.

[Sonority]

Any thoughts on Audirvana?

[Beechwoods]

I think it sounds as good as PureMusic, but the iTunes integration doesn't exist at all. I like the iTunes interface. I've switched off all the 'Store', 'Ping' and whatever stuff, and it does what I want. Amarra and PureMusic both work nicely with iTunes itself.

I think Audirvana Free will keep me going for a while, so thanks for the prompt to check it again, but I need something a little more polished for ongoing use...

[sondale]

Any thoughts on Audirvana?
Many, but only a few of which I will share!

Last year I tried a lot of the packages on offer and ended up buying PureMusic as it offered the balance to my ears and pocket. Only one real drawback - gapless playing - in order to get this working you have to mark the album as gapless in ITunes - not difficult once you know which albums need this facility.

Having heard that Audirvana Plus was sounding very good and handled gapless albums I thought it was worthwhile giving it another go. However the trial had of course by this time run out, so I read a few threads to get a feel for what people thought about the latest releases. This led to me trying/buying Audirvana Plus - so after a bit of fiddling about I started listening.

On my Mac Mini (2009) / Snow Leopard I output via USB to an exau2i (USB to I2S) interface into an ESS9022 based dac; I normally get PM to upsample to 352.8 kHz at 24-bit; 192kHz downloads are passed at that rate. I cannot use Integer Mode nor Hog Mode - for some reason the exau2i does not like these being set.

So I set A+ to do the same and started listening. I found that I kept hearing little pops and squeals as the music played - then I remembered that this was one of the reasons for not picking A+ in the first place. Setting it no upsampling seemed to cure this but the sound was a little harder / more digital in comparison.

Now to gapless playing - I tried my torture CD for this - Variations by Andrew Lloyd Webber. Some tracks it handled very well others it made a slight noise at the end of tracks but at one point it played a track twice - well almost twice - half way through the second time it jumped to the next track! I also tried using the Remote for ITunes app on my HTC phone, A+ decided it was time to leave the premises and had to be reloaded.

At the moment I am listening to A+ back at upsampling and the sound is very good - it is just those little noises that are annoying - one of the reasons for moving away from vinyl!

I seem to remember that another player which uses Izotope to upsample also had this problem - it may be that it does not like my usb device. PM has its own upsampling algorithm.

Having paid for A+ I will definitely keep trying to get it to work on my mac - as I said it can sound very good. The problems may be my machine and dac. So I would certainly recommend downloading it and giving it a try.

As for Amarra Hifi - that lasted about 10 minutes - no gapless playback and no memory play - my disc light was going mad - I cannot remember how it sounded.

[sondale]

I have spent the evening comparing A+ and PM with no other software running on the mac - the results are interesting.

I have had only a few 'drop-outs / glitches' whilst running A+, few and far between; PM has as usual behaved itself - HOWEVER - the more I have listened the more I have preferred A+ - given my previous comments that is saying a lot!

Both were setup to upsample to 352.8kHz and the volume settings were set as close as I could get - A+ seems to like resetting my volume to -6db.

The differences between the players was small, not chalk and cheese, just two different cheeses! A+ is the smoother, creamier fare - like a fully ripe Brie; PM was more like Dolcelatte - just a hint of sharpness. In the end the Brie won!

So I now really need to find why the occasional glitches, what is happening with Gapless playback and why Inter & Hog modes are off limits.

Given the limited listening I think A+ is well worth persuing.

An interesting day indeed.

[allsorts]

Sondale, How many gb ram do you have in your mac mini? I found my similar age mini played much nicer with A+ when i went to 2X4gb sticks from original 2X1gb sticks.
MacMini, A+ at 96/24 and using iTunes integration controlled by Screen Sharing via my macbook from the recliner - perfect.

[sondale]

Sondale, How many gb ram do you have in your mac mini? I found my similar age mini played much nicer with A+ when i went to 2X4gb sticks from original 2X1gb sticks.
MacMini, A+ at 96/24 and using iTunes integration controlled by Screen Sharing via my macbook from the recliner - perfect.
allsorts,

I now have 2x2GB - when I upgraded I thought that was the max, so I may just go for 2x4GB. I am thinking of getting an iPad to replace my aging laptop, so I will have a look at ScreenSharing.

It does seem that A+ MAY be more affected by environment than PM - which is odd because a lot of comments about PM refer to 'glitchy' behaviour which is not what I have found!

[Sonority]

That is all very interesting to me - it is a road I fully intend to navigate within the next few months.
Thank you for sharing that - one further point - album cover art / flac / alac etc, they all work ok with A+?

Thanks again.
Steve.

[sondale]

That is all very interesting to me - it is a road I fully intend to navigate within the next few months.
Thank you for sharing that - one further point - album cover art / flac / alac etc, they all work ok with A+?

Thanks again.
Steve.
Steve,

I cannot comment on flac/alac as my files are either AIFF or WAV; so far all album art has appeared.

I will try checking some FLAC files - I want to try XLD to rip some cds so I can try some different formats.

ALan

[Sonority]

Hi Alan,
Yes, I have also explored XLD as a 'ripper' and from what appears on the web it looks well 'up there'.
I don't think it has been updated for some time now and may also be un-supported.

I have several aquantainces who have very, very nice setups, dedicated computers, nice dacs and the rest, but think I am somewhat mad when I try and tell them that the iTunes they have complete trust in may not be giving them the best that they could achieve from their kit. 'Bits are bits' is the inevitable reply. I reply with 'codecs' but that just gets a blank look..:doh:

[roob]

So I now really need to find why the occasional glitches, what is happening with Gapless playback and why Inter & Hog modes are off limits.

Integer mode needs to have Hog Mode and Memory Play selected before it becomes available, saying that not all usb interfaces are Integer capable.
I cannot see any reason why Hog mode does not work, have you made sure that you have selected a different output device in Audio Midi? ie use built in output and not your dac.

[Beechwoods]

I have my DAC connected via USB and Optical; route the 'Alerts' etc to the USB port and the music to the Optical. The optical supports 24/96 whereas USB doesn't... this achieves the same thing as 'Hog Mode' I'd have thought while allowing me to switch between PureMusic and Spotify without PureMusic 'hogging' my connection.

[sondale]

Integer mode needs to have Hog Mode and Memory Play selected before it becomes available, saying that not all usb interfaces are Integer capable.
I cannot see any reason why Hog mode does not work, have you made sure that you have selected a different output device in Audio Midi? ie use built in output and not your dac.

The only output device selected has been exau2i - there is a dashboard which shows what is happening - basically it cannot start the driver - something else is hogging its port!

I spent a lot of time listening to A+ and PM whilst monitoring performance; A+ uses twice as much memory as PM (24% vs 13%) but iTunes under A+ runs at 13% whilst it runs at less than 2% under PM. At times A+ went up to 135% - but oddly enough that was not when the glitches were obvious.
I think I have an understanding of why the Gapless play does not always work - but I need some more time to investigate.

For a bit of light relief I used BootCamp to setup a Windows 7 partition - loaded JRiver MC16 and my USB Dac drivers - sounds promising!

[sondale]

I have my DAC connected via USB and Optical; route the 'Alerts' etc to the USB port and the music to the Optical. The optical supports 24/96 whereas USB doesn't... this achieves the same thing as 'Hog Mode' I'd have thought while allowing me to switch between PureMusic and Spotify without PureMusic 'hogging' my connection.
Not to seem as though I am bragging but I get my USB port to run at 352.8!:ner:

Unfortunately my usb dac is just that - no other inputs. I do have a Twisted Pear 4MUX board which I could use for SPDIF (optical or coax) and use the I2S output - however if I could sort out the Integer Mode / Hog Mode problems I would be very happy with just the usb.

[roob]

Getting integer mode to work in PM gave a major sq boost in my case.