Hi Res Music Player for Mac
I’ve just ordered a Topping D10 DAC basically to dip my toe into the pool which is Hi Res music. I store all my music on my Macmini in itunes or as it’s called now in OS Catalina, just “Music”. Unfortunately “Music” does not have support for Hi Res music files so I need to add a new music player application that does, preferably a free rather than subscription service. I looked online and the most recommended one was Vox, so I downloaded it, unfortunately when I tried to open the program an error message came up, “It is not possible to open this program as Apple is unable to check if it contains any malicious software”
I’m wondering if any Mac using forum member can suggest a suitable Hi Res player that will run ok with OS Catalina, I don’t mind a one off payment to buy it but not a subscription service, any advice would be appreciated.
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Hi Res Music Player for Mac
Quote:
Originally Posted by
bosa
Hi,
I use JRiver on a Macbook via USB to an Audiolab M-Dac and pleased with it’s performance on all file types. Interface is easy to use. The optional remote software for phone or tablet is also easy to use and can be used to control the server or locally so you can listen e.g. on headphones or stream to another system.
I have heard the latest version of Audirvana is also good. I have an early version and the interface is a bit primitive but the sound quality good.
Thanks for the recommendation, a couple of friends use JRiver and like it particularly for the Hi Res compatibility, if my intention was to change from using the new Music application on the Mac and using JRiver for everything it would probably be worth the expense but I only intend to use it as an additional just to handle Hi Res files which “Music” can’t. Since starting this thread I managed to find an Apple certified download of Vox and I’ve installed it on my Macmini, the UI is pretty basic from what I can see, I downloaded a free sample Hi Res music track (labelled FLAC1206 kbps 24bit 96khz) which it played and sounded very good, although not being familiar with the content I didn’t have anything to compare it with. Just need to get hold of some Hi Res versions of some music I’m familiar with so I can assess if there is a perceptively better SQ with the Hi Res versions and also to compare the Wolfson DAC in my CXA60 to the Topping D10 which is on its way.
Hi Res Music Player for Mac
Just as an update, I’ve finished up downloading the JRiver Media Centre 25, there’s enough difference between it and the Music app in Catalina that it will take me a while to get used to “driving” it. I’d be interested to hear from others who use both players as to whether they think there’s any difference in the SQ of the 2 players. As I only setup JRiver a few hours ago I don’t think I’ve used it enough to make a solid judgement call but my initial impression is that JRiver “may” give a slightly bigger and weightier sound although doing a really accurate AB is not easy as the 2 players output at slightly different volumes so my observations are purely subjective.
I think the real-time bitrate readout is interesting, I thought ALAC was about 800-900kbps but I’ve just been listening to one of my favourite albums, Gaucho by Steely Dan and noticed peaks at 1200+kbps, surprising [emoji848]
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