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Post by dac0964 on Jun 2, 2014 14:24:09 GMT -5
I'd like to know if we have any forum member using an Apple Mac for Hi-Res (24/96 or 24/192) music connected to the DC-1? Any issues encountered with this set-up? I'm thinking of moving to Apple MacBook but only if this process is painless  |
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Erwin.BE
Emo VIPs 
It's the room, stupid!
Posts: 2,269
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Post by Erwin.BE on Jun 2, 2014 14:38:15 GMT -5
No problem at all here.
Do you use iTunes?
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Deleted
Deleted Member
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Post by Deleted on Jun 2, 2014 15:47:48 GMT -5
No problem at all here. Do you use iTunes? Same here |
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Post by GreenKiwi on Jun 2, 2014 16:06:36 GMT -5
I use it, I bought BitPerfect for $10, and it handles the high bit rate stuff seemlessly.
I think that JRiver Media Center for the Mac has gotten much better, but I still think it's probably one version away from being really usable. I'd wait for MC20 to go that route.
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Post by audiobill on Jun 2, 2014 16:08:44 GMT -5
Same here, with bitperfect.
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Post by routlaw on Jun 2, 2014 16:35:22 GMT -5
Piece of cake here too, have used iTunes, Pure Music and but use Audirvana + exclusively now, great program btw and fabulous sound. Tried JRiver, but found the UI to be more trouble than it was worth.
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Post by doc1963 on Jun 2, 2014 16:54:44 GMT -5
No problems here either and a huge "plus one" for Audirvana Plus as well..... |
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Post by dac0964 on Jun 2, 2014 21:39:56 GMT -5
Thanks for all the feedback, I appreciate it. I'll check out those you mentioned.
GreenKiwi, I agree with you on JRiver. i actually borrowed a MacBook and tried JRiver. Weird things would happen.
So i get it that you can play 24/192 files, right? Cause i read that Mac OS support only 24/96.
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Post by dac0964 on Jun 2, 2014 21:42:40 GMT -5
Also can i still play all my FLAC files on BitPerfect or Audirvana?
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Post by GreenKiwi on Jun 2, 2014 21:59:54 GMT -5
I know that bit perfect can play flac, but don't know how you get them into your library. I would think that any solution that was tied to itunes would have the same issue and potential solution.
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Post by GreenKiwi on Jun 2, 2014 22:41:21 GMT -5
But you can convert flac to apple lossless without losing anything. (Except for personal time)
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Post by routlaw on Jun 2, 2014 22:54:36 GMT -5
So i get it that you can play 24/192 files, right? Cause i read that Mac OS support only 24/96. Thats nonsense, Mac OS will support 32 bit/ 192 Khz (and perhaps higher) assuming you have the capable dac. Where do these erroneous rumors come from? |
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Post by dac0964 on Jun 2, 2014 23:04:01 GMT -5
So i get it that you can play 24/192 files, right? Cause i read that Mac OS support only 24/96. Thats nonsense, Mac OS will support 32 bit/ 192 Khz (and perhaps higher) assuming you have the capable dac. Where do these erroneous rumors come from? Internet... apple forum |
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Post by dac0964 on Jun 2, 2014 23:05:46 GMT -5
But you can convert flac to apple lossless without losing anything. (Except for personal time) I'm totally newbie with the Mac, can I ask you how i would go about it? |
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Post by novisnick on Jun 2, 2014 23:32:25 GMT -5
But you can convert flac to apple lossless without losing anything. (Except for personal time) I'm totally newbie with the Mac, can I ask you how i would go about it? Me too,,,,,,,,,where to start? |
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Post by sahmen on Jun 2, 2014 23:52:49 GMT -5
I have posted this query on Head-fi.org, but haven't received any responses yet. I shall repost it here, without wishing to hi-jack the thread. I hope the OP does not mind. It is one query with different parts, but they're all dealing with choosing a good app/audio playing software to help optimize i-tunes functionality for hi-rez music. Any helpful input would be welcome:
I am considering buying one of these products (audirvana plus, Bitperfect, Fidelia) to improve my music listening experience, and I hope I can get some help here. I typically play my music from i-tunes on my Macbook pro, through apple TV via airplay... The apple tv is hooked up to my main Ht/ 2.1 stereo rig via an Emotiva DAC (DC-1)
(in parenthesis, I have a synology NAS that I shall soon set up to store music and video files. I also have a Mac mini serving as an htpc in my Bedroom rig, so it would be nice to have all the music files stored in one place on the home network so that I can play them on either rig, as well as listen to them on my Macbook pro with headphones, if I choose to. Also only a tiny fraction of my music files exist, at present, in high-res format--mostly ALAC. After discovering recently that I have been shooting myself in the foot ripping my CDs to i-tunes in mp3 format, I have decided to re-rip my entire collection in lossless ALAC/FLAC for my home network, and this is also one of the reasons why I need one audio playing application to help me optimize my music. So now back to my questions.)
Will Audirvana plus fulfill all my needs? Specifically speaking: when I purchase it, can I load and use it on both my Macbook pro, and my Mac Mini, or would I have to buy two licenses in order for it to serve on both machines? Does it integrate well with ipod/ipad/iphone functionalities? Also does it optimize music for headphones in the same way as Fidelia does, according to one source on the head-fi.org thread? (I have a couple of great headphone amps that I use with my two rigs, so this question applies to using the headphone with my MacBook pro alone, on the fly)
Is there any advantage in owning two of these applications at the same time (e.g. Audirvana plus and Bitperfect, or Audirvana plus and Fidelia pro), or, put in another way, can Audirvana plus be adequate as a one stop solution, doing everything the other two can do?
Any helpful thoughts would be welcome. I was actually on the verge of pulling the trigger tonight, first on Bitperfect, and later, on audirvana plus, but I thought I should do a little research first in order to avoid paying for redundant duplicate services and functionalities, should I end up finding one of the applications I buy inadequate for some reason. Thanks.
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Post by dac0964 on Jun 3, 2014 1:08:52 GMT -5
You can try downloading a full trial version (14 days) to test them if they will work. That's what i'm doing now. |
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Post by dac0964 on Jun 3, 2014 1:40:17 GMT -5
So i get it that you can play 24/192 files, right? Cause i read that Mac OS support only 24/96. Thats nonsense, Mac OS will support 32 bit/ 192 Khz (and perhaps higher) assuming you have the capable dac. Where do these erroneous rumors come from? I went back to that apple forum to read again the posts. To clarify the 24/96 limit is only on the analog and optical ports. The USB will output whatever bit rate your file has. I just tested it with my new MacBook Pro and a trial version of Audirvana. Additionally, all my FLAC files are working |
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Deleted
Deleted Member
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Post by Deleted on Jun 3, 2014 8:25:09 GMT -5
But you can convert flac to apple lossless without losing anything. (Except for personal time) I'm totally newbie with the Mac, can I ask you how i would go about it? There are two ways you can go here: 1) Download VLC - it's a media player that will play almost anything, including FLAC (it's free) 2) Download XLD - it will convert your FLAC files to Apple Lossless (or some other format you chose, but go with ALAC). It's also free. Then just import into iTunes as usual. Feel free to message me with any Mac questions. |
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KeithL
Administrator 
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Post by KeithL on Jun 3, 2014 8:43:29 GMT -5
I've seen modern Macs do 384k over USB - without anything special being done (but I don't know if they can ALL do that). Any reasonably modern one can certainly do 192k.
It is specifically the optical port on Macs that is limited to 96k, as are many optical ports on other computers. (The standard doesn't limit Toslink to 96k, and our stuff can handle 192k, but the optical interface chips used by many sound cards, computers, and audio devices seem to top out at 96k. In fact, I haven't tried many that would do it, but the standard does NOT specifically rule it out.)
Incidentally, just to clarify something that seems to confuse a few people:
When you're using USB, you're using a USB driver. With an Apple, this is included with the operating system (in fact, there are separate UAC1 and UAC2 drivers in there - both included on the Mac). With a PC, the UAC1 driver (which goes up to 96k) is included in the O/S, but the UAC2 driver (which is needed to go to 192k) is not, which is why you have to download and install our driver for the DC-1 and the XDA-2. With a USB-connected DAC, the DAC itself is "seen by the computer as an external USB sound card" - and so doesn't depend on any of the audio hardware inside the computer. (If the computer already has a sound card, then the DAC is a second sound card - and is not limited by the capabilities of the internal one.)
With S/PDIF type outputs, like Toslink and Coax, the output is controlled by your sound card - or by the card on which the port resides (which could be on the motherboard or separate), which has its own driver. It is that driver which will determine the options you get with that output (for example, some Toslink outputs only go up to 96k, and some allow 88k, while others do not). This will strictly depend on the hardware and driver for the sound card (or other port card) on which the port lives.
Because they use different drivers, you often get different capabilities, and even different configuration options, for S/PDIF and USB.
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