Mac OS X Music Players - alternatives to iTunes - Page 107

That doesn't raise any red flags for you?

 

 

 

Yeah, it tells me that auditory memory is short. After listening to 2.4.0 and then taking the time to update and listening to 2.4.4 I thought it sounded slightly richer to me, but I can't go back and listen to 2.4.0 and switch back and forth with 2.4.4 to be sure. And everyone knows that. My point was neither one sounds tizzy to me, as previously described for 2.4.0. In general, I don't hear very much change in sound between versions of Amarra, and subtle changes can be tricks of the mind.

Other things raise red flags for me, are like when the PS Audio Perfectwave DAC is reported to sound different with every firmware upgrade, even when changes have nothing to do with the decoding process.

That is one possible (and quite reasonable) explanation, but not the only one.

Well, another possibility is that my impressions are full of crap, or I don't know what I'm talking about, or something else is being implied. Wanna fill me in, because I'm feeling particularly dense tonight?

Oh - the possibility that Amarra is manipulating the sound?

That's another possible (and quite reasonable) explanation.

I'm really liking the sound of the latest Amarra build.  Comparing it to the latest build of Audirvana + beta, it sounds richer, a little fuller, and has a little more depth.  Audirvana + sounds a little dry in comparison.   Now I still hate that Amarra takes up to a minute or so to load a full album, but seems to play perfect gapless.  It also seems quicker when set to load only one song that it did in the past.   I believe some of improvement were already in place in the last version but now really enjoying sound quality. 

 

Good point but, if it is, it's broken. At least that's the case for Amarra since their pro users are routinely looking analytically at the output, whether it's a procedure as simple as making sure the HDCD indicator is lit on playback or running the signal through Spectrafoo or some other multifaceted analytics tool. I'm sure the folks at Audiofile Engineering, Channel D, etc. all feel the same way; if the 'ware ain’t bit perfect, somethin’s broke.

 

BTW, I just sent a note off to AE asking them about a bit-perfect test procedure in Spectre. I'll report back if anyone cares as to the outcome...'Foo already does that BTW.

After all I read in this thread and having expirimented for over a year with (and having bought) most of the top players mentioned I come to this (admittedly very simplified) conclusion. OK, I'm taking a really short turn through the curve here but that doesn't make it any more logical and true.   ;)  

 

Since we noticed the following:

1) iTunes is bitperfect if all sound enhancments and volume control is turned off.

2) BitPerfect sounds the most like (or the same as) iTunes.

3) BitPerfect is a very lightwieght app so probably less sound fiddling (enhancements) is going on.

4) The other players seem to add their flavor to the music so they can't be bitperfect anymore.

 

We could conclude that BitPerfect is the ideal solution here: true bitperfect sound, auto switching of sample rates (which is the only thing iTunes lacks) and a lightweight, inobtrusive app you don't even notice. Just let it fire up on startup of your Mac and never think about it again. And it costs a few dimes.

 

Sounds good to me, I'm gonna stick with this one.  

 

Glad you like it :)

I sure do.

 

Just silly I spent so much money on 3 Amarra, 1 Audirvana and 1 Fidelia licenses.

Puremusic and 2 others I don't remember the name of I used via a trial.

 

IMO you should keep the app as simple as it is now and charge a bit more, seen what the competition asks. OK, there's no playlist function but that's just the beauty of it for those who like the way iTunes works, like me. 

 

We'll have a version for direct purchase (no App Store) that does Integer Mode on Lion/Mountain Lion, but some internal projects are currently higher priority than that... too many ideas, not enough time :)

Will keep an eye out for it, thanks.

I added your RSS and Twitter feeds so I can stay up to date.