Need Help Picking a DAP and which software to use to mange it and rip cd's
Jul 25, 2015 at 2:00 PM Thread Starter Post #1 of 10
raiders4life12

raiders4life12

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Trying to decide between PONO, X3 gen 2, x5 gen 2, DX90, or any other recommended player in this price range.
 
If anyone can help me decide between these players and what the pros cons are for each that would be very helpful. Also if you have any alternatives that would be appreciated. I don't know much about each player or how they perform and sound so basic info is good too. I would be using mostly Fidelio X2 but sometimes Audio Technica M50x with it.
 
Secondly I need help with how to get higher quality files than iTunes and cd's ripped using iTunes aac.
XLD has been recommended and Jriver but if there any others available for mac a recommendation would be appreciated. Also any alternatives to HDtracks for higher than cd quality files would be great.
 
Thanks in advance!
 
Jul 25, 2015 at 2:44 PM Post #2 of 10
XLD does a good job and its free. I haven't found any reason to stray from it.
 
I own the X3ii and love it. The interface can be a little annoying at times but the performance for the price is fantastic. If you can afford and need the added features of more expensive players, go for it.
 
Jul 25, 2015 at 8:06 PM Post #3 of 10
notfitforpublic said:
  XLD does a good job and its free. I haven't found any reason to stray from it.
 
I own the X3ii and love it. The interface can be a little annoying at times but the performance for the price is fantastic. If you can afford and need the added features of more expensive players, go for it.
Click to expand...


Thanks for the input. I tried ripping some cd's using xld and it took a very long time is that normal? Also I compared the Alac XLD and aac from iTunes on my headphones and I couldn't tell the difference, could it have been the quality of the cd?
 
Jul 25, 2015 at 8:46 PM Post #4 of 10
Raiders4life12, you could go into iTunes -> Preferences -> Import Settings and change your setting to "Apple Lossless," which is just as good an audio codec as FLAC or APE or any other Lossless file type.
 
That being said, XLD is great for Mac users. If you ever need to convert some FLACs to ALAC (Apple Lossless,) use that. It's perfect.
 
Also, as a Mac user, you should go to the App store and download (for free) the program Vox. It can play just about any file type, including DFF, DSF, DSD, and all that weird stuff iTunes can't do. Anything you buy from HDtracks can be played on Vox.
 
But as for burning CDs, just continue using iTunes with the import settings changed to "Apple Lossless." If you can't hear the difference currently between Lossless and AAC, that's okay. Maybe you'll hear it once you get your hands on that DAP, being that it is kind of a portable dedicated DAC/AMP.
 
Also, sometimes a badass soundsystem and a lossless file won't make much of a difference if the original recording was kind of Lo-fi. I'm not getting much more out of a dang Toasters album recorded in some guy's apartment back in '83.
 
But if you play an SADC recording of Dark Side of the Moon, well you might hear a little extra something.
 
Jul 25, 2015 at 10:38 PM Post #5 of 10
flangers aside said:
  Raiders4life12, you could go into iTunes -> Preferences -> Import Settings and change your setting to "Apple Lossless," which is just as good an audio codec as FLAC or APE or any other Lossless file type.
 
That being said, XLD is great for Mac users. If you ever need to convert some FLACs to ALAC (Apple Lossless,) use that. It's perfect.
 
Also, as a Mac user, you should go to the App store and download (for free) the program Vox. It can play just about any file type, including DFF, DSF, DSD, and all that weird stuff iTunes can't do. Anything you buy from HDtracks can be played on Vox.
 
But as for burning CDs, just continue using iTunes with the import settings changed to "Apple Lossless." If you can't hear the difference currently between Lossless and AAC, that's okay. Maybe you'll hear it once you get your hands on that DAP, being that it is kind of a portable dedicated DAC/AMP.
 
Also, sometimes a badass soundsystem and a lossless file won't make much of a difference if the original recording was kind of Lo-fi. I'm not getting much more out of a dang Toasters album recorded in some guy's apartment back in '83.
 
But if you play an SADC recording of Dark Side of the Moon, well you might hear a little extra something.
Click to expand...


Thanks, this helps a lot. I was using an older recording of Beethoven Triple Concerto from the 90's. Also you mentioned SACD, Is there any way a computer/dap can play an SACD? What do people use to listen to SACD's other than CD/SACD Players? I have a couple SACD's but they are kinda useless unless there is a way to play them.
 
Jul 26, 2015 at 12:33 AM Post #6 of 10
raiders4life12 said:
 
Thanks, this helps a lot. I was using an older recording of Beethoven Triple Concerto from the 90's. Also you mentioned SACD, Is there any way a computer/dap can play an SACD? What do people use to listen to SACD's other than CD/SACD Players? I have a couple SACD's but they are kinda useless unless there is a way to play them.
Click to expand...

 
Unfortunately I cannot help you there. From a quick Google search it appears that the Playstation 3 can rip the DSD files from an SACD, but aside from that device I'm not sure what else can. Then again, I only did two minutes of research before giving up.
 
Jul 26, 2015 at 5:48 PM Post #8 of 10
flangers aside said:
 
raiders4life12 said:
 
Thanks, this helps a lot. I was using an older recording of Beethoven Triple Concerto from the 90's. Also you mentioned SACD, Is there any way a computer/dap can play an SACD? What do people use to listen to SACD's other than CD/SACD Players? I have a couple SACD's but they are kinda useless unless there is a way to play them.
Click to expand...

 
Unfortunately I cannot help you there. From a quick Google search it appears that the Playstation 3 can rip the DSD files from an SACD, but aside from that device I'm not sure what else can. Then again, I only did two minutes of research before giving up.
Click to expand...

 
Foobar2000 has a plug-in that will play a SACD disk image directly.  Just rip the SACD and add it into your music folders on your PC as if it were a giant FLAC file.  Foobar2000 will recognize and play it using the "SACD Input" plug-in. 
 
Jul 27, 2015 at 11:13 AM Post #9 of 10
tomb said:
   
Foobar2000 has a plug-in that will play a SACD disk image directly.  Just rip the SACD and add it into your music folders on your PC as if it were a giant FLAC file.  Foobar2000 will recognize and play it using the "SACD Input" plug-in. 
Click to expand...


unfortunatley I only have mac's. Are there any mac alternatives that have SACD support or does foobar run well on Parallels?
 
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