[gilency]

I seem to be in the minority here. Just recently finished ripping several hundred CD's in apple losseless format since I use iPod and iTunes. Very happy with my collection and with the sound quality.

 

[punk_guy182]

Quote: So I'll give my usual reply here, there's already many players that support bit-perfect playback, it is not possible to improve on this unless you like and use DSP. So the sound quality of this player cannot be any better than other players providing a bit-perfect stream. Unquote

Whay is DSP?

 

[vegaman]

Quote:

Originally Posted by punk_guy182 /img/forum/go_quote.gif Whay is DSP?

DSP is Digital Signal Processing, so things like equalization, crossfeed filters... Some people like to use it to change the audio to their preferences. So it's not truly a sound quality improvement, in my view anyway, it's intentional coloration.

 

[krmathis]

Quote:

Originally Posted by gilency /img/forum/go_quote.gif I seem to be in the minority here. Just recently finished ripping several hundred CD's in apple losseless format since I use iPod and iTunes. Very happy with my collection and with the sound quality.

Yeah, we are certainly a minority.
But that don't matter, as long as we are pleased with the result.

 

[insyte]

Also using FLAC, EAC, foobar2K running under WINE in ubuntu

 

[vegaman]

Quote:

Originally Posted by krmathis /img/forum/go_quote.gif Yeah, we are certainly a minority. But that don't matter, as long as we are pleased with the result.

I'm a bit stuck in the middle, I have a FLAC library that I use on pc's too, so ALAC doesn't suit me, and I haven't been satisfied with any player but iTunes on my Mac. I guess I should try fluke and see if it works for me.

 

[krmathis]

Quote:

Originally Posted by vegaman /img/forum/go_quote.gif I'm a bit stuck in the middle, I have a FLAC library that I use on pc's too, so ALAC doesn't suit me, and I haven't been satisfied with any player but iTunes on my Mac. I guess I should try fluke and see if it works for me.

Yeah, seems like its worth giving Fluke a try.
Giving you the best of both worlds, iTunes as a player and the compatibility from FLAC files

 

[Killahertz]

EAC (from CD to WAV) - dBPowerAmp (from WAV to WMA Lossless*) - Foobar.

*I don't have anything against FLAC per se, just never been that fast or stable on my system(s), whilst WMA is both fast and stable.

 

[thomaspf]

Another vote for Jriver Media Center. Best all in one solution around. Ripping is on par with EAC. Supports APE, FLAC, ALAC as lossless formats. Stable ASIO supoort on playback and the best library around.

Cheers

Thomas

 

[kydsid]

Quote:

Originally Posted by gilency /img/forum/go_quote.gif I seem to be in the minority here. Just recently finished ripping several hundred CD's in apple losseless format since I use iPod and iTunes. Very happy with my collection and with the sound quality.

Me three but I do use foobar with ALAC addon for spdif playback on occasion.

 

[LarryK2]

Quote:

Originally Posted by vegaman /img/forum/go_quote.gif I read his description, he doesn't mention any valid reason why his player should sound better than any other bit perfect player. Because it shouldn't and won't. So I'll give my usual reply here, there's already many players that support bit-perfect playback, it is not possible to improve on this unless you like and use DSP. So the sound quality of this player cannot be any better than other players providing a bit-perfect stream.

I did side by side comparisons of foobar and XXHighend for 7 of my colleagues (all professors of music, and professional classical or jazz musicians). All of us preferred XXHighend as being far more engaging and organic sounding - true for strings, winds, brass, percussion and vioce. I can't tell you why or how the superior sound quality is possible from a technical standpoint, but I can tell you that it is there. My colleagues and I all use our ears in professional musical settings with acoustical instruments and unamplified voices to make a living.

My office system isn't great (Vista, WAV, XXHighend, Silverstone USB DAC, WA3, K701), but I think it is sufficient for a comparison of the players. I think that synergy matters, but in my system there is NO doubt that XXHighend sounds better.

Best,
Larry