BitPerfect (was: Audirvana Alternatives)

[MiguelATF]

Another bit +1 - or just plain +++ - for BitPerfect aka BP.  Just purchased it for my Mac Mini - which is equipped with a small but powerful FiiO E10 and through which I'm listening via Martin Logan Mikros 90 phones - and BP provides subtle but audible improvements - more richness, complexity and body - to the sound my Mac is putting out.
 
So - Kudos to all the BitPerfect brain trust!

 

[agentsim]

Thanks!

 

[AppleheadMay]

  Another bit +1 - or just plain +++ - for BitPerfect aka BP.  Just purchased it for my Mac Mini - which is equipped with a small but powerful FiiO E10 and through which I'm listening via Martin Logan Mikros 90 phones - and BP provides subtle but audible improvements - more richness, complexity and body - to the sound my Mac is putting out.
 
So - Kudos to all the BitPerfect brain trust!

 
Indeed. If there's one app I I'd hate to live without BP would be it.
And there's another nice one, a true help for late night sore eyes ... "f.lux".  

 

[agentsim]

f.lux is fantastic, it is nice to think of BP being similarly indispensable

 

[notfitforpublic]

I'll join the positive remarks for BP. For the money, its a fantastic piece of software and does an incredible job of improving iTunes SQ.
 
I also second, third or fourth the EQ motion for next update 

 

[headwhacker]

I think gapless playback is no longer working with iTunes 12. The only way now to make gapless playback work is to create a fixed playlist. Is this a known bug? I have any issues with gapless before.

 

[notfitforpublic]

Noticing similar issues here. iTunes 12.1.2.27

 

[agentsim]

Gapless playback has been deteriorating for a while. The root cause is the iTunes "up next" feature. There is currently no way to ask iTunes about the "up next" list.
 
The net result of this is, gapless playback can only work if what iTunes reports as the next track happens to match "up next". What iTunes reports as the next track is the order you see on the primary playlist. So if that playlist is sorted by, for example, track name, then gapless won't work. On the other hand, if it is sorted by track number, then by album name, it is much more likely to work.
 
I'm currently trying to think up a way to solve this problem. The best solution would be for Apple to expose the "up next" list via AppleScript... fingers crossed for an iTunes update (maybe the update that comes with Apple Radio in a few days.)

 

[AppleheadMay]

 
@agentsim

 
I now have my music on a thunderbolt drive connected to my computer which is connected via usb to my dac.
Let's say I put my music on a network drive instead (with very good wired network connection)  and the rest stays the same.
Will the sound still be as good, or will there be compression if iTunes (with BitPerfect) needs to get the music from a network drive instead of a thunderbolt drive?

 

[agentsim]

The sound should be pretty much identical, this is how BitPerfect's reference system is set up. Gigabit wired connection to a Synology NAS, and we notice no degradation vs. the built-in drive on a Mac Mini.

 

[Allanmarcus]

   
@agentsim

 
I now have my music on a thunderbolt drive connected to my computer which is connected via usb to my dac.
Let's say I put my music on a network drive instead (with very good wired network connection)  and the rest stays the same.
Will the sound still be as good, or will there be compression if iTunes (with BitPerfect) needs to get the music from a network drive instead of a thunderbolt drive?

Don't forget to get an AudioQuest diamond ethernet cable to make your bits sound better.
 
http://www.audioquest.com/ethernet/diamond
 

 

[AppleheadMay]

  The sound should be pretty much identical, this is how BitPerfect's reference system is set up. Gigabit wired connection to a Synology NAS, and we notice no degradation vs. the built-in drive on a Mac Mini.

 
Thanks, just what I needed to hear Agentsim.
 
I recently picked up some vintage receivers which are really sensitive to usb noise.
When I hook them up to my iMac there's a buzz, my iMac has a lot of usb stuff connected to it.
When I hook them up to my MBP with just one USB cable going to the same dac the noise is gone.
So'll I'll probably get me a Mac Mini to connect my dacs to it and connect to my library via network.
 
Is the standard Mac Mini model ok or is there any use for more memory or a faster processor?
I might be using it for HD video playback over the network as well by hooking it up to an AV receiver with HDMI.

 

[agentsim]

We have a fairly old Mac Mini, I don't remember that exact model and it works pretty well, but it is a dedicated audio device. Looking at the specs on the base Mac Mini (1.4 gHz), that seems pretty weak. I'd suggest going for the mid range model (2.6gHz, 8gb ram), that'll be more than enough for BitPerfect and I'd imagine for any HD video you might throw at it.

 

[AppleheadMay]

  We have a fairly old Mac Mini, I don't remember that exact model and it works pretty well, but it is a dedicated audio device. Looking at the specs on the base Mac Mini (1.4 gHz), that seems pretty weak. I'd suggest going for the mid range model (2.6gHz, 8gb ram), that'll be more than enough for BitPerfect and I'd imagine for any HD video you might throw at it.

 
 
Thanks Agentsim, my buzz problem is solved then!
Way too much stuff in my mancave.

 

[AppleheadMay]

  Don't forget to get an AudioQuest diamond ethernet cable to make your bits sound better.
 
http://www.audioquest.com/ethernet/diamond
 

 
Thanks for the advice, I'll buy a 100 meters bulk spool to rewire my whole house over again.