Mac OS X Music Players - alternatives to iTunes

[Solitary1]

Quote:

Yeah okay I do notice some differences when the SysOptimizer is on/off. I prefer it on with some tracks, and off in others.
 
This is so weird. Why is the audio process in Mac so much more complicated than Windows?
Windows -> Foobar2000 -> WASAPI -> done
Mac -> media player -> voodoo magic -> more voodoo magic -> room for improvement -> more voodoo magic...

 
You 're kidding?

 

[miceblue]

About which part?
 
The sound? With the SysOptemizer on I hear a little more depth in my music and a more defined bass, but I prefer it off for orchestra music for some reason; maybe it's a little more engaging with it off?

 

[bixby]

Quote:

 
 
To me the biggest difference in 1.5.5 is when you active the sysoptimizer function and set the new A+ prioritizer to Extreme.  I won't go and spit out a bunch of superlatives but I definitely noticed a much better sound

ditto.  I had been using 1.5.4 and before that 1.4.7 I think .....all changes up a few revisions have been much bigger than most dac changes in my system.  And yes, better sound with no wifi, no itunes integration, mac tweaks, async dac or bridge, no ipad or remote apps, etc.  They all take their toll on transparency.  I have not listened to Amarra, or Pure Music on a long time.  A+ is one of the best improvements one can make in a Mac based system.  Best under $1000 - $2000 component change I can think of if you are not using it and have a system that is capable of high resolution.

 

[Solitary1]

Quote:

About which part?
 
The sound? With the SysOptemizer on I hear a little more depth in my music and a more defined bass, but I prefer it off for orchestra music for some reason; maybe it's a little more engaging with it off?

About the Windows part being easier than the Mac OSX. If you don't want to tailor your sound, what can be any more easy than plug and play with dac and turn on iTunes? No drivers, no ASIO, no WASPI? And Audivana + is not only audiophile player , BitPerfect, Amarra, Pure Music, Fidelia, Decibel, each with own strengths and weaknesses. Let's not confuse flexibility with complicated. That is all I'm saying.

 

[Solitary1]

  ditto.  I had been using 1.5.4 and before that 1.4.7 I think .....all changes up a few revisions have been much bigger than most dac changes in my system.  And yes, better sound with no wifi, no itunes integration, mac tweaks, async dac or bridge, no ipad or remote apps, etc.  They all take their toll on transparency.  I have not listened to Amarra, or Pure Music on a long time.  A+ is one of the best improvements one can make in a Mac based system.  Best under $1000 - $2000 component change I can think of if you are not using it and have a system that is capable of high resolution.

Well, each of has ears. And I guess what sounds like big improvement will not register to others.

 

[reiserFS]

Does anyone know if the latest Audirvana Plus release works with the 10.9 GM?

 

[MacedonianHero]

Anyone having issues with songs skipping with the new Amarra 2.6 version? 

 

[Sternklang]

@reiserFS, yes it works with Mavericks GM and the latest iTunes 11.1.1. Only issue I had during the beta period was with a pre-release version of iTunes from one of the earlier preview releases of 10.9.

 

[miceblue]

OS X Mavericks is out? Oh the gold master version.
I was looking at this....nothing looks really substantial. -_-
http://www.informationweek.com/hardware/apple-macintosh/apple-os-x-mavericks-goes-gold-11-major/240162287
 
Compressed Memory is probably the only feature I would actually use.
 
 
Has anyone tried JRiver Media Center 18 yet? I extended my so-called trial to try it out but it won't let me use it at all. Really great trial system they've got there.

 

[Solitary1]

  OS X Mavericks is out? Oh the gold master version.
I was looking at this....nothing looks really substantial. -_-
http://www.informationweek.com/hardware/apple-macintosh/apple-os-x-mavericks-goes-gold-11-major/240162287
 
Compressed Memory is probably the only feature I would actually use.
 
 
Has anyone tried JRiver Media Center 18 yet? I extended my so-called trial to try it out but it won't let me use it at all. Really great trial system they've got there.

 
It has a good sound (not as good as A+), but. the interface sucks, still looks like a port of the Windows version. And, I'm sorry, I have too many issues with the way they do business. I was a early paid-beta tester of MC18, which was never released as finished product, now, they want you pay for upgrade MC19. When I complained on CA, all I got is smart-a** answers.

 

[bixby]

funny I have a friend who abandoned a plus for J River I think a plus sounds much better.
I also was not crazy about the pricing policy,
but I think a plus is going to do the same thing on the next release.

 

[Solitary1]

funny I have a friend who abandoned a plus for J River I think a plus sounds much better.
I also was not crazy about the pricing policy,
but I think a plus is going to do the same thing on the next release.

As far as I'm concerned, if A+ want to charge for an upgrade, I'm there. When I paid for it, it was only $49..

 

[miceblue]

Likewise for me too. One thing I don't like about Audirvana Plus is if you try to play tracks from a CD....well good luck with that.

>.>

 

[Textfeud]

I hope somebody can help me out. I just bought Amarra Hifi but no matter what I do the EQ doesn't seem to work. I bought it so I could keep using the iTunes EQ since I'm familiar with it. I've tried everything I think, but maybe I missed something.
 
The Amarra EQ (meaning the Amarra presets) is working just fine. It's just the iTunes EQ that isn't working. Ofcourse I have Amarra EQ linked to iTunes EQ. iTunes EQ is also on, but it's still not working

 

[Tara]

Hi Currawong, 
 
Thanks for the great article. enjoyed the read. 
I have been dying to install a software that i can listen to music and see the actual  wave forms of each track while playing. Do you know of any software that are simple and do this easily?
 
I greatly appreciate your response,
 
Tara