[AppleheadMay]

Quote:

I really like Fidelia but it would be nnice to see a bit more integration with the iTunes engine as opposed to just being able to link to the iTunes playlist.
 
I find myself being drawn back to iTunes with the SRS iWOW plugin.  I found that once I stepped away from some of the default settings and did a bit of tweaking with the SRS settings I can get a sound that I find to easily be as good as what I was hearing in Fidelia with a couple of plugins.
 
Has anybody else tried the SRS plugin and what are your thoughts on it?
 
Darcy

Just tried the SRS plugin. I get distortion whenever I move the volume slider up or down. Also, when setting it higher than standard I get distortion all the time.
I listened to it a bit at low volume and it's just an effects thingy, as I said before, the opposite of what the other players try to accomplish.
 

 

[noahp]

Anybody looking to "send" digital audio using Airplay with a non-iTunes app should look at Rogue Amoeba's Airfoil (there's a windows version too, if that's the kind of stuff you're interested in).  For example, you could use this to send uncompressed digital audio to an Airport Express that uses SPDIF optical out to a dedicated, high quality DAC and on to your ears via your favorite amp/headphones.  I use a setup like this to enable a single storage location for all my audio files and have multiple listening stations spread around my residence.

 

[AppleheadMay]

Doesn't everything get downsampled to 44/16 when streamed to an Airport Express?
Some of us do use high res files. 
I'm acquiring more and more 96/24 tracks and even some 192/24.
When I play them I want to use the full quality, hence the purchase of Dacs that can handle it.

 

[noahp]

It does.  Here are the details.  http://www.stereophile.com/digitalprocessors/505apple
 
Quote:

Doesn't everything get downsampled to 44/16 when streamed to an Airport Express?

 

 

[AppleheadMay]

That would be quite interesting then!
I know using Apple's Airplay from within iTunes converts everything to ALAC 44/16, which is quite good for ripped CD's but not for highres downloads.
I know Rogue Amoeba, just never used it because I thought it only was for streaming non iTunes stuff which I have no need for. Didn't know about the highres music though. That would give 96/24 capability as the output from the AE can't handle 192/24, but there is very little material at that resolution still.

 

[noahp]

Yes, you're right.  Good enough to match CD-quality.  If you have better source audio, you will be losing both in terms of total information and probably an encoding loss as well.
 
Quote:

That would be quite interesting then!
I know using Apple's Airplay from within iTunes converts everything to ALAC 44/16, which is quite good for ripped CD's but not for highres downloads.

 

 

[AppleheadMay]

Yep, twice loss, that's what I thought.
 
The only way I have found so far (for Alac at least since that's the only format I use) is an iMac with iTunes library on my desk and a Mac Mini with a copy of the same library on it for my speaker setup in the living room.
Then use Supersync to sync the libraries, don't use normal backup/sync programs as that can mess up the library.
Then USB out to a dac in each setup and you have highres which your choice of OSX player.
For the rest of the house Airtunes is fine though, or Airfoil.
 
Another way would be the same setup without copying the libraries and access the remote library via Home Sharing.
That gives you highres as well but can't be played thtough the players we're discussing here, only iTunes itself.
Support for that is promised to be coming in Fidelia though.
 
Network players will bring resolution in the future I'm sure.
For now I'm watching the W4S Music server and Classe CP-800.
PS Audio promised to support Alac since the beginning but can't make it happen as far as I'm informed.
Their Dac might be ok but the streaming part sucks IMO, at least for a Mac user, I've owned a PWD.
And seen the price of their MkII PWD it's really not worth it as you can get a Classe CP-800 for that.
I've heard both (PWD MkI and CP-800) and the PWD is a toy compared to the CP-800, in both build quality and SQ.

 

[KraftD1]

Guess I'll mention it here.  I tried out Decibel and ran it on my E10 and HDP via USB.  The E10 had a small glitch near the beginning of each song, and my whole computer crashed twice while switching tracks (MBA), no such issues with the HDP.  Switching to Audirvana free no issues with the E10.  Not sure what is up with Decibel, but it seemed to have some conflict with the E10.

 

[thrak]

Quote:

Why isn't VLC player on the list?  It's a small, unobtrusive program that will play practically any file format including high rez files....listening to a 96khz/24bit as I type.

the main usability issue is the lack of library management as has already been stated.  in addition, it is worth noting that VLC simply uses quicktime to playback audio and so it is identical to iTunes output.  no real benefit or even a difference in terms of SQ. 

 

[Jaywalk3r]

the main usability issue is the lack of library management as has already been stated.  in addition, it is worth noting that VLC simply uses quicktime to playback audio and so it is identical to iTunes output.  no real benefit or even a difference in terms of SQ. 

That seems strange, since VLC plays file types that Quicktime doesn't support.

 

[thrak]

Quote:

Quote:

the main usability issue is the lack of library management as has already been stated.  in addition, it is worth noting that VLC simply uses quicktime to playback audio and so it is identical to iTunes output.  no real benefit or even a difference in terms of SQ. 

That seems strange, since VLC plays file types that Quicktime doesn't support.

it does indeed!  but it uses quicktime to play apple specific formats, namely AAC and Apple Lossless.  possibly FLAC as well.  yes, quicktime 'supports' FLAC.  what that means and why iTunes won't play it natively is beyond me....  
 

 

[Jaywalk3r]

it does indeed!  but it uses quicktime to play apple specific formats, namely AAC and Apple Lossless.  possibly FLAC as well.  yes, quicktime 'supports' FLAC.  what that means and why iTunes won't play it natively is beyond me....  

The current version of QuickTime Player (10.1) does not support FLAC. VLC uses the libavcodec library from FFmpeg for encoding and decoding codecs. It seems extremely unlikely that VLC would decode codecs independently of QT, then play back using QT when Apple have already provided the necessary API's to do that independently as well.

AAC (Advanced Audio Coding) is not Apple specific and never has been. Apple Lossless is now free and open source after being developed by Apple. Encoding and decoding both codecs have long been supported by FFmpeg.

 

[WarriorAnt]

iTunes will play FLAC files after installing Fluke.  But you probably already knew this.
 
http://fluke.en.softonic.com/mac

 

[Silent One]

MPD/GMPC
 
One alternative would be to install a music server/client on OS X - Music Player Daemon & Gnome Music Player Client. 
 
http://mpd.wikia.com/wiki/MPD_on_OSX
 
Need FLAC? Plenty of love to go around! Need streaming? With the aforementioned setup, not only could you stream ALL over the house; property, you could stream up and down the street. And you can have Clients ALL over the house as well - computers; iPhone; iPad; Android and other mobile devices.
 
 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Music_Player_Daemon
 
Additionally, there are other choices in Clients to control MPD if one desired.

 

[AppleheadMay]

While this info may cerainly be useful to other people it doesn't solve my problem.
Let me explain:
I have no need for FLAC support, I use Alac and Alac only, and there lies the problem.
While this server probably cans stream Alac on the sending end it's hard to find a network player that accepts it on the receiving end.
GMPC or its alternatives like you suggest need a Mac on the receiving end, so I'm no further than with iTunes since that works fine via Home Sharing as well.
What I'm in need of is a dedicated network player like the Marantz NA7004 that I have for example that plays Alac.
PS Audio for example promised to do that among other things and they never succeeded. That's why I'm keeoing an eye on W4S and Classe.