[AppleheadMay]

If I ever get to it. Summertime, bad time for headphones.  

 

[jjacq]

Just installed Clementine. Love it more than audirvana for some reason. I'm so glad I found this thread .

 

[miceblue]

Quote:

Just installed Clementine. Love it more than audirvana for some reason. I'm so glad I found this thread .

 
Clementine is more like iTunes whereas Audirvana is more like [the old version of] VLC (for music at least).
 
I prefer Audirvana just because I found it to have better sound quality than Clementine, but I can see the appeal for Clementine. I keep all of my music in organized folders, so Clementine isn't as useful for me as it is for some people.

 

[AppleheadMay]

I had never heard of Clementine.
Now we're taking about iTunes replacements, has anyone ever tried Plex for music?
How's the SQ?
I'm thinking of starting with a Mac Mini as media server when the new ones come out so it would be nice if Plex can do it all.
I wouldn't use iTunes for that since I'm ripping all my DVDs as Video_TS folders.

 

[miceblue]

I know this isn't the right thread, but I have a quick question.
 
I've been using Exact Audio Copy for ripping music CD's. Today, in Mac OS X, I opened the CD in Finder and noticed that one can just copy/paste the AIFF files from the CD to the hard drive.
 
What's the difference between accurately ripping a CD (via EAC on Windows or XLD on Mac), which can take a while depending on the settings, and just copying/pasting the files from the CD itself?

 

[MtnSloth]

Typically one rips a CD to a compressed lossless (e.g. ALAC, FLAC) or lossy (AAC, MP3) audio file. The CD native AIFF files are uncompressed. In theory, there should be no difference between the decoded lossless file and the original uncompressed AIFF. I don't think I hear a difference on any of my systems.
 
AAC/MP3 encoded files may sound different from the original AIFF as the encoding process for AAC/MP3 does throw out data. AAC/MP3 proponents argue that nothing noticeable is lost in the process. Some hear no difference; others do.
 
Apologies if you are only asking about Accurate Rip as I am not sure how EAC does that. I use dBpoweramp and it has an identical (or at least similarly named feature), but I don't recall the details of how it works - and I'm too lazy to look it up.

 

[miceblue]

Quote:

Typically one rips a CD to a compressed lossless (e.g. ALAC, FLAC) or lossy (AAC, MP3) audio file. The CD native AIFF files are uncompressed. In theory, there should be no difference between the decoded lossless file and the original uncompressed AIFF. I don't think I hear a difference on any of my systems.
 
AAC/MP3 encoded files may sound different from the original AIFF as the encoding process for AAC/MP3 does throw out data. AAC/MP3 proponents argue that nothing noticeable is lost in the process. Some hear no difference; others do.
 
Apologies if you are only asking about Accurate Rip as I am not sure how EAC does that. I use dBpoweramp and it has an identical (or at least similarly named feature), but I don't recall the details of how it works - and I'm too lazy to look it up.

 
Ah okay, thanks.
 
 
Relating back to Mac OS X music players, why is it that different music players have different sound-qualities even with external DAC/amps? Shouldn't the external DAC/amp bypass all of the processing done in the computer? :S
 
For example, Audirvana + FiiO E7 still sounds much better than VLC + FiioE7.

 

[liamstrain]

Resource allocation is one factor. 

 

[miceblue]

Quote:

Resource allocation is one factor. 

 
Sorry, could you elaborate on this.

 

[liamstrain]

Any program needs certain resources from the computer - audio ports, memory, processing power, etc. How a program manages that, can affect its performance and sound - for instance, a program designed to play nicely with a lot of other programs running, may not take full advantage of the computers resources (since it wants to share with your web browser, and image editor, and word processor, etc without causing anything to bog down) - this program is convenient, but may not sound as good as one with really grabs resources and devotes them to the task (at the expense of other computer processes). 

 

[miceblue]

Quote:

Any program needs certain resources from the computer - audio ports, memory, processing power, etc. How a program manages that, can affect its performance and sound - for instance, a program designed to play nicely with a lot of other programs running, may not take full advantage of the computers resources (since it wants to share with your web browser, and image editor, and word processor, etc without causing anything to bog down) - this program is convenient, but may not sound as good as one with really grabs resources and devotes them to the task (at the expense of other computer processes). 

 
I see. I guess that makes sense. Thanks for the info.

 

[AppleheadMay]

I just got a mail from Amarra. They're doing a "Bring a friend" action.
I can give someone a link so that they can buy the $189 Amarra player for $59. Nice savings if you ask me.
If someone is interested drop me a PM with your email so I can forward the mail with link to you.
 
Only one condition: no brand new members please.
 
 
 
EDIT: Gone ...

 

[snapple10]

PM sent. I will love to try it out. 

 

[AppleheadMay]

It's yours.  

 

[paradoxper]

That would be nice until your friend gets pissed at you over the frustrations of Amarra's constant bugs.