Friends,
I was able to listen for a long time to Decibel last night after downloading it at a regular affordable price of $33. I wanted to share some initial thoughts here in case anyone is looking for an affordable player of hirez for the Mac.
System Used For Listening Sessions:
2011 Mac Mini>>Belkin Gold 10 foot USB cable>>Benchmark DAC1 Pre into stereo system (ARC preamp). Control was nothing fancy, just Decibel interface by Apple Magic Mouse. Waiting on iPad3 for ultimate control. USB input was well used by prior owner of DAC1 Pre as it was the base of his computer & headphone audio rig which used the SPL Phonitor headphone amp and Senn HD800 cans.
Comparison was made to the latest version of iTune using the Snow Leopard O/S on the Mac Mini. File types included AIFF, WAV, and 24/96 FLAC from HDTracks, Linn, Label downloads, and ripped DVD-Audio discs.
Impressions:
Very nice improvement over iTunes, with a crisp, clean, open sound. Like a veil or two had been lifted to use a bad audiophile cliche.
I noticed a more full sound in the bass and the midrange. Highs were extended as well.
Not night and day by any means but maybe something on the order of another 10-15% if iTunes was the baseline at 100%.
I used two key pieces of music: Alison Krauss' Paper Airplane and Eagles Hotel California. Paper Airplane (first track) had a nice clarity and transients were spot on. Instrument separation was excellent. Hotel California was quite vivid with the guitar work very realistic and natural throughout.
On 16/44 files, I heard very similar results to my SCD-777ES used as a transport with the DAC1 Pre as the outboard DAC. Very little if any difference I can detect so far. Maybe a slight each to the Mac.
One huge benefit is that these types of applications automatically switch the Mac into hirez mode on the fly so you don't have to mess with the Midi panel settings.
I really liked the ease of use in dragging over FLAC files and others from storage discs I had. It really handles FLAC very well and FLAC at 24/96 was a noticeable improvement in sound quality, although that held for iTunes as well to a large extent.
Error free is a term I would throw out. It seems, like my two Benchmark devices, to work very flawlessy. I did not experience any of the "clicking" noises that some people report when doing computer audio.
User interface was simple but very clean and easy to use. The ability to see the "Inspector" window which shows sampling rate, album art, file type, etc. was very informative.
Future Explorations:
Probably a finer USB cable would be something to look at. Belkin Gold is well respected in the audiophile community and cheap at $8.97 at my local Fry's. The Audioquest Carbon and Cardas Clear cables are also well respected. I may try these as funds permit.
Pure Music, there is a $129 package from Pure that many like although some like Art Dudley feel Decibel equals sound wise. I was just being cheap on the Decibel but I may want to try Pure at some point.
"Memory resident" modes. Some music player software can load tracks fully into memory before play. I would like to experiment with any sound differences from that. I believe Decibel may offer this but I'm still learning.
Extra RAM. I just have 4gb of RAM in the Mini now. I want to upgrade that and note any improvements or not.
Summing Up:
Really nice bump in sound performance over iTunes. Well worth $33 and nice user features and ease of use. Something to consider if you want something affordable for computer file playback.
I was able to listen for a long time to Decibel last night after downloading it at a regular affordable price of $33. I wanted to share some initial thoughts here in case anyone is looking for an affordable player of hirez for the Mac.
System Used For Listening Sessions:
2011 Mac Mini>>Belkin Gold 10 foot USB cable>>Benchmark DAC1 Pre into stereo system (ARC preamp). Control was nothing fancy, just Decibel interface by Apple Magic Mouse. Waiting on iPad3 for ultimate control. USB input was well used by prior owner of DAC1 Pre as it was the base of his computer & headphone audio rig which used the SPL Phonitor headphone amp and Senn HD800 cans.
Comparison was made to the latest version of iTune using the Snow Leopard O/S on the Mac Mini. File types included AIFF, WAV, and 24/96 FLAC from HDTracks, Linn, Label downloads, and ripped DVD-Audio discs.
Impressions:
Very nice improvement over iTunes, with a crisp, clean, open sound. Like a veil or two had been lifted to use a bad audiophile cliche.
I noticed a more full sound in the bass and the midrange. Highs were extended as well.
Not night and day by any means but maybe something on the order of another 10-15% if iTunes was the baseline at 100%.
I used two key pieces of music: Alison Krauss' Paper Airplane and Eagles Hotel California. Paper Airplane (first track) had a nice clarity and transients were spot on. Instrument separation was excellent. Hotel California was quite vivid with the guitar work very realistic and natural throughout.
On 16/44 files, I heard very similar results to my SCD-777ES used as a transport with the DAC1 Pre as the outboard DAC. Very little if any difference I can detect so far. Maybe a slight each to the Mac.
One huge benefit is that these types of applications automatically switch the Mac into hirez mode on the fly so you don't have to mess with the Midi panel settings.
I really liked the ease of use in dragging over FLAC files and others from storage discs I had. It really handles FLAC very well and FLAC at 24/96 was a noticeable improvement in sound quality, although that held for iTunes as well to a large extent.
Error free is a term I would throw out. It seems, like my two Benchmark devices, to work very flawlessy. I did not experience any of the "clicking" noises that some people report when doing computer audio.
User interface was simple but very clean and easy to use. The ability to see the "Inspector" window which shows sampling rate, album art, file type, etc. was very informative.
Future Explorations:
Probably a finer USB cable would be something to look at. Belkin Gold is well respected in the audiophile community and cheap at $8.97 at my local Fry's. The Audioquest Carbon and Cardas Clear cables are also well respected. I may try these as funds permit.
Pure Music, there is a $129 package from Pure that many like although some like Art Dudley feel Decibel equals sound wise. I was just being cheap on the Decibel but I may want to try Pure at some point.
"Memory resident" modes. Some music player software can load tracks fully into memory before play. I would like to experiment with any sound differences from that. I believe Decibel may offer this but I'm still learning.
Extra RAM. I just have 4gb of RAM in the Mini now. I want to upgrade that and note any improvements or not.
Summing Up:
Really nice bump in sound performance over iTunes. Well worth $33 and nice user features and ease of use. Something to consider if you want something affordable for computer file playback.
