[Rafal]

Hi All,

I'm dedicating my macbook to an audio server. It will be, for now hooked up vie optical cable to my DAC in a Musical Fidelity CDPre24, which is connected to a Linn Kairn preamp, McAlister PP-150 amp and Tannoy Arden speakers.
I'm new to this computer audio but want to optimize things as well as I can (I'll re-rip my music to lossless uncompressed format, like WAV). I am wondering a couple of things. What playback software will give me the best performance (keeping costs reasonable)? Would any other software be significantly better than iTunes? What dac would clearly be better than what's in my CDPre that's not too expensive (less than $1000)? What cable would be recommended for the optical connection? Anything else should I consider? I would also like to be able to remotely control the server through ipod touch, but that's not necessary.

Thanks you guys in advance,

Cheers,

Rafal

[skunark]

As long as you are playing CD files iTunes is fine as it's bit-transparent.  You can refer to benchmark's setup guide for details:

http://www.benchmarkmedia.com/wiki/index.php/OS_X_Audio_Playback_-_Setup_Guide

HighRez files is a different story, most likely you would have to use another player.  For Macs I would probably push you towards AIFF as there's better tagging support.

[Rafal]

As long as you are playing CD files iTunes is fine as it's bit-transparent.  You can refer to benchmark's setup guide for details:

http://www.benchmarkmedia.com/wiki/index.php/OS_X_Audio_Playback_-_Setup_Guide

HighRez files is a different story, most likely you would have to use another player.  For Macs I would probably push you towards AIFF as there's better tagging support.

Thanks very much skunakr for this update. If I understand it correctly, should I set up the word length to 24 bit even if I listen to CD material which is 16 bit word length? I do plan to set the sample rate to 44.1kHz.
Will I then still get the bit transparent output?

[skunark]

It shouldn't matter as long as your dac supports the 24-bit word length.   Most DACs that support 24-bit will do that automatically and will have no impact to the sound quality.    20-bit SACDs and 24-bit hi-rez music can take advantage of that, but most systems cannot fully exploit the full 140dB range potential out of a 24-bit file.  It doesn't hurt to experiment though. 

[ted_b]

Guys, whoa.  If you play iTunes, then you need to change Audio Midi and restart iTunes each time you play a file/track that is different from 16/44 (i.e 24/96, etc).  Unless you want iTunes to upsample everything to 24 bit (not recommended, it's not that good at it) you need to do the above OR buy a MUCH better sounding player than iTunes (like Pure Music, $129) that uses iTunes for its browsing, library management and GUI (meaning you can still use iPod touch or iPhone and Apple remote app).  The additional advantage of something like Pure Music is that it also automatically switches sample rates for you (no need to do the audio midi, restart thing).

...and SACD's aren't 20 bit; they are a proprietary 1 bit DSD format (or downrez'd by some universal players to 24/88.2).  you can't play them on your Mac, regardless.

[Mike Nomad]

Guys, whoa.  If you play iTunes, then you need to change Audio Midi and restart iTunes each time you play a file/track that is different from 16/44 (i.e 24/96, etc).  Unless you want iTunes to upsample everything to 24 bit (not recommended, it's not that good at it) you need to do the above OR buy a MUCH better sounding player than iTunes (like Pure Music, $129) that uses iTunes for its browsing, library management and GUI (meaning you can still use iPod touch or iPhone and Apple remote app).  The additional advantage of something like Pure Music is that it also automatically switches sample rates for you (no need to do the audio midi, restart thing).

...and SACD's aren't 20 bit; they are a proprietary 1 bit DSD format (or downrez'd by some universal players to 24/88.2).  you can't play them on your Mac, regardless.

Rafal,

I would recommend you experiment, and see if you can tell the difference when you reset MIDI or not. I spent the better part of a week A/B-ing stuff. I can't hear a difference, so, I leave the MIDI settings at 24-bit all the time.

You mentioned re-ripping your CDs. I spent (probably) way too much time experimenting with that, and arrived at using AIFF, and upsampling the rip to 48 kHz (which can be done in iTunes). There was quite a noticeable difference between 44.1 & 48. The additional space needed on the drive is trivial.

I'm using iTunes exclusively for driving the library, etc. and it all works fine (even with 24/96 tracks). For 24/192 and (as has already been pointed out) SACD, I crank up the disc player.

[srb]

Rafal,

I would recommend you experiment, and see if you can tell the difference when you reset MIDI or not. I spent the better part of a week A/B-ing stuff. I can't hear a difference, so, I leave the MIDI settings at 24-bit all the time.

I know it's just a matter of semantics, but for those that are curious, the Apple "Audio MIDI Setup" refers to Audio and MIDI - two separate functions on separate tabs grouped together in one application.
 
The Audio portion refers to the selection and settings of audio devices for playback and recording of digital audio files.
 
The MIDI (Musical Instrument Digital Interface) portion refers to the selection of MIDI devices and the mapping of MIDI events for playback, recording and live triggering of sampled or synthesized instrument sounds and sound effects.
 
Steve

[Mike Nomad]

I know it's just a matter of semantics, but for those that are curious, the Apple "Audio MIDI Setup" refers to Audio and MIDI - two separate functions on separate tabs grouped together in one application.
 
The Audio portion refers to the selection and settings of audio devices for playback and recording of digital audio files.
 
The MIDI (Musical Instrument Digital Interface) portion refers to the selection of MIDI devices and the mapping of MIDI events for playback, recording and live triggering of sampled or synthesized instrument sounds and sound effects.
 
Steve

Not merely semantics at all. I was being sloppy in my post. It's good you clarified. The name of the app to be accessed is in the Utilities folder, "Audio MIDI Setup," and I should have specified that I was talking about the stuff under the Audio Devices tab.

[skunark]

Guys, whoa.  If you play iTunes, then you need to change Audio Midi and restart iTunes each time you play a file/track that is different from 16/44 (i.e 24/96, etc).  Unless you want iTunes to upsample everything to 24 bit (not recommended, it's not that good at it) you need to do the above OR buy a MUCH better sounding player than iTunes (like Pure Music, $129) that uses iTunes for its browsing, library management and GUI (meaning you can still use iPod touch or iPhone and Apple remote app).  The additional advantage of something like Pure Music is that it also automatically switches sample rates for you (no need to do the audio midi, restart thing).

...and SACD's aren't 20 bit; they are a proprietary 1 bit DSD format (or downrez'd by some universal players to 24/88.2).  you can't play them on your Mac, regardless.

Up-sampling refers to the bit rate not the word length.  There is no technical difference between converting 16-bit to 24 bit, the 16-bit data will still have the same dynamic range when using a 24-bit word length. This is not the same as a 24/44.1 file, so don't confuse this with 16/44.1.    Every 24-bit DAC does that for 16-bit word length whether or not you specify iTunes or any other program to playback as such.    SACD is equivalent to 120 dB which is essentially equal to 20-bit data when you remove the smoke and mirrors. 

Keep in mind that the original request is to play back CDs, not high-rez files.

Also note that I would completely trust Benchmark's recommendations over anyone on this forum as they have actually shown iTunes to be bit-transparent with 16/44.1 files.     Pure Music or another other iTunes plugin/addon is only useful for high-rez music, but still I haven't seen any proof that those products offer bit-transparent playback.

[ted_b]

SACD is equivalent to 120 dB which is essentially equal to 20-bit data when you remove the smoke and mirrors. 

Pure Music or another other iTunes plugin/addon is only useful for high-rez music, but still I haven't seen any proof that those products offer bit-transparent playback.

SACD info is plain wrong.  And PM or Amarra is quite effective for redbook as well as high rez, no differentiation there.

And when I referred to Audio Midi I was referring to the single app of that name, and it has (at least in my system) no tabs..it is where you need to choose resolution settings (among others) once your DAC is recognized (Note:  The Weiss drivers are not picked here cuz I use PM in "hog" mode so I make sure audio Midi is NOT set for my DAC...PM uses it exclusively).

[srb]

And when I referred to Audio Midi I was referring to the single app of that name, and it has (at least in my system) no tabs..

Apparently with the release of OS X Snow Leopard, Apple has changed the Audio MIDI Setup application.  The previous application had Audio and MIDI tabs, and the new one treats them as separate windows.
 
So by default, only the Audio settings show, and to see the MIDI settings you select Window > Show MIDI from the menu bar.  (I believe in Preferences you can also choose which windows show by default when the application is opened.)
 
Steve

[skunark]

SACD info is plain wrong.  And PM or Amarra is quite effective for redbook as well as high rez, no differentiation there.

SACD is capable of having the same resolution as a PCM 96/20 source which results in a dynamic range of 120dB.  That's a pretty easy one to go google. 

But we shouldn't confuse this with Rafal's original question about playing back lossless versions CDs, and following Benchmark's guidelines is a great start to give you bit-transparent playback with iTunes on a mac.   

[Rafal]

Thanks guys,

the next thing I'll have to figure out is what toslink cable to get and If I should stay with the dac in my Musical Fidelity CDPre24 or get something better. Any suggestions?

Cheers,

Rafal

[omasciarotte]

Apparently with the release of OS X Snow Leopard, Apple has changed the Audio MIDI Setup application.

Hey Steve,

They changed a lot more than that. Under the hood, 10.6.4 now supports Class 2 Audio over USB. What that enables is driverless, “plug & play” 176.4 & 192 kHz operation for USB DACs designed to that spec.

Regards,
OMas