A Discussion of Different Music Players besides iTune

ttan98 · « **on:** 21 Feb 2011, 03:21 am »

Those interested go to this site:

http://www.head-fi.org/forum/thread/539740/mac-os-x-music-players-alternatives-to-itunes

I find it very useful and rewarding.

simon wagstaff · « **Reply #1 on:** 21 Feb 2011, 12:44 pm »

I have been using COG and it works great. I don't use my iTunes library, I have never set it up. I have about two terabytes of music in flac, shn and apple lossless along with some 24 bit files. I have everything set up in folders and just transfer the files to the COG playlist. It seems to play them all and at the correct sampling rate.

avahifi · « **Reply #2 on:** 6 Mar 2011, 12:41 am »

So now I have picked up a new Macbook Pro and am just starting to explore and learn a little about hi rez music.

What do I need in the way of software and hardware to get 192/24 material out of the optical output on my new Mac?

I have found and downloaded a few 192/24 files (FLAC I think). I have a reasonably good external DAC that will play 192/24 files.

I just need to know what software I need to get my new Mac to output the material and of course it appears I will need some kind of special optical cable for the Mac headphone/optical output port too.

Any help will be much appreciated.

Regards,

Frank Van Alstine

avta · « **Reply #3 on:** 6 Mar 2011, 01:10 am »

I'd suggest starting with an inexpensive combination of plastic Toslink and a free player. Here's what I use:
Cable: http://www.lifatec.com/Lifusa_patchcords.htm

Player: http://code.google.com/p/audirvana/downloads/list

For a site that has lots of information you might check Computer Audiophile if you haven't been there. http://www.computeraudiophile.com/

Crimson · « **Reply #4 on:** 6 Mar 2011, 02:10 am »

If I remember right, the optical out supports up to 24/96. For 24/192 you need to use the FireWire out. Or USB with apropriate drivers.

For software, try Pure Music.

dB Cooper · « **Reply #5 on:** 6 Mar 2011, 02:18 am »

I cant get the Audirvana player to do a thing on my Macbook (even accept something to play) and there is no documentation whatsoever so guess I might try one of the stripped down versions of Amarra.

Frank, I think radioshack might have the 1/8-to-toslink adapters.

avahifi · « **Reply #6 on:** 6 Mar 2011, 02:29 pm »

Has anyone here tried the KingRex UC192 USB to SPDIF converter? It claims to output up to 192/24 from a new Mac USB port with no need for drivers. This seems contrary to other advice here that MAC USB ports are limited to 96/24.

I am confused.

Frank Van Alstine

Nels Ferre · « **Reply #7 on:** 6 Mar 2011, 03:16 pm »

Quote from: avahifi on 6 Mar 2011, 02:29 pm

Has anyone here tried the KingRex UC192 USB to SPDIF converter? It claims to output up to 192/24 from a new Mac USB port with no need for drivers. This seems contrary to other advice here that MAC USB ports are limited to 96/24.

I am confused.

Frank Van Alstine

From AV Guide:

"Snow Leopard's latest version uses and support USB 2.0, which can support 192 via USB. So far no hardware supports that protocol - but the March-release-date HRT MusicStreamer HD will support it as will other USB DACs in the near future."

It sounds like to KingRex is using USB 2.0 protocol, so you should be good to go.

avta · « **Reply #8 on:** 6 Mar 2011, 03:56 pm »

http://www.6moons.com/audioreviews/kingrex8/1.html

timind · « **Reply #9 on:** 6 Mar 2011, 04:22 pm »

ttan98, thanks for that link.

I am currently using itunes but have been thinking about upgrading to a better music player. This link is a great place to get a list of what's available.

gooberdude · « **Reply #10 on:** 7 Mar 2011, 09:47 pm »

timind, my recomendation is to try the free trial versions of a popular player, to see what's up.

You may be surprised at how muffled Itunes sounds in comparison.

I've only tried Fedelia, and like what i hear...a lot.

TrungT · « **Reply #11 on:** 7 Mar 2011, 10:11 pm »

^^^^^
+1 on Fidelia

I like the sound on my system, there are few minor bugs they are working on.
Art work library is in the work.
15 days free trial and the price is right.

Noseyears · « **Reply #12 on:** 15 Mar 2011, 04:43 pm »

I have been using the KMplayer, and mediamonkey. Both are nice alternatives to iTunes.

SteveRB · « **Reply #13 on:** 15 Mar 2011, 05:59 pm »

i found:

Decibel by Steven F Booth
http://sbooth.org/Decibel/

to be exceptional.

gary · « **Reply #14 on:** 15 Mar 2011, 06:09 pm »

I'm ripping with XLD and playing back with Audirvana (I'm sure there are better players but Audirvana is minimalist and free). I'm absolutely blown away by the improvement over lossless files ripped & played w/ iTunes. And I'm also in the process of re-ripping my whole library.

gary

eclein · « **Reply #15 on:** 15 Mar 2011, 06:11 pm »

I just recently got Media Monkey Gold (fee) but they have a trial version but not sure if MAC compatible and as said earlier its a very nice alternative, Its all I use now to listen at my laptop or burn files...very easy to pickup, overwhelming at frist because you have alot of options but if you take a little time and set it up so you understand it, its extremely user friendly and logical. I got Gold version FREE by signing up for Gamefly which I was going to do anyway, check out that offer and others at MM home page, it was a win, win for me...maybe somebody else might want to do the same, in fact they have other offer also I think I recall..pick one if you need it or were thinking about it and get 2 for 1!!!

low.pfile · « **Reply #16 on:** 15 Mar 2011, 06:15 pm »

Quote from: eclein on 15 Mar 2011, 06:11 pm

I just recently got Media Monkey Gold (fee) but they have a trial version but not sure if MAC compatible and as said earlier its a very nice alternative, Its all I use now to listen at my laptop or burn files...very easy to pickup, overwhelming at frist because you have alot of options but if you take a little time and set it up so you understand it, its extremely user friendly and logical. I got Gold version FREE by signing up for Gamefly which I was going to do anyway, check out that offer and others at MM home page, it was a win, win for me...maybe somebody else might want to do the same, in fact they have other offer also I think I recall..pick one if you need it or were thinking about it and get 2 for 1!!!

eclien, nope it's not compatible for Mac OS. From mediamonkey's site:

Quote

Installing MediaMonkey

MediaMonkey runs on Windows platforms only. It is supported on all 32/64 bit versions of Windows 7, Windows Vista, and Windows XP, but is also known to work on Windows 98, Windows ME, Windows 2000, and WINE (Linux). Simply double-click the downloaded file to install it.

ttan98 · « **Reply #17 on:** 15 Mar 2011, 09:50 pm »

Download Audirvana now, Version 0.7.2 it is very good and FREE.

newzooreview · « **Reply #18 on:** 15 Mar 2011, 10:37 pm »

Decibel is excellent. At $33 it's almost free, and you can certainly try it out for free. It operates in 64-bit space for handling audio files, can operate in hog mode to minimize interference from other processes, and will send files out at their native sampling rate so you can play a mixed group of files without manually changing output in Audio MIDI setup. It's clean and no frills beyond the functional essentials.

It also has a handy feature that let's you move tracks selected in iTunes into the Decibel playlist. I find the smart filters and searching in iTunes very convenient, so I pull up the songs that I want in iTunes and press the button in Decibel and it copies them over into its playlist. The best of both worlds for me.

gooberdude · « **Reply #19 on:** 16 Mar 2011, 03:58 am »

Its really quite easy to download a # of the difft players out there to compare. Each one has a difft sonic signature right out of the box to me.

I don't have the computer skills to max any of them SQ wise, but if i had to spend $ on one it would be Pure Music. i plan to send my mini to Mach2 at some point, and they can tweak PM & Pandora to sound better.

I'm trying Fidelia, Decibel & Pure Music right now. Fidelia's sound is amazing and Decibel seems to be slightly veiled compared to the others. I haven't had issues using any of the interfaces or Preference settings.